Title: The Potter-boy Problem
Author: Roslyn Drycof
Chapter: Nine: Out For Blood
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 three weeks were hellish for Harry. Ron was taking Harry and Draco's relationship badly, taking it personally. He was acting worse than fourth year, much worse. He purposely tried to exclude Harry from any activity he was involved in. He blatantly ignored Harry during meals. He tried to sabotage Harry and Draco's work in Potions, although he never succeeded. He insulted Harry in the hallways as much as he insulted Draco. It was pure hell.
Ron's behavior was taking its toll on the emerald-eyed boy, and he could be seen crying himself to sleep at night several times. The other boys in their dorm room weren't oblivious to this, but they knew they couldn't get involved. This was between Harry and Ron.
One Wednesday morning, Harry woke up to the sound of Neville snoring and Ron muttering in his sleep. It was six A.M., but he couldn't sleep any longer. He blinked groggily at the light streaming in through the window and grimaced. Awkwardly, he used his hands to propel himself into a sitting position. Only four months along, and he was already getting ungainly. He hated it.
Cursing Voldemort, as was his habit every time he had to akwardly move, he slid out of bed. He winced at the cold floorboards beneath his feet. Almost immediately, he noticed that everyone was still deep asleep. Walking across the room, he looked down at Ron as the redhead slept on. He looked so innocent, normal, when he was asleep. It was only then that Harry could imagine him when they used to be best friends.
Why is he so blind? We're supposed to be friends, helping each other through thick and thin! And here I am, going through one of the most tumultous experiences in my whole life, and he's not there. It's just not fair!
Cynically, he knew that life was always unfair. It was a fact of the universe. But it hurt so much sometimes, to know that you were alone and the one person you thought you could depend on hated you. Yes, he knew he had Draco. But it wasn't enough. Without his best friend in the entire world, he felt broken. . .empty.
He felt a tear a lone tear escape from his left eye and turned away. Hating himself for crying so much lately, he roughly brushed the salty droplet away with the sleeve of his pajamas. But it was no use. Even as he blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay, water dripped down his face in unceasing torrents.
Anger burned in his emerald eyes, warring with the sadness. His movements jerky, he stormed over to his trunk of clothes and quickly dragged on some clothes. He shoved his arms into the sleeves of his Gryffindor robe, not bothering to clasp the front of it shut. After jamming his feet into his shoes, he stalked out of the dorm room.
He was still crying.
His feet carried him to the Room of Requirement. He paced the three lengths, concentrating on just a place to be comfortable. Entering the room, he saw a sofa bed placed in front of a warm fire. It would do.
Harry gritted his teeth together and threw himself on the sofa bed. His head propped up by the arm of the couch, he stared up at the black ceiling. The entire room was done in colors of black and crimson. It fitted his mood perfectly.
Closing his eyes, he swallowed harshly. The tears still hadn't stopped. His face was wet with them, shining translucently in the glow of the fire. Choking sobs began to wrench themselves from deep inside of him.
So deep was he caught up in his misery, he didn't notice someone entering the room and softly making their way towards him. Only when a gentle hand was placed on his stomach and a supporting arm wrapped around his shuddering body, did he realize that Draco was there.
He opened his tear-stained eyes to stare into the silvery eyes of the one person who understood him. Wetness clumped his eyelashes together and he couldn't see Draco's aristocratic features clearly. Angry that he was being weak yet again, he wiped a hand across his eyes.
Draco stood there with a sympathetic look on his face, compassion shining in his grey eyes. It was a look that would never have graced the proud Malfoy's features the year before.
"You're tearing yourself up inside. It hurts to see you this way," the blond whispered, his forehead furrowed in worry.
Harry scowled at him while burrowing deeper into the Slytherin's embrace. "Ron's taking this too far! And my hormones are going out of whack! I hate it! I hate everything about this stupid pregnancy!"
Draco knew Harry was just upset, but it hurt to hear him say that. Did he hate him and the babies too?
The raven-haired teen wanted to smack himself when he felt Draco go stiff. He saw the pain shadowing his silver eyes and cursed himself. "I didn't mean it like that, Draco. I'm just. . .I don't know. Everything's just gone way out of control and I don't know what to do!"
A small smile curved Draco's lips. "I understand. Everything's just getting so complicated and there's nothing we can do about it."
Harry nodded, reaching out a hand to clasp the one Draco had on his belly. A shock went through him and he froze. The touch had gone instantly to his groin, and one look into the other boy's eyes confirmed that he wasn't alone in feeling that.
"What the hell?" he whispered, confusion clouding his emerald eyes as he felt blood rush to a certain part of his anatomy.
Remembering the books they'd read a few weeks ago, Draco let out a short bark of laughter. "Great. Just great. To complicate things even more, we're now super-horny for the next few months."
Aw hell. Harry groaned as he realized what Draco meant. He gripped the blond's hand tighter and tried to block the pleasurable sensations that caused. Even more blood made it's way to his groin. And he could feel that Draco wasn't unaffected either, if his prominent arousal was an indication.
He looked into silver eyes and bit his lip at the lust he saw there, mirrored, he knew, in his own emerald eyes. As if magnetically attracted, their mouths closed the distance between them and locked into a kiss. It was the best kiss ever, magnified by the extreme sensitivity their hormones was creating in their nerves.
Fire raced through Harry's veins and he saw stars. Almost frantically, he grabbed ahold of the other boy's robe and pulled him closer. They became perfectly aligned, legs to legs, chest to chest, and rounded belly to rounded belly. The contact was heaven.
Their thoughts were exactly mirrored. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. . .
Both boys woke up nestled in each other's arms at nine o'clock. Satisfaction thrummed in their veins and they felt like they were home. . .a place they'd never been familiar with.
And then they noticed the time. As hurriedly as their burgeoning forms would let them, they scrambled to get dressed. Hell, they didn't want to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts! It was their favorite class, and one of the three classes they shared.
Their stomachs complained about missing breakfast, but they staunchly ignored the protesting grumbles. What if Professor Lupin was teaching something fun?
Class had already started when they stumbled to a stop in front of the thick door to the DADA classroom. Opening the door as quietly as was possible, Harry gingerly stepped into the room, followed closely by Draco.
Lupin looked up almost instantly, his werewolf and teacher's instincts sensing the two boys entering the room five minutes late. Seeing their ruffled appearance, he could take a guess at what they'd been doing. Normally, he would've taken points off. But seeing Harry's red-rimmed eyes and Malfoy's protective scowl, the werewolf knew he couldn't do that.
He motioned for the boys to take the last two seats, in the front of the room, and resumed speaking. "The proper shielding can save your life in a sticky situation. Today we will be working on the Protectus shield, a spell that creates an invisible barrier in front of you to block minor hexes and curses. We will be moving onto more complex shielding later this term. This lesson, however, you will partner up to practice using Protectus as your partner throws minor, and only minor, hexes at each other. Anything above second year hexes is prohibited and will result in major point loss and multiple detentions, based on the hex used. Begin."
Their were numerous groans from the Slytherins in the class. Clearly, they'd wanted to use advanced hexes.
Harry and Draco looked at each other with worried eyes. Practicing shielding against hexes was not a good thing. What if a stray curse hit one of them? It could have terrible results!
Moving to a corner of the room, they stood facing each other, sans wands. They'd been practicing wandless magic and thought it would be more appropriate to learn things this way so they didn't have to learn it twice.
Draco was the first to practice upon Harry. "Stupefy!"
It was a safe, simple spell, and wouldn't have harmed Harry. But the raven-haired teen managed to cast a perfect Protectus shield, causing the spell to bounce off and be absorbed by the stone wall.
They practiced like this for several minutes, gradually advancing the curses to ones they'd learned at the end of second year. Unlike the rest of the class, they were able to block each one. Both were strong wizards, and had an instinct for reading their opponent. Any minute changes in the power level of the spells was immediately caught and their shields held the proper amount of strength. No excess energy was used, an important skill when in a real duel and a person had to conserve as much energy as possible.
Suddenly, a scene like the one in charms class a few weeks before occured. A stray spell zoomed across the room. But unlike before, neither boy noticed it until it was too late. Too busy concentrating on each other, they didn't catch the beam of light heading straight towards Draco. The red colored curse slammed into his middle and he immediately collapsed to his knees, a pained look twisting his pale features.
Pansy Parkinson was the caster this time. A false look of shock was on her face as she pretended to have not thrown that curse at him on purpose. But anyone who didn't have the intelligence of a flobberworm could tell she was guilty.
Draco bit his lip to keep from crying out as a fiery pain stabbed at his belly. Tears gathered in his eyes and he clutched a hand to his stomach. His baby!
Harry had frozen to his spot when he'd seen Draco fall to the ground. Terror filled him as he saw the Slytherin bravely try to hold back a shout of pain. But when he saw the blond-haired boy clutch at his belly, he was propelled into action.
"Remus, get Snape!" he yelled, going down to his knees beside the pain-wracked teen.
The professor was puzzled that Harry wanted Snape, but he knew something was odd about the situation. Miss Parkinson had cast a minor curse that simply caused a short stab of pain where it hit. Mr. Malfoy's reaction was entirely unexpected, and the terrified of the two boys' faces was frightening. Something was going on with them, and if they wanted Snape, they'd get him.
Remus took no time in ordering the class to stay exactly where they were and hurrying towards the Potions classroom. Severus was teaching a fifth year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff class and didn't look happy to be interrupted. But when he told him, "A stray curse hit the Malfoy boy, and Harry sent me for you," the oily-haired man's reaction was swift.
Anger burned in his coal-black eyes and he stalked out of the Potions' room without a word to the bewildered students he left behind. His strides long, he asked derisively, "How in the blazes could you let a student come to harm?!"
Remus was surprised at the underlying fear in the other man's voice. "We were practicing shielding. Miss Parkinson hit him with a minor curse that only causes a slight stabbing of pain, nothing extraordinary. It shouldn't have hurt Mr. Malfoy the way it did."
Severus could hardly contain his anger and he let something slip that he shouldn't have. "He's bloody four months pregnant, of course if would harm him if it hit his abdomen!"
This caused the werewolf to gasp in disbelief. A student pregnant? A male student? How was this possible, unless a complex and shady potion had been used? He didn't think that the boy would've done that on purpose.
Harry sat on the floor of the DADA classroom, Draco enclosed in his arms. The blond Slytherin was putting on a brave face, but any idiot knew that he was in extreme pain. A pale hand still gripped his belly and his eyes were shadowed darkly by the strain of the agonizing spasms taking ahold of him.
"Please. . .I can't lose it," Draco whispered brokenly to the emerald-eyed boy holding him.
Harry gulped convulsively and grabbed Draco's free hand. "You won't! I promise."
But they both knew there was every possibility that he could lose the child nestled inside of him. The pains gripping his belly were testament to that.
The rest of the class stared at them, bewildered curiosity burning in their eyes. Something strange was going on with the two of them. Why were they acting like Draco was dying?
Ron stared at his enemy and ex-best friend with puzzlement. Harry really did seem to care for the git. But how was this possible? How could Harry genuinely care for the prat who'd made their lives hell for years? Yeah, Malfoy hadn't been anywhere near as bad for a long time. But a snake couldn't change its colors just like that, could it?
Snape and Lupin burst through the open doorway at just that moment, startling everyone. The two professors instantly made their way over to the two teenagers on the floor.
So that the class couldn't hear, Snape ordered the raven-haired teen to stand up and let him put Draco into a body bind. Harry instantly refused, clutching the silver-eyed boy protectively. "I'll carry him."
Snape growled at him, "And strain yourself? Are you a bloody fool?"
Remus was shocked. Harry too?
Harry slowly got to his feet, the slender teen cradled in his arms. "Maybe, but I'm not letting go of him."
The Potions Professor felt anger course through him. The bloody Gryffindor! There was no other recourse, so he pulled out his wand and put them into a body bind.
Harry immediately started shouting profanities. "You evil git! Let me go! I can carry him just fine, you fuckwit of a man!"
Severus merely raised an eyebrow, motioning his wand towards the door. The two boys floated in that direction. "I don't think so, Potter. I am not risking both of you."
With that, he exited behind the levitating boys and headed towards his private quarters.
Remus was left with a class full of seventh years with burning questions. Nevermind that he had his own questions! Scowling slightly at the departure of the greasy git, he turned to his students and inwardly grimaced.
"Back to work. Miss Parkinson, thirty points from Slytherin and a detention with Filch tomorrow night at eight for such inadequacy at aiming a wand properly."
The pug-faced girl dropped her mouth open, horrified. Her, a detention? The stupid werewold was acting just like Professor Snape did to the Gryffindors! How dare he?!
"You'll be hearing from my father about this!" she screeched, crossing her arms angrily.
He simply frowned at her. He didn't have time for brats who thought they could get away with anything. "I don't think so, Miss Parkinson. Have a seat. You've just lost a whole letter grade. Nott, find another partner."
She flounced off to her seat, a dark glare burning in her blue eyes. Remus sighed. Another Death Eater in the making. . .
Professor Snape released Potter and Draco from the body bind once he had them levitatin over his king-sized bed. He would've preferred to put them somewhere else, but the infirmary was out of the question and they both lived in dorm rooms with very little privacy.
Harry instantly cradled the still pain-filled Draco against him, leaning against the headboard.
"Mr. Potter, I need to take a look at him."
The dratted boy didn't move an inch, only glaring at him with eyes filled with emerald fire.
"Mr. Potter! Move!"
"Sev. . .just do it. He doesn't. . .need to move," Draco said through clenched teeth.
The Potions master sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get Potter to move. And he needed to help Draco as soon as possible if the baby had any hope of being saved.
Briskly, he leaned over the bed and pushed aside Draco's robe and shirt. The boy's rounded stomach was peculiar to look at since it obviously didn't belong on the male form, but he shoved aside that thought. Gently, he probed the small mound with his fingers, checking to see if things looked okay physically. Everything seemed fine, except the boy's belly kept spasming.
He straightened and took out his wand. Pointing it at the boy, he muttered a few words and frowned as he gazed at the golden runes that appeared. There was nothing at all wrong with the child healthwise, but the child seemed to be giving off a large amount of fear and anger.
Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. Of course! The child was of wizarding blood, and had two exceptionally strong wizards for parents. It had extremely strong magic, and was reacting magically to the curse it's "mother" had been hit with.
"The child is reacting adversely to the curse. It thinks it is in danger and is angry and scared. It has to be calmed down."
"How?" Potter asked, worry furrowing his brow.
"Place you hands on Draco's belly and send feelings of comfort to it," Snape explained condescendingly, as if he should already know how.
Frowning, Harry placed his hands over the warm mound that was Draco's stomach and closed his eyes. He concentrated on feelings of safety and comfort and mentally pushed them towards the child. Almost instantly there was an effect in Draco. The pain dissipated and he relaxed in the Gryffindor's arms.
Harry opened his eyes and looked down at the blond cradled in his arms. A smile curved his lips when he saw that Draco wasn't in any more pain. Phew, he'd scared him!
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, brushing aside a tendril of silver-blond hair.
Draco nodded, pushing himself up. "I'm going to kill Parkinson for that."
If if hadn't been Harry Potter and Severus Snape in the room with him when he said that, there would've been gasps of shock and horror. Instead, Harry's eyes shone darkly with agreement and Snape merely shook his head with bemusement. Trust his godson to be so bloodthirsty.
And it wasn't hormones causing Draco and Harry to be out for blood. No one crossed a Potter or a Malfoy and got away with it. . .especially if someone threatened someone or something precious to them. No one. . .
Finally, Chapter Nine is done. I thought I'd never get it updated, I've been so busy lately. And what with updating other stories and everything, I just couldn't get this chapter done. I'm sorry you guys had to wait so long! Anything over three weeks is too long.
Yes, this chapter had a lot of angst in it, yet again. I don't mean to make them go through so much, but it's an integral part of the story. Don't worry, some lightness will be happening soon. Maybe involving Seamus and Dean. . .oh, and don't forget about Fred and George. And yeah, Harry's idea about a secret organization will show up. He just didn't get around to it yet because of Ron's crappy behavior towards him and his wild emotions. Don't fret, this story does have a plot! I've just needed to put some filler in to play into the story later.
Thank you for all the great reviews of last chapter! I'm sorry I don't have the time to write out replies to your reviews, but I'd never be able to update if I responded to them all. I do appreciate everyone's enthusiastic responses, though! Maybe I'll find the time to put in something dedicated to the reviewers who've supported this story the most since the beginning when I do the final chapter, however far away that will be. Anyway, thanks and please review!
Music I listened to while writing: Linkin Park; Meteora, Papa Roach; Getting Away With Murder, Flaw; Endangered Species
Roslyn Drycof.