Title: Boy-Who-Lived: Father-To-Be
Author: SweetMercy
Rating: M
Warnings: mpreg, slash, has naughty swear words!
Pairings: RL/HP but has references to others.
Summery: One day in the summer after Harry's 6th year, an article appears in the paper that turns his world upside down. Knowing that most of what was said in the article was true, Harry fears seeing his friends and the rest of the Order. But, just like everything else, life has to go on, and Harry returns to school to face the music.
A/N: Thank you for reviewing! Love you all loads! Right, the chapters are goign to start getting longer again since I finally finished doing the flashbacks. This chapter isn't as long as I would have liked it to be and I haven't had time to re-read it and check it and stuff because I'm grounded so I'm not supposed to be on the Computer. Hehe.
Chapter 8: Gifts and Confessions
With Harry's 17th Birthday, July finally turned into August and still Harry hadn't told the possible fathers that the babies might not be there's. Now six months pregnant, Harry was finding it harder to cope with the stress of it all and preferred not to think or talk about it.
Now 17, Harry was allowed to do magic outside of school which was a great advantage as he didn't have to relay on everybody else to do things for him.
His 17th birthday had been pretty busy as most of the Order was now staying at Grimmauld Place with them. Hagrid had stopped by for a visit and given him an assortment of sweets and chocolates, along with quite a large boulder that had Harry's name caved into it, from Gwap. Mrs Weasley had baked him an excellent birthday cake with extra strawberry's and cream, as this was what Harry was craving at the moment, and Fred and George had brought him some excellent pranks for when he had had the babies and would be free to run about the castle again. Ron had got him a light for his broom so he didn't have to hold his wand and fly at the same time when travelling at night, and Hermione had gotten him a book about famous Aurors, past and present. From Neville he had received a set of different quills, and Luna a small book on Wrackspurts, those invisible creatures that she had talked about the previous year; Harry had had to laugh when he had undone her present.
Dumbledore, to Harry's pure amazement, had sent him a Pensieve. It was roughly the same as Dumbledore's but had different markings around the edges and was, at that moment, empty. Harry had a feeling that it really would come in handy.
Sirius, although they still weren't speaking too each other, had sent him a number of magical gadgets, including a ring that vibrated and glowed red when danger was around, and a magical watch (much like the Weasley's clock) which could hold up to 10 names. So far, he had entered 'Ron', 'Hermione', 'Ginny', 'Neville', 'Luna', 'Sirius', 'Remus', 'Albus' ('Dumbledore' was too long), and 'Hagrid'. There was room for one more.
Remus had sent him a very pretty box made out of wood which had been carved into very detailed patterns. Inside, there were 2 compartments. In one, there were three glass vials each containing a potion; the clear one was Veritaserum, the gold one was Felix Felicis, and the other was one that Harry had never come across – it was a light purple colour and was called Siopius. It made the drinker move without making any sound. In the second compartment of the carved box was a note which said that this compartment was for storing dangerous or secret possessions; in other words, something the owner didn't want anybody to see; you simply had to shrink the object and store it away. The box, no matter what spells were preformed on it, could not be destroyed and could only be opened by its owner.
The amount of thought gone into the gifts from Sirius and Remus made Harry feel even more guilty, but he soon managed to forget his uneasy feelings when the partying had started.
That night had been a happy one. Tonks had decided that some sort of celebration was in order and she and Molly had dashed off to the kitchen to prepare snacks and drinks. Hermione had once again started fussing over Harry and the babies, making sure he was ok and assuring him that she would be there every step of the way. She was soon planning the babies' rooms and telling Harry all the things he would need, such as toys and teddies and cots and prams and bottles, etc… Ron said that he thought the babies' clothes should be colour co-ordinated so that he didn't mix them up; the boy in blue, one girl in pink, and the other in yellow. Or maybe he should have their names magically put on to the clothes. Soon, Tonks and Mrs Weasley had joined in, asking questions about the father and so on.
Harry had been thankful when Dumbledore pulled him away from the crowd and out into the hall.
Harry had expected the headmaster to say something to him about this all night. Ever since the old man had given him a questioning look at the hospital, Harry had known that Dumbledore wanted to ask him something and he thought he knew what about. But he wasn't worried. He was too happy to be worried.
"You don't know who the father is, do you Harry?" he asked kindly, to make sure Harry knew it wasn't an accusation of some sort.
"I knew you were going to ask me that sooner or later Professor," sighed Harry. He looked up at the Headmaster. "No," he told him, "I don't know. I mean, I know who it might be so it's not that bad. Hermione, Ron, and I are working on it though. We're sort of adding up the dates to see which one's most likely."
Which they were. Healer Neeson had said that the babies were due at the very end of October, which meant that conception had had to have happened at the end of January. But it was hard to work out since Sirius, Remus, and Draco had happened all in the same week…and 9 months could have meant so many weeks, and if that was the case then it might not mean the end of January…so they weren't really getting anywhere…The only thing they had found out was that it was less likely to be Dean because:
A) They had both been completely pissed out their heads and, according to Hermione, that was bound to affect the sperm,
B) Because Harry had slept with him a week into February, and
C) He was the last one, so chances are he was already pregnant by the time he slept with him.
One week into August, Harry had asked if he could take his apparation test, only to find out that expectant people weren't allowed to apparate because if they splinched themselves there could be serious effects, and Harry didn't like to try.
And he still hadn't told the fathers the babies might not be there's.
Now with one week to go until the return to Hogwarts, Harry was to be found curled up on the sofa in the living room, immersed in one of the pregnancy books Hermione had gotten him a few weeks ago. His booklist had come this morning (Hermione had been made Head Girl) and Mrs Weasley had kindly offered to do his shopping for him, bringing Ron, Hermione, and Ginny along with her so Harry could have peace and quiet.
There was a knock on the door and Harry looked up to see Remus standing in the doorway. Harry's heart quicken slightly.
"Sit down," said Harry, moving up to let Remus on the sofa. It had been a long time since they had spoken and Harry was in a good enough mood to allow it today.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, looking at Harry with concern. Harry shrugged.
"Ok, I guess," he said. "A little tired, but I can live with that."
"You're not having any problems are you? With the pregnancy I mean?"
"I wouldn't really call them problems," said Harry, "Although the backache I have been having is a nightmare. And I was having trouble sleeping as well, but the book said I should just exercise before bedtime so my body can relax into sleep later on."
"Did it work?" asked Remus, interested.
"Yup," smiled Harry. "This book is the pregnancy bible."
"You're not throwing up anymore are you?" he asked.
"No, thank Merlin," said Harry. "I've outgrown that now. According to the book there are 3 stages of pregnancy. I'm at the end the second stage now. Apparently, the second stage is supposed to be the most enjoyable but all I've had is backache and stretch marks. Although, when it's really quiet and I'm just relaxing, I swear I can feel them moving around in their slightly."
"Really?" he asked, intrigued.
"Huh uh," nodded Harry. "But I think they're asleep right now, they haven't moved in a while."
"Well, I'm glad you're ok," smiled Remus after a moment's silence. "I would have talked to you sooner but I was…afraid. Nervous. I dunno…" he trailed off.
"Look, Remus, there's something I have to tell you." Harry decided it was now or never. "I don't know how to say this but…erm…well, you see…you might not…"
Remus looked up at him and Harry fell silent. He didn't want to hurt Remus, he really didn't. True, Harry didn't know if the man would be relived that he might not be the father…he might be happy that there was another possible father…
But before Harry could decide how best to word this, Remus's lips were on his, soft and gentle, caressing his lips lovingly, and Harry kissed him back, enjoying the moment immensely.
It was over as suddenly as it had begun and Harry was left staring into those soft amber eyes that reflected so much emotion, so much love and pain. He couldn't do it; he couldn't tell him, he just couldn't.
But he had to.
"You might not be the father," Harry said quietly, refusing to look back into his eyes.
"Oh," was all he said.
There was silence.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked after a while as he felt the need to say something.
Remus nodded.
Harry could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he looked at Remus. He was the one that Harry had wanted a relationship with, he was the one that he wanted to be the father, Remus was the one he had feelings for.
Of course, he hadn't told anybody this.
But seeing Remus like this…did it mean that he had wanted to be the father of Harry's children?
"Say something," Harry whispered, unable to stand the silence any longer.
"Who…who else's could it be?" he asked, turning back to look at Harry.
Hermione had suggested telling them all that there was only one other, but he couldn't lie to Remus.
"There were, erm…there were three others," he said, not meeting Remus' eyes.
"Three?" asked Remus, and Harry felt shame flooding through him again.
"I'm not proud of it," he said.
"But to not know who the father is….they must have all been pretty close?"
Harry nodded, tears staining his cheeks.
"Oh my God, Harry," he said, disbelievingly, "Four? You slept with four different people in the space of what? Two weeks?"
"I said I wasn't proud of it, ok?" cried Harry.
"And was I the first, the last, what?" he demanded.
"The second."
"Who are they?" he asked after a moment.
"Just some people I know," said Harry quietly.
"Like?"
"Does it matter?"
"Kind of," said Remus, "They could be the father of your children!"
When Harry didn't answer, Remus sighed, running a hand through his slowly greying hair. He looked down at Harry, who was curled up on the sofa, crying.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you," he said, "I just…"
When he didn't finish his sentence after a while, Harry nervously looked up.
"You just…?"
He turned to look at Harry. Harry inwardly flinched at the look of pain on his face.
"Do you know why I slept with you Harry?" he asked quietly.
Harry shook his head, and Remus turned away.
"Because I had…certain feelings for you. I have for a while now. I still do."
Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Of all the things he had been expecting to hear, this was not one of them. In his dreams maybe…
"Harry," he said, turning to look at him again, "It would be wonderful if I was the father, but even if I'm not I still want to be with you."
"You…you would…would raise children, three children, that weren't your own?"
"I would do anything for you," he said lovingly and Harry had to fight back more tears. "I don't care if they're mine or not, I don't care if they're father wants to be involved, I don't care as long as I'm with you."
"Really?" Harry said, barely audible.
"Really," he said.
"I can't believe this," whispered Harry, wiping his eyes, "You know how much I've…and I've wanted to…and I didn't know if you…and now you're telling me…"
"Harry," he laughed, "You're not making much sense."
"What I'm trying to say is," said Harry, overwhelmed with emotion (which Harry was still blaming on the hormones) "Is that I…and ever since we…and then the other's I just...and then I realised I wanted to be with you…but I wasn't sure what you…and now…"
But before Harry could babble on further, his hand had flown to his stomach with a gasp, for he had just felt a soft prod against his belly.
"Oh my God," he gasped, "They kicked. One of them kicked!"
And sure enough, before he had even finished getting his sentence out, it happened again.
"You've got to feel this!" he said, and Remus placed a hand over his swollen belly.
"You feel that?" Harry asked excited as he felt it again, and Remus's face lit up as he nodded. Harry smiled and looked up into his face.
"What I was trying to say was, I love you," he said. Remus smiled, hand still on the younger mans belly.
"I love you too Harry."
lol, a very cheesy ending! I'll try and get the other one this time next week if I can sneak on to the computer again. Please Review!
Shadow Vampiress: Yeah! Shove them all in the room, that's the way to do it!
opal: I did think of that but decided that the babies will all have the same father.
TuRn: lol, glad you liked it then. I suppose I should be Out of Character as a warning then. lol. Yeah, I think he's gone as well.