A Moment in Time
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter (and associated characters, likenesses, concepts, etc.) belongs to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic, Inc. AOL/Time Warner, Inc., among others. I make no claim, written or implied, upon Harry Potter. No money is being made and no infringement or disrespect to the creators / copyright holders is intended.
Warning: This story will contain slash (ie. male/male relationships) and mpreg, although neither will be graphic.
A/N: This story was inspired by the many wonderful stories that I have read and enjoyed here at fan fiction and any similarities to existing stories is not intended. This story is AU, meaning that the events that occurred in the OOTP have not been taken into account and am I in no means suggesting the material described in this story should be considered as a direct interpretation of cannon. Also, I am American so I apologize in advance for any Americanisms.
Chapter Nine - Found
Draco didn't even react as the young singer left the room. Draco was so numb after hearing his announcement that he didn't even notice his abrupt departure. As the world seemed to tilt alarmingly, Draco felt a pair of strong arms guide him down into a soft leather chair. Trying to recover from feeling as though someone had just knocked all the wind out of him, Draco looked up into the concerned eyes of his Godfather.
Draco managed to drawn in a shuddering breath as Sirius moaned out "No…..no…..it's not true."
After giving themselves a few moments to compose themselves they quietly left the back stage area and slowly made their way to their hotel room each lost deep in their own thoughts.
It was one thing, to believe that he and Harry may never get back together, but to at least have a small hope that one-day, maybe, they would once more find each other. The pain at having that slim hope totally destroyed was beyond belief. Draco closed his eyes as a small tear leaked out and slowly slid down his smooth cheek. Painfully, Draco thought back to the first time he had seen the small skinny boy standing so alone on a stool being fitted for school robes. His face was so open, trusting and full of life. He was eager to learn about the wonderful world that he had just been introduced to, a world that had ultimately betrayed him and due to their own stupidity and short sightedness had doomed themselves in the process.
A late night bite to eat and a refreshing shower helped to clear Draco's head. Unfortunately the topic of Harry's potential death couldn't be avoided forever and soon the conversation turned to the disturbing information that they had just learned.
Sirius asked a desperate twang in his voice, "So what do we do now? Go to New York?"
Severus thought for a minute, then when he is about to reply, Draco silences him. "No. I can't accept it, I don't know why... but Harry isn't dead. I know that much. No, Black. No... we go West."
Somehow deep down Draco knew that Harry wasn't dead. He refused to believe it, and he thought that the man with the answers was Emrys Kingston. This time Draco wasn't going to let that singer out of his sight until he got the answers he needed.
Referring back to the background information that Hermione had given to them, Draco was able to find Kingston's personal address. As much as he hated that bitch for what she had done to Harry, Draco grudgingly admitted that there was no one better at doing research. 'At least she's thorough.' After much discussion, Sirius and Severus agreed with Draco that something seemed off with Emrys' story and that they needed to speak with him again. Deciding to go on to California very early tomorrow morning the three men crashed for the night.
* * *
The trio apparated to a secluded area on the California beach close to where they had been told Emrys Kingston lived. It was still dark, as the morning sun had yet to start its daily climb, as the men silently made their way across the sand dunes towards the dark structure visible in the moonlight a short way ahead. As they got closer, Draco could feel the magic surrounding the home. "Wards?"
Sirius nodded. "Well, at least we know that Mister Kingston is more than what he appears to be. He is either a wizard himself or had some friends set up the wards for him."
Draco acknowledged Black's comment, but didn't reply, as he was currently watching his Godfather who had an unusual expression on his face. "Severus, what's wrong?"
Snape jumped when Draco interrupted his concentration, a look of amazement on his face. "I may be wrong, but from what I can tell, these are some of the most powerful protection spells I have ever seen. I doubt even Albus is powerful enough to cast wards this strong."
Sirius knew, that although this was a long shot, it was also the best lead that they had in the search so far. And he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure they had gleaned every piece of information about Harry from this singer as they could. "Well ,as we currently have no way of getting past the wards, let's settle in here for the rest of the night. We'll wait for Kingston to come to us. He's not likely to spend the entire day inside the house and when he does come out, we'll talk to him some more."
Agreeing to Sirius' plan, Draco assumed his animagus form, as it would be more comfortable to wait outside for the remainder of the night as a wolf. Seeing the advantages of Draco's choice, Sirius and Severus soon followed him. On the hillside beside the home where Emrys Kingston unknowingly slept, a dog, a wolf and a raven kept watch.
* * *
Draco was the first one to stir the next morning. His extra sensitive wolf hearing had picked up on what sounded like someone walking on the beach. Hiding in some tall grass, he watched as Kingston, dressed in an unbelievably tight outfit that covered his chest and came down mid thigh, was walking away from them carrying some sort of board thing under his arm. With a quick nudge to his companions, Draco resumed his human form.
Sirius let go a low whistle. "I knew the first time we met him that Kingston was a good looking chap, but I didn't expect him to have a body like that."
Draco would have replied but his mouth had gone dry at the sight of the muscular form covered so tightly in the black one piece out fit. It certainly left nothing to the imagination. At that moment, Draco added yet another reason why he hoped that Kingston turned out to be Harry in disguise.
Knowing that they were less likely to get caught, with a small pop, the dog, wolf, and raven were back. The unlikely trio set off following the man down the beach, careful to keep to the grasses and shadows so as not to be seen. The waves rushing in to meet the shore and then racing out again in to the vast ocean were the only sounds that were heard, occasionally interrupted by the cry of a hungry seagull as they crept on. After walking about half a mile, Kingston dropped the board he had been carrying on the beach and began to climb some nearby rocks. The rocks were, in fact, a tall cliff front that rose several hundred feet up from the beach and stretched out over the water. Knowing that there was not a possible way to continue to follow him and not be seen, the three wizards hid themselves in the grass and watched.
Eventually, Kingston reached the top of the cliff and as though he didn't have a care in the world, walked out to the edge. The wizards watched in fascination as the man just stood there for what seemed like an hour, just gazing out at the dark sea lost in his own thoughts. The sun had started to rise and it made a brilliant sight as the light sparkled as it was reflected off of the waves. After a while, the man on the cliff looked around cautiously as if making sure no one was watching him, then much to everyone's surprise, he backed up a few steps.
Thinking that he was finally going to come down off of the rock face, the trio transformed knowing that this would be as good of an opportunity as any to talk to the man. But before they could so much as utter a warning cry, Kingston had started to run forward toward the edge of the cliff. Without giving them a moment to breathe, the young man dove off the cliff and started to fall head first towards the rocks and sea below.
Draco reached blindly for his wand wanting to do something to stop the man's fall, noticing that his companions were doing the same thing. Before any of them had the chance to utter a single spell the man was transforming. With a soft pop, where there had once been a man plunging to his death, there was now a beautiful, strong, red and gold phoenix.
With a trill-like song and the beating of his wings, the phoenix flew out over the sea and was soon lost from human sight.
"What the hell was that?"
Draco looked over at Sirius' pale face.
"It appears as though Mister Kingston is an animagus; a phoenix animagus no less."
Sirius looked over at the Potion Master angrily. "No shit, Snape, I was here as well, you know. It's just that I had never heard of someone having a magical animal as an animagus form before, have you?"
"No, I'm certain that there has never been recorded a witch or wizard who had such a form, but we'll have to ask Minerva when we get back to Hogwarts, as that is her area of expertise. However, since we all know that Potter's animagus form is a dog, I think that we can safely assume that Kingston is not Potter."
Draco felt his stomach fall at Severus' words. He was right, but Draco just didn't want to believe it. If Kingston wasn't Harry, then they would have to go back and research Kingston's claim that the person who wrote that song was dead and that was something that Draco just couldn't do, not just yet.
Trying not to sound as dejected as he was, Draco suggested that they go find something to eat for breakfast and then come back later and question Kingston some more about the person that wrote the song before they left. Sirius looked about as unwilling as he was to pursue their other lead, so he readily agreed with the blonde. Severus agreed reluctantly as he added that obviously Emrys Kingston was a very powerful wizard and maybe if things were explained to him, he would be willing to come to England and aid them in their fight. It was doubtful, but at least worth a try.
Making their way further down the beach, they came to a small diner that offered a full breakfast menu. All conversation ceased as they enjoyed waffles, eggs and American style bacon. Soon, they were finished and after paying the bill, they found themselves walking once more down the beach towards the Kingston residence.
The sun shone brilliantly in the sky and it beat down relentlessly on the figures dressed in black. While Draco was enjoying the brightness, he could tell that Severus was distinctively uncomfortable. The blonde tried not to chuckle as the Potion Master stopped once more to empty the sand from his shoes, mumbling something about when he got home he was never leaving the dungeons again.
When they got back to the cliff where they had seen Emrys transform, they noticed that the long board that he had been carrying was no longer on the ground. Thinking that he had already returned home, the three trudged on.
As they were approaching the house, Draco heard a faint sound somewhere off to their right. It sounded like a child's laughter. Stopping Severus and Sirius, Draco motioned to where the noise was coming from. Wanting to investigate, Draco started to walk in the direction that the laughter had come from. He had only gotten to the top of the next sand dune when he saw a small child playing with something in the grass. The child had messy black hair and was poking at something and giggling.
Draco started forward, wanting to know what it was the child was playing with. As he got closer he swore he heard a low hissing noise, but he couldn't tell where the hissing sound was coming from.
Not wanting to scare the child, Draco knelt down beside him in the sand. "Hello, my name is Draco. Who are you?"
The young boy, who appeared to be around the age of three, didn't look up but kept playing with whatever was lying in the grass. Draco's eyes widened as he heard the young toddler hiss at the grass. Soon a small snake head peeked out of the tall grass and hissed back at the child. Draco almost fell over, was this child a parselmouth. How could that be? The only known parselmouths alive were Harry and Voldemort, yet here was another.
Seeing that the child's plaything was a common garden snake and wouldn't harm the boy, Draco tried once more to capture the child's attention. "So who is your friend there?" Slowly the young boy turned and looked up at Draco as if noticing that he wasn't alone for the first time.
As the child started to turn towards him, Draco smiled not wanting to frighten him. But as he caught sight of the child's face, Draco felt as though someone had punched him hard in the stomach. Draco couldn't breathe as he found himself looking into a pair of impossibly green eyes, eyes identical to the ones that had haunted him for more years than he cared to remember.
"Hey, Draco, why don't you introduce us to your friend there?" Black echoed Draco's own similar words. If he wasn't still recovering from his own shock, he would have laughed as he watched Sirius' reaction to the small boy. "Harry" the animagus managed to gasp before he fell to his knees.
Sirius couldn't believe what he was seeing. This small child looked almost exactly what he would have expected Harry to look like at a similar age. The child's face was narrower, almost pointy and his nose was slightly upturned but other than that he looked like Harry.
The little boy picked up his snake and gave the men a small smirk. "Me not Hawy, me Machew." Before the men could say another word, they heard a lady calling for the child, "Matthew, Matthew Harrison where are you? You better come back here before your father gets home…Matthew!"
The look on the boy's face was comical, "go…go see N'cole", and with that, the boy took off still carrying his snake in the direction of the house as fast as his little slightly chubby legs would carry him.
Draco watched as Sirius composed himself. Sirius gasped at the Potion Master who had just joined them. "Did you see him? That boy; he looks like Harry."
"Of course I saw him. I agree he did look like a Potter, but his face also reminded me of someone else, but I just can't place it yet." Severus said thoughtfully.
"Regardless, I think that we have a bit more to discuss with Emrys Kingston, don't you? Like how in the hell he got a hold of Harry's son." Draco tried to keep the betrayal out of his voice. The pain he felt, when he held what was undeniably Harry's child, was not expected. He had expected Harry to move on, but judging by the boy's age, Harry must have gotten some girl pregnant shortly after he had left him in New York. Some part deep inside Draco had been secretly hoping that Harry hadn't found anyone else and was still off somewhere pinning for him, and only him. Sure Draco had his share of lovers in the years since he and Harry had spent that one indescribable night together, but in all honestly none of his affairs had meant anything, at least not to him. But Draco knew that he was far from settling down and starting a family with someone. However, it appears that Harry had been more than ready for a family, maybe he didn't mean as much to Harry as Harry had meant to him.
The other two wizards nodded in agreement with Draco's conclusion, and then the three men turned and walked once more towards the house where they could hear a child's laughter. As Draco crossed over a short wooden bridge that lead from the beach onto the patio outside the house, he scanned the home in appreciation. The house itself was large and appeared to have a European design. The back of the home was comprised mostly of glass which would not only give the house an open feel but also provide an unobstructed view of the ocean from most of the rooms. Overall, it reeked of wealth.
There was a large in-ground pool on the patio that had an attached hot tub. The grounds appeared to be professionally maintained. However, Draco hardly noticed all this as his attention was focused on something else entirely: a small toy dragon that was lying forgotten on the Spanish tile patio.
Draco leaned down to pick it up and was examining the toy closely. It reminded him of one of the dragon toys that he had as a child. "Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing here? This is private property." His examination was interrupted as young women approached them.
Sirius glanced at the attractive young lady who was holding the boy who looked so much like Harry. 'Maybe this is Harry's wife,' Sirius thought to himself as he slowly approached them. "Hello Miss. My name is Sirius Black and I met Emrys recently. He is trying to help me locate my Godson who has been missing for some time now. My friends and I just had a few more things that we needed to ask him. Does he happen to be home?"
The brunette looked suspiciously at Sirius. "Emrys didn't mention you to me Mister Black, and no, he isn't home right now."
"I'm sorry for our abrupt appearance here Miss, but my companions and I have come a long way. Would it be possible for us to wait for Emrys to return? It is very important that we are able to speak to him."
The small child in her arms started to squirm. After setting him down on the tile, the lady returned to once more look at Sirius. After a few tense moments, she made a decision. "I may live to regret this. Emrys does not like visitors; he isn't the most trusting person. But if it is as important as you say, then I guess that it would be okay for you gentlemen to wait out here on the patio. We were just going to a morning swim and Emrys should be home any moment now, so please make yourselves comfortable. I'm Nicole, by the way."
Sirius gave Nicole a heart stopping smile. "It's nice to meet you, Nicole. This here is Draco Malfoy and that man over there with the sour look on his face is Severus Snape. Who is this little man here?" Sirius injected the last part as he bent down to look at the small dark haired boy who was playing at their feet.
"Come on Evan, say hello to Mister Black," Nicole coached.
"Evan? I thought you told me your name was Matthew" Draco interjected kneeling down beside the child.
"Me Machew," came a small voice from over closer to the pool. Another dark head popped up from where he had been hiding behind a potted fern. Draco, Severus and Sirius looked between the two boys in surprise. "There are two of them?" Draco asked shakily.
"Yes twins, they are practically identical. Both are too smart for their own good, if you know what I mean." Nicole chuckled. "Matthew, put that snake down and come over here, your father is not going to let you keep it in the house," she instructed.
Matthew walked over to where the adults were standing and looked up at Nicole, lowering both his eyebrows and screwing his face into an adorable pout the young boy said, "S'ake's mine. He my friend."
Nicole sighed tiredly. "Come on you two; let's go swimming." She took each child by the hand and led them over to the shallow end of the pool that had a zero level entry. Draco noticed that the pool was perfect for kids, 24 inches was the deepest the water in the shallow end got to. He noticed that while Nicole was still trying to convince Matthew to put his newly found pet down, as snakes don't like to swim, that the other boy Evan was walking into the water.
Sirius and Severus had settled themselves down on the chaise lounges to wait, but Draco didn't want to just sit there and wait; he was too nervous. Trying to distract himself from the answers that Kingston would hopefully provide, he walked over by the pool. For some reason, Draco instinctively felt like he needed to get to know these children. Maybe it was because they looked so much like Harry that he wanted to be near them or maybe it was something else. Never having any siblings or even any cousins for that matter, Draco had never been around children before, so this was a relatively new experience for him.
Taking off his shoes and socks, Draco decided to sit on the edge of the pool and dangle his feet in the cool water. As he was watching, Evan chased a ball that was floating on the water's surface. Suddenly he slipped and fell, completely submerging himself under the water. Draco quickly reached into the shallow water and lifted the young toddler up out of the water to safety. Draco was breathing heavily; fear had gripped him when he saw that dark head disappear under the water.
Evan coughed up some water that he had inadvertently swallowed, but otherwise he was fine. "Are you okay little guy?"
Evan nodded his head as he looked up at his rescuer. Draco didn't even hear the toddler's reply as he stared into two twin pools of silver. Draco had no way of knowing how long he had stood there holding the small child before Nicole noticed that something was going on. "Excuse me, your Draco right? Is everything okay? Was Evan troubling you?"
"No, Evan is fine, we're okay aren't we Evan?" Even to Draco his voice sounded hoarse. "Nicole, may I ask you a question?"
"I guess, as long as it's not too personal," she laughed nervously.
"Are you the twin's mother?"
Nicole looked at Draco sharply. "Well, that certainly is personal, you don't waste any time, do you Draco? But I guess I'll answer it anyway. No, I'm not Matthew and Evan's mother. I've been with Emrys since before the boys were born though, so you can say that I'm their surrogate mother I suppose."
"What happened to their birth mother, where is she?"
"I'm sorry Draco, but I think it would be best if you let Emrys answer those questions if he chooses to."
After giving Evan a hug, Draco set the child back down on the patio and returned to where Sirius and Severus were sitting.
Severus heard Draco's approach and opened his eyes, as he had been attempting to take a short cat nap. Seeing the stricken look on his too pale Godson's face, Severus sat up. "What happened, Draco? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I've just had one to many shocks today is all." Draco refused to elaborate even under his Godfather's questioning glare, so Severus gave up and went back to trying to fall asleep.
Draco sat down on one of the chairs that faced the ocean and soon became lost in a tangle of jumbled thoughts. The most prominent was 'Is Emrys Kingston really Harry Potter, and why does Evan Kingston have my eyes?'
* * *
"Daddy…Daddy…up, up, up"
"Daddy, Daddy, s'ake, see my s'ake."
The high pitched excited squeals of the twins woke both Severus and Sirius who had fallen into a light sleep lying in the bright late morning sun. A little embarrassed that they didn't even notice Emrys Kingston's approach, the two got up from the chaise lounges slowly and brushed off their clothing. Severus noticed that Draco wasn't with them on the patio, "Where's Draco?"
Sirius looked around quickly and saw Emrys standing over near the pool with two small energetic bundles trying to get his undivided attention, but there was no sign of the blonde. Shrugging his shoulders, he started to walk over to the pool, not wanting to miss this opportunity to talk to Kingston.
If Emrys was surprised to see them again, you couldn't tell it from the expression on his face. Once he had greeted the two enthusiastic boys by sweeping them both up into a gigantic hug at the same time, he turned to face his uninvited guests.
"Gentlemen, I didn't except to see you again", a voice so cool it could probably freeze water swept over the two men, "especially not at my personal residence." The last bit was said with a good amount of disdain.
"Sorry to intrude, Mister Kingston, but after we finished talking in New Orleans, we still had some questions that remained unanswered and we wanted to see if perhaps you would be able to help us some more." Sirius eyed the young man in front of him, desperately trying to see any sign that would let him believe that this was Harry.
Emrys ran one of his hands though his short brown hair in irritation. "Mister Black, was it?" At Sirius' nod Emrys continued. "Look, I told you and your friends everything I knew about that song and the person who wrote it. I also have never heard of that man that you are trying to locate, so I really don't see what other assistance I can provide you. I've answered all your questions before and my answers haven't changed in the last 24 hours. So if you don't mind, it has been awhile since I have seen my family and I would like to spend some time with them." Having said all that he wanted to Emrys turned back toward the pool and started to walk away.
"Well Harry, maybe we have some new questions. Why don't we start with this one and then go from there: are they mine?"
Emrys froze, not even daring to take a breath. He had been relieved when he had only seen Sirius and Severus on the patio, thinking that Draco had already returned to England. While lying to Black and Snape was difficult, it wasn't nearly as hard as it was to look into those familiar silver eyes that he had dreamed about forever and tell him a lie that would send him away possibly forever. Especially when his arms ached to reach out and hold him. Knowing that he had to be strong, if not for himself, then especially for his sons, Emrys quickly schooled his face into an expressionless mask. A shudder passed through his tall frame as he turned towards the speaker and once more was caught in the platinum glare.
"Are…They…Mine?"
Draco had been trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together since staring into Evan's gray eyes. Male pregnancies were extremely rare. In the entire wizarding world, there had only been a small handful of noted cases where a male had conceived a child with his male partner. If Draco remembered correctly three of those men later died during either the pregnancy or childbirth due to complications that the male form had when carrying the child. Only in cases where the wizard was exceptionally powerful was pregnancy even possible, and then only if the wizard had conceived the child with their bond mate or what is commonly referred to as soul mate, who also was a powerful wizard. The more powerful of the two would be the one to conceive and bear the child. It had been rumored that Godric Gryffindor had been conceived in this manner.
The one piece that still didn't make sense was that if Evan and Matthew were in fact Harry's sons, conceived with Draco, where was Harry? Draco, who had been sitting on the beach on a sand dune watching the ocean while he was figuring this all out, was interrupted by the twins yelling for their father. Draco stood up, not even noticing the sand that clung to his clothing and watched the family reunion taking place pool side.
Draco enviously watched as the twins ran to the brunette and then squealed with laughter as they were lifted high in the sky and then hugged. The twins clearly considered Emrys to be their father.
Then it all seemed to make a sort of odd sense…two animagus forms, one of which was a phoenix that had never before been recorded, the twins looking so much like Harry and at least one of them being a parselmouth, the wards on the house that were obviously set by an extremely powerful wizard, the song….. What if Harry was so powerful that he could do all that? The reason why the entire wizarding world rests their hopes on one boy to save them is because he was different, special. Was it so unbelievable that he could be this powerful?
Severus looked surprised at Draco's question, but being a Slytherin he quickly caught on to what Draco was assuming, and as a result asking. Of course, his reaction was nothing compared to Black's, who just stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to piece two complete sentences together.
"Huh?"
A sharp look from Severus was all Sirius needed to know that his comments, as eloquent as they are, were neither needed nor wanted at this time. Deciding to just stand back and watch what was going on seemed the better alternative.
"For a third time Harry, are the twins mine?"
To Be Continued.
Note: There are many concepts of male pregnancy described on fan fiction. The concept described in this story is not mine. I actually tailored it off of a great story that used to be posted here, but no longer appears to be. It was called Only 5 Before by J.P (Jes Parker).