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 I am 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 Twenty Five –A Long Overdue Conversation
Harry hadn't even landed by the time Draco and Sirius started to respond. Both men dived for the clearing, knowing that they were too far away from Harry to prevent his fall, but in any event each willed themselves to move faster than humanly possible.
Before they were even with in range to cast a spell to slow Harry's fall or to cushion his landing, Harry's body met the hard earth with a sickening crunch. Realizing that Harry's greatest immediate danger still came from the horde of Death Eaters that moved quickly to surrounded his prone form, Sirius and Draco started to fire off curse after curse as soon as they were in range. They hoped that their combined efforts would be enough to keep one of the dark robed figures from grabbing Harry and simply apparating away with him.
Two against twenty-four weren't such good odds, as the two men soon found themselves dodging many more curses than they were able to fire off. Thankfully it didn't last long, as the other members of their team quickly joined them and began their own spell casting.
Draco was relieved to see that while they weren't able to get any closer to Harry, that at least neither were the Death Eaters. Sparing his fallen mate as many occasional glances as he could, Draco was deeply concerned by Harry's lack of movement and the ever growing dark pool of liquid that he seemed to be lying in.
Just as the Order members were starting to tire there were numerous soft pops heard from the ground below; it was the very welcomed sound of reinforcements. Draco nearly cried with relief when he saw at least forty fresh Order members apparate into the clearing and began to drive back the Death Eaters. But only when Dumbledore himself appeared and Voldemort stepped out of the shadows did Draco even realize that the Dark Lord had been there at all.
Seeing his plans foiled again, as his troops were significantly outnumbered and he had yet to claim the prize that he coveted so desperately, Voldemort snarled at his followers to regroup.
"You haven't won yet, Dumbledore. Besides, even now your precious savior is lying there bleeding to death. This delay may be all I needed to finally finish the brat off," Voldemort managed to sneer at the ancient wizard just before disapparating.
"We'll meet again, Tom," Dumbledore replied softly at the spot were his former student had just been standing. "And when we do, you will be made to answer for your crimes, just like I have been made to answer for mine."
As quickly as they appeared the Death Eaters were gone and the Order members sprang in action. They started to stabilize and heal the wounded, while a messenger was sent back to the hospital wing via portkey to inform the medics on staff that they were needed immediately at the battle scene. An initial assessment of Harry's condition confirmed the critical nature of his injuries, and Dumbledore did not want to risk trying to move the man, until the medics had provided a more thorough assessment and had stabilized him enough so that he had a chance of surviving the transport.
Draco ran to Harry's side as soon as he was able to land. Kneeling down beside his lover, Draco resisted the urge to be violently ill when he saw Harry's broken and twisted form. Not caring about the increasing puddle of blood, Draco leaned over and placed his head gently on Harry's chest. Swallowing back his tears, Draco was relieved to hear a faint heart beat. His heart was beating slower than usual, but at least it was still beating.
"Where the hell are the medics?"
Something about Draco's desperate cry must have gotten through to Harry, because the dark haired man's eyes fluttered for a moment.
"Come on Harry, wake up!" Draco watched as his soul mate struggled to regain consciousness. "That's right Harry, you're going to be just fine, but please wake up." Draco didn't know who he was trying to reassure more, Harry or himself.
Draco breathed a sigh of relief when Harry finally opened both of his emerald eyes. "Welcome back, Harry."
Harry looked like he was trying to say something, but no sound came out of his mouth. Draco leaned down once more and wiped a trickle of blood away from the raven-haired man's mouth. "It's okay Leo, don't talk. Just rest."
Harry started to close his eyes once more when they suddenly flew open again, this time in pain or shock, Draco couldn't tell which. Harry's whole body tensed and then his back arched as his mouth opened in a silent scream.
Not knowing what the hell was going on, Draco panicked. "Damn it, I need a medic over here NOW!"
Trying anything to calm his mate down, Draco started to whisper endearments and gently touch Harry's face, wiping stray tears that leaked from his eyes off his cheeks. Finally when it looked like the pain that Harry had been experiencing had faded, Harry licked his lips.
Feeling like Harry was trying to tell him something, Draco put his ear close to Harry's mouth. "What is it Harry? Just tell me."
Harry was only able to utter one small word, before he body was once more feeling as though it was being torn apart, but that one word was enough.
Draco had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he realized what Harry had been trying to tell him. He didn't know why though, when his lover was lying there critically injured that with all the things that he could try to communicate at that moment it would have been her name. All Harry had managed to say before he once more lost consciousness was, "Nicole."
Nicole and several of the other medi-witches and wizards had arrived only a few seconds after Harry had requested her presence. She hadn't been told that Harry was the one critically injured until she arrived on the scenes and saw with a sinking feeling the shockingly white blonde hair that only Draco sported bent down low over a still figure on the ground. Running over to her fallen housemates, Nicole was disgusted with what she saw. Blood was everywhere and still pouring from a gash on Harry's side, and his body was positioned in a way human bones are not supposed to be able to bend.
Draco looked over at Nicole as knelt down beside Harry. "He asked for you."
Nicole wasn't sure what surprised her more the angst in Draco's voice or the fact that Harry had regained consciousness enough to actually say something. Wondering what Harry needed to tell her, she immediately got to work stabilizing the worst of Harry's injuries.
As soon as Nicole had deemed Harry's condition stable enough to be moved, tying unsuccessfully to ignore all the blood, Draco bent down and gently moved Harry's injured body onto a stretcher that someone had conjured. Making sure not to move Harry in such a way that would aggravate his injuries, Draco settled him securely on the floating surface and carefully reached for the portkey that would take them to the hospital wing.
The extreme range of emotions felt by the Order members spanned from awe at the extreme power that Harry Potter demonstrated as he was able to shake off the many stunning charms to absolute despair as they watched the dark-haired Gryffindor eventually fell at the hand of Voldemort. The two Order members that went to check out the red item on the forest floor had witnessed the attack and had told the other members what exactly had transpired. Unfortunately, they were engaged defending themselves from Death Eaters at the time and could provide no assistance to Harry.
Potter had been clearly seriously injured, judging by the height that he had fallen from and the amount of blood that had been flowing from the unconscious man. It was unimaginable that something like this could happen now, just when the resistance was getting back on their feet. The hope that had blossomed under Harry's care was faded completely as witnesses spread the word to other members of the resistance about Harry's critical condition. Many were so completely emotionally spent that they could do nothing more than sit and wait for the unthinkable news of the young savior's death.
Albus requested that the rest of the Order, with the exception of Sirius, Remus and Severus, return to their respective apartments as soon as the returned to Hogwarts, as there wasn't anything that any of them could do to help Harry, but keep him in their thoughts and prayers. Arriving at the castle, Albus raised extremely worried eyes to the men Harry considered part of his family, "Let's go see Harry."
Sirius nodded afraid that if he tried to speak his trembling voice would give him away. Silently four of the most senior members of the Order of the Phoenix approached the hospital wing; not sure that they wanted to face what inevitably was taking place within those sterile walls.
Nicole rushed into the infirmary bringing Harry's pale unmoving form behind her.
"Put him down here," demanded Poppy sharply. She had been informed about what had happened at the clearing and had been prepared to try to treat the injuries from his fall. Nicole gently laid Harry down on the designated hospital bed. "Where is all this blood coming from?" the matron questioned.
Nicole looked down puzzled at Harry's still bleeding form. She had treated the deep gash on his side at the battle site and had gotten the bleeding to stop. By all rights, Harry shouldn't still be loosing the precious life sustaining fluid, but for whatever reason he was. The evidence was all over the stretcher that was used to transport him here. She felt the cold fingers of terror clamp around her heart as she realized that she must have missed something.
Nicole's hand shook as she started to undress the unconscious form of her best friend. "Oh God Harry, what have you done now?" she cried as she discarded piece by piece of his clothing in an attempt to get at the previously undiagnosed wound that was bleeding so profusely.
Upon arriving in the hospital, Severus quickly went to aid the medics while Sirius, Albus and Remus went to stand over in the corner of the room where a very pale and shaken Draco was attempting to stay calm.
Severus rushed forward and poured a blood-restoring potion down Harry's throat. Even if they hadn't been able to locate the source of the blood yet, Severus knew that at the rate that Harry was loosing the scarlet fluid that something had to be done soon or they would surely lose the man.
Finally, when Harry was completely unclothed, the medi-witches were able to examine him completely. He had a severe concussion, several broken ribs and a broken leg from the fall but that didn't account for the blood that continued to flow from Harry's body. Seeing no open wounds on his front, Nicole with Pomfrey's aid, rolled Harry onto his stomach, careful not to move his spine or neck.
Seeing the river of blood flowing out of Harry's bum, Nicole blanched when she realized what most likely was happening. "Quick, Poppy, roll him onto him back. I need to operate."
At the word operate, Draco who had been walked over at the head of Harry's hospital bed when the medics started to examine Harry for any additional injuries, felt like he would pass out. There was blood everywhere and now Nicole wanted to cut his lover open, Draco didn't think that in his weakened state that Harry could possibly survive the procedure.
"Nicole, what the hell is going on? What's happening?" Draco didn't even realize that he had tears running down his face until Nicole looked up at him and gently wiped one of the salty pearls away.
Very slowly and carefully, Nicole looked at Harry's significant other. "Draco, Harry is having a miscarriage. If I don't operate on him now and stop the bleeding, Harry will die. Do you understand?"
Oh Merlin, it wasn't possible. He hadn't even known that Harry had been pregnant. He doubted that Harry had even known. But somehow it made sense, Harry's constant tiredness, his slight moodiness, a small change in his diet, all things that Draco had observed over the past couple of months but had brushed off as just stress taking its toll on his lover.
But now, before they even had the chance to relish the idea of having another child, that child was lost to them, taken by Voldemort as surely as though he had cast Avada Kedavra on the infant. Seeing that Nicole was still looking at him with worried eyes, almost as though she was seeking his permission to perform whatever medical measures that could potentially save Harry's life, Draco forced himself to respond. He nodded, knowing that at this moment he needed to concentrate on Harry, that there would be time to grieve the loss of their unborn child later, once Harry was on the mend.
As soon as Nicole saw the slight movement, she immediate got back to work, prepping Harry for his surgery.
Poppy sucked in a sharp breath at Nicole's probable diagnosis. 'It was just too unthinkable.' There hadn't been a recorded male pregnancy in centuries. As soon as they got Harry settled so that he was lying on his back again, the medi-witch's wise eyes searched for the scar that she knew had to be there if her assumptions were correct. And sure enough, there it was, very faint, but still visible. 'But that would mean that…' the old woman looked up in awe at the blonde Slytherin who had certainly done a complete change-around since the first time she had treated him when he was in school here. It was so obvious when you considered the possibility of a male pregnancy. The twins even resembled Draco a bit.
Draco saw Pomfrey looking at him strangely and knew that she had figured out the twin's paternity. Now was not the time to get into that. "Stop looking at me and help him," Draco practically shouted at the old bat, trying to get her to focus her attention where it belonged.
Albus, who was still standing in corner waiting for Harry's prognosis, was incredulous at Nicole's comments about Harry being pregnant. It was possible and certainly explained a few things, including Harry's need to keep the identity of his sons' birth mother a closely guarded secret. It appeared that Harry was even more powerful and talented of a wizard then he had allowed everyone to believe. Albus had discounted the rumors from the battle regarding how Harry absorbed the many stunning curses sent his way before falling under the combined weight of three stunners, the last of which was cast by the Dark Lord himself. Such a feat normally would seem unbelievable. Even Albus himself in his youth would not have been able to withstand such a volley of curses. But now, with this additional knowledge, things started to make sense.
Male pregnancies were extremely dangerous and, due to the rarity of the event occurring, not a lot was known about the intricacies of male birth. It was thought that only powerful wizards could conceive due to their highly advanced abilities at wandless magic. Simply, a powerful wizard could will his body to prepare for and carry a child if they wanted it bad enough. The desire to conceive a child need not be a conscious desire either, as long as the will was there it could happen if the wizard was powerful enough. But it was also thought that the wizard's power could also play against the wizard too. It was amazing that the same level of power that enabled a male to become pregnant also was the same factor that made it so very dangerous.
Albus speculated that Harry must not have used much magic at all during his pregnancy with his sons, as he was able to deliver them without any obvious complications, which is a feat in itself. But now that Harry had returned to Hogwarts, he had been practicing very complicated and powerful spells continuously to prepare for the upcoming battles. His ability to continue to perform those types of spells while pregnant is quite an accomplishment, but was sure to have put a strain on not only himself but also on the developing fetus.
Wizard pregnancies on a whole are different from muggle ones; the baby's magic develops simultaneously as the baby physically develops in preparation for birth. It is important that the 'mother' or in the case of male pregnancies the 'birth father' makes sure to use as little magic as possible during the pregnancy so that their magic does not conflict with the baby's; the more powerful a witch or wizard, the higher chances of a conflict happening.
When the birth parent would cast spells there was often a chance that the spells would not produce desired results. Also during pregnancy the baby's and birth parent magic can often develop a sort of symbiotic relationship. In the case of a miscarriage, the sudden loss of the baby's magic could be very detrimental to the birth parent, which is why the fatality rate for witches during a miscarriage is so much higher than the muggle statistic.
Knowing that Harry was the birth parent helped to explain the strong magical potential he sensed in Harry's sons; with the combination of the ancient power in Harry's bloodline with that of the highly potent Malfoy blood, it was no wonder that his sons would be extraordinarily talented.
Albus hoped that they would be able to keep Harry's secret for at least a little longer, but it seemed highly unlikely. Although he did note that of the other men present in the room, only Remus seemed to be surprised by Nicole's announcement, so he assumed that both Severus and Sirius knew about the twin's paternity before today. The former Headmaster looked worriedly over to where three of the best in their field were working diligently to save Harry. If Harry died, this revelation was all for naught. Not only would they lose what is undeniably the strongest wizard in centuries, but also a good loyal man. It was a loss that Albus wasn't prepared to bear.
Draco felt a strong pair of arms surround him and guide him off to the side of Harry's room. "Draco, why don't you put that thing down?" Remus suggested quietly as he too watched Severus, Nicole and Poppy fight a losing battle. Not even realizing that he had picked up Harry's broomstick and brought it with them into the hospital, Draco opened his fingers that had been tightly grasping the broom allowing it to fall harmlessly to the floor. No one moved as the sound of wood meeting stone rang throughout the hospital wing.
However, when Poppy whispered, "I can't get the bleeding to stop, we're loosing him," the sound seemed to echo, prompting an immediate reaction.
Draco tried to pull away from the person who was holding him. However, Sirius tightened his embrace on his Godson's lover and kept him away from Harry's bedside, allowing Madame Pomfrey and Nicole to continue their administrations. "He's fading…"
'Where the hell was Fawkes? He had saved Harry before; surely he could do it again.' But then Draco remembered that Dumbledore had sent the phoenix off on a mission to track down some of their fellow resistance members that were in hiding in France. The phoenix had only recently left, so it was not logical that he would be back anytime soon. Eventually, Harry's chest stopped moving as his face began to take on a bluish tinge. "Quick Nicole, he's not breathing." He felt like he was going to be violently ill when he heard Poppy's urgent whisper.
Draco felt the arms around him tremble and wetness on his neck from the tears being shed from the person behind him as Nicole and Poppy made one last desperate attempt to save Harry's life.
Darkness, which was blacker than the deepest black, was suddenly pierced by a stream of bright light. Harry turned and looked at the light, studying it. The light was almost harsh in its brilliance as compared to the utter blackness that had previous surrounded him, yet the light was not hard to look at. Not knowing what else to do Harry slowly started to make his way towards the light.
The closer that Harry came to the light, the more at peace he felt. The feeling was almost indescribable; he had only experienced this type of calming before when he listened to the phoenix song. Soon, the light was all around him, enveloping him in a sense of warmth. It was impossible to ascertain the source of the light by Harry kept on moving forward.
Shortly, Harry was able to make out what looked like figures moving towards him. Oddly enough, Harry wasn't afraid and the sense of peace was now overlaid with an overwhelming feeling of love. Harry squinted as he tried to identify the individuals that were coming to meet him. There were two people leading the way with many others behind them. It appeared that it was a man and a woman that were coming to greet him. Harry stopped and waited.
"Mum? Dad?" Harry gasped as soon as the man and women were close enough to be recognized. "But how?"
Harry soon found himself wrapped in his mother's arms and he felt her tears on his face. As soon as she loosened her grip, Harry was once more embraced, this time by his father.
"Oh Harry… You have no idea how much we've missed you," Lily Potter said sadly, as his father rumpled his hair.
"But I don't understand. If I'm here with you, does that mean I died?" Harry looked first to his mother and then to his father for an answer to his question.
"Well son, technically yes, you've died, but I'm happy to say that you are not going to be staying."
"What do you mean I can't stay? I've just found you again; I'm not ready to leave you." Harry looked desperately at the two people he wished most in his life that he had had the chance to get to know. This was that chance, the fulfillment of every wish he had ever made and he wasn't ready to give it up so soon.
"Harry, please try to understand, you are the only chance that the wizarding world has to defeat Voldemort. You can not possibly stay here and allow him to take over. You have to go back and fulfill your destiny."
"But Dad, I'm tired. I've fought Voldemort so many times and I don't know how to defeat him. I'm not special; surely someone else will be able to conquer him. I want to stay, I've done my best and I failed. Please don't send me away."
Harry's pleading was interrupted by his mother's soothing voice, "Harry love, you are special, in more ways than you will ever know. You are loved by so many people who would be devastated if you did not live." Lily reached out and stroked his cheek. "You know Harry, we've been watching over you. I'm so sorry that you had to go live with my sister and her family. Your childhood was not something that your father and I approved of. I've even tried to go back so that I could haunt Albus for sending you to them, but I wasn't allowed to go."
James Potter looked at Harry tenderly, "She really means that. I did try to talk her out of it. But when I failed, I tried to see if I could go back with her and haunt Snape, but the powers that be didn't feel that two more ghosts at Hogwarts were really necessary." With that, the tall handsome dark haired man shrugged his shoulders.
Lily smiled lovingly at her husband before returning her attention to her gorgeous son. "Harry, even now your family is trying everything that they can think of to save your life. Think about them and how they would feel if you didn't go back. Your sons need you to guide them. You wouldn't want them to have to grow up without you. Besides, don't you have a beautiful boyfriend who loves you to distraction?"
Harry looked at his mother in surprise, seeing the warmth in her green eyes that he often saw reflected in his son's own eyes. It was really kind of funny hearing Draco referred to as his 'boyfriend.' "You know about Matthew and Evan, and about me and Draco."
"Of course Sweetheart, we watch over you constantly and see everything that affects your life."
"Well, we see almost everything," his father quickly added as Harry blushed, thinking about some of the more private things that he hoped his parents were not witness to.
Harry swallowed, almost afraid to ask, but knowing that this was his only opportunity to know. "So do you approve of me and Draco?"
"Do you love him?" his mother asked softly.
"More than anything."
"Then yes, we approve. Right now, he is desperately trying to save your life. I don't want to even think what will happen to him if you don't go back." She shot a knowing look at Harry. "He seems to be a wonderful young man and he makes you happier than we had ever seen you. Just make sure that you take care of each other and that you take care of your beautiful children," Lily said as she wrapped her arms around Harry. "His life hasn't been easy either, and you both deserve to be happy, Harry." Harry knew that she was avoiding the topic of his imprisonment.
Harry nodded at his mother as tears welled up in his eyes. Their approval of his relationship with his soulmate meant more to him than he had believed possible.
Harry felt his father's strong hand on his shoulder as he looked up into a face that was so like his own. "Harry, your time here is almost up, listen carefully we need you to do a couple of things for us."
Again Harry nodded.
"First, Harry you need to come to terms with what was done to you and forgive the people who sent you to Azkaban. You are not doing yourself any favors by trying to cut yourself off from them; you need learn to trust people again. People aren't perfect and trusting people will cause you pain, but if you don't trust, you'll never be whole again. Your mother and I want you to heal, Harry. You need to do this for both yourself and for your family, please."
Harry hated to have to promise his parents the one thing that he had been struggling with for so long. Seeing Harry's resistance, James pressed on, "Dumbledore was foolish and was suffering from an over-inflated ego from over a century of people telling him he could do no wrong. Eventually, the old fool believed what they were saying about him. You should learn from his mistake, and not let the same thing happen to you. Besides, I think that the Weasleys deserve a chance to be a part of your family. Give them another chance; I don't think they'll disappoint you again. They could be good for both you and the boys."
Harry nodded hearing the wisdom in his father's words.
"By the way son, you're probably the best Quidditch player I've ever seen, you make me real proud every time I see you fly."
Harry laughed as Lily nudged James to keep him on topic. "Okay, I promise to try to let it go and to forgive, but that's all I can promise right now." Harry looked hopefully at his parent's that this promise would be sufficient knowing that he would never fully be able to forget the horrible injustice that was done to him.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at the smile that he saw on both of his parent's faces. Lily knew that their time was running short and still needed to convey certain things to their son.
"Secondly, please tell Padfoot to stop blaming himself. The fact that we died is not his fault, we don't blame him at all. It was our decision to switch Secret Keepers and we are sorry that he had to suffer so. It tears us up to see the burden that he places on himself. Also, tell Moony that he needs to take better care of himself, and that we're not angry at him for believing in Dumbledore when you went to Azkaban."
"Although I still plan on giving him a good talking-to when next I see him," James interrupted his wife when she paused for a breath. Ignoring her disgruntled look he continued on. "And what is with his choice of companion? I would have thought that he could have done better for himself than that greasy haired git."
Harry laughed as Lily shushed her spouse, knowing instinctively by the sparkle in his father's eyes that he was only teasing and had made his peace with Snape a long time ago. "Also tell them that Lily sends her love to the mangy old dog and the loveable wolf. They'll understand."
"Finally, Harry, we want you to know how every much we love you. It was not your fault that we died, or that Cedric died, or anyone else for that matter. Please let the blame fall where it belongs with Voldemort. We couldn't be more proud of the person that you have become." Lily found that she couldn't continue as she became overwhelmed with emotion.
Harry reached over and gave his mother a strong hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks mum. I love you too you know, both of you." Harry peered over his mother's shoulder at his father.
"We know son, we love you and those gorgeous boys of yours, give them a hug and kiss for us," his father added. "They are going to be great Quidditch players, I can tell. But sadly, now it's time for you to go."
"Already, but I want to spend more time with you. I just got here."
"We know Harry, but if you don't leave now, you won't have another chance. You need to go. Besides we'll keep looking out for you and sometime, not too soon mind you, we'll all be together again."
Harry embraced both his parents and held on to them as if he never wanted to let them go. Soon however he felt a gently tugging as if something was pulling him back away from his parents, back away from the light. Harry kept eye contact as his parents images became smaller and smaller. "I love you," Harry said, right before they disappeared altogether. "We love you too, always." Harry wasn't sure if he heard it or if he felt it, but he knew without a doubt that they had responded.
Eventually, Nicole stepped back from the bed and placed her wand over Harry's heart. Severus, who had been administering what potions he thought may help, and Poppy also stepped back away from the bed. Draco watched as the tip of the witch's wand glowed a bright yellow and she touched the wand to Harry's chest. Harry's body seemed to jolt when the wand made contact with him. Not sure what was happening, Draco watched as this procedure was repeated several more times.
A few moments later, Nicole looked over at Draco with tears falling from her eyes. "He's gone, I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything that I could do. He had already lost too much blood and it was just too late by the time I had removed the fetus and stopped his internal hemorrhaging.
At the witch's words, Draco felt the weight of the world come crashing down around him. Draco fought back against the darkness that threatened to consume him. He refused to believe that Harry was gone, with a surge of strength he wretched himself away from Sirius and ran towards the hospital bed.
Draco looked down at Harry's face, now relaxed in death. "No, no damn it. Not again. I refuse to allow you to leave me, Potter. I can't do that again. I won't damn you. Don't die. Please Harry don't die, I need you to live. Don't you leave me, you promised, you son of a bitch. I can't do this alone, please Leo come back to me… I love you…"
Suddenly, the reality of the situation hit the blonde hard. Here was his soul mate lying dead before him. He was not coming back this time. Draco felt something inside him break as tears poured down his face.
Draco slowly lowered his lips and kissed Harry's for the last time. Draco sobbed as he felt the still warm soft lips under his. Lips that he would never feel moving against his, lips that he would never see smile that smile of his that could turn Draco to jelly without a moments notice. Draco placed his arms around Harry and laid his head on Harry's chest, devastated not to hear the comforting beating of Harry's heart that Draco had listened to so many times.
Slowly, Draco's tears streamed down Harry's chest cleansing a path through the blood as they made their way down towards the incision that Nicole had reopened on Harry's lower abdomen. Only a short moment had passed since Nicole had pronounced his mate gone, with renewed determination Draco raised his tear-stained face and with a look more fierce than any Nicole had ever seen before, demanded that she keep trying.
Nicole, after witnessing the death of her best friend, had turned to his Godfather for support. Needless to say, Sirius wasn't handling this unthinkable turn of events well either. They stood there wrapped together in a corner of the hospital room; both still stained with Harry's life giving fluid; both to numb to start comprehending what had just happened.
Seeing the look on Draco's face, Nicole knew that she needed to keep trying, if not for herself or even Draco, but for the twins that she loved as if they were of her own flesh and blood. Pulling out of Sirius' shaking embrace, the young women walked back over to the hospital bed where the familiar body lay.
Raising her wand, she repeated the spell that had an extremely remote possibility of restarting Harry's still heart. But the longer it went without him drawing a breath or his heart pumping what little blood remained throughout his system, his organs would start to be impaired from the lack of oxygen. Even if she were able to revive him, soon it wouldn't matter; it would be too late.
The spell failed again. Looking across Harry's still body, her eyes met and held ones that appeared to be made from steel.
"Once more, please." The desperate whisper gave her the resolve to raise her wand one last time.
The procedure was repeated. Her wand glowing brightly before it discharged a shock to Harry, attempting to jump start his heart. Harry's body jerked as the energy passed through him, but this time something was slightly different. Draco watched never blinking as Nicole bent down low to check Harry's vitals to see if the spell had worked.
A bright smile broke out over the troubled witch's face when she felt Harry's heart give a few tentative beats. "Come on Harry, you can do it. Come back to us," she whispered fiercely as his heart beat fluttered once more before settling into a slow and slightly erratic rhythm.
Still smiling through her tears she looked over at Draco and nodded letting him know that Harry was indeed back. He was no where out of the woods yet, but at least he still had a fighting chance. And if Harry was anything, he was a fighter.
Quickly joined at Harry's bedside by Poppy and Severus, the three of them soon resumed their life saving techniques that they had only just recently abandoned.
Waking up in one of the small uncomfortable hospital beds was not one of Draco's most favorite experiences. Before his eyelids had even fluttered open to greet the morning, the memories of the ambush and all that had transpired afterward came back in one gigantic rush. Draco hadn't meant to fall asleep and correctly assumed that his Godfather had slipped him a sleeping draught when he wasn't paying attention. Wildly, Draco started to look around the room until his gaze fell on a form on the other side of the hospital wing. Without another thought, Draco leapt out of bed and started to make his way over to Harry.
Draco was pleased to notice that Severus, Remus and Sirius were already sitting along his mate's sides as he slid into one of the chairs that were sitting along the side of Harry's bed. Glaring at Severus for his earlier deceit, Draco relaxed somewhat when he saw that Harry's face had regained some small amount of color and that he appeared to be breathing on his own. At Draco's questioning glance, Sirius explained that Harry was in a deep healing coma, and that he would wake up on his own when his body and magical strength had been restored to a sufficient level to allow him to do so. Harry currently was attached to several bags of solutions that were hanging along the bed. These bags fed potions directly into his bloodstream through a muggle IV that was inserted into Harry's arm.
Severus explained to Draco that the potions were necessary to help Harry's body speed up the production of blood to replace what he had lost and to help feed him nutrients.
"But he's going to be okay?" Draco looked at his Godfather for reassurance as he reached over and gently brushed some hair back off Harry's forehead.
"It certainly seems so. Once he is awake, we'll know for sure, but his outlook is promising," Sirius explained.
Sirius, sitting next to Draco, held Harry's hand as they watched the young man who held the hopes of the world in his hands start to heal, at least physically. They all knew that he would need their support to help with his emotional and psychological healing once he woke up.
A short time later, Nicole came into the infirmary to check on her patient. After verifying that there had been no material changes in Harry's condition, she insisted on a private conversation with Draco.
When they were reasonably assured of some privacy, Nicole pulled the startled man into a tight hug. "He'll be alright Draco, I promise you; he'll be alright."
Draco squeezed her harder, feeling good to share this moment with someone who cared for Harry almost as much as he did. "Thank you. Thank you for everything that you've done for him." Draco paused and then corrected himself, "For us."
Blushing slightly at being on the receiving end of that heart stopping smile, the young women collected herself and pulled gently away from the handsome blonde man who belonged so completely to her best friend. Wiping her eyes, she gave him a slight bashful smile. "Look there are some private things that we need to talk about before Harry wakes up, so I figured that now would be as good of a time as any."
Draco nodded; wondering what Nicole needed to talk to him about.
Taking a deep breath, and looking Draco straight in his questioning eyes, she decided that the blunt approach was probably best in this instance.
"Draco, did you know that Harry was pregnant?"
The pain of the miscarriage was still too fresh and Draco had to look away. "No, no I didn't know. To be honest I don't think that Harry knew either."
Draco's sad voice pieced her heart; she knew how much Draco would have loved to be a part of Harry's pregnancy, especially after missing out on the first one. "That wouldn't surprise me. Harry didn't exactly catch on quickly the first time either."
Draco ran a hand through his slightly disheveled hair. "Hell, shouldn't Harry have been sick or something if he had been pregnant?"
Nicole would have laughed, had the conversation not been so personally painful. "No, Draco, that is a common misconception, in reality, morning sickness is not a common ailment during pregnancy, only a relative few people actually experience it. Harry didn't have any morning sickness when he was pregnant with the twins. He was occasionally moody, had some weird few cravings, and was just very tired. That is all the symptoms he had, which is why it is likely that he hadn't even known that he was pregnant himself. Male pregnancies are harder to diagnosis as there is no menstrual cycle to be missed."
"How far along was he?" Draco asked quietly, wanting to know on one hand, and not wanting to know on the other.
"He was about 14 weeks, just starting his second trimester." Draco's mind whirled thinking of all the 'what ifs' and 'should have beens'. He hadn't even noticed that he hadn't been paying attention to Nicole until she pulled sharply on his arm. "What?"
Nicole looked almost apologetic. "There is something else that you need to know."
Draco nodded for her to continue, not really feeling ready to hear anything else.
"Draco, I'm sorry, but there was a lot of damage. I did the best that I could, but it is very unlikely that Harry will be able to conceive and carry another baby."
While her words were not unexpected, they still hurt. Since finding the boys, Draco had often imagined after this damn war was over and they had made their union more official that he and Harry would settle down and possibly have more children. A little girl would have been nice, maybe with his hair and Harry's eyes. But Nicole had just confirmed what he had feared since learning of the miscarriage. It looked like more children just weren't in the stars for the two of them. But at least he had Harry, Harry and his beloved boys.
Quickly conjuring a chair for the shaking man to sit down on, Nicole gently guided him to the seat. Taking a few moments to make sure that Draco had stopped shaking, Nicole continued on with her last topic for this painful conversation.
"One last thing Draco, I'm going to have Harry moved to one of the private hospital rooms so that he'll be more comfortable. However, when he is awake and is then later released from the hospital wing, I need you to promise me no sex for at least six weeks. Harry will start to feel better, but he suffered a lot of internal damage, some of which has to mend itself on its own, so please restrain yourself and him."
Draco appreciated Nicole's concern, but sex right now was the last thing on his mind. He needed to take care of his family and if that meant keeping his hands to himself for a while, then so be it.
On the medi-witch's insistence, Draco went to visit with the twins for a while. They were fortunate enough to be staying with a family who had kids in the daycare that the twins went to. So far they had been able to hide the extent of Harry's injuries from the boys, only letting them know that their daddy had been hurt and was currently in the hospital wing to get better. As soon as he was well enough, they would be able to come and visit him.
Spending time with his sons had done the trick. Draco hadn't even realized how much he had missed the boys while he had been in the hospital wing with Harry. Somewhat happier, Draco let Nicole sent him back into his own bed so that he could rest, knowing that if he refused she would just reminded him that he wouldn't be any good to Harry when he woke up if he didn't regain his own strength first.
To Be Continued.