Chapter 8: Family and marriage

I don't own 'Harry Potter'

"I have a question for you."

Harry lifted his head from his book on mind magics and blinked at his visitor, just slightly wary at the sight of the silver eyes focused intently on him. This was someone on a mission, no doubt about it.

And he wasn't stupid enough to get in the way of Dorea Potter.

"Of course, Dorea. How can I help?"

The woman walked over and took a seat at the table opposite him, sitting back in the chair with a relaxed posture and calm expression. If it weren't for the slightly tense shoulders, Harry wouldn't have thought to question the woman's mood. As it was, he was more than a little concerned at the usually unflappable woman looking so out of sorts. I hope that nothing's wrong.

"The fertility potion that you gave me was the same one that you gave to Lucretia, correct?"

Harry nodded slowly. "That's right. You'd both had trouble with the conception process, so you were given the same potion."

The woman took a deep breath and exhaled. "You said that the potion would be flushed out of the system once the woman was pregnant. Would it have possibly had something of a healing effect?"

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown.

"Lucretia clearly had more dire issues than I did. Not even a single child conceived in over four decades. Despite my problems with conceiving, I did manage to have James, even if it took nearly twenty years. In that case, wouldn't you say that Lucretia's problems with the whole process were more extensive than mine?"

"I suppose so …" he said slowly. "Though her pregnancy with the twins was smoother than yours with Thalia, so it's not really straightforward enough to say that one of you was better off than the other."

Dorea hummed, a tired look on her face. "Anyway, back to my original point. Could some of the potion have healed something in the reproductive system? More so than temporarily easing the way for conception?"

Harry tilted his head to the side, thinking about the ingredients of his potion. "I guess there's a chance that some of the healing aspects could have lasted longer than the conception period. The Unicorn horn, Murtlap tentacles and Mandrake Roots shouldn't have done anything more than the potion's intended purpose, but we can't discount the possibility that the ingredients interacted with the person's individual magical will," he mused to himself. Harry looked at Dorea. "You know as well as I do the power of willpower when it comes to magic."

The woman sighed heavily, though the emergence of a small grin on her face settled some of Harry's anxiety. At least she wasn't looking so stressed anymore. He still wasn't sure what was going on with the woman, though; Dorea had had no issues with the fertility potion, so he couldn't fathom why she was once more asking many of the same questions she had before becoming pregnant with Thalia.

He cleared his throat and smiled at the woman. "I hope that answers your questions. Can I ask why you want to know all this?"

Dorea smiled wryly at him, an amused glint to her silver eyes that left Harry thoroughly confused. This has been a strange day so far.

"I was asking if there are any lingering effects, because despite not actually trying, I'm already pregnant again."

Harry stilled and blinked rapidly, trying to process the older woman's bizarre words. This was insane. Harry hadn't just randomly created a potion and tried to sell it without considering whether or not it would work, he'd had it thoroughly tested with several couples that had been struggling to conceive. All had gotten pregnant with the final version of his potion, and thankfully none of the pregnancies had resulted in tragedy for either mother or child.

Neither had any of the mothers come out the other side of pregnancy with an increased level of fertility. The potion had been a temporary boost to have a single pregnancy, not something with prolonged effects that could heal the reproductive system in any way. The mother did not walk away with heightened fertility that assisted in a second pregnancy after the first.

Except for Dorea, apparently.

"Huh," he said to himself, still baffled at this turn of events. "Well, fuck."

Dorea laughed at him and grinned widely, the complete absence of tension in her frame a welcome sight. He supposed that she'd been worried that Harry had kept quiet about some of the effects of his potion, whether because he hadn't wanted to give her false hope or something else. Which he wouldn't have; Harry was a Healer that enjoyed looking after his patients, and he wasn't about to do anything to cause them any harm, physical, emotional or psychological.

The truth is, he hadn't said anything about Dorea possibly becoming pregnant again for the simple reason that none of the previous users had gotten pregnant naturally again after using the potion. (And they weren't allowed to have that treatment again if they weren't thoroughly checked by a Healer and given a clean bill of health. Harry wasn't going to create things just to allow people to kill themselves with his inventions.)

Oh, well. At least she looks better now. Dorea was usually a cheerful woman – even if also scheming for her own entertainment – so it was more than a little off-putting to see her appear so out of sorts. At face-value, she looked to be calm once more.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to check, though.

He reclined in his chair, keeping his face neutral. "So, is this welcome news?"

Her smile grew even more as she nodded. "Certainly! I mean, I hadn't expected it to happen again, of course, but I can't deny that I'm rather excited about this turn of events." She paused then looked him in the eye with a massive smirk on her face. "Truthfully, I can't wait to tell James that he's going to be a big brother again. It'll be a nice graduation present for him, don't you think?"

Harry snorted and started laughing, imagining the Potter teen in a blind panic once more at the thought of his mother being pregnant. No doubt James would be torn between spoiling his newest sibling or being a massive mother hen. Harry was curious as to how he'd be as a father.

He said as much to Dorea and grinned as she cackled loudly, making the nearby elf twitch violently at the sound.

Harry smirked and shook his head at the sight.

Their family would never be normal, would they?

Harry watched Narcissa and Fabian spin around the dancefloor and smiled at the sight.

The newly-wed couple were a striking match; the contrast between Narcissa's pale blonde locks and the fiery red of Fabian was eye-catching, to say the least. He was curious what their future children would look like. Either way, it was unlikely that they'd be anything other than gorgeous.

His green eyes caught sight of Bellatrix and Lucius arm in arm at the back of the hall. I wonder …

"You're not plotting, are you?"

Harry rolled his eyes and spun to face his husband, gratefully taking the offered glass even as he sent the taller man an unimpressed look. Orion really did think the worst of him, didn't he?

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." He took a sip of the wine and shifted so he was leaning into his husband's side. "I was thinking about Lucius and Bellatrix," he said quietly so their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"In what sense?" asked Orion just as lowly.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but they seem to be even closer than before. Do you think they might be engaged already?"

Orion flicked his silver eyes onto the couple at the other end of the room and studied them intently, eyes unblinking as he took note of their body-language.

He hummed lowly. "I think you might be onto something, Husband."

"If that's the case, why do you think they haven't said anything?" he asked. "It's not as if anyone here disapproves of their relationship. I haven't heard anything about the Malfoys and their attitude towards the marriage, but the courting was accepted by Lord Malfoy. Miserable sod that he is," Harry finished with an irritated mutter.

His husband stifled a snort, but Harry still heard and shot the man a filthy glare. "It's alright for you, you didn't have to treat the bastard while being bitched at by the geriatric moron! Seriously, how difficult is it to understand that insulting a Hippogriff is a terrible idea?!" He wrinkled his nose thinking about the blonde family and their future offspring, sighing at his childhood memories of third year. "The entire House is full of pompous twats with no common sense," he grumbled.

Orion chuckled lowly, knowing exactly what Harry was referring to after being told of the future Draco Malfoy's exploits. Not that Harry had been at all reticent to tell his husband; it was fun to see the taller man look at him with disbelief and mock the future blonde.

It was rather entertaining to watch, to be honest.

Harry just huffed and grinned at Orion. "Anyway, back to the previous topic. Why do you think they haven't said anything?"

Orion hummed to himself quietly, clearly analysing the topic. "I think that it's most likely because Bellatrix wants to keep quiet, at least for the moment." He caught Harry's questioning look and carried on. "You know about her childhood with Druella and how she wanted to protect her sisters. Even now she dotes on them. She probably wants Narcissa to have her moment in the spotlight, as it were. She likely doesn't want to interfere with her youngest sister's marriage. If they are engaged, I wouldn't be surprised if it was announced in a couple of weeks at the most."

"I see." Harry glanced at the couple and sighed lightly. "It's still difficult, you know? After everything I saw in my childhood, it's hard to see people who went on to commit truly atrocious acts against me and those I cared about, especially when they're just innocent people this time." He watched Bellatrix laugh loudly, the high-pitched tinkling a complete contrast to the insane cackling he'd heard as a teen.

"Do you think it makes me a horrible person for still being wary?"

Orion wrapped an arm around him and kissed his temple, the warmth making Harry close his eyes. He hummed contentedly and leaned into the taller body, wishing they could be back at their home, in their bedroom and just wrapped up in each other's arms. He didn't want sex right now, he only wanted intimacy. Simply sharing a bed and enjoying his husband's company.

It sounded amazing.

"I think I'd be more concerned if you weren't still wary," Orion murmured into his ear. "The fact that you can still talk to these people – can even give them a chance – is remarkable. There aren't many people who would be willing to overlook such horrid memories, and yet you are. You're an incredible man, Harry."

Harry blushed and ducked his head, hiding his face from anyone else that might see. He might have been with Orion for over a decade already, but such honest and heartfelt compliments still often left him feeling like a shy and unsure teenager. It wasn't as if he ever questioned his husband's love for him, but considering how his formative years had gone, it wasn't shocking that he still reacted to such words so strongly.

He wasn't ashamed of feeling so deeply. And Orion loved to see it, so it was a win-win situation.

He pulled back when the music changed, another slow piece filling every inch of the hall with its melodious notes. Orion looked down at him and lifted a brow playfully, a small grin lighting up his handsome face. Harry cocked his head to the side in question.

"Do you want to dance?"

Harry knew full well that he'd never be a brilliant dancer, but he could do well enough after years of learning. And allowing himself to be led by Orion was a sure way to ensure he didn't trip over his own feet and humiliate himself. He trusted his husband to look after him.

He smiled softly and held out him husband. "Sure."

Orion wrapped his large hand around Harry's and led him to the floor, wrapping his other arm around Harry's waist. Harry placed his hand on Orion's shoulder and relaxed, allowing the other man to direct the two of them to the beat of the music.

He stepped and spun, following without even thinking about it. Harry stood close and spent more time looking into Orion's eyes than paying attention to where his feet were supposed to be, dancing in time with his husband thanks to the other man's expertise.

The couple turned at the sound of giggles and watched Al and Ri dance with each other, the two boys having a ball by the looks of it. At nearly ten, the twins had already had some dancing lessons, but it seemed they were disregarding all of their previous instruction in favour of having fun by making up steps.

It was too bloody cute.

The couple left their sons to it and danced across the floor and to the end of the hallway, breaking away from all the other couples and walking out into the gardens. They walked hand in hand until they reached the pond, the water lit up thanks to the Faeries hovering around. He stood there, leaning into Orion's side, silently admiring the peaceful picture and just enjoying the moment. It was a nice reprieve from all the people inside.

Harry turned to the side and gazed up into silver eyes. "Did you ever think your life would turn out like this?"

His husband visibly softened, a hand coming up to cup Harry's neck. "Never. I'd resigned myself to a miserable marriage even before she poisoned me. And when you came along, I wanted, but I desperately tried not to hope too deeply. Of course, you said yes, and I've never looked back." He paused and smiled at Harry gently. "Call it clichéd if you must, Harry, but our relationship was and always will be a blessing to me."

And with that, Orion bent down and pressed their lips together, Harry lifting his hands to cup Orion's jaw and deepen the kiss, sighing into soft lips as he did. Orion was certainly right in this respect.

This was a blessing in every way possible.

A/N: Dorea is another character I've mentally assimilated into canon somehow. I also don't regret it.