TITLE: Forever Indebted
AUTHOR: Cosmic
AUTHOR'S EMAIL: bananacosmicgirl hotmail. com
AUTHOR'S HOME PAGE: www. cosmicuniverse. net
AUTHOR'S JOURNAL: www. livejournal. com/ users/ bananacosmic
RATING: R (bad language, serious issues)
STATUS: Complete
CATEGORIES: Mpreg
PAIRINGS: No main pairing. Mentioned pairings: HG/RW
CHARACTERS: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Severus
WARNINGS: Mpreg. Attempted suicide. Dark-fic. Evil!Snape.
SPOILERS: No.
SUMMARY: Harry owes Snape a number of life debts and now Snape is going to collect.
AUTHOR'S NOTES 1: This story is an entry in Misconceptions: Harry Potter Mpreg Fuh-Q-Fest Wave 4 (http/ hpmpregfqf. design-of-decadence. net/
Challenges: - Challenge 49. Harry owes Snape a number of life debts. The demanded payment? One baby per life debt. The story must include this sentence: "A life for a life Potter, you owe me and I intend to collect." Submitted by: Starzy
Pairing(s): None
Holiday(s) Birthday
AUTHOR'S NOTES 2: This is Mpreg. MPREG. If you don't like, don't read. Don't leave me anonymous reviews telling me it's impossible, because this is fanfiction and I do as I please with the characters. If it's possible to erase and re-grow bones, humans can change their appearance at will and so on... well, I will write mpreg.If you don't like slash, mpreg,or any of the other contentin my stories,don't read them. There are over 200 000 other HP fanfics that you can enjoy yourself with. Let those of us who enjoy reading and writing mpreg continue to do so.
BETA: Jen (thank you always!)
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Forever Indebted
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Part Three
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The weeks passed and Harry's stomach grew. With it grew his nervousness. A small light of hope had been lit within him, like a beacon in a night black tunnel. He didn't know yet if it was the light of a saviour or if it was the train coming to mow him over.
Harry kept going to work every day, needing the paperwork to keep him occupied. His near suicide had been in the paper and his co-workers walked on eggshells around him, until he had to tell Angelina to tell the others that he wouldn't break if they spoke freely around him. It didn't mean things went back to the way they had been before, but it was a bit better, at least.
Harry slept more often at Ron and Hermione's flat. He didn't want to be alone anymore and he slept better knowing that he was close to his friends.
"But you have to tell me if you want a night off from babysitting me," Harry said apologetically.
"Don't be silly, Harry," Hermione said and squeezed his hand. "You need us and we're here for you."
Ron nodded in agreement. Still, Harry tried to sleep at home at least two nights a week.
Harry noticed stretch marks appearing on the lower part of his stomach. They were quite faint, but Harry could still stand and look at them in the mirror, tracing the patterns. It fascinated him for some reason.
Harry's back was killing him and he loved when Ron or Hermione took the time to give him a massage. The pregnancy was, as he neared the end of what the book called 'the second trimester', becoming a pain. He had trouble breathing sometimes because the baby seemed to press upwards on his lungs, he started having to go to the bathroom every hour again and his breasts swelled to the point where he actually had to get a bra. It was one of the – probably the – most humiliating thing he had ever done, although Hermione did his best to make him feel comfortable.
He kept getting new robes and undergarments; Madame Malkins had decided that she wanted to show her support. Considering that none of Harry's old trousers fit anymore, it was lucky that she did.
Still, the most painful part of his pregnancy was not knowing what would happen to the baby. Would the law be passed and with it a rule for him to keep the baby, or would it not, meaning that he had to give the child to Snape?
Returning from the bathroom, Harry sat down heavily on the couch in Hermione and Ron's living room. "I'm so tired of this," he said unhappily.
Hermione smiled slightly. "It's only a little over two months left."
Harry nodded. "But until then, I'm going to keep growing and then there's the birth and—" He trailed off. He didn't want to think about anything post-birth.
"How did the check-up go today?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. He'd been going to check-ups regularly since his— suicide attempt. Harry could barely think about that anymore. Though he wasn't happy, he didn't want to die any longer. "Everything seems fine," he said. "She's growing just the way she should be and apparently, everything I'm experiencing is completely normal as well."
He couldn't help but feel relieved that the child within him – whom he still referred to as 'she', though he hadn't found out for sure from the Healer – was growing as she should, despite the poison Harry had used. He didn't want the baby to be punished for his stupidity.
"That's great," Ron said, looking a bit unsure of what to say. He tended to be unsure when they talked about the baby, as he didn't know much about them.
"She – the Healer – told me that I should try getting the baby with her head down. I think it was to get ready for the birth," Harry said, frowning slightly.
"How do you make the baby do that?" Hermione asked.
"By standing on all fours, apparently," Harry said. "She said I'd feel it when the baby is in the right position, because she's likely to kick me in the ribs."
"How interesting," Hermione said. "What else did she say?"
"That I should try to make my posture better," Harry replied. "My backaches will lessen if I start standing up straight, apparently. And it's better for the baby."
It wasn't as easy for him to talk about the baby with Hermione and Ron as it had been talking to the Maternity Healer, Harry noticed. The Maternity Healer was impersonal, cut off from his real life. When Harry talked to her, it felt like it was all about business. When he came here and spoke to Ron and Hermione, it felt personal all of a sudden. It felt as though he cared for the thing inside of him, despite all his efforts not to.
With hopeful dread, Harry waited for the day when the Ministry were to make their announcement.
On the day that Harry entered his seventh month, he noticed a difference in his body. He couldn't quite tell what it was that made him aware of it but when he let his hand run down his bulging belly around his cock and further, he felt a small hole that had never been there before. If Hermione hadn't told him about the birthing canal that would form during the pregnancy and start showing in his third trimester, he would have fainted on the spot. As it was, he only felt a bit dizzy – after all, it wasn't supposed to be there.
He ran his fingers over the tiny hole – it wasn't bigger than the pinhead of a needle – trying to figure out just how a baby would be able to pass through there. Oh, sure, it would grow – but it couldn't possibly grow enough to let a baby through, could it?
Harry dressed, wondering if anyone else would notice a difference in him. He didn't think so, or at least they'd sign it off to the pregnancy – which would be the right thing to do.
Harry Floo'd to work – and was immediately hauled off by Angelina.
"There you are! We've been waiting for you!" she said.
"What? Why?" Harry asked, running to keep up. His breath soon became laboured and he had to slow down. Angelina noticed and winced.
"I'm sorry, Harry, it's just— the Ministry are going to announce whether there will be a new law or not," she said.
Harry's eyes grew wide and he stopped. "Now?"
Angelina smiled. "Yes! Come on."
They hurried to the elevators and took them to one of the bigger rooms on the first floor. The room was filled with people, most of them from the press and as soon as Harry entered the room, flashbulbs started going off. Harry looked down, trying to make himself smaller and invisible.
A Ministry official stood at the podium at the other end of the room. "Now that you are here, Mr. Potter, I suppose we can start?"
Another official came up to take his place. In a loud, important-sounding voice, he declared, "The Ministry of Magic has today, on February first, decided on the matter of whether to create a new law about whether repayment of life debts through children should be allowed or not." He paused for effect, allowing the photographers to take a few shots. Harry started sweating with nervousness, his breath short.
"From this day forth," the official continued, "the Ministry of Magic has decided to create a law forbidding repayment of life debts through children—"
The man trailed off as everyone in the room started talking at the same time. Harry couldn't hear any of them; he was enveloped in complete silence. He felt the baby move inside of him and his hands shook as he placed them on his belly. Flashbulbs went off as the photographers took picture upon picture, but Harry didn't notice. He would not have to go through this again to give Snape more heirs. A small part of him knew that Snape would find another way for him to repay the life debts, but that didn't matter at the moment. He could only feel—
"People! People!" yelled the official. "If I could have your continued attention? Thank you. The Ministry of Magic has decided to create a law forbidding repayment of life debts through children. Any and all such repayments currently in the works, however, will still fall to the saviour. In a more personal way, this means that Professor Severus Snape will still be the one with the right to the child you are carrying, Mr. Potter."
Harry's eyes widened. His legs wouldn't support him any longer and he fell to the ground, his arms wrapped around his abdomen, tears starting to fall down his cheeks. He was vaguely aware of someone carrying him out of the room. Then welcoming darkness swept over his mind.
He woke up on the couch in Angelina's office. Angelina was there, as was Hermione. That was all Harry had time to recognize before he remembered why he'd fainted in the first place. Fresh tears made their way down his cheeks and he curled into a ball, his arms around himself.
Hermione and Angelina watched helplessly.
"He can't have her," Harry sobbed, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. "He can't have her, he can't have her, he can't have her…"
He hadn't allowed himself to hope and yet he still had. He'd wanted it so badly, to get to be the child's guardian, that he had started to believe that it might be possible. Now it was even worse than it had been before Ron had told him of the investigation.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said softly, pain lacing her voice.
Harry only curled more tightly together, ignoring her.
Three days later, Harry was hospitalized. He hadn't eaten since the Ministry's announcement and the Healers were getting concerned. He didn't respond when someone talked to him and as the days passed, he seemed less and less aware of anything at all around him. Hermione and Ron tried everything they could think of before contacting St. Mungo's, but in the end, they felt they had no choice. Harry wasn't responding to anything; he spent all day in bed, not moving, not talking, not eating. Like a machine, completely disconnected to the world, Harry only got up when he had to go to the bathroom.
At St. Mungo's, they forced him to stand up and walk around at regular intervals, they fed him and they tried to get him to talk, without success.
Four days after being admitted, Harry had a visitor.
"You have taken my other heirs from me," Snape snarled as he walked into the room, "but I will not let you kill this child. It is mine!"
Harry didn't respond; he lay staring emptily in front of him. Snape's temper got the better of him and he slapped Harry hard across the cheek.
"Answer me, boy!"
The Potions Master looked sickly; he was pale and drawn and the hand he hadn't used to slap Harry was on his belly. He had gained weight in the last few months; it was an effect of Hermione's spell. He'd gotten food cravings and unlike Harry, he had indulged in them far more. His back was constantly hurting him and sometimes, he could swear that he felt a hard kick in the ribs, though there was no baby inside of him.
Harry still didn't answer. Dark circles beneath his eyes made him look just as sick as Snape, though his breasts and bulging stomach somehow made him look well. His arms were far too thin.
"You are going to pay for all of this," Snape growled at Harry. "The Ministry might have decided that it is illegal for you to have my child but if you fall pregnant again anyway, laws won't matter. And I will take that child as well, for even in jail I will be the child's legal guardian!" Snape grabbed Harry with both hands and shook him forcefully. "Answer me, brat, or you will face the consequences!"
Harry didn't so much as blink. Snape felt a sharp pain in his ribs as the baby kicked again; he gasped and let Harry go. His hands went to his abdomen instead.
"When you are born, you will pay for that," Snape promised.
The door creaked; someone was coming inside. Snape Apparated away, escaping unnoticed.
Hermione was livid. "How could you not notice anyone coming into his room? Particularly that piece of nasty bastard?"
Harry was resting on the bed, still unresponsive, but with a large, hand-shaped bruise on the left side of his face.
"We cannot check on our patients every second of the day, Miss Granger," said the Healer.
"What about anti-Apparition wards?" Hermione asked.
The Healer shook his head. "Those are only for our high-risk patients."
"And you don't think he's a high-risk patient?" Hermione nearly screamed.
The Healer frowned at her. "Please, Miss Granger, this is a hospital. Do keep your voice down."
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "I want to see the spell journal for this room. If we can prove that Snape was the one who got in here and did this to Harry, it should speak against him getting to be the legal guardian of the child."
The Healer nodded, seeming thankful that Hermione was calmer. "Of course."
Hermione met Angelina and Ron in Angelina's office, to tell them what had happened. She brought the copies of the spell journal with her.
"This is the last Healer in training doing the check-up on Harry before it was time for him to sleep," Hermione said, pointing at a series of numbers and letters. She pointed at other sets of numbers as she continued. "For an hour, there's no magical activity in the room, save for the continuous baby-checker; that's these numbers. Then it gets interesting. This is Snape's magical signature as he Apparated into the room." She paused as Angelina and Ron looked. "About two minutes later, this is the pain alarm, which is raised as soon as a patient's heart rate increases or the patient simply feels pain. I'm guessing this is where Snape slapped him. The alarm goes of in the night shift's office, so they're coming to check on him immediately. And here is Snape's magical signature as he Apparates from the room, just a second before the night shifter came into the room."
Angelina frowned. "This is good, but it would be even better if we had it so that we could show it in photos. I don't think the court will find him unsuitable just because he slapped Harry – after all, Harry has been 'mistreating' himself and the baby and the court might find that to be justifiable cause for something as small as a slap."
Hermione took a deep breath. "As much as I hate to admit it, I know you're right."
"So what do we do about it?" Ron asked.
"Well," said Angelina, "we could go to the court with this and hope for the best – or we could try to get more evidence."
Hermione smiled. "What do you have in mind?"
The night fell over St. Mungo's again. Hermione and Ron sat in Harry's room, keeping him company as they had every night for the last two weeks. Harry didn't seem to be about to wake from his stupor.
The room was filled with flowers and well-wishing cards; even a stuffed teddy bear had made its way into the room. Hermione and Ron had read some of the cards; everyone from the regular witches and wizards to high-up Ministry officials and even star Quidditch players had written.
"Let's call it a night, love," said Ron, placing his hands on Hermione's shoulders.
She looked up at him and nodded.
"He'll be all right, soon," Ron said, though his words lacked conviction.
Hermione nodded again and turned back to Harry. She kissed his forehead gently and then laid a hand on his belly. She pressed gently, feeling the baby respond with a foot or an elbow pushing back against her hand. She smiled slightly.
"Good night, Harry," she said. "Sleep tight."
Harry looked unseeingly in front of him. Ron squeezed his shoulder. "Yeah, sleep well mate."
Ron took Hermione's hand and they walked out of the room. Hermione cast a look over her shoulder at her friend before the door fell shut.
Snape Apparated into the room, landing at the end of the bed. He looked even sicker than the last time he'd been there and one hand was clutching his belly as he felt kicks against his ribs and a pressing against his bladder.
"You are making me this way!" Snape yelled at Harry. "You're the one who has me running to the bathroom every five minutes and you make me want odd food that I've never wanted before and you make her kick me all the time so that I can't sleep!"
There was something wild in Snape's eyes. "You're going to answer to me now. Now you are going to feel pain. But don't worry the child won't feel it – just you. You'll have the pain all to yourself."
He walked up to the side of Harry's bed. "But we can't do it here," he said. "The spells will notice it. We'll have to do it someplace else and I know just where to go."
"Stop!"
Snape whirled around. Hermione, Ron and four Aurors stood in the doorway, all with their wands drawn.
"Drop your wand," said one of the Aurors.
Snape snarled at them. "I'm only coming to get what is mine," he said.
"You are under arrest for threatening Mr. Potter and using violence against him," the Auror continued.
Snape's eyes became slits. "I don't think so."
He grabbed Harry's arm. Hermione realised what he was doing and her legs obeyed her before she had time to process the thought. She threw herself forward and grabbed hold of Snape at the same moment as he finished the Apparating spell. Snape, Hermione and Harry vanished from the room.
They landed in a heap on a cold stone floor. Hermione hit her head and before she had time to act, Snape was standing above her with his wand pointed at her throat.
"You aren't supposed to be here, Miss Granger," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "But now that you are, I guess I can arrange for some repayment. After all, I do owe you."
Hermione's eyes widened but she knew that if Snape would concentrate on her rather than on Harry then everything would be all right, somehow.
A spell later, she was slammed against the wall. Her vision swam and her head hurt. Something that felt like metal settled around her wrists and ankles to keep her rooted to the wall.
"It was a nasty curse, the one you hexed me with," Snape said to her.
"It was supposed to be," Hermione said, though her words slurred slightly because of her throbbing head. "A disgusting spell for a disgusting excuse for a human being."
"Insolence!" Snape yelled and slapped her hard across the cheek. Hermione tasted blood. "I will not accept it!"
Over Snape's shoulder, Hermione saw Harry lying still on the ground. It gave her enough power to stay awake; if she fainted, Snape would start on Harry instead.
"It doesn't matter if you accept it or not," Hermione said and spat blood on the ground. "I will continue to tell you the truth."
"Do you not know who you are dealing with, Miss Granger?" asked Snape. "I was a Death Eater – trust me when I say that I know torture."
"What?" asked Hermione, though she winced inwardly in anticipation of the next bout of pain. "You call this torture?"
"Crucio!" screamed Snape and Hermione's world exploded in pain. Every nerve in her body seemed to be on fire; her lungs threatened to collapse and her heart felt like it was about to explode. She wanted to scream but her vocal cords wouldn't work and the scream died in her throat.
Snape ended the curse and Hermione hung panting in the metal holding her up.
"Nice, isn't it?" Snape asked.
"Yes, lovely," Hermione said between raspy breaths. "A real riot."
Then suddenly there were five 'pops' as the four Aurors and Ron Apparated into the room. They looked around and one of the Aurors immediately went to Harry's side, while one of the others shouted a curse at Snape. He froze and fell over to the side, his eyes wide with shock.
Ron ran to Hermione's side and unlocked the metal bars holding her with a quick spell. "Are you all right?"
"I think I'm bleeding a little," Hermione said before she fainted into his arms.
Snape was found guilty of casting an Unforgivable and the Ministry wanted to send him to Azkaban. An examination made by three separate Mind Healers found Snape to be very mentally unstable and as such, they decided on closed treatment at St. Mungo's Psychiatric unit. With that sentence, the court also decided that Severus Snape was unfit to be the legal guardian of a child and thus Harry Potter would take that role for the expected child instead.
Hermione, who testified at the trial, found out about the sentence sitting in Harry's room at St. Mungo's. A tired smile graced her lips.
She'd been healed quickly after being brought to the hospital. Still, the memory of the Cruciatus curse couldn't be healed and she sometimes awoke screaming in the middle of the night. Ron would wake up from it and hold her close until she fell asleep again.
Harry had entered his eighth month but had yet to wake from his stupor.
"You're her legal guardian now," Hermione said, taking his hand and giving him a watery smile. "So now you can wake up and allow yourself to love her like you have since the beginning."
Ron's hands on her shoulders didn't lessen the pain when Harry still didn't wake up.
"He'll wake up in his own time," Ron said, trying to sound assuring.
"Yes, I know," Hermione said. "I just wish his own time was now."
"The Healers say the baby is doing just fine," Ron said. "They checked up on her earlier when you were at work. She's as strong as she should be and is getting ready to come out."
Hermione smiled again. "That's good to hear."
Enjoy? Have some thoughts about it? Review! It makes me so happy. The final chapter will be up soon.
I have disabled the possibility for anonymous reviews because of the reviews I have recieved for the last chapter, which had nothing to do with my story and was only hate-reviews towards mpreg. I hope you understand this and if you don't have an account on feel free to send me an email instead.