Title: The Potter-boy Problem
Author: Roslyn Drycof
Chapter: Eight: Act of A Friend
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Voldemort has a new plan to get rid of the "Potter-boy Problem". A reluctant Draco Malfoy is ordered to carry it out, but things don't go as planned. He isn't as obedient as the Dark Lord would like and loses control at a crucial time. Whoops! HD, mpreg
Warning: Themes of slash, swearing, mpreg, and angst
Pairing: HPDM (also: RWHG, GWNL and others)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form.
The next morning, Harry took as much time as he could getting to breakfast. He wasn't a fool and knew he'd be given hell for his "out". And he wasn't stupid enough to think Ron hadn't told everyone. The redhead had been furious and everyone knew what happened when he got that way. He blew up.
Taking a few minutes to make sure he had a confident look on his face and a challenging look in his emerald eyes, Harry took a deep breath and walked through the double doors to the Great Hall. Whispers erupted from every table within seconds.
As if no one was staring at him like a three-headed monkey, he slid into his seat and calmly poured a glass of orange juice. Nothing like vitamin C in the morning to get you going.
"You might want to see this," Hermione whispered to him a few minutes later, a sympathetic look in her chestnut eyes. She held up a copy of the Daily Prophet.
He raised an eyebrow and took it from her. His breath hissed sharply in as he saw the picture plastered on the front page. It was of him and Draco in Hogsmeade the day before, his arm slung over the blond's and a smile on both their faces. Not that bad, but the article underneath it was. The headline read, Boy-Who-Lived, A Pouf? Harry Potter Shagging Son of Suspected Death Eater.
The article was mostly full of shit, but there was stuff in there that was true, and very private. Stuff that only one person knew. And who was that person? Ron Weasley, second-to-youngest Weasley and Harry's now-former best friend.
Clenching his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood on the palms of his hands, the Golden Boy of Hogwarts turned towards the Ron. His eyes burned jade fire as he glared at the one person he'd ever trusted completely. Ron barely flinched.
"You are a foul, pathetic excuse for a human being. You had no right to do this to me, no matter how much you hate Malfoy! No fucking right!" he yelled.
Ron simply stared at his former best friend, a blank look in his eyes. He seemed not to care that he was letting their friendship disappear in ashes. "You chose him over me. It was your decision that caused this, not me."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had Ron gone off the deep end? "I did not choose him over you! Who I'm shagging had nothing to do with our friendship!"
"Normally not, but this is a entirely different story. This is Malfoy, Draco-fucking-ferret-Malfoy. You knew how much I hate him and you still went behind my back and fucked him three ways to Friday. That is not the act of a friend!"
The raven-haired teen jumped to his feet and screamed, "You know nothing of friendship! I didn't shag him to spite you. Maybe, just maybe, I did it because I wanted to."
When Ron snorted in disgust at this, Harry felt all reason fly out the window on his Firebolt 2001. He pulled back his fist and slammed it into the nose of the boy he'd once called his best friend. At the satisfying crunch, Harry felt all remnants of friendship with Ron disappear into the abyss.
He stalked away from the Gryffindor table, not caring that he hadn't eaten anything. Silence followed him until he was striding down a corridor three halls away from the Great Hall. Then, a familiar and quite sardonic voice said, "Lovely show. Couldn't have done better myself."
Harry whirled around to face Malfoy, a scowl on his face. "Shove off. I'm not in a good mood."
Silver eyes appraised him and one silken eyebrow arched. "I can tell. It wasn't very nice, what the weasel did to you. He's a bastard."
"I guess you were right after all. I should've listened to you, all those years ago." Harry laughed, a bitter sound that was ripped from his soul.
Draco laid a hand on his arm and looked at him with grey eyes full of sorrow. "I never thought it would end up like this, though. I said those words because I was conditioned to. I never thought they'd prove to be right."
"I know," Harry whispered, leaning his head against the blond's shoulder. The anger was gone, replaced by a sadness that seeped through his entire body.
"Why did he have to do this to me? We were supposed to be the best of friends," he said in a broken voice a few minutes later, searching Draco's eyes intently, as if they could give him the answer he so desperately wanted.
Draco took a few minutes to answer. "He's jealous. He saw you changing before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. What best friend wouldn't get angry if their best friend started hanging out with their enemy for what he thinks is no reason? I admit, the Weasel's blown it out of proportion, but the basic motivation is simple and understandable."
It took awhile for the emerald-eyed boy to digest what he said, and then he let out a big sigh. "I guess I have been unfair to him, hiding so much. But he went too far. I know I'll forgive him sometime, but our friendship will never be the same. He's such an idiot!"
"I agree. But he's a Weasley, and they've always been hotheaded. Do you know that they were the ones to cause the fued between our families?"
Harry shook his head, a curious light in his eyes. "No."
"I know everyone thinks the Malfoys were the ones to start it. But we weren't always so arrogant and "evil". Back in the early nineteenth century, we were your usual pureblood family, rich and full of pride. The Weasleys were a lot like us, even had a moderate amount of money. But then they lost their fortune in a bad business venture and went bankrupt. The partriarch Malfoy at the time, Rafe Malfoy, was a good friend of Nathaniel Weasley, and tried to help them out financially. Being very proud, Nathaniel refused. Being Slytherin, Rafe secretly bought Nathaniel's land to give back to Nathaniel when the Weasleys' debts rose dramatically. Nathaniel yet again refused Rafe's help, blowing up at the Malfoys for being underhanded and cruel. Nathaniel's youngest son married into the Potter family, and recieved a rather generous dowry. The Weasleys paid off their debts and moved into the Burrow, where they've lived ever since. The Malfoys were blamed for everything, simply because they now owned the Weasley lands. Thus, the fued began, springing up every couple of generations."
Harry stared at the other teen, shock written on his features. "How could Nathaniel be so stupid? Rafe was just trying to help him out!"
"Yes, well we all know the pigheadedness of the Weasleys. And we Malfoys do have a problem of holding grudges, so the fued has continued even to this day. My bastard of a father took great pleasure in hating Mr. Weasley." Draco looked almost-sad, his silver eyes shadowed.
A few moments later, Harry frowned. "Wait. So Ron's actually my distant cousin?"
"Yeah, but most pureblood are related somehow. In fact, an ancestor of mine married one of your ancestors back in the seventeen hundreds. Actually. . .I think the Potters and Malfoys have been inter-marrying for centuries. Must be something that just attracts them, because I know for a fact all those marriages were for love, not just because they were good matches." The blond looked contemplative, a hand absent-mindedly rubbing his stomach.
Harry could agree with that. He was attracted to Malfoy like a moth was attracted to flame. "Isn't that incest to be marrying each other so often?"
Draco shook his head. "Nope. As long as you're at least a few generations apart, it's okay. And that's why purebloods have been marrying half-bloods every couple of generations."
The Gryffindor pretended to gasp. "You mean you're not really pureblood?!"
"It's impossible to be completely pureblood nowadays. Although, my family is the purest, closely followed by the Longbottoms, the Blacks, and the Potters. Unfortunately, you and Neville are the last of your family."
Harry shook his head, placing a hand over Draco's hand, where it rubbed his belly. "There are two more Potters."
A soft smile curved Draco's lips. "Malfoy-Potters."
Harry lifted an eyebrow. "Don't you mean Potter-Malfoys?"
"No, I don't. Malfoy-Potter sounds so much better," Draco said, jerking his head in an arrogant manner that was clearly fake.
The raven-haired boy pretended to think for a moment. "How about one be Potter-Malfoy and the other be Malfoy-Potter."
Draco laughed at the absurdity of their conversation. Picking the last names of their kids as if were something gravely important? Hilarious! "Fine by me."
They shared a moment of laughter before they realized they'd be late for Advanced Charms. And since they couldn't run. . .well, lets just say there were a few minutes tardy for that class.
Strolling in as if they didn't have a care in the world, they took seats at the back of the room and amazingly managed to sit down unnoticed. But considering this was Professor Flitwick, it wasn't such a big surprise. He was a bit absent-minded and not just a little vision-impaired.
At this moment, he was instructing the class on what they'd be doing today. ". . .and you'll be using a combination of Accio and Lumos, which will cause a burst of flame to appear at the tip of your wand and you can use to shoot at someone. You will not shoot the flame, but will say Accio Nox to cause it to disappear. Begin."
Interesting. Harry just knew there was going to be chaos, even if this was the Advanced class. Neville was in it, having passed the theory exam with flying colors in fifth year and managing to just pass the practical exam. Thanks to Hermione, Neville was in a class where he could do a lot of damage if he wasn't careful. And since he wasn't a whiz with wandwork. . .uh oh. . .
Having read most of the Charms book over the summer in his boredom, Harry knew exactly what to do, in theory. But it shouldn't be that hard to actually perform, since he was exceptional with wandwork.
He mastered it within five minutes, Draco taking only a minute longer. They played with the little balls of flame after that, having fun, until halfway through the class. That was when Harry saw a ball of fire hurtling towards Draco from the corner of his eye. With amazing reflexed due to his years as Gryffindor Seeker, he stepped in front of the blond and shouted, "Accio Nox!"
The entire class froze, staring at him with awe in their eyes. Ron, who'd "accidentally" shot the flame, looked like he was about to faint.
Curious as to why they looked like he were some freak, Harry turned to Draco with questioning eyes. Draco didn't looked awed or surprised, merely knowing. "I knew you could do it."
"Do what?"
Draco pointed to his hand, which was currently empty of a wand. Harry's jaw dropped open in shock. "How'd I do that?"
"Wandless magic. Surely you've heard of that ability?"
"Yes, but it's impossibly rare!"
The silver-eyed boy smiled sardonically. "And isn't your very continued existence rare?You should've died when you were a baby, but you didn't. You shouldn't have been able to defeat the Dark Lord five times since then, but you did. It's entirely plausible that you have this rare ability."
"Although. . ." Draco continued, a strange glint in his eyes. He raised his own wandless hand and a ball of flame suddenly appeared. And then as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared.
Gasps were heard throughout the room, and Harry gaped. "But you didn't say anything!"
The other teen smirked, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "With wandless magic, you don't need to. When you use a wand, you say the words to cause your inner magic to spill into the wand, your focus. But wandless magic uses your own body as the focus, and therefore the magic is already in the focus. You only need to think the spell and it is cast."
A considering look appeared on the Boy-Who-Lived's face. He turned towards a certain redheaded teen and suddenly Ron was the size of a midget. Midget Ron instantly began yelling in a squeaky voice, shaking his stubby fist at Harry.
The entire class burst into laughter, except for the teacher, although he did have a small grin on his wizened face. Even Hermione couldn't contain her amusement at seeing her boyfriend four feet tall.
"You change me back right now!" midget Ron yelled, his eyes blazing with fury.
Harry lifted his hands in a helpless manner. "Sorry. I don't know the counter-spell. And besides, you look good this way. It suits how low you've been acting lately."
Professor Flitwick interrupted any retort Ron would've made. "Mr. Potter, I believe you and Mr. Malfoy need to see the Headmaster now. Professor Dumbledore needs to be apprised of this latest development in your abilities."
Everyone noticed how the teacher didn't mention any punishment, and both Harry and Draco saw his eyes flick to their robed bellies. They were stunned that he knew, since Dumbledore was trying to keep their conditions a secret. This was something they were going to bring up with him immediately.
They strode out of the class and headed towards the Headmaster's office. It took them only a few minutes since the Charms classroom wasn't that far away. Luckily, the password was still the same, and they climbed the stone stairs to enter the cluttered office.
Dumbledore was sitting at his desk enjoying a cup of tea, when the two boys entered. He looked up in surprise and immediately motioned for them to sit down.
"What brings you to see me when you should be in Advanced Charms? Did you happen to cause any trouble?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling brightly.
Harry sat down in one of the comfortable chairs and said, "It appears that I can do wandless magic. Draco can, too. Ron's a midget. And why does Flitwick know we're pregnant?"
If Albus Dumbledore were anyone other than Albus Dumbledore, he would've been confused by how fast Harry jumped from topic to topic. But luckily, he was the great Albus Dumbledore and understood exactly what the boy was saying.
"Now, who turned Ron into a midget? You or Draco?" He only needed one point clarified, and then he'd know everything.
Harry crossed his arms. "I did. He's been acting like a jerk and I thought he needed to be brought down to size."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled even more brightly. "A clever trick. Well done, although I do think Mr. Weasley will have to be turned back sooner or later."
Both boys frowned at this. Harry asked, "Will I get in trouble?"
"Oh no, dear boy. It hasn't harmed him, and since I surmise Professor Flitwick sent you here without any punishment in mind, I'll just let it slide as being a mood swing."
Boy, was their Headmaster devious. Could he have been in Slytherin when he went to school? He certainly had some of the qualities of a good Slytherin.
"Now, I know you're curious as to how dear Flitwick knows. Well, I was having some trouble coming up with a safe concealing charm and had to go to him for help. I had to tell him of your conditions for him to be able to find the charm. Don't worry, he won't tell anyone. He's quite reliable in keeping secrets."
Harry and Draco sighed in relief. And then Dumbledore said, "Concerning your wandless magic, I do believe you'll have to work on it. It is a hard magic to master, and will take a lot of concentration and study. It will be a great asset in the war if mastered, and so I must ask you to practice for an hour a day after supper."
They groaned. An entire hour every day? It was crazy! But neither could disagree that it was something that needed to be mastered. Harry had just learned he could do it, and Draco could only do the basic spells. Imagine if they could do almost any spell instantly. . .why they'd be amazingly powerful!
They left the Headmaster's office a few minutes later, glad that it was now lunch time. Both were practically starving, having not eaten breakfast because of that stupid scene Ron had caused with his confessions to The Daily Prophet.
Entering the Great Hall, Harry did something unexpected. He grabbed ahold of Draco's arm and dragged him over to the Gryffindor table. He sat them between Hermione and Neville, with Draco sitting next to the shocked boy.
"Potter, are you nutters?" Draco hissed, glaring at the raven-haired teen.
Harry ignored him, turning to Hermione and asking her to pass the mayonnaise for his salami and cheese sandwich. She handed it to him, a speculating look in her brown eyes.
"It's a good thing Ron's in the infirmary right now," she told him conversationally after taking a sip of apple cider.
Draco had stopped his grumbling by now and was cutting up his turkey club. "You mean he's getting fixed already?"
Harry snorted with laughter at the sound of disappointment in the Slytherin's voice.
Hermione looked disapprovingly at the both of them. "It wasn't a very nice thing to turn him into a midget."
"You were laughing along with the rest of us when it happened," Harry pointed out.
She looked disgruntled to be reminded of that fact. Ron was mad at her enough for disapproving of his bad behavior. And now having laughed at him? He was furious!
"I still think there should be another way to solve this rift between you. Pulling stupid stunts on each other isn't going to help things."
Harry lifted an eyebrow in a manner that reminded her of the blond-haired boy sitting next to him. "It's his fault for involving me in a feud that I won't take any part in anymore! It's ridiculous, the way he hates Draco. Draco hadn't done anything to Ron since last year and has proved he's not a Death Eater! And still Ron won't get over his stupid prejudices and realize that Draco isn't like his bastard of a father."
"I'm right here, you know," Draco murmured, looking pointedly at the emerald-eyed Gryffindor.
Harry glared at him. "Did I happen to say anything bad about you? No, so you can be quiet and eat you food. Hell, you need the nourishment."
Draco poked his ribs with his finger. "And you don't?"
Hermione was watching their interaction with amazement. Were they actually arguing without any hint of violence? And she agreed with Draco that Harry did need nourishment, too. "Harry, he's right. You need to eat."
Only Draco heard the mumbled words Harry said next, and he grinned. "What, are you trying to make me fatter than I already am? Ugh!"
Draco thought that was highly amusing. Funny that it was the scruffy Gryffindor who was already getting obsessively concerned about his weight gain, instead of the vain Slytherin. And Draco knew he was vain. Looking good was not a sin and he prided himself on looking his best at all times.
"Potter, there's no way you're going to get fat by eating a few sandwiches."
The other boy only glared balefully at him. "Shows how much you know."
But contradicting his words, Harry lifted his sandwich to his mouth and took a generous bite. This caused both Hermione and Draco to burst out in laughter, and caused Harry to glare even harder. "I 'on't fink vis id fuddy."
They only laughed harder. It was kind of hard to take someone seriously when they were talking around a mouthful of food.
Seamus Finnigan, who'd been watching this with a grin on his face, just had to put his two cents in. "So, how much weight do you think that bite's going to add?"
Suffice to say, lunch at the Gryffindor table was an affair that involved one disgruntled Boy-Who-Lived and several laughing seventh years.
Phew. This chapter was hard to write! I had half of it written a couple of weeks ago, forgot about it, and hated most of what I had written. I then deleted half of it and decided to rewrite the chapter in an entirely new direction. It's not my goal to break up Harry and Ron's friendship forever, so I had to change a few things. Luckily, everything turned out great and I even have an idea for the next chapter!
You guys are lucky school was cancelled today because the road my school's on is broken as a result of the flooding we got from remnants of Hurrican Ivan. I'm happy school got cancelled. More time to do my homework and more time to write! See, I wouldn't have gotten this chapter updated if I hadn't had the three and half hours this afternoon to write it. Lucky me and lucky you.
Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! Quite a few were really encouraging and I hated not updating sooner. See, good reviews make me feel guilty about when I update, so here's a little tip: reviewauthor's guiltupdates. So, review this lovely chapter and I'll have another chapter up soon!
Music I listened to while writing: Papa Roach; Getting Away With Murder (awesome cd)
Roslyn Drycof.