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

Chapter 13: Preparation

The next week went by without anymore mess up's on Harry's part; in fact, things seemed to function pretty normal, without incident. True, Harry was receiving more and more stares wherever he went and he was the very focus of all the gossip, but as long as he had his friends with him he wasn't all that bothered. He was used to the way people's eyes followed him down corridors and up the stairs; the only difference was that instead of their eyes darting towards his scar, they were now more interested in his stomach.

He received many 'congratulations' from quite a large number of students and a few teachers as well. As Harry had expected, they all asked about the other father and Harry could only tell them that 'they weren't ready to go public with their relationship yet'. He was sure that everything he said to them would end up in the papers and it was obviously better to say it was a secret than tell them all that he didn't know. Harry had resigned himself to the fact that his life was going to be public knowledge for a long time to come. He didn't agree with it, but he couldn't exactly do anything about it.

Ron had suggested getting a lawyer and suing The Daily Prophet and Harry had actually considered this until Hermione had said that it would only bring more publicity and would take a long time to sort out. But Harry still made a mental note to do so in the future.

Another thing that was annoying Harry was a certain Potions Master. Harry had tried everything to get out of going to Potions; he had said he was ill, said he needed to start preparing for the birth, had even tried to fake another one of those fake contractions. Madam Pomfrey however, had only found it amusing and had told him to 'be a man and face his fears.'

So Harry had been dragged off to Potions kicking and screaming – well, he complained a little bit anyway – and just as he had predicted, had been on the receiving end once more of all Snape's jeering remarks. At least Snape seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Aren't Potion fumes bad for the babies' health?" asked Harry as he made his way to dinner after another hour and a half of being stuck in the dungeons with Snape.

"Interestingly no, they aren't," said Hermione as she helped herself to some salad. "Most people think they are because, well, it's logical isn't it? But they're actually pretty good for the babies. It allows them to breathe in the magic in the air."

"Fascinating," said Ron, voice oozing with sarcasm. Hermione ignored him.

After dinner they said goodbye to Hermione, who had an Ancient Runes class, and Harry and Ron made there way back up the marble staircase. They were half way along the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor when they saw Remus walking in their direction, his tattered briefcase swinging merrily from one hand.

"Good afternoon Professor," Harry smiled as they approached each other. He looked around to make sure no one else was in the corridor before placing a chaste kiss to his Professor's lips. Ron rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Harry," Remus smiled in greeting, "Ron."

"Professor Lupin," nodded Ron.

"You got a class now?" Harry asked, wondering if he would be able to spend the afternoon with Remus.

"I'm afraid I have," he sighed. "Slytherin and Gryffindor fourth years - nightmare."

"Well, are you busy this weekend? I thought maybe we could do…something."

"Something?" Remus smiled. "What did you have in mind?" Ron now looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I was thinking we could maybe have a romantic evening in," smiled Harry seductively. "We've hardly spent any time with each other and I miss being with you."

"And I miss being with you too," Remus smiled sneaking an arm around Harry and pulling him closer. "I miss your hands," he said, kissing Harry softly on the fingers, "And your neck," he murmured against his throat, "And your lips," he placed a loving kiss to Harry's mouth. Ron coughed.

"I would hate to have to interrupt you two love birds," he said, slightly red at the ears, "But Malfoy's coming."

"Oh bugger," Harry muttered, spotting Malfoy strolling down the corridor with a smug look on his pointed face. It was a good job Malfoy already knew about them otherwise that might have caused quite an uproar,Harry thought. It was actually a good job it was Malfoy who had caught them and not anybody else.

Harry sighed and straightened up.

"Whatever he says, just ignore it," muttered Remus. Malfoy drew level to them and smirked.

"Harry, I was wondering if you would care to accompany me for a little stroll around the lake," he said with a sly smile and a glint in his cold, grey eyes. "Maybe we could bring some food, have a picnic."

"Get lost Malfoy," Harry said exasperatedly.

"So that's a 'no' then?" he asked, smiling sarcastically. "Shame. I was really hoping for a repeat performance. You know how much I love running my fingers through your hair. Softer than silk and blacker than the Devil's heart."

"Don't be stupid Malfoy, you're heart's not that black."

Ron laughed whilst Malfoy sneered one last time before continuing on his way, but not before looking menacingly at Remus who just stared right back.

"He obviously doesn't know that you told me you slept with him," said Remus with a smile.

"I bet he was just trying to get me into trouble with you," Harry said, turning back to Remus. "But you love me way too much to hate me, don't you Remusy?"

"Remusy?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," smiled Harry contently, "It's cute like you."

"Ok guys, seriously, enough with the sweet talk," said Ron with a small, uncomfortable smile. "Don't you have a class to go to Professor?"

Harry gasped. "You're trying to split us up," he said in mock accusation.

"Now why would I do that?" Ron rolled his eyes. "I love watching you two make goo-goo eyes at each other. It's the highlight of my day."

The others laughed.

"Ok, I suppose I better be going then…got to face the terrible teenagers sometime," said Remus. He gave Harry a kiss on the cheek.

"Am I a terrible teenager?" asked Harry sweetly as Remus began to make his way down the corridor again.

"You're just a naughty boy," he winked, looking back at them.

"You gonna punish me Professor?"

But before Remus could answer Ron had grabbed hold of Harry's sleeve and was pulling him along the corridor, much to Remus' amusement.

"Seriously, enough with the dirty talk," he said to Harry who just laughed. "Have you no consideration for your friends at all?"

"You guys, help me," Harry groaned in frustration. His hair was on end from having run his fingers through it so many times and he was lounged on the common room floor surrounded by a flood of leaflets.

For the passed half hour Harry had been pouring over the leaflets Healer Neeson had sent to him. They gave information about all the different classes Harry could attend so that he could prepare for the birth of the baby and what came after. There were classes on feeding the baby, cleaning the baby, holding the baby, burping the baby, clothing the baby, bathing the baby, and so on and so forth. The problem was that all these classes seemed to take place when Harry would be stuck in lessons therefore meaning he could not attend, which would lead to him being…

"The worst father in the World," sighed Harry. "My babies are going to hate me. They're going to grow up and rebel against me."

"They're not going to hate you," Hermione reassured him for the seventh time. "You just don't know much about the process because you haven't been to any classes yet. I'm sure you'll be an expert in no time at all."

"'Course he will," agreed Ron. "Besides, you've got Sirius and Remus helping out haven't you?"

"Yeah, you're right," said Harry, cheered by this news. But then Hermione spoke.

"Which reminds me, have you actually stopped to consider the situation here?" asked Hermione. "You have Remus and Sirius offering to help with the babies no matter whose they are. Remus will be with you in a relationship no matter what, and Sirius, if they are his, wants to be as involved as he can. Don't you think that's going to cause problems? Especially if they're Sirius'?"

"Shit, I didn't think about that," said Harry, non-pulsed.

"Obviously," said Hermione.

"What am I going to do?" he asked, panicking slightly. "They'll find out about each other and they'll hate each other and won't speak to each other ever again which might jeopardise our chances in the war and it'll be all my fault!"

The moment he finished saying this he knew he was being stupid (yet again). Remus and Sirius had much more sense than to let something like this, even though it was a big deal, come between them. And besides, they went way back; they'd been friends for over 20 years and that had to be worth something.

But the fact still remained that Harry had never seen either of the men in a 'family environment'. Could these children actually be enough to tear their friendship apart? Harry really didn't want to be responsible for that.

The week crawled on, bringing them closer and closer to October. Harry spent most of his weekends, when he wasn't buried under piles of homework, with Remus. He found it quite relaxing to just be with the man; it was what kept him going all week, the knowledge that he had something to look forward to at the weekend; he could just turn up and indulge himself in cuddles and conversations with the man of his dreams. It was a good way to just unwind after such a tough, demanding week of school. And Harry found that he didn't need to talk about the future and the babies; he was quite content with just discussing food, class, and the weather. And Quidditch, obviously.

Harry had made Dean the new Chaser as Katie had left the year before. He had been pleased that finding the new player had been a lot easier than he had thought it would be and was relieved that he didn't have to hold such huge try outs like last year. He and Dean had reached some sort of unspoken agreement to not talk about the babies unless it was absolutely necessary and since Harry didn't see any reason to bring up that subject with his new team mate, they were getting along perfectly. However, Harry had forgotten that he wouldn't be able to play in the game as the match was being held one week before Harry was due to give birth. So he had had to do some moving around.

Ginny, who Harry had made 'vice'-captain, was going to be playing as Seeker in Harry's place, which left him with two Chasers yet again. Feeling that he wasn't up to holding more tryouts to find a substitute Chaser, he had called on a boy named Andrew Nord, who Harry would have picked if Dean hadn't accepted, to fill Ginny's vacant place in the one match.

Harry wasn't sure what to do during Quidditch practices. Seeing as how Harry was too big to even think about getting on his broom, he simply stood on the ground and shouted orders at his team after explaining the game plan, something Hermione seemed to find amusing as she watched from the sidelines, a grin playing about her face. Obviously, watching an almost 8 month pregnant man stand in the middle of the Quidditch pitch shouting himself hoarse would look pretty stupid to any onlookers.

On a better note, Harry's paternity classes were going alright. Refusing to sit around in a room full of pregnant men with their partners, (and partly due to the fact that Harry wasn't able to get to the Hospital that often due to school) Healer Neeson had been coming to Hogwarts to see him.

By the time October came around he was pretty confident that he knew what he was doing. He knew how to dress a baby without hurting it, he knew how to bath a baby without frightening it, how to burp a baby in the proper way and, after a few attempts that seriously had him doubting himself again, he had managed to learn how to feed a baby.

"I'm just glad they didn't let you practice on a real baby," Ron had laughed.

The classes they were now concentrating on were the ones that concerned the actual birth of a baby or, in Harry's case, three of them. This he had found highly humiliating and had been very thankful when Ginny and Hermione had joined in with him during the breathing exercises.

"Now," said the Healer, whilst she packed away some of the equipment they had been using. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Harry, who was struggling to push himself up into a sitting position. "Will it hurt?"

She answered his question with a laugh, which Harry considered to be quite sinister really, before flooing back to the Hospital.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Harry grumbled.

"Don't worry Harry, you'll be fine," said Hermione consolingly.

"But it's going to hurt," Harry whined as he finally managed to sit up against the arm chair.

"But won't the final result be worth it?" she asked softly with a smile.

"I'm not so sure," Harry muttered darkly.

"I still can't believe you're gonna have to push three babies out your arse," said Ron with a hint of amusement in his voice which Harry thought best to ignore.

"Where did you think they were going to come out?" asked Hermione as she helped Harry into the chair. Now just over 8 months pregnant, Harry was finding it extremely difficult to move around and had to have someone with him almost constantly. This usually left him feeling like an invalid until someone reminded him that he was carrying three babies around with him so it was completely normal to be struggling with everyday tasks such as climbing the stairs. His back pains had also grown worse and his bladder seemed to have weakened, meaning he was constantly waddling to the toilet.

"I dunno actually," said Ron thoughtfully. "Mum had to have…well, I can't remember what it was called…but she said she was cut open or something…"

"A caesarean?" offered Hermione.

"Yeah, that's it," said Ron. "She had to have one of those with Percy because he was all upside down or something like that. I thought Harry might have to be…"

"I am not being cut open!" said Harry, feeling immensely squeamish at the idea. "These babies are coming out of my arse and that's final."

"But won't that hurt?" asked Neville, who had evidently overheard their conversation. He dropped his Herbology book onto the sofa and sat down beside it, legs crossed.

"Yeah," said Ron, sounding slightly awed. "It'll be like doing the biggest shit ever."

"It's completely natural," said Harry defensively.

"Well," said Seamus thoughtfully from the table in front of the window, "It's only natural for men in the wizarding world. So that's like, what? - Half the population in Britain? Then it's half of that because there're men and women. Then there's half of the male wizarding population because they have to be gay, then there's like 3 quarters of that because a quarter of gay wizarding males choose to adopt or have a surrogate mother, which leaves you in quite a small majority."

Silence. Then…

"What the fuck are you on about Seamus?" laughed Ron.

A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed, it means a lot. Now, to answer your question of if the father will be revealed in chapter 14 – sorry, can't tell you. Mwhahahah! But he will be revealed soon enough.

Anyways, this chapter was just a chapter that I couldn't do anything with so it ended up being a short little chapter on its own. I should have the birth posted before I go back to College (next Wednesday). I know I've written quite a few chapters but I don't want to just post them all at once coz I'm mean. lol.

Remusgrl01: I've always wanted to meet someone from Australia coz I've always wanted to ask them something: What are your Christmas cards like? If Christmas is in the summer then I'm guessing you don't have snow men on them, right?

x Red Rose x: lol! Unlucky. I bet that was funny to see!

Regina: Ouch! I bet that hurt like crazy.