Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or associates, they belong to JKR. I do not own cliché storylines; they belong to fellow FF net writers.
Author's notes: I think this is the longest chapter ever (over 3000 words!). I could have been evil (again) and leave you all with a cliffy, but –nah-. Ya all readers are too sweet and nice to be treated that way. I don't know why this chapter turned out this way, but I just had to put it in.
Reviews:
Violet7amethyst: No, Harry will not get pregnant for this story. His turn comes after I end this story and start his alternate version.
Thanks to
Yana5, je suis, Mz psycho (thanks for the yummy-licious
Draco!), Lady Angelique of Mystiqu, Sarah, Saintem0,
Freddysgurl8904, chaotic kat, SweetPea-Fairy, Sarahamanda, Anny
Pervert Snape, Princesspepper (How can a possessive veela hexing
a fellow student be unexpected? –lol-) D EDMUN, Incessant Darkness
"This just gets odder," Madam Pomfrey fussed as she conducted more tests on Draco. "You should only be one week along, but you're showing signs as though you're two months pregnant." The nurse went on, "Too bad male pregnancies in wizards are rare, and haven't been documented for past few centuries… we have practically nothing to fall back on."
"I see…" mused Draco, who was no longer worried nor down, for Harry was with him.
"I think there shouldn't be too big a problem. Come back to me if you feel any form of discomfort or pain, all right? And yes, you need to pile up on those foods. And by food I mean real food- eggs, potatoes, milk, not sweets and coffee." Madam Pomfrey kept tucked her wand back in her apron and was about to leave the two when Draco spoke again.
"Do you know how the baby is eventually going to come out?" Draco stuttered, blushing. In his mind a really bad mental image came on and that made him sick.
"Well, the old books said that a few hours prior to birth male wizards develop the female parts temporarily," replied the nurse as she shot Harry a concerned look. "Take care of him, Mr Potter."
Harry smiled and gripped Draco's hand tightly. He would most definitely take care of Draco well.
Xxx
"What? You're saying… Oh my, this is so exciting!" piped Hermione as Harry told them about Draco's pregnancy, with his approval, of course. "We can document the whole process! I always wanted to know how male pregnancies are like… this is all too wonderful!"
" 'Mione! How can you say that! This is just so…" Ron stopped mid-sentence. He couldn't find the word to express his feelings.
"Not right?" volunteered Harry. He knew exactly how Ron felt, for he had gone through that phase before. He was in denial for a while when Madam Pomfrey broke the news, but after a while, he felt happy- he was going to father a child with the man he loved so much.
"Right," Ron stuttered. "But… we just want you to be happy." Ron's words had shocked Harry. Harry always thought Ron was never ever going to accept Draco, and that he would never understand. He was wrong; Ron is as understanding as a best friend can be, and Harry needed that.
"Thanks mate." Harry smiled and Ron and gave him a playful punch on the arm.
"So, back to the pregnancy. So Harry, you think the child was made when you two first…" Hermione paused. She felt herself blushing as she thought of the correct word to use. Hanging around Ron too much made Hermione shy; or perhaps her conscience was acting up.
"Yes, and the word is 'made love'. The baby is the love of our life," Harry replied. Hermione smiled meekly, not daring to look at the two boys straight in the eyes. Ron was unknowingly blushing too, and Harry noticed the oddity in the couple's behaviour. "Why are you two blushing so hard? Don't tell me you haven't…" Harry paused mid-sentence. Ron's eyes were wide-open in shock, Hermione gulped. Evidently, they had not gone as far as Harry expected them to. They had, after all, been together since summer. "Which wasn't too long ago," chastised Harry's other self.
"So, should we go visit him?" Hermione stammered, more than eager to switch the topic.
"Er, 'Mione, we are not exactly on agreeable terms with Malfoy, remember?" reminded Ron. Ron would accept Malfoy if it meant that Harry would be happier, but there would always be a limit to everything; and being more than agreeable to the Slytherin who had tormented his life for the past five years was the limit to Ron's patience.
"Maybe we should start being agreeable then. He's after all the other father of our godchild." Hermione laid a hand on Ron's arm, encouraging him to take one bigger step into accepting Harry's mate.
"Harry here hasn't even said we'll be godparents, Hermione," Ron mumbled, not knowing how to respond to the girlfriend's previous comment.
"Hey! It's obvious that you two will be godparents to our child! Even Draco agreed! We don't really want to end up having to choose Crabbe or Goyle, right?" Harry quickly explained. He remembered discussing this issue with Draco one night, along with other baby related topics- ranging from names to decorations of a nursery and even almost planning the first eleven years of its life before he or she enters Hogwarts. He remembered mentioning Ron and Hermione as prime candidates for godparents, "Ron is a great chess player and strategist, Hermione has got the brains and sound advices. Our child will be in good hands. Hermione feels we're both too rebellious to be adequate parents."
"How dare she!" Draco had exclaimed, but agreed with Harry nonetheless. After all, they being Gryffindors were reliable and loyal.
Ron and Hermione beamed when they heard the confirmation from Harry, momentarily disregarding any previous feud with the Slytherin. The three slowly strolled to the third floor corridor, even Hermione had deserted her Potions essay to pay the mother-to-be a visit.
Passing by the door leading to Fluffy's room, Ron couldn't help but comment. "Remember how we nearly lost our skin here in first year? I wonder if Fluffy is still in there?"
"Let's check it out then," Harry joked, pretending to move towards the locked door.
"No way! I don't want to suffocate in Devil's Snarl again!" exclaimed Ron, remembering the second near death experience after bypassing the three-headed-dog. The three laughed in good humour as they moved towards the portrait of the silver snake.
"How fitting a portrait," muttered Ron. Harry spoke the password and the snake shuddered in fear of the Golden Boy. The three padded into the cosy room, and Draco jumped up from his seat as he noticed his unsually visitors.
"Potter! You didn't say they were coming!" Draco scrambled to his feet.
"Hi Mal- Draco," Ron squealed towards the end as he fight the jab in the ribs from Hermione. The girl smiled and presented the Slytherin with a fruit basket she had conjured on the way here.
Draco tried hard to smile at the two Gryffindors, though it was a bad attempt. Harry chuckled to try to lighten the mood and ushered all four them to the sitting room.
"Right," Draco started as he sat down on his favourite couch and crossed his legs, poised and proud. "What was so urgent that you require my immediate attention?" Draco bit his words, tinge of sarcasm seeping out every syllable.
"They wanted to come visit you, to see if you're well," Harry explained, noticing that they were treading on dangerous grounds- Draco sounded as though he would explode any moment.
"Obviously I'm well," spat the veela.
"How's the baby?" Hermione chirped, hoping to invoke a lighter mood.
"For your information, Granger, I'm only four weeks along, technically I don't feel anything yet," Draco replied sharply, taking to examining his nails to show his boredom.
"Except for the mood swings," mumbled Ron to himself. Draco had caught that, his veela senses were after all sharper than human's, but he pay little attention to it, not bothered to pick a fight with Ron.
"So, if everything's fine, I guess Ron and I have to go attend to something," Hermione spoke, noticing the tension in the room too. She stood up and pulled Ron with her. "See you at dinner, Harry." The couple promptly left the room, and Harry gulped. Now he was alone to face Draco's wrath. Harry knew well that Draco would never blow up in front of guests, regardless how irksome the guests were. "It's the Malfoy upbringing," Draco had said.
"Why did you bring them back?" Draco fought down his anger.
"They just wanted to pay you a visit, and I thought…" Harry slowly explained, but was interrupted by the fuming veela.
"And you think you own this place, don't you? And you thought I was a friggin' statue that cannot think for myself? So you see no need to consult me whatsoever? And you leave the Weasel there to mumble about my mood swings. You thought that was funny too, right?" Draco screamed at Harry, picking up the cushion from behind in and aimed it at Harry's head. Harry ducked, and the cushion flew and hit the mantel, nearly ending up in the sooty fireplace.
"No, it's just that they were concerned about you…" Harry started again, but knowing the fuming veela, he deliberate left a pause, as though anticipating a quick retort. Harry was right, the rebuttal came swiftly.
"Yes! They should be! When my husband left me alone for the whole day to gallivant with his friends!" It was partly true, Harry had not been with Draco the whole day, he was back at the Gryffindor tower. However, he did nothing that could be classified at gallivanting- he had in fact been packing his trunk to move into Draco's dormitory. Toggling between this private dormitory and his Gryffindor dormitory was taking the toil on Harry, and after speaking to the Headmaster, he was finally allowed to move in with Draco.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone…" Harry left a pause again, waiting for the "what's 'sorry' good for" speech. To Harry's surprise, it never came. Draco just stood at his spot, staring ahead past Harry's head. "Draco?"
"It always ends up the same way, doesn't it? We fight, I tell you that 'sorry' is useless to me, you try to kiss and make up and we end up shagging… I'm sick of all these," replied Draco. Harry let out a loud sigh- Draco was right. Even their fights followed a pattern; their lives were getting mundane.
"Anyway, the proposal for the Halloween dance is done, I'll just go fetch it for you," Draco trailed off as he went into the study, an extra room he had Professor Snape install for him. Harry waited a while before he padded after him.
Upon entering the study, Harry could see Draco gripping the mahogany desk so tightly his knuckles turned white; Draco was fighting his rage.
"Draco…" addressed Harry as he moved towards the veela.
"Oh, here, the proposal…" Draco lifted a scroll from his neat desk and shoved the scroll haphazardly into Harry's hands, accidentally stabbing it into his stomach. Harry bit back the pain, and accepted the scroll. Draco was aware that he had caused Harry much pain, but he did nothing to better it.
"Draco," Harry spoke. "Listen to me." Harry held Draco's elbow, and turned the veela around to face him.
"Yes?" Draco asked, give Harry a face that told of no emotions; a mask he had not put on for a long time.
"That may have hurt me," Harry motioned to the scroll, "but it hurts me more to see you like that." Draco made no response. "I would rather you hit me, scream at me to vent your anger. Anything is better than seeing you so… pained now."
"Harry," Draco replied. "Things are not as simple as they seem. We fight it out, we settle the problem, but that's only temporary. We fight because we can never agree, and that is one big problem. I don't want you to give in to me all the time." Draco paused. Harry looked dejected, but Draco did not let that affect him. "Something tells me that perhaps we should not be together." Draco yanked free of Harry's hand and left the room. He ran out of his dormitory and straight to the broom shed. He knew what he wanted to do; he wanted to fly.
Flying was a relieving experience for Draco, just as it is for Harry. Draco picked out his Nimbus 2001 and kicked off from the ground. He rose ten feet, then twenty, and after a while, he was consumed by the clouds and lost sight of ground, and failed to notice a boy on a Firebolt trailing behind.
Draco flew aimlessly for a while, letting his instincts guide him. He knew he hadn't left Hogwarts grounds, hence he just allowed his broom to move freely. Harry followed Draco from a distance behind; he had been gravely worried about the blonde's safety. Harry would lower flight occasionally to keep track of where they were, to ensure that they didn't go too far.
As the blond flew in the clouds over the lake, he let he thoughts run wild. He thought the of the trysts he had with Harry, the times they were totally smitten with each other, the times they would fight and make up, the times they would sneak into the kitchen at night under Harry's invisibility cloak, the times Harry loved to shower him with little gifts; chocolates, sweets and the ring he had proposed to Draco with… A sudden thought came to Draco. "Harry never did propose to me, did he? He merely gave me a ring, and I took it that he wanted to marry me…" Draco left go of the broom momentarily and fingered the ring that sat on his left hand. The dragon shifted under Draco's touch, and indeed, the emerald eyes had reminded Draco of Harry.
All of a sudden, a stray owl swooped down near Draco, startling him and causing him to lose his balance and fall over. Witnessing this, Harry dived straight for the plummeting body. Draco had tried to reach out for his broom, but he had fallen too far down before he could respond. Harry flew at a velocity he never knew his broom was capable of. Harry edged forward, forcing the Firebolt to go faster. He held out his hand and he knew could reach Draco if he reached forward more. Draco caught a glimpse of Harry edging towards him, balancing himself on the edge of the broom.
"Draco! Give me your hand..." Harry's words were blown away by the wind, but Draco had caught some of the words. Draco stuck out his left hand towards Harry.
"Harry…" Draco mouthed, unable to muster any voice to his scratchy throat. Harry felt their fingers touch, and he dipped the broom, such that he could grasp the blonde's fingers. As their fingers interlocked, Harry jerked hard to try to hoist the blonde onto the broom, but to no avail; Harry wasn't strong enough. Harry pulled his broom upwards, such that they rose up higher in the air. In doing this, Harry distinctly felt something in his shoulder snap, and that almost caused him to lose grip of Draco. Knowing he couldn't hold on any longer, Harry decided on one thing he could do.
Using any bit of strength he had left, Harry tightly clasped the broom between his legs, and hanged off, freeing his other hand to grab hold of more of Draco. At one point, Harry had his arm around Draco's chest. Harry knew he could never let go of Draco, and by the strange power of love, Harry finally managed to hoist Draco up the broom; Draco had one leg up the broom.
Harry helped to push Draco up into a sitting position; the veela had been too shocked to behave autonomously. Resuming a sitting position himself, Harry held Draco with one hand, and held the broom with the other. He slowly flew themselves to safety, and upon reaching the ground, Harry quickly hugged Draco, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"Draco…" Harry cried. "I thought I was going to lose you…" Draco was still in a trance, badly frightened. "Are you all right?" Harry let go of the boy, and checked him for injuries. Ignoring the sharp pain in his right shoulder, Harry tried his best to help Draco to the nearest bench at the spectators' stand.
The two sat down on the bench, Harry crying hard and Draco staring ahead, blankly. "Draco? Draco, talk to me. Are you all right?"
"Harry…" The veela called out. Draco looked at Harry, his face showing the immense fear.
"It's all right, it's over…" Harry held him tight, both of them sobbing into each other's shoulders.
They must have sat there for a long time; it was just before nightfall when Draco was calm enough to want to go back to Hogwarts, and to bring Harry to the infirmary. After examining the two, Madam Pomfrey concluded that Draco merely had a bad fright, and Harry had a mild dislocated shoulder, his ligaments injured, but nothing the mediwitch couldn't fix.
Ron and Hermione had visited the two at the infirmary, and Draco had been too traumatized to extend any form of hospitality, both good and bad. On the contrary, he had appreciated their efforts, and seen the sincerity and true concern oozing out of their every pore, their tender loving care surrounding both him and Harry.
That night, Draco went to snuggle with Harry on his bed in the infirmary, and held him so tightly.
"Harry," Draco whispered, not knowing if Harry was already asleep.
"Yes?" Harry replied.
"I'm sorry. For being so reckless and all…" Draco apologized. He had felt remorseful about his actions. Had he died, Harry would be devastated. Had he caused Harry's death, he would curse himself to eternity.
"I was so afraid, you know. I really thought I was going to lose you." Harry buried his nose in Draco's soft blond tresses.
"I thought I was going to die… I guess I mustn't have been thinking when I went out flying like that…" Draco choked on his sobs.
"It's my entire fault… if I had not made you angry earlier, then you would not have run off like that…" Harry apologised. He felt bad, and felt as though he was the cause of this accident.
"I love you Harry. Do you know that?" Draco said between sobs. Harry whispered a "yes" before kissing Draco lightly on the cheek. That night, the two snuggled under the covers and allowed their fears to dissipate in each other's presence- after all, love conquers all.
Author's notes: Well well, enjoyed that gripping action? I know many of you must be avada kedevra-ing me right now for almost killing both of them… but where's the cliché without the "i-would-give-up-my-life-to-save-you" thing? LOL. Please review!
