Heartbeats and heartbreak

Harry kissed Draco's soft lips and smiled when the blonde hummed in appreciation. He had been given a calming potion a short while after Harry had gone down to the dungeons. He had panicked again when Harry left him. Hermione had told Harry that Draco had accused him of first cheating on him and then leaving him for the tramp. Harry had laughed and kissed Draco's forehead. The blonde had been a bit groggy all evening but Harry didn't mind. The potion was good for Draco. He needed to calm down. But now, he was coming to. And Harry couldn't help but smile at the constantly fluttering eyes of his mate as he tried to wake up. Suddenly those gray eyes were open wide and staring at him.

"Hello lovely." Harry murmured and kissed his lips again.

"Hi love." Draco responded sleepily.

"Why did you panic?" Harry asked quietly.

He knew, but he wanted Draco's version of it. Draco, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to talk about it. He closed his eyes and groaned. Harry smiled. To calm his mate, Harry slide down his body, pressing kisses to his still clothed body. He pushed up the blonde's school shirt and kissed his lower abdomen where their child rested.

"I blame it on the hormones." Draco muttered without opening his eyes.

"Blame anything you want, just tell me what happened." Harry said and kissed his stomach again.

"I thought you left for good. It's stupid, I know! But the dream..." Draco began too blurt out and he would have started to babble if Harry hadn't cut him off.

"Dream? What dream? You never told me about any dream!"

Draco opened his eyes and looked up at him. Harry looked terrified at the thought that Draco had a dream about him leaving and not telling him about it. The blonde was too sleepy to care why and concentrated on comforting his mate. He buried his pale hands in his raven locks and started to gently massage his scalp soothingly. He closed his eyes again and seconds later he felt Harry's ear against the skin of his abdomen. He smiled gently. It meant that Harry wasn't angry with him for not telling him about the dreams. He knew he had to now, but that was alright. He wasn't mad, wasn't going to leave him and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

"I can hear it." Harry suddenly said.

At first Draco thought he had been thinking to loud again but frowned when he realized that this was not the case. Harry had heard something else that he could not hear. It scared him a little.

"Hear what, Angel?" he asked, his voice trembling with suppressed fear.

"The baby. I can hear its heartbeat." Harry said sadly.

He didn't want this to end. He didn't want to send Draco away. But he had to. To protect his mate and his child, he had to give them up. The only thing that was left was telling Draco what they had to do. He kissed the soft skin of the slight bump that was his child before forcing himself to face his love.

"You can hear it?" Draco asked in awe. His eyes were big and his mouth open in surprise.

"Yes, love I can." Harry smiled. "But listen, baby, we need to talk."

"What is it?" the blonde asked worriedly.

"Herm is right. I need to get you out of here, away from all the things that can harm you." Harry said while gently kissing Draco's stomach, telling the child more then telling Draco.

"Harm me?" Draco asked in disbelief. "Being away from you harms me! Why do you think they gave me that stupid potion!"

"No, baby, don't do this." Harry begged when Draco's eyes started to water.

"Will you send me away, Harry? Will you leave me?" Draco asked harshly.

Harry closed his eyes and sat up on the bed. This hurt more then he wanted it to. He needed to explain to him why he was doing this. He would never agree to it if he didn't.

"Draco, Dumbledore wants our child. Do you think I would put my own child on the line? Or you? Do you think I would let him hurt you that much when I can prevent it?" Harry asked just as harshly and silently begged his love to understand.

"No you wouldn't. You're Harry bloody Potter! How could you? You have to save everybody else, even if it means your own life!" Draco spat back, getting out of the bed and away from Harry as he spoke.

"Yes, dragon! I have to save everybody else! It's my destiny! I can't help it!" Harry argued.

"Fuck destiny! And you didn't let me finish!" Draco snapped and turned towards the window on the other side of the room.

"What were you going to say then!" Harry asked frustrated.

"Would you do anything you thought necessary? Sacrifice anything needed?" Draco rested his forehead against the cool surface of the window, his voice low and the raven haired vampire could hear the tears in it.

"What do mean?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Would you sacrifice the life of your mate and child?" Draco choked out.

"No! That's why I'm doing this! You have to go away from here so I won't have to worry about you getting caught in the crossfire!" Harry immediately said.

"The bond is too new for us to be away from each other for long periods of time. The child only makes it worse. I'm too weak to take care of myself while I'm pregnant. Soon I won't be able to drink any other blood than yours. So you see, sending me away would mean my death."

Draco started to cry. Seconds later he felt the strong and reassuring arms of his dark haired mate close around him. Comfort him. He let his tears fall, not caring who walked in or the fact that he had been taught since childhood that Malfoy's do not cry. He was hurting and wanted to get it out, so he cried. And Harry held him all the while. Comforting him, whispering to him, kissing him.

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Hour later Harry and Draco were still in Gryffindor Tower. Draco had stopped crying and was now lying on their bed with Harry's head on his stomach listening to their child's heartbeat. They would be to faint for a human ear to hear. It was even hard for Harry. It was beating so fast! 140 or 150 beats a minute. Harry started to count them but kept losing count when Draco made one of his soft noises.

"You can't send me away, Angel. We'll both die if you do." Draco said softly as Harry lost count again at 93 beats.

"You already said that, love." Harry reminded him. "I will still do it. It won't be for a long time. Maybe just a week if we're lucky."

"But, Harry! It's us! We're not lucky!" Draco exclaimed.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Harry whispered and kissed his stomach.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" Draco said sternly but couldn't help smiling.

"I know. I'll figure something out before you go to Godric's Hollow. It will be a while until then anyway. I need to know more about this. Sev and Ginny are going to help me with that."

"The vampire and his lover will help you with more information on my child!" Draco exclaimed in surprise.

"That vampire helped me through my first change. And Ginny is like my sister. I would trust them both with your life, Dray." Harry said softly and kissed Draco's lips.

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