Beta: bk7brokemybrain
Warnings: mpreg, angst, fluff, coarse language, frotting, voyeurism
Summary: Harry and his husbands receive some unexpected news, after Harry falls from his broom.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling and associates. I'm just having fun.
A/N: I've been really struggling to get the next chapters written, I'm not sure when they will be ready, please bear with me. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Summary: The other reason for Harry's collapse and more about Teddy's 'gift' is revealed
Philoprogenitiveness
Feelings and emotions were crashing over Harry from every direction. He had no idea what was happening or why, all he could remember was being overcome with fear and worry, at the same time that his head felt like it was being cleaved in two.
The suddenness of the headache preceded what Harry could only describe as visions almost like Harry had suddenly become a Seer. Images shimmered in his mind's eye: Severus lying in a hospital bed, pale as death, recovering from Nagini's bite; Charlie at the reserve with no way to escape the fiery wrath of an angry dragon; Harry with an exhausted but beatific smile plastered across his face, looking down at two scruffy heads of hair, one reddish brown the other black.
More visions, similar to these, swam in and out of focus. An older version of Teddy running through an open field, laughing and joking, closely followed by two small heads of scruffy red and black hair. Severus, his locks of silky black hair streaked with grey and a very pregnant belly; Charlie pleading for Harry to wake up.
These glimpses of the past, present and future, only made the tidal wave of emotions Harry was feeling so much worse. He had no idea where everything that he saw and felt were coming from, only that each time the image changed, the feelings did as well.
When Charlie was trapped by an angry dragon with no escape, Harry was suddenly overcome with fear and the overwhelming urge to scream. His pulse quickened and Harry could swear goosebumps rose on his arms and the back of his neck. The scream never came.
Harry still didn't understand. Why was he in complete darkness, save for the visions? Why was he constantly feeling overwhelmed with fear and concern? Where were these feelings coming from? Where were the visions coming from? Why did some of these emotions feel like they were outside of his body and others inside?
Poppy had been re-scanning Harry for several minutes, trying to work out if Teddy was right and Harry was indeed carrying an empathic child. If he was, then Harry would need to be closely monitored for any changes in his health and magic.
While the Matron checked over the unconscious pregnant man, Hermione spoke to Charlie and Severus. "You two should probably go and update the family on how Harry is doing. I'd say that Arthur is going to lose the battle against Molly's mothering instincts any second. I answered everyone's questions as best I could before I came up here, but they are all anxious about what happened and why."
"I don't want to leave Harry. I'm sure Severus doesn't either," replied Charlie.
Hermione sighed, having anticipated that answer. Then she said, "I know you're concerned, I am too, but Poppy is here. You both know she would never leave Harry alone especially when he's been unconscious for twenty minutes."
"The last thing Harry needs is Molly fussing over him. If one of the babies is an empath, then we need to keep Harry's emotional stress to a minimum. That includes keeping your mother away from him, for the time being," Severus told Charlie.
"Fine," Charlie growled. "Hermione, can you stay up here as well, in case he wakes up?"
"Of course," Hermione said, as the two men left the room.
Teddy scrambled off Charlie's lap and onto the bed to lie next to his unconscious godfather. Poppy had finished scanning Harry—so Teddy wasn't in the way. As he curled up on the bed and lay his head on Harry's chest, Hermione joined Poppy at the foot of the bed, to discuss what the second lot of tests revealed.
The little boy lay quietly watching his aunt and Miss Poppy. He could almost feel his godfather's body relaxing, now that Uncle Charlie and Uncle Sev'rus had left the room. Teddy had heard stories about how babies were supposed to be able to hear things, when they were still in their mummy's tummies. He decided he wanted to try and tell Uncle Harry's babies that they didn't need to be scared.
Teddy, wriggled further down the bed, so that his head was near Harry's stomach and whispered, "Babies… you don't need to be scared. Your daddys love you and want you, and Uncle Harry to be safe." He then moved back up the bed to whisper in Harry's ear, "You can wake up now Uncle Harry."
Poppy saw Teddy moving up and down the bed and whispering things to his godfather, out of the corner of her eye. She silently wondered to herself what he was up to. He seemed to be saying something to the babies.
Teddy had always been unusually aware of the magical abilities of others. Poppy had had the pleasure of watching him grow and develop over the years. Remus was so certain when Nymphadora fell pregnant that their child would inherit the lycanthropy curse from him. Fortunately that never happened, but Teddy did inherit his father's ability to sense different types of magic. For Remus, it was part of being a werewolf and it helped him out of many a tight situation, during both wars.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save him in the end.
Severus and Charlie were ambushed by the rest of the family as soon as they were spotted on the stairs.
"How is he?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Is Harry really pregnant?"
"Do you know why he fainted?"
"If everyone will stop talking over each other, and let them explain, I'm sure Severus and Charlie will tell you what you want to know," Arthur said, before he hugged his worried and exhausted son.
"Thanks, Dad."
"You're welcome, son."
After Arthur released his son from his embrace, Charlie took his husband's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, which Severus returned before clearing his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Charlie and I are willing to answer your questions, however, if you start shouting over us, we will go back upstairs to Harry. Is that understood?"
Murmurs of "Yes" and "Of course" were interspersed with silent nods. When silence fell once more, Severus started answering everyone's questions.
"Yes, Harry is pregnant. We're having twins and because of that, his body is under a great deal of strain, and so is his magic. There are also other health risks associated with male pregnancies, because men aren't naturally built to carry a child. Harry will be confined to bed rest for much of the pregnancy, to alleviate stress on his lower back and keep any nerve damage to a minimum…."
"You all know about Teddy's ability to sense different types of magic…" Charlie interrupted. "Well, when he came upstairs, he told us the babies were scared. We assume that is part of the reason Harry won't wake up. Teddy's revelation suggests that one of the twins is an empath. But we won't know for sure until Harry wakes up and is able to answer questions about what happened."
"In the mean time, Harry needs to be kept as calm as possible. Anyone feeling particularly strong emotions needs to keep their distance for the time being," Severus continued.
"Are you trying to tell us we aren't allowed near him? Harry will go mad if he's not allowed to see or speak to anyone for months," Ron exclaimed.
"Ron, will you please listen to us? Do you remember the mood swings Fleur and Hermione went through when they were pregnant? One minute they were happy and the next they were sad or angry? If one of the twins is an empath, it's going to be a thousand times worse for Harry. Not only will the pregnancy hormones wreak havoc on his emotions, so will whatever the babies are feeling. We aren't saying that Harry won't be able to see any of you; all we are asking is that you be mindful of your mood, thoughts and feelings when you're around him. Do you think you can do that for your best mate, little brother?" Charlie patiently questioned.
Ron mumbled an apology, then Severus and Charlie spent several more minutes answering questions and reassuring the rest of the family—Molly in particular—that Harry would be fine, even if they both had difficulty believing the words themselves.
Something must have changed, Harry thought. He wasn't feeling as emotional as he was before. He didn't feel so overwhelmed with fear and worry. Though the strange prophetic dreams kept coming, they were still startling when a future or past event came into focus. It was the scenes of Charlie and Severus with the rest of the family that somehow comforted Harry.
His body started to relax, ever so slowly. Through his earlier panic, Harry had ascertained that he was unconscious, but had no idea how long he'd been like that. He vaguely remembered chatting and laughing at brunch, but everything was still a blur and he was uncertain about what was real and what wasn't
While he was musing about what had happened, Harry could've sworn he heard Teddy talking to him. Why was Teddy near him? Surely, seeing his godfather unconscious would scare him? "Babies… you don't need to be scared. Your Daddy's love you, and want you and Uncle Harry to be safe." What on earth was Teddy talking about, how could the babies be scared? "You can wake up now, Uncle Harry."
Harry could feel Teddy's excitement and concern, and wondered how that could be? Although, he could feel his body responding to the intuitive little boy's words. Maybe his godson was right, maybe the babies were scared.
He still didn't understand how any of this could be happening. Harry'd been pregnant for barely a month, hadn't Poppy said something about it taking longer than that to start feeling movement and things?
As Harry puzzled this out, his body and mind were starting to regain consciousness. Slowly he became aware of voices, one of which sounded rather like Hermione's. Just as he recognised Hermione's voice, he heard another—it was Poppy—that didn't surprise him too much, he knew that Charlie and Severus would call her if something had happened to him.
The minutes ticked by and Harry was recognising more things around him. Someone was sitting on the bed next to him—he assumed it was Teddy from the little boys' whisperings before. Harry could smell something mouth-watering wafting in through an open window on a summer breeze.
When Harry finally regained full awareness of his surroundings, his consciousness returned only to be deafened by Teddy's excited squeal of "UNCLE HARRY! You're awake!", then having the wind knocked out of him as his godson flung himself onto Harry for a very tight, but not unwelcome hug. Which he returned as best he could.
TBC
