A/N: First off, thanks to my reviewers:
Eric2: Thanks for the comment! I am a slave to reviews! Let me tell you, marriage is all about commitment...
Spacecatdet: Yeah, I look forward to seeing how it develops too, because honestly I have no idea what all is going to happen, haha. Because that's what it means to love a man so much...
DreamingFantasies: Yay Megan! You better be thanking me, haha. I don't remember you ever reading the original Cantata, but I'll take your word for it haha. You know what, it's Walter now.
Zhemshug: Yeah, I noticed it was a new idea, which is hard to come by in HP fanfiction. I actually wrote this plot for AFI, but I decided to switch it over. Hope you like it! Take her to 21,000 leagues! Why? Because it's more fantastical.
Lil JL: Yeah, well I am a slow updater so...don't hold your breath. I am about to take off for a month in Boston, so it'll be awhile before the next update. I'm glad you like it! That was violent...I blame the sea.
dillydaddle2: Thanks! I love being told I'm unique...I mean my stories are unique. Now make a fire with these eels...but be quiet...because we're underwater.
Anyways, I am leaving for Boston the 24th, and I'll be gone for a month so don't expect any updates for awhile...sorry! The more reviews you leave the faster I'll update once I'm back!
"Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right.." –the Beatles
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter related.
Eight Days a Week
Chapter 2
"Harry? Can you hear me, buddy?" a voice above him said gently. A second later he felt a hand placed on his upper arm.
Opening his eyes, Harry's vision came with a blur. He tried to sit up, but found he was wrapped up in a cocoon of warm blankets, the top one being a large, fuzzy pink one. A figure then moved to replace his glasses, incoherently mumbling things.
"Draco?" he asked shakily once he saw his friend come into focus. Shaking his head and realizing he was in their master bedroom, he continued, "What am I doing here?"
"You stumbled about here early afternoon two days ago, remember?" Megan asked, appearing at Draco's side. She looked exhausted and harassed, and with her only a little ways off of her due date, he could understand why.
Why did I come over then? Harry asked himself. I don't remember...wait. Ugh, I feel terrible. My head feels like it's going to explode. And I'm so cold. I'm not sure about this pink blanket though. Wait...wait. The lake! I was at the lake, and I rescued that little girl!
"Draco! The girl! Where is she?" Harry started rambling off. "Is she alright?"
"Calm down, Harry, she's fine. She recovered quickly, woke up yesterday," Draco said, his eyes and voice soft. "The healer really helped you two. When you first brought her in, I didn't think she'd make it, but then she woke up yesterday and was all go. She was even running around last night."
Harry studied Draco and Megan's faces, and saw they were both holding back big smiles. Just then a loud bang was heard from the front part of their apartment. Megan finally let go of the smile and just shook her head as he moved off that way.
"Is she here?" Harry asked. Draco nodded and smiled wider.
"She's quite the little spark," he said. He hesitantly started again, "Harry, who is she? Do you know her in anyway? Yesterday I didn't know what to tell the healer, so I said she was Megan's niece. He would have taken her away if I hadn't lied...I was so distraught when I saw you. I thought that you might just keel over right there. And you wouldn't let go of her! It took me the whole fifteen minutes before the healer got here to get her out of your arms..."
"I don't know who she is," Harry stated sighing. "I saw her in that lake and pulled her out...I didn't even see her before then. I looked for her parents or any adults around then, but I didn't see anyone. I was so tired I guess I didn't really think much about it. Has anyone...been looking for her or anything?"
"Today I went down to the muggle police station and looked at the missing children's cases, but I didn't see anything that matched her," Draco said solemnly. "I didn't tell the police we had her, but we better do something quickly. I don't want to be accused of anything."
"Didn't she say anything about her parents?" Harry asked confused.
"No, whenever Meg tried to ask her about her parents she wouldn't answer," Draco sighed. "It took us a while to get her to talk to us at all."
"Maybe she doesn't have any..." Harry wondered out loud.
A loud squeal and then some high pitched screaming interrupted their talk. Harry watched as Draco laughed and ran a hand through his hair.
"She's a really sweet little girl," Draco mumbled more to himself.
"I want to get up," Harry demanded. "I want to see her."
"Harry," Draco said cautiously, "your immune system didn't take all the potions that the healer gave you that well. I couldn't get any food down you; at least, it wouldn't stay down. I think it'd be better if you stayed in bed for a day more-"
"Draco, I'm fine-" Harry started.
"Before you argue, let me propose this," Draco insisted. His eyes had gone back to their normal coldness. "You stay in bed till tomorrow morning, and I'll bring her in here. She already knows that you were the one to save her, and we've been telling her all about you all day. She is a muggle, however, so we had to keep some things mum. I've never been so glad to live in a muggle apartment. We only had to change a few things so she wouldn't get too suspicious. Anyways, how does that sound?"
Harry looked at Draco and smiled. He was so glad he had been there to help him out. Harry nodded and Draco gave him one last smiled before getting off the edge of the bed. He turned to leave the room before Harry stopped him.
"Draco, wait! What am I – I mean..." Harry stammered. He looked down at the blankets, still embarrassed by the pink one, and mumbled to himself.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Well, what do I say to her?"
Draco laughed and shook his head. He met Harry's gaze briefly before walking out the door. Harry quickly started to run his hand through his overgrown hair and began fidgeting with his glasses. It wasn't a minute after Draco had left when there was a knock on the door. The door creaked open again a bit, but no one appeared.
"Go on in, honey," Harry could hear a voice say sweetly. He sneered when he realized it was Draco's. "Don't be shy because I know you aren't.
A few seconds later Harry could see a small figure enter the room. It was only then that he realized how dark it was in the room, so after struggling a bit with the covers he turned on a small lamp next to the bed. He smiled as he could finally see her better.
"Hi," she breathed quietly. Harry smirked at this, remembering how she had been screaming a few moments ago.
"Hello," Harry said, trying to sound confident and friendly at the same time. "Would you like to sit up here with me?"
After seeing her nod, he watched as she came closer to the bed before trying to climb on up. Harry weaseled his way out of the blankets even more before he reached down and picked her up. He placed her close to him, but not too close, and tried to smile as big as possible.
She was just too cute, Harry decided. She was so small it was adorable, and for the first time Harry could see her eyes. They were a soft brown, with a ring of gold around the pupil. She was wearing one of Meg's old pink shirts, which he remembered she had been complaining about because it had shrunk in the wash. Shrunk or not, the shirt was still too big on her, and she practically drowned in it. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in braided pigtails and decorated with different colored ribbons.
"I'm Harry, what's your name?" he asked after realizing how long he'd been staring at her, putting her in a nervous state.
"I'm Brody!" she said excitedly. "You're Harry! You're the one who saved me!"
"Yeah, that's right," Harry laughed.
"You have messy hair!" Brody observed.
Well that came out of nowhere, Harry thought chuckling.
"Well, it's bed hair. I've been sleeping for a long time."
"Megan said you always have messy hair."
"Did she now?"
"Yep."
She's so cute! Harry thought. If only every kid was as cute as her. Look at her; she can't sit still for one second.
"Brody, how old are you sweetie?" Harry asked. He watched her as her eyes studied him without any hesitation.
"I'm almost six!" Brody said. She crawled closer to Harry and grabbed one of his arms and placed both of her hands around it, as if sizing up the muscle there. "Why? How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-one," Harry said softly. He was almost in a daze as he watched Brody study his arm and hand.
"You're old!"
That's it, Harry, you're sold. He thought to himself. You're going to get yourself too attached. Going to? You are already too attached. But look at her...she's so cute! Stop it, Harry. She's got parents somewhere...speaking of which...
"Brody, where are your parents?" Harry asked. She was practically in his lap now, but all she gave him for an answer was a confused look.
Okay, wrong question.
"Who are your parents, honey?"
Honey? First sweetie, now honey. I never even had a girlfriend I called that, Harry mused.
"I don't know," Brody said, not even saddened or modest about it. "I don't think I have any."
"Where do you live then?" Harry asked as he cautiously reached out and stroked her hair.
She's so small! Oh, stop that Potter. She's not even going to be around that long.
"With Bill!" Brody said waving around her hands. "I live with a bunch of other kids. They aren't my brothers or sisters though. I don't have any of those. But we all live in a big building! It's really old though!"
"Do you live in an orphanage?" Harry asked frowning.
If she is an orphan, I'm surprised no one has adopted her yet. I would – Wait. I would? I'm Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. I'm not parent material anyway. I'm just not.
"They call it a home," Brody said. "Drake-o said this was a home too. Can I live here?"
"Oh, honey, it's not the same thing," Harry said guiltily. "You live in a different kind of home. A special kind of home...Brody, you said something about Bill. Tell me about Bill."
"Bill takes care of us! He says he's the boss, but I'm the princess! It's because I'm the only girl. I like Bill. He makes us laugh," Brody said.
This whole time I don't think she has stopped smiling once...
Just then Draco poked his head inside the room and smiled at the two on the bed. Brody was officially just plain sitting in Harry's lap now, and he had done his best to wrap the pink blanket around them both.
"Brody, why don't you go help Meg for a second alright?" Draco asked stepping into the room.
"But I wanna stay with Har-ray!" Brody said leeching onto Harry's arm and bouncing up and down.
"You know, I think I'm going to call you Live Wire from now on," Harry joked. She started to climb on top of his shoulder, and he simply helped give her a boost up.
"Megan's making cupcakes, Brody," Draco stated. He could have sworn Brody's ears physically picked up at that.
"Cupcakes! Yay!" Brody exclaimed as she clumsily jumped off Harry's shoulder and onto the floor. She hit the floor hard, making him wince, and then turned around and shouted at him. "C'mon Harry! Let's go get some cupcakes!"
"Go ahead, I'll be right out," Harry said. When she finally left the room he felt his smile fade, and he then realized that his mouth almost hurt from smiling so much around her.
"I'd say you two hit it off," Draco teased. "She wouldn't talk to me for a long time!"
"Yeah..." Harry smiled once again as he stared off at the door. "Look, I know I promised you I'd take an easy for another day, and I'll do just that, but I really want to get back to my own place. Besides, you guys had to put up with me long enough."
"Harry, it was fine," Draco assured him. "You're my best friend now. That's what I'm here for right?"
"Yeah, but it's time for me to leave," Harry continued. "Your wife is probably sick of me in her bed. Where did you guys sleep anyways?"
"On a spare mattress in the baby's room," Draco told him. "Fine, I'll help you back over to your apartment, but I'm coming over every other hour to check on you."
"Okay, okay," Harry said. He swiftly threw off all of the blankets for good and swung his legs off the bed. Draco moved to his side and threw an arm around him as he stood up.
"Wow," Harry muttered as he swayed on his feet. "I feel like shit."
Draco only laughed and helped him slowly make his way out of the apartment. As they entered the front of the apartment, which included the kitchen and living room, they were greeted with the sight of Megan and Brody sitting next to each other on stools at the bar eating their way through cupcakes.
"I thought kids were supposed to eat more sweets than adults," Brody retorted as she watched Megan reach for another cupcake.
"Not when you're seven months pregnant, honey," Megan said sweetly. "And where do you think you're going, Mr. Potter?"
"Home, thank you," Harry smirked. Megan looked like she was about to pursue the topic until a small voice piped up.
"Home? Am I going too?"
"Brody, honey, Harry isn't well-"
"Oh, Megan, it'll be fine. Of course you're coming with me!" Harry said smiling brightly at her. Brody practically then jumped off the stool and straight into his arms. He could only laugh and hold her tightly to himself.
"Fine," Megan huffed, "but if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask for help, Boy Who Lived or not-"
"Yes, yes, yes," Harry rolled his eyes. Placing Brody on his back so it'd be easier for him to walk with Draco's help, Harry stepped out of the door and back into the frigid weather.
"I think I'll take that blanket back, pink or not," Harry mumbled as he carefully stepped down onto the ground. Brody was holding on for dear life, and her small body produced much needed heat for Harry.
Luckily the trip was a short one, since Harry's apartment was in the building next to Draco's. When they finally reached Harry's door (going up the stairs was definitely harder than going down them Harry decided as they left him exhausted), Draco produced his key.
"Where'd you get that?" Harry asked. He had never given Draco a spare key, saying he could easily break in with a simple spell.
"It's interesting what you find at the bottom of a lake nowadays," Draco sneered as he opened the door and they all poured inside the small living space.
"You found my wand?!" Harry asked. He had completely forgotten about it after meeting a certain someone. Draco was however giving him a piercing look now.
"What wand?" Brody said innocently. "Har-ray, what wand? What does it do? Is it like a magic wand?"
"Hey Harry, how about you guys kick back and watch a movie?" Draco asked a little bit louder than the little girl.
"Yeah, that sounds good," Harry said nodding. "Brody, do you have a favorite movie?"
"Nope."
"Well, let's see what we have, hm?" Harry asked her as he carefully slipped her off his back. He lightly grabbed her hand and led her towards his TV, where a small cabinet full of movies was found close by.
"Let's see here," Harry quickly glanced over the titles, trying to find an appropriate movie. He had both magical movies as well as muggle movies, after all he couldn't just forget about those, not after being raised as a muggle for years. "Ice Age! Let's watch this one, okay?"
"Okay!" Brody said as she looked up at him with bright eyes. She had previously been standing there, tugging on her left ear nervously (something that reminded Harry of Nearly Headless Nick and school). Harry imagined she didn't get to experience a whole lot of movies at an orphanage.
Harry started the movie for her, then picked her up and set her on his couch. He grabbed a blanket that was hanging off the back of it and placed it over her before turning back to Draco. Once he made sure Brody was paying full attention to the movie he continued their conversation.
"My wand? Do you have it? Please say you do," Harry started rambling.
"Yes, yes, here it is," Draco pulled it out of one of his pockets and quickly placed it in Harry's hands, who then put it in his own pocket. "I'm glad you live like a muggle. Makes this a whole lot easier with her around."
"Yeah, I've got a few pictures I need to put away for awhile though," Harry said.
"What are you going to do with her now?"
"I'm going to do what you said. I'll rest up for another day then tomorrow I will take her to the local orphanage. They've got some explaining to do though. Like why a little girl was off by herself in the middle of December," Harry said angrily.
"I want to go with you tomorrow, alright? Someone has to make sure you keep your head and don't blow up anymore poor muggles."
"Poor muggles? Did a Malfoy just say poor muggles?"
"Shut up. Anyways, I better get back. Meg's water could break at any given moment."
"Drake, in case you forgot, she isn't due for another two months."
"Yeah, well, when it comes it could come at any time, so I figure I better train up for it now."
"Yeah, you do that."
"Yep."
"Yep."
With that Draco left him alone with a little five year old girl. Harry sighed. He decided to write Sirius about all this, even though he felt incredibly drained. He made it a quick letter, just briefing over what had happened. He quickly signed it off with an 'Oh, by the way, I'm taking care of the little girl right now. Love, Harry.'
He smiled knowing this would cause Sirius to have a fit. He would probably write back, extremely freaked out. By the time that happened though, Brody would probably be gone. This though left him saddened. He continued to walk back into the furthest room of his apartment and silently opened and closed the door behind him. It was a small washing room that he also kept his two owls in, Hedwig and Chihiro. He gave the letter to Chihiro, saying Hedwig was now a decade old and a little slow, and set her on her way (though she wasn't happy about having to leave through the small window in that particular room). He turned around to go check on Brody, but found her standing in the doorway, her eyes wide at the sight of Hedwig.
"Hey Brody," Harry said softly.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, obviously still gawking at the owl. "You left me alone and..."
"Come here," Harry said to her as he took Hedwig on his hand. She slowly made her way over and he then crouched down so Hedwig was right next to her. "You can pet her. Her name is Hedwig, and she's been my pet for many, many years."
Harry watched as Brody's small fingers stroked Hedwig's feathers. Every once in a while a small smile would break out on her face, but for the most part she was looking at her as if she was the porcelain ballerina that very girl wanted.
God, she is the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Harry once again found himself thinking. She's just too small and too cute. Look at her and Hedwig...I wish I could get a picture. Aw, stop that. You're taking her back tomorrow. You'll probably never see her again...Damn it, Potter. You've fallen in love with her! But why not? She is an orphan...maybe I could adopt her...maybe for once I could use being famous to an advantage. Maybe I could get custody of her.
Harry's thoughts didn't change much as the night progressed on, and by the time Brody had fallen asleep on his chest later that night, a new kind of hope filled him. The hope of being a father.
A/N: Thank God that chapter is over. ::Deep breath:: Anyways, please review! Hope you enjoyed it!