Chapter 27

Heather pulled out a small coffee table from one of the carpetbags. The adjoining rooms were beginning to look homey. It reminded her of their first apartment although this lacked a proper kitchen.

Cassie sat on her new bed, legs dangling off the side as she watched Draco unpack the second bag. It amazed her how everything they owned could fit into two bags. Gran had told her that they were enchanted, but she was supposed to keep it secret. Many things were secret in her family. It was that way to keep them safe.

Noticing her solemn expression, Draco paused in his unpacking.

"You okay Snapdragon?"

"I'm okay." She mumbled, but she couldn't fool him. Thinking for a moment Draco dug into the bag. Shoving aside clothes and linens he finally came across what he was looking for.

"I know someone who isn't," he said trying to hide a smile. Making his voice sound pouting and sad he continued. "Someone who missed you a lot." He pulled the stuffed kangaroo he'd given her as her first belated Christmas present.

"ZOOROO!" Cassie cried happily. Leaping off the bed, she dashed over to her beloved toy. Snatching it out of his hands, she squeezed it tightly. "I missed you!"

The kangaroo had been dubbed 'Zooroo' within the first few days. It'd been her only toy for a few months until they'd had a steady income. She'd slept with it, teethed on it, and dragged it all over the apartment when she was a toddler. This devotion forced Draco to place a small preservation spell on it. Zooroo was the first, but certainly not the last present he'd given her.

"I missed you Daddy," Cassie said, breaking through his memories. "Mr. Potter was really nice, but he's not you." He smiled and kissed her on the top of her head.

"I missed you too Cassie." She hugged him then jogged out to see how Heather was doing. For a moment Draco felt a small pang of guilt. He regretted not telling Harry about her. He'd missed so much, her first word, her first steps, and those were things that could never be replaced. On the other hand, if anyone knew she had Potter blood in her veins she would be a target. There was too much danger involved. He would never outright tell Harry, but if he asked, Draco wouldn't lie.

--------------------------------------------------

Ron's words echoed in his mind for a couple days, keeping Harry awake. Why did that snippet of conversation bother him so? No, he's not here. What did Draco mean by that? Restlessly moving around his temporary lodgings, he began piecing together what he knew about Draco Malfoy. He understood why he'd fled, but how did Heather figure in? They were from two different sectors of wizard society. Why would she be willing to help him? It had to do with Cassie's mother. Was she a relative of Heather's? Harry didn't think there was an O'Toole at Hogwarts while he'd been attending. He knew the mother had to be someone he'd gone to school with. It was the only way the math worked out. Cassie had been born in November. Nine months before that was March. When you took the love potion, the voice in his head reminded him. That has nothing to do with it, he countered. Men can't become pregnant.

There wasn't a long list of people that could be the Cassie's mother. She wasn't a Slytherin or Lucius wouldn't be bent on killing the child. No Gryffindor female would go near him, so that left Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as potential prospects.

Are you sure there were no side effects? the voice asked, casting a shadow of doubt on his reasoning. That was ludicrous! There was no way a love potion could do more than make them have sex. Suddenly Hagrid's innocent comment slammed into the foreground of his thoughts. She reminds me o' you, I mean with that black hair. He froze mid pace.

"I'm just tired, there's no possible way. I mean we're men. Its just paranoia caused by lack of a good night's sleep." He wondered if Natalie knew of anyone who had secretly dated Draco, but he kept going back to those words. Black hair, black hair that's the same shade as mine. There was no way he could've sired a child with Draco. Still, as absurd as it sounded, it was a possibility. It was late, but perhaps Snape was still in the Potions classroom. The instructor had headed there directly after dinner.

Quickstepping the entire way down to the dungeon, Harry felt a cold dread creep through his veins. One could do many things with magical potions. Perhaps male pregnancy was one of them. Thinking back he tried to remember if Draco had shown any signs. His mind drew a blank, which didn't help his mental state. Trying to keep himself at a sedate pace, he didn't want to appear desperate when he finally made it to the Potions room.

A few lanterns lit the dim room as Harry opened the door. Snape was sitting at his desk mixing a few ingredients into a caldron. Knocking on the door to get the attention of the older man, he hoped he wasn't disturbing anything important.

"Yes Potter?" Snape asked looking up at him from over the caldron. "Is there some reason you're disturbing me this late at night?"

Steeling his nerves, Harry stepped into the room.

"Forgive me for interrupting," he apologized, knowing that Snape would ingrain this moment into his memory to be hauled out later against him. "I have a question about Professor Lilium."

At the mention of the old Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Snape visibly shuddered.

"What about that dreadful woman?" He replied not hiding his disgust for her. He was trying to put what she'd been planning to do to him out of his mind forever.

"Her love potions. What types did she use?" Harry fought to keep his voice steady.

Snape regarded him oddly.

"Why are you interested?" He tilted his head in a quizzical gesture.

"I have a theory about Cassiopeia Malfoy," he said slowly. That appeared to be enough of an answer for Snape for once.

"She only used one. A love potion specifically designed to increase the likelihood of conception. It originated in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs to guarantee their abundance of children. It's commonly known as Hathor's Kiss." He paused and stood. Walking to a bookshelf in the corner of the classroom, Snape searched it. Pulling down a leather bound book with gold lettering, he returned to his desk. Setting the tome in front of Harry, he flipped to the potion. "This is it."

Gingerly Harry picked up the book and read. He skimmed over the ingredients, focusing all his attention at what the potion did.

'This potion will increase the chance of a couple having offspring. Whom ever is the recipient of a male's seed will have a ninety-five percent chance of becoming pregnant. It should be noted that only couples that are in love with each other will feel the effects. If either of the partners is not true in their love then the potion will be ineffective.'

The text didn't ease Harry's fears. That word 'couple' bothered him. It didn't say specifically male and female couple. The phrase 'a male's seed' didn't help matters. It sounded as if there could be two males involved. If that was the case, Harry mentally shuddered.

"Strange potion for that woman to be using. I wasn't the least bit in love with her." Snape grumbled, checking his potion as Harry read on.

"The wording is a little vague," Harry said feeling a nervous laughter bubble up inside him. "It says, 'whom ever is the recipient'. Makes it sound like even guys can get pregnant." Harry chuckled desperately wishing that the nagging feeling that had just started would go away. Hopefully Snape would tell him he was being ridiculous, that would put his fears to rest.

"Actually," the Potions Master began as he stirred the contents of his caldron. "From what I've heard, they can."

The book slid from Harry's hands and clattered to the desk. Snape's head snapped up as the Auror began to laugh.

"You're kidding, right? I mean there isn't any way..."

"It's rare, but apparently there have been a number of documented cases." Snape said smoothly, reaching forward and turning the book over. Assessing the damage that had been inflicted in the fall, he deemed it satisfactory and closed it.

"Oh Merlin," Harry whispered realizing how real the possibility he'd gotten Draco pregnant was. Rapidly paling, he fought to maintain what composure he had left.

"Is something wrong, Potter?" Snape inquired, taking notice of his distress. Taking a deep breath Harry took hold of the book.

"May I borrow this?" He asked slipping his fingers around the tome.

"I suppose." Snape said, wearily relinquishing it to him.

"Thank you. And thank you for all your help." With book in hand he turned around and all but ran back upstairs.

Snape stared at the empty doorway. It was strange, but it felt like he'd missed something. Going back to his bookshelf he found a book with another copy of the potion in it. Reading the passage Harry had questioned, he considered it for a moment before gazing back at the doorway. Apparently Lilium's love potion had found it's way to the student population and if he was right, it'd had troublesome results.