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 Thirteen - Confrontations
Draco looked around at the guestroom he would be occupying for the duration of his visit. It was comfortably furnished, with a queen-sized bed, dresser with a large mirror, large walk in closet and an adjoining full bath. The view out the window overlooked the pool and the beach. Draco opened his window so that he could hear the roar of the ocean and smell the salt air. There was something relaxing about watching the waves rush in and then fall gently back, only to repeat the motion again and again. Draco was startled to realize how content he felt here in Harry's home. Disappointment raged through him as he reminded himself that his time here was only temporarily, and that soon he would be leaving this peaceful oasis to return to his war torn home. The only question that remained was whether it would be with or without Harry and his family.
Pushing himself away from the window, Draco crossed the room to the bathroom to get ready to go to bed.
* * *
It was late, very late, but Harry couldn't sleep. He rolled over for what had to be the fourteenth time but still could not get comfortable in his large soft four poster bed. His mind kept spinning with the revelations that were unexpectedly revealed to him today, or I guess you could say yesterday as it was now way after midnight. It was truly unthinkable how much his life had changed since he had last crawled out from within his soft cream-colored sheets yesterday morning. Emotions that he had repressed for so long flooded his senses. The dominant ones were hate, disappointment, and hurt, intermingled with concern, worry, responsibility and even love. Harry wasn't sure if he was surprised or not about that last emotion.
Slipping on his navy silk dressing gown, Harry quietly left his room and walked down the hall and up the stairs towards the guestrooms. He opened the door to one of the rooms and slipped inside. He wasn't concerned about waking the occupant as he had taken the precaution of casting a wandless sleeping charm over his guests to prevent them from waking during the night and possibly snooping into something that didn't concern them.
His bare feet made no noise on the carpeting as he made his way over to the bed. The vision lying thereon almost took his breath away. Harry stood still, unwilling to move, satisfied with the gift of just being able to observe the sleeping beauty. Harry was happy to see that the small lines that had prematurely started to form on Draco's face, no doubt from the amount of stress he has been under, faded completely as he relaxed in slumber.
Harry was slightly overwhelmed at how strongly he still felt for Draco. He was truly amazed that the father of his children was here, now, asleep in his house. How often had he dreamed of something like this?
He knew that he still cared for the man, and it was clear that he owed his life to Draco for breaking him out of prison, but what he felt went beyond caring and gratitude. There was no doubt that Harry still loved his blonde Slytherin. Loved him as he had loved no one else. But he wasn't sure if he could get past the fact that Draco had left him. Left him with no one.
Harry had wrestled with all the reasons Draco had given him for having to go back to England on that fateful day in New York. On the surface, Harry had understood. Hell if it had been him, he most certainly would have done the same thing. But deep down, the only thing that mattered was that after they had finally made love to each other, finally given to each other the most intimate and precious gift that one person could give another, Draco had chosen someone or something else over him. Even if that something else was the fate of the wizarding world. Oh sure, Harry knew he was being selfish, but damn it, he had given everything he had to that world and he had gotten nothing in return. Nothing was probably an understatement; no, he had gotten something, eighteen long months in Azkaban prison is what the community, in their generosity, had given him. Was it too much to ask for something that was just his, and his alone? Why couldn't Draco have understood that and stayed?
Standing there watching the love of his life sleep, Harry reached a decision. For better or worse, Harry knew what he had to do. In a move that reminded Harry of what he had done earlier that night with his sons, he reached down and brushed the bangs off of Draco's forehead and pressed a soft kiss to the warm smooth skin. With a whispered, "Sleep well, my love," Harry gently closed the door and made his way back to his own room, hopeful now to finally get some much needed rest.
* * *
Breakfast was an awkward affair with five people not knowing what exactly to say to each other, once the required small talk had been properly extinguished. The twins had previously eaten their breakfast in the kitchen with the Nola the housekeeper, while Nicole had decided to join the men in the dining room. Draco was determined to find out exactly what the relationship between Harry and Nicole was. They were entirely too comfortable with each other for Draco's liking.
Over tea and coffee, Harry had informed him and Sirius and Severus that he was planning to spend the morning practicing with the band. They were in the process of finalizing their new CD and they only had a couple more songs that they needed to record before their work was done. With a promise to see everyone later that afternoon, Harry grabbed his coffee and left the dining room.
Knowing that he didn't want to wait any longer to have a heart to heart with Harry, Draco stood and made to follow the dark haired man. However, he was surprised when he felt someone reach out and stop him from leaving the room. Draco looked down at the hand on his arm preventing him from following Harry. "If you don't mind…"
"As a matter of fact I do mind. I mind a great deal and I think that it's time that you and I get a few things straight." Nicole snarled right back not the least bit intimidated by Draco's superior tone and attitude.
With a parting glance at Harry's retreating back, Draco stared down once more into the face of one of the obstacles standing between him and the thing that he desired most. "Well, get on with it then. What do you want?"
Knowing that this was one confrontation that they didn't want to miss, Severus and Sirius sat back in their chairs and watched with growing curiosity at what was undoubtedly going to be an interesting conversation.
"For starters, Mister Malfoy, why don't we start with what exactly are your intentions towards Emrys, or as you like to call him, Harry?"
Caught off guard by the directness of the comment, Draco's eyebrows arched suspiciously. "And why exactly do you think that I would even begin to discuss my personal relationships with you?"
"Because my dear Slytherin, you have everything to gain if you do and your family to lose if you don't."
"Pardon?"
"Let's look at it from my perspective; the wizarding world has done nothing but cause Harry pain for as long as he became aware of its very existence. First, a dark wizard killed his parents leaving him an orphan. Then another wizard, who was neither family nor great friend, makes the decision that Harry should be placed with his remaining blood relatives. The same relatives who can not tolerate the mere mention of magic and instantly take an intense dislike to this small child that had been left on their doorstep with only a short note. To make matters worse, this same wizard, who had determined the fate of this very special child, never so much as went to check up on how this young boy was faring. He never even sent a representative to verify that Harry was being properly cared for." With a determined look on her face Nicole then added, "And I'm just getting started. Shall I continue?"
"No, I don't think that will be necessary, as I am familiar with the story," Draco snarled irritated that this woman would defend Harry to him. "So how does spilling my secrets to you have anything to do with keeping my family?"
"Who said anything about keeping your family Mister Malfoy? I wasn't aware that you were even considered family. However, I am sure you've realized by now that Harry and I are very close. As a matter of fact, he considers me his only true friend, as I am the only one that he currently trusts. I've never betrayed him. So let's just assume for moment what would happen if I would try to persuade him to kick you and your sorry friends out of here and back to 'jolly ol' England.'"
"I never betrayed him," Draco responded in a low dangerous tone.
"Maybe and then again maybe not, but there is no doubt that you did leave him."
Draco could barely restrain himself from inflicting bodily harm on this woman who dared to stand here before him and question his actions. Didn't the stupid woman know whom she was dealing with? Not only was he a member of Voldemort's inner circle and a covert spy for the Order of the Phoenix, he was a Malfoy.
"Look, Draco, I'll be straight with you. I love Harry and I also love those two boys and I'll be damned if I let you or anyone else hurt them again. We are a family and if you want to be a part of that family you're going to have to work for it, and that means making sacrifices."
Nicole stifled a chuckle when she saw Draco blanch when she said that she loved Harry. Not wanting to cause Harry any more problems she decided to explain their relationship to the intruding blonde. "Before you get your boxers in a knot, no, Harry and I were never lovers. Not that it wasn't for trying on my part. But he was never interested in a relationship, not with me, or anyone else for that matter. I always knew deep down that he was still waiting for someone to come back to him. For, as close as we are, he never wanted to talk about the twin's other father. For the longest time, I only assumed that the two of you had to have had a bad break. Eventually, one evening when Harry was particularly intoxicated, I got him to open up to me about you. He told me everything that night, but since then has refused to revisit the subject."
"You and your 'so called' friends hurt him, hurt him real bad and I was the one that was there to put the pieces back together. Just because you've now realized what you've been missing doesn't mean that I'm going to encourage him to welcome you back with open arms."
Relieved that Harry and this woman were not involved in a sexual relationship, Draco decided to push away his feeling of animosity towards Nicole and tried to look at things more objectively, from her point of view. She had been the one that had been there for Harry all those years. She had helped him during what had to have been a difficult pregnancy. She was there for the birth of his children, tucked them in at night, and wiped their tears away when they were sad or scared. Feeling a little ashamed of him self, Draco decided that if he had any chance with Harry that he needed to accept the role that Nicole played in his family's lives.
"This may shock you Nicole, but I happen to agree with you. I don't want to go into detail about what Harry's and my relationship will be because to be honest with you, I don't know what it is yet. I know what I want it to be, but we haven't had time for a private conversation and until we do there just isn't anything to tell. However, I will say this, I will do everything in my power to make sure that Harry and our children are never hurt again." With a small grin, Draco stuck out his hand to the startled women.
'Mercy' Nicole thought, surprised at the openness and honesty she saw on Draco Malfoy's face. 'I think he's telling the truth.' Firmly shaking the blonde's hand, Nicole couldn't help but to get the last word in. "For your sake I hope you're telling the truth, because not even Merlin will be able to help you if you're not."
Not knowing what to do with himself now that Harry had clearly left, Draco changed into a pair of swimming trunks that he had transfigured from a bathroom hand towel and went to sit out by the pool to wait for Harry's return.
* * *
Harry was in a great mood when he returned after lunch as promised. Shortly after arriving home, Harry gathered Matthew and Evan and headed out to enjoy the afternoon by the pool. They joined Draco, Sirius and Severus who had already decided that pool-side was the best way to spend a hot humid summer day.
Apparently, things had gone well at practice and the band was ahead of schedule for finishing their CD. The CD was scheduled to be released in mid October so that it would hit the music stores in plenty of time for the Christmas season, which was only four months away. In order for the band to meet their scheduled release date, they had to be finished recording the music by the end of July. But as Harry was happily telling everyone, if the band kept up their current pace, they might be able to finish recording by mid July.
Draco's pleasure at seeing his sons was only momentarily dimmed when Harry introduced him to the twins as Mister Malfoy. The boys were perfectly polite and well manner, for at least the first fifteen minutes. A loud chuckle escaped him as he watched Harry try to chase both twins at the same time. It didn't take long to see that the drenched Harry clearly had his hands full with the two of them.
It was amazing to just sit back and watch Harry in his role as a parent. However, even an extremely powerful wizard like Harry was no match for the cunning and tenaciousness of two almost three-year olds. The twins seemed to be able to communicate with each other without the need for spoken language.
"I wonder if all twins are able to do that," Sirius thought out loud.
An amused snort was heard from the chair where Severus was resting. "If I recall, Black, you never had the pleasure of seeing the Weasley twins while they were still in school. The only good thing about Hogwarts not being a school anymore is that at least we won't have the misfortune of trying to teach those two. I shudder at the type of mischief those two would be capable of with the mix of Potter and Malfoy genes."
Sirius got a strange, almost contemplative look on his face. "Just think, a whole new generation of Marauders. They are pretty amazing, aren't they?"
No one responded to the rhetorical question as they were too caught up in watching the silly antics of the family playing with unrestrained joy in the pool.
Just as the sun was beginning to set, Nicole came out and herded the reluctant boys into to the house so that they could get cleaned up for dinner. Draco nodded slightly to his Godfather, indicating that he and Sirius should go on ahead as the men started to make their way back to the house. This was the first opportunity Draco had to speak privately with Harry and he didn't want to miss it.
"Hey Harry, do you think I can have a minute?"
Knowing full well that they needed to get some things straight between them, Harry nodded.
"Why don't we go for a walk on the beach, just let me tell Nola not to wait for us to start dinner, if that's alright with you?"
Not waiting for Draco's agreement, Harry turned and walked into the kitchen. Trying to squash the butterflies that had suddenly taken up residence in his stomach, Draco nervously rubbed his hands down along the sides of his black cotton shorts. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice when Harry gently grasped his elbow to get his attention. He jumped at the unexpected contact.
Clearly amused, Harry smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm sure you remember but the beach is down this way." Kicking off his shoes, Harry walked down the sandy path the lead over the sand dunes toward the ocean.
Ducking his head to hide the blush that was sure to be staining his cheeks, Draco kicked off his own shoes and quickly followed.
* * *
The beach was deserted, no one as far as the eye could see in either direction. For a while, the two men were content just to walk in silence listing only to the pounding waves and the cries of the hungry sea gulls. Draco found that he loved the beach. He enjoyed almost everything about it, from the everlasting breeze, the salt air, to even the feeling of the warm sand between his toes. As a child, the Malfoys had often vacationed in wealthy resorts all over the globe. He could remember often visiting beaches, but none had he found as beautiful as the one he was walking on tonight. 'Although, his enjoyment of this particular beach could have something to do with his quiet companion,' he thought to himself.
The sun had dipped so low in the sky that it was almost touching the water before Harry decided to stop. Sitting down on top of a sand dune, the men continued to watch the horizon. They sat shoulder to shoulder on the sand, close to each other, but yet not quite touching. "You know on nights like this, I sometimes think that I can hear the sizzle the sun makes as it disappears into the sea."
The bright reds, pinks, and burnt orange slowly gave way to the deepening purples and navy as the sun continued its downward spiral. "I can see why you like it here so much. It is very peaceful. I could learn to love it."
"Could you?"
The intensity of the question caught Draco unprepared. After taking a moment to compose his thoughts as he studied Harry's face, he said softly. "Yes, Harry, I could."
If he had been expecting a response, he didn't get one.
"The boys are incredible. I don't know how you did it, but they are terrific kids. Harry."
"Thanks Draco, that means a lot coming from you. Besides, I owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"I should have tried to contact you to let you know about them after they were born. At the time, I was angry at you for leaving me, feeling overwhelmed about being a single father, to not one but two babies, and I was also afraid that if you knew that you would come back and try to take them from me."
Draco sucked the air in between his teeth. "Do you really think that I would do something like that? That I would deliberately hurt you that much?"
Harry had the good graces to look embarrassed. "No, I know that you wouldn't, but let's face facts. Matthew and Evan are heirs to both the Malfoy and Potter estates. They are among the elite of the wizarding world. Our estates individually make us a couple of the wealthiest men in the world. I do not want to even think how much money we would have if we combined our fortunes. While I trust you not to take them, I do not trust your father. What if he found out about them? Your father would be salivating once he realized his Grandsons were Parselmouths. I tried to rationalize it by making myself believe that you had moved on and married, producing your own heir, so you didn't need our sons like I did."
"Is that what you wanted me to do? Forget you and move on?"
"No. . . I 'm not sure what I wanted, to be honest."
Draco slowly reached up with his right hand and softly touched Harry's cheek. "What's important is what you want now."
Harry couldn't help but lean into Draco's warm hand and a large ache blossomed in the pit of his stomach. He knew that he was trembling, but he couldn't help himself; it had been so long since they had been this close to each other and now his body was reacting to what it had craved. Knowing that they were about to have probably the most important conversation of their lives, Harry pulled back so that he could look Draco in the eyes. All the shields were down and the love that he saw reflected there almost lead to his undoing. Knowing that his answer was going to set the path for not only the remainder of his life, but also the lives of his children, Harry took a deep breath. "I don't know; I don't know what I want," he said faintly.
To Be Continued.