Harry waited impatiently for his husband to arrive home. After feeling ill and irritable for a few weeks, he finally knew what was wrong with him, and was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to share his news with his bondmate.
He was pregnant.
It was extremely rare for male wizards to become pregnant – the power levels required, combined with the will needed for a wizard to become pregnant was a rarity. Apparently, Harry had not only the power, but his longing for a family of his own gave him the will needed.
And so Harry waited, wrapped up in blankets on their bed.
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As it got later, Harry began to worry. It was unlike Sev to be this late. Harry knew that Sev was meeting up with several other potions masters to discuss the merits of the Wolfsbane potion, and how it might be improved.
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He probably got caught up talking. After all, Potion's was Sev's calling, gift, and passion.
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A twinge woke Harry up. A feeling of pleasure echoed along the bond he shared with Sev.
Opening his eyes with anticipation, Harry looked up at his husband.
Who wasn't there.
Pleasure tingled along their bond.
Thinking that Sev was playing games again, Harry followed the bond to look through Sev's eyes.
And saw Remus Lupin. A nude Remus Lupin.
Shock tore through Harry. He retreated to his own mind, each pulse of Sev's pleasure chasing him, rending apart his heart and soul.
Curling up in agony, Harry tried to block the ghostlike sensations...someone kissing Sev….touching Sev. Sev's pleasure at that touch.
That was the worst betrayal of all. The fact that Sev was happy.
Unable to stand the agony being inflicted upon his soul by he whom Harry loved, he whom Harry had trusted, Harry scrambled out of bed. He needed to be out. To run. To run away from the pain.
Sprinting out of their quarters, he ran down hallways, up stairs – fleeing his pain, seeking a way out.
He finally found a door outside, and, forcing it open, ran. Ran over the fields, past the Quiddich pitch, into the sheltering trees of the Forbidden Forest.
He never heard McGonagall's worried calls.
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Running deeper into the forest, past the Acromantula's territory, past the place where Hagrid had kept his half-brother, past where the centaur herd used to dwell. He ran, and continued running, until he collapsed from the strain.
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Warmth
Caring
Love
As Harry woke, he felt these things wrap around him like a blanket.
He cracked his eyes open, both reluctant to remember, and yet enticed by the caring wrapped so tightly around his soul.
He looked up into a delicate white face. Lost himself in eyes of a wondrous shade of lavender. So wondrous was the face he saw that his pain and disappointment at not seeing Sev went unnoticed by any but the eyes that looked into his own.
The face descended, nuzzling him softly.
"I am sorry, little descendant. Had I known you still survived, I would have sought you out sooner."
A crystalline tear fell onto Harry's face.
"No… don't cry. You are here now, when I need you the most. You have nothing to be sorry for."
"But I do. I have watched for so long, I had thought that all of you were gone. Had I known, had I been there, our soul might not now bleed so."
"no. My souls' wounding was nothing of your doing. I chose unwisely where to give my heart. So it is my own burden to bear."
Harry climbed to his feet, his muscles aching from his run. In the darkness of the clearing, the purity of her white coat was the only illumination.
"Shouldn't you be avoiding me? After all, I am not exactly a virgin…"
"She looked confused. "Why would I run from you for not being a virgin? ….surely humans don't still believe that old myth?"
"Myth?"
"Yes. Myth. While it is true that we unicorns are drawn toward purity, virginity really has nothing to do with it. Every race must reproduce, after all."
At the mention of reproduction, Harry's vision blurred, and he felt tears glide down his cheeks.
"Shhh young one. Why do you cry?"
"I cry because my mate, the father of my child, has betrayed me. I only found out today that I was pregnant, and though I waited for his return so I could share the news with him, he didn't return. Then I felt his pleasure, his joy and happiness with another, along out soul bond. That is why my soul bleeds. The run seems to have blocked it for now, but the wound will continue to bleed until my death."
The unicorn looked shocked at this. "You are dying?"
Harry looked sad. "Yes. Such is the nature of the bond we shared. When both are happy with one another, it is a wonderful thing, to be one in soul. But betrayal, such as this, is not supposed to really be possible. I knew that Sev could block the bond – he did so when he went to Death Eater meetings, to spy. I didn't realize that he blocked it whenever it was convenient for him to do so."
The unicorn looked thoughtful for a minute. "Do you wish to die?"
"No. For if I die, so too does my child die with me. All I have ever wanted was a family that loved me.. this child is a gift that will now be wasted…"
The unicorn was silent for a few moments. "There is another option."
Harry looked up. "How so? Soul wounds are fatal."
"Not to immortal creatures. They take a long time to heal, but they are not fatal. As you are of my line, you bear within you the potential to become a unicorn."
Harry looked surprised. "I am of your line? How.."
The unicorn looked sad for a moment. "Long ago, I was assisted by the last of a great wizarding line. To save my life at the time, he transformed me into a human. Then, when it was necessary, he transformed me back to my unicorn self. What no one realized was that after that I could change shapes at will. Several centuries after that, the wizard came to me for help. He was unable to die until he reproduced, but no woman had sufficient magic to bear his child. So, in repayment of my debt to him, I bore him a daughter, and he passed to the next world. She chose to become human, and in time married and had a family. One of her children helped found the wizarding school in this part of the world. You are descended from my daughter. Because of that, you can choose to be human, or to become unicorn. I did not sense you previously because of the taint the mark on your forehead has given to your magic."
Harry looked stunned. "Voldemort tainted my magic?"
"If that is the name of the creature that did that, then yes, he tainted your magic. That is why you have not felt your unicorn nature – it has been entrapped by the taint."
"How can I get rid of it?"
"I can cleanse you of it. It may be painful – it has been in place for some time."
"Please."
The unicorn touched Harry's scar with her horn. Her magic entered the mark, burning the taint from Harry's magic. As the taint was purged, hundreds of miles away Voldemort was struck by agony, as the blood used in his resurrection spell purified, burning his shell from the inside out, destroying it, and sending his soul fleeing in agony.
Harry felt pain as the taint was removed, but as it disappeared, the purity and light of his unicorn heritage filled his being with warmth and happiness. Harry reached for the warmth, and as he did so, his form changed.
He became Unicorn.
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Severus lay next to Remus, dosing from his exertions. I have the best of both worlds, he thought to himself, I have a loving and passionate mate, and a friend to help me purge the darker aspects of my life that I don't want Harry to see.
Pain. Burning. Agony.
Harry?
Freedom. Release. Joy!
Harry?!
And as Severus lay next to his lover, he felt the bond with his mate dissipate. He reached out, trying to keep it, but it slipped away, and he caught a glimpse of a purity, a glory, that was more than his mind could comprehend.
"Oh gods, Harry!"
But he was gone.
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The Wizarding world speculated for months, wondering how exactly The-Boy-Who-Lived had killed Voldemort.
All Severus knew was that whatever it was, it had cost Harry his life. And in Harry's final moments, he, Harry's soul-bonded mate, hadn't been there for him. The idea ate at him, and Severus blamed himself, his unfaithfulness, for Harry's demise.
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, the unicorn once known as Harry gave birth to a beautiful snowy-white filly.
