Chapter 23
Reposted to correct a mistaken word, nothing else added.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.
A/N: I think I've messed up Teddy, he's supposed to be three but sometimes he seems too mature. Unfortunately it will take a long delay to fix it so I have left it as is. I will try to do better in future but it's ten years since my youngest was that age so it's difficult.
-o0o-
Hadrian came down a few minutes later and saw Tim on the bed. "I'm not ready to talk" Tim said flatly. "I just…wanted you here with me."
Hadrian could tell he was physically and emotionally exhausted after seeing his parents. He nodded and reversed the transfiguration on his pyjamas. "Do you think you could eat?" he asked.
Tim shook his head. "I'm sorry, I know I should and you went to all that trouble and it smells so good" he mumbled apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. It will keep" Hadrian said smiling. He helped Tim settle in bed then went into the kitchen. Tim could hear him moving around putting things into containers in the refrigerator.
Hadrian came and climbed into bed sitting on his good side hugging him gently without saying anything, giving him silent comfort until he fell asleep and taking comfort from his presence. They both knew that there was a lot still to be said, to be sorted out between them but they also knew that they were going to be able to find a way though it all. That they still loved each other and beyond all their recent actions they wanted to be together long term. Hadrian dozed off himself knowing that Tollie was up in his apartment looking after Teddy.
-o0o-
The next morning Hadrian woke early while Tim was sleeping and went up to play with Teddy for a while until the monitoring charms told him Tim was waking up. He left Teddy with Tollie while he went downstairs intending to help Tim shower though his shoulder really was almost better and cook breakfast for the two of them.
Tim was wide awake and sitting up by the time he arrived and took Hadrian's hands with his good one pulling him down to sit on the bed beside him.
"Okay I'm ready to finish our discussion" Tim said. "I got upset the other day thinking you'd deliberately got pregnant but when I had time to think it just didn't seem like something you would do. Can you explain what happened? How's the baby, you didn't..." Tim couldn't even complete the question. He looked at Hadrian begging him to say that the baby was okay. Over the last three days he'd realised that there was nothing he'd ever wanted more than to be a family with Hades and the baby.
"The healer said the baby's fine. Didn't what?" Hadrian asked confused for a moment. He turned and stared at Tim in horror. "You thought I could murder our baby?" He whispered horrified.
"It wouldn't be murder. Lots of women wouldn't think twice about getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy. particularly if they and the baby's father were no longer together."
"I wouldn't do that even if you never wanted to see me again" Hadrian replied. "I've wanted a family for as long as I could remember. Besides things are a bit different with witches and wizards, the baby's sharing my magic. I couldn't abort it without permanently damaging my magical core. There's no healer on earth that will do that and I can't exactly go out and get a muggle abortion" Hadrian said. "I'm only telling you this so you won't think I lied about wanting the baby if you ever hear it from someone else. I never even considered not keeping our baby."
"I'm sorry for thinking that you didn't want our baby, and for making you think that I didn't want you and the baby" Tim said laying his hand tentatively over Hadrian's lower stomach. Hadrian laid his hand over Tim's and they cuddled for a while taking comfort from each other before resuming the difficult conversation.
Hadrian sighed "You walked out in the middle of my explanation the other day."
Tim started to protest but Hadrian stopped him. "I know it's my fault. I should have found a better way to explain it. I would have got angry too if I thought you'd got pregnant on purpose."
"I would have been back in a couple of hours if I hadn't been called to the crime scene" Tim replied. "I'm ready to listen now. Please try to explain what happened."
"The spell to enable a wizard to have children that I was trying to tell you about was cast on me without my permission during an attack before I left England. It is permanent and I knew about the effects but I was told it took a wizards magic to impregnate me not just their sperm so I didn't even think about it when we were together" he tried to explain.
"Cast on you without your permission?" Tim asked. "You mean you wouldn't have wanted this spell cast? You didn't want to be able to have children?"
"No. Not in those circumstances. It had nothing to do with wanting children. It was cast on me from behind my back as I walked home after a night out with friends. I guess I'm lucky that whoever it was didn't want to kill me because they easily could have. I didn't even know the spell existed before I went to the hospital after the attack. The healers were able to identify who cast it but he would've been paid to do it and they can't find him to ask who paid him."
"You were attacked? Why would anyone do that? And why didn't you tell me we needed to use precautions? I would have been happy to" Tim asked having got lost in thought during Hadrian's explanation.
"Without knowing who attacked me it's hard to know exactly why. There were a lot of pureblood wizards and witches angry with me for killing their lord and winning the war so there've been several minor attacks since then. Also I'm the heir to several family names and many of the old families practice strict primogeniture so if I can't father a son there are a couple of people that would be in line to inherit the bulk of my father and my godfather's estates and they're all so homophobic that it wouldn't occur to them I would even try to bear a child myself and you have to remember that I was still engaged to a girl at the time. I had a suspicion that I might have been bisexual but I'd never dated anyone but girls. My former fiancé also seemed quite pleased when I told her I could no longer impregnate her though I didn't seriously think at the time that she could be involved but that was before I found out she'd been lying to me and feeding me love potions. Or the wizard who cast it just could have been trying to cast the most painful spell he knew. It certainly nearly brought me to my knees, there are specific torture curses that don't hurt that much. The healer said they normally knock the patient out for three days while the spell takes effect. And as to telling you we needed to use birth control precautions I didn't think we needed to. I was told it takes the magic of both partners to conceive" Hadrian replied.
"Who told you that? How could they make such a huge mistake? And how did you fall pregnant then?" Tim asked.
"The healer I saw in London when I was cursed told me that. And he wasn't wrong, my healer here said the same thing. When I told him you didn't appear to have magic he checked the records. You were a wizard. Technically I suppose you still are though you can't use magic. When you were eight your parents chose to have your magic blocked and your memories of magic erased rather than send you to a magical school" Hadrian said waiting for Tim to get angry.
"Why would they do that?" Tim asked confused.
Hadrian shrugged. "I'm not sure why your parents did it specifically but my healer told me that in America almost ten percent of first generation wizard's parents choose to bind their child's magic. Some out of fear or for religious beliefs, others because they have already planned out their child's education and want to continue with that plan or family traditions or just out of fear of the unknown"
"You mean my father could have had my magic bound because he wanted me to go into the Navy?" Tim asked incredulously.
"I think so Tim. The irony is that American wizarding schools have quite a good reputation teaching the regular subjects as well so going to a wizarding school wouldn't've prevented you from joining the navy if you wanted to, and a wizard healer could easily cure your seasickness, if it wasn't caused by the binding in the first place which is possible."
Tim laughed bitterly "So it's his fault I didn't enlist."
"Yeah probably. But you're happy with what you do? Aren't you?" Hadrian asked.
"Yeah I love NCIS and being on the MCRT is a dream come true" Tim said smiling. "But we've gotten off topic. You're pregnant and the baby is mine? We're going to have a baby?"
"Yes the baby is yours" Hadrian said upset. "You can't think…"
Tim hugged him tight. "Calm down love I'm not doubting you it's just a lot to take in. We'll have to get a bigger place" Tim said looking around the already crowded apartment.
"Umm... well... I've bought a house. I take possession on Friday. It needs a bit of work but it should be ready to move into at the end of the month" Hadrian said.
"You didn't think I should be involved in choosing our house?" Tim asked surprised his lover would have made such a huge decision without talking to him about it.
"Well I bought it on Monday, at the time I didn't think you wanted it to be OUR house. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me after not hearing from you for days. I'll take you to see the house today and if you hate it I'll rent it out and we can look for another one. It was a good investment anyway and I can afford more than one" Hadrian replied good naturedly. "There wasn't much on the market in this area that had the level of privacy that I wanted where I could put up really strong wards to protect the baby, but we could look in other areas still within commute of the Navy yard."
Tim let the housing subject drop, they'd deal with it later. "Tell me about the baby, when is it due? Are you well? Is there anything special I need to know about male pregnancy?"
"I'm fine love, the potions are taking care of the morning sickness, and I have nutrient potions as well to make sure the baby gets everything it needs" Hadrian reassured him or tried to.
"Are the morning sickness potions safe, there were some serious issues with anti morning sickness medications?" Tim asked anxiously.
"Relax love, these potions have been taken by witches and wizards for hundreds of years. They're perfectly safe" Hadrian reassured his lover.
"Why are you in such a hurry to move?" Tim asked "We've still got about seven or eight month before the baby comes don't we?"
"About six and a half months" Hadrian replied. "But I need to live somewhere more private before I start to show too much and well... some other complications arose while you were away?" he sighed looking sad for a moment.
"Oh?" Tim asked concerned.
"You remember me talking about my godson Teddy who lives with his grandmother Andromeda Tonks since his parents were killed?" Hadrian asked.
"Yes" Tim replied surprised by the seemingly random change of topic.
"Andi Tonks died of heart failure on Sunday night. She left me custody of her grandson, my godson Teddy" Hadrian said nervously. "I know that this is a lot to ask of you but I need to take him to live with me. I promised him that I wouldn't let him grow up not knowing that he is loved and cared for. I can afford to look after him and the baby too. We wouldn't be a burden on you."
Tim knew that Hadrian was still scarred from having grown up with relatives that hadn't wanted him. He understood that Hades would never forgive himself if he was responsible for his godson growing up like that. Tim figured he'd always wanted a family, and it might be good to have more than one child fairly close together. He'd been an only child until he was ten and it was a lonely life, he didn't want that for his children. "You're not a burden. Sounds like our family is off to a running start" he said smiling. "Who's looking after him now? When are you going to go get him?"
"I went to England to get him Monday night. Wizarding travel is a lot faster than muggle airplanes. He's upstairs with Tollie"
"Who's Tollie?" Tim asked.
"Tollie is a house elf. He was Andromeda's so Teddy is used to her" Hadrian explained.
"What's a house elf?" Tim asked confused.
"It might be easier to introduce you to her than explain that. Tollie" Hadrian called.
"Yes master Hadrian" Tollie said popping in.
"Tollie is it safe to leave Teddy alone for a moment?" Hadrian asked.
"He's be sitting on his plays mat playing with his blockses master Hadrian buys him" Tollie replied. "I will knows if he leaves the mat."
"Tollie, I'd like you to meet my partner Tim. Tim this is Tollie, she is a house elf that has been trained as a nanny and helped Andi look after Teddy" Hadrian introduced them. "It's a bit hard to explain to people who haven't grown up with them but house elves need to be bound to a witch or wizard and in return they serve the family. She's not really a slave but it kind of looks that way to people who didn't grow up with magic."
"Okay, you're right I don't really understand it but I know you'd never mistreat anyone. I'm pleased to meet you Tollie" Tim said holding out his hand.
"Master Tim is treating me like a person" Tollie said surprised. "Just like Master Harry."
"You are a person to us Tollie" Hadrian reminded her gently.
Tollie smiled. "You is a good wizard Master Harry."
"Is Teddy okay? He's not distressed this morning?" Hadrian asked.
"Yes Master Hadrian, Master Teddy has hads his breakfast and is beings dressed and happily playings with his new blockses" Tollie said.
"Can you pop him down here to meet Tim in a few minutes?" Hadrian requested.
"Does master Teddy needs his potionses?"
"No Tollie, Tim knows about magic" Hades replied. "And hopefully he's going to live with us so he needs to know about Teddy. Just keep an ear out in case someone else arrives. This isn't the most private location."
"Potionses?" Tim asked amused.
"Potions" Hades corrected. "Teddy has a rare magical gift, he's a metamorphmagus. Which means he has the ability to naturally alter his appearance without spells. It's a Black family trait and I have it a little but not like Teddy does. At his age he can only change his hair skin and eye colour and is beginning to be able to change his hair style as well. His mother was able to change just about anything. She could go from looking like a skinny black ten year old boy to a 200kg Chinese man to a female centrefold model and anything in between. Teddy tends to change himself to copy the person he's with and to change hair colour with his moods. He doesn't have much control yet and I have to give him potions to stop him changing in front of people who don't know about magic."
"It must help to know how he's feeling" Tim said smiling.
"Yeah but it's a nightmare keeping track of him at the park. One minute you're looking after a dark blonde boy and the next minute he's a red head or looks like someone else in the playground."
"Are the potions safe to take all the time?" Tim asked.
"The potions themselves don't do any harm but he needs time without them to learn how to control the gift as well" Hadrian replied. "Besides all potions taste disgusting and I'm sure these one's aren't an exception so I don't like making him take it unless it's necessary."
Tim shuddered in agreement remembering taste of the potions Hades had dosed him with the night before.
"Tollie can you bring Teddy down now?" Hadrian asked.
"If he's be's wanting to come Master Harry" Tollie said worriedly.
Hadrian caught the little creature before she could pop away. "It's not your fault if he doesn't want to come. You're not to punish yourself just come and let us know and I'll come up and get him."
"Maybe you should give us a little more time to talk before Teddy comes down. I'll call for you when we're ready" Tim said to Tollie.
Tollie looked at Hadrian who nodded his agreement. "Yes sir Master Tim" Tollie said popping away.
"She's..." Tim began not knowing what to say. "Can you explain about elves and why she calls you Master Harry? And why is she calling me Master Tim? Does she call all humans Master?"
"No just Teddy and I and now you. House elves have a symbiotic relationship with witches and wizards. They need to be bonded to survive and they love to work and be busy so they make great servants. They serve wizards in return for a bonding. It's difficult to understand but Tollie isn't human and she doesn't understand wanting to be free like a human would. She would be hurt if I was to offer her money or days off. She loves working and her magic is fed by serving her master. Tollie is a nanny elf. She was bound specifically to look after Teddy but because it would be a very bad thing for a child's nanny to be compelled to follow their orders she's also bound to whomever has custody of him so she's called me master since Andi died. She started calling you Master Tim when I called you my partner and she recognised the bond between us. You will also meet Quincy and his team who are renovating our new house."
"How many elves do you have and why have I never seen them before?" Tim asked.
"Personally none, I never knew I owned any elves though I was very good friends with one as a teenager after I freed him from an abusive master. Tollie only belongs to me because having an elf that will do whatever a child asks them to do does not make a good nanny. I've recently found out that the Potter estate has lots of elves. They maintain the rental properties in England. I haven't had an elf here. I like looking after us myself" Hadrian explained.
-o0o-
Tollie brought Teddy down about ten thirty. "Young master is hungry" she said. "I brings him down to feed yous too."
"Thank you Tollie. How are you Teddy?" Hadrian asked smiling at the little boy.
"Hi Uncle Harry. I've been baking with Tollie" Teddy said climbing on his godfather's knee.
"Master Teddy loves to helps Tollie and Mistress Andi with the baking" Tollie explained anxiously.
"That's fine Tollie I understand it can be fun to learn to bake. I enjoy cooking myself" Hadrian said smiling. "Did you make something yummy?" he asked the little boy.
"We made cookies but Tollie wouldn't let me eat them" Teddy said frowning a little.
"They was for morning tea with Master Hadrian and Master Tim" Tollie explained "You's can have some afters yous said Hello to Master Tim."
"Teddy this is my friend Tim. He'll hopefully be coming to live with us when we move into our new house" Hadrian said. "Tim this is my godson Theodore Lupin Black better known as Teddy."
"Pleased to meet you Teddy. Hades has told me lots of stories about you. He's very proud of you"
Teddy looked confused.
"Hades is the name Tim calls me" Hadrian explained. "Just like you call me Uncle Harry, Tim calls me Hades or Hadrian. Lots of people here in America call me Hadrian too."
"It doesn't mean you're in trouble like when Nana called me Theodore?" Teddy asked anxiously.
Hadrian smiled "No. When I'm in trouble I get Hadrian James Potter Black" he said putting on an overly stern voice.
Tim and Teddy laughed.
"Why's Tim coming to live with us? Is he an orphan too?" Teddy asked.
"No Teddy. Tim is going to live with us because I love him and want him to be part of our family" Hadrian replied.
"Are you going to get married? I thought you had to marry a girl" Teddy asked. He'd been impressed by Ron and Hermione's wedding and had asked Harry and Andi a million questions about it.
"It's a bit too soon to think about marrying Tim, but I'm never going to marry a girl" Hadrian said. "I'm sorry if you wanted a mother or godmother but I just can't Teddy."
"Aunt Hermione's my godmother" Teddy said. "I don't want another godmother they aren't much fun."
Hadrian laughed. "Okay then. Tim is hurt at the moment so we need to be quiet and gentle but once he's well I think you'll find he's quite a lot of fun."
"If you'se be eating now I be's going cleaning up" Tollie said clicking her fingers and making a pot of tea and two cups, a glass of milk and a plate of ginger cookies appear on the table.
"Thanks Tollie I'll call you if we need you" Hadrian replied.
"So you were travelling to England using magic. That's why I haven't met Teddy or spoken to him on the phone before now?" Tim asked.
"Yeah I couldn't get you to England without explaining magic and portkeys and Teddy doesn't like portkeys so I didn't want to force him to visit me here. Andi was really uncomfortable using the phone, she kept it turned off unless she wanted to call me."
"What's a portkey?" Tim asked.
"An object with a transportation spell on it. It spins you around in subspace and you arrive a couple of feet above the ground so it can be a bit nauseating. It's the fastest way to move long distances and the magic is in the spell creating it so you could use one."
"How quickly?"
"Eighteen minutes from here to London" Hadrian replied. "The downside is you spend most of that eighteen minutes being pulled around in circles by what feels like a hook in your stomach and the international portkey terminals take nearly as long to get through as Heathrow. Still it's about a tenth of the price of a flight."
"Wow" Tim replied.
"I'm sorry Tim I didn't realise you were upset that I didn't take you to visit Teddy or I would have tried to explain" Hadrian said hugging his boyfriend.
"I don't honestly think you could have explained it in any way that made me feel better without mentioning magic" Tim replied.
Hadrian nodded. "I'm still sorry if it upset you."
"It didn't upset me not to meet him so much as it made me think that you didn't want him to get attached to me because you saw our relationship as temporary. But then I remembered how embarrassed and scared you were when you told me you were gay so I thought you might not have come out to your family yet."
"Teddy is the only family I have and his grandmother was completely entrenched in the British wizarding world which is extremely intolerant of homosexuality. I was worried she would have prevented me from seeing him. I did tell her about you and the baby the other night before she died and she surprised me by how accepting she was."
"But what about the spell?" Tim said confused. "If homosexuality isn't accepted why would wizard doctors recognise a spell that allows gay couples to have children?"
"The spell was developed in America and the healer that recognised it was also American trained. The British wizarding world has banned the use of this spell by healers. The only reason I wasn't arrested is that it was performed on me without my consent, that and the healer gave me all the records of my admission and allowed me to obliviate him so nobody would know. You have to take into consideration that the British wizarding world is almost 200 years behind the real world. They're still using marriage contracts, some of the older families even arrange their children's marriages at birth, and there's no divorce in the wizarding world, magical marriage contracts demand and magically enforce fidelity so there's no possibility of adultery so if you and your spouse are truly incompatible the only other option is celibacy. If I had already signed the marriage contract with Ginny then I would never have been able to have a child which given that they also still practice primogeniture would have meant the bulk of my fortune would have gone to distant cousins instead of any children I adopted"
"So even if you came out as gay you'd still have to marry a woman" Tim said shaking his head. "Do your friends know you're gay?"
"My friends here do. I probably won't ever come out to my old school friends. My best mate and my fiancé were disgusted by the whole idea of me needing to fall pregnant to produce an heir even after I explained artificial insemination. They were horrified by the idea that homosexuality or this spell exists" Hadrian replied.
"It hardly matters though, I can't imagine ever wanting to live in the British wizarding world. You wouldn't want to either they don't have electricity or phones let alone computers."
Tim laughed. "You're joking" he said.
"Two hundred years behind the rest of the world remember. My former best mate's dad couldn't even pronounce ekeltricity properly and he worked at the ministry as a supposed expert on the non-magical world.
"I guess I can't criticise. I'm not out at work or with my parents" Tim said guiltily.
"I understand you can't be officially out at work and I certainly understand you not wanting to tell Tony with the way he picks in you. Or Abby, seeing she seems to think you're just sitting waiting for her to want to spend time with you" Hadrian said reassuringly.
A/N: Thank you to Locket1, Gracie15Trowa, Dedicated4reading, Nymphadora Jackson, Merlenyn, charm13insomnia, avidereader101, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Bella216, Almonda, Winged Dire Wolf7, Maben00, julschristine975, Afrodity, aoin88, lilly-flower15, icyquest4, Village-Mystic, A Random Bowser, xDarklightx, Rori Potter, gabrieljuarezl, lgbtlovechick, acherongoddess, DS2010, Silvermane1, kurosakiami01, A'Lee'Ray, buterflypuss, HowlingRain, Guest, Daenin, Mutt Rivers, mon187, , Misha Benji, 66redman66, storyscriber, Nymphadora Jackson, Dedicated4reading, zetasa, AnimaAngel, Mizzuki, HPSlashAddict, florafruit1122, fictionfan95, BBjaguar, RocklynnJasmine, Magician Girl Mirani, agentcherub, HexRose, masterjedi0401, Vada Shinigami, soprano-in-waiting, Mayumi Shinomori, mandisash and yaoimatrixanime for your support.
