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Part 4: Maternal Advice
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Molly covered her mouth with her hand after Arthur had led her into the darkened living room and everyone had ignited the tips of their wands or lit sparklers (Hermione´s Muggle parents, for instance) and shouted "Surprise!"
Her eyes swam as she looked into the many beaming faces: "Oh, you shouldn´t have..."
George was the first to congratulate her. He looked haggard, but he smiled at his mother before hugging her tightly: "He´s never really gone, Mum," he whispered into her ear. It was the first time for years that she could remember him mentioning Fred.
"And he´d want you to be happy, especially today." he added.
They clung to one another for a long time, but when they finally broke apart, Molly was smiling through her tears.
Harry and Draco were the last guests to congratulate her; she hugged Harry and Draco as tightly as she had done with her other children, considering that she regarded Harry as a son as well. When he had told her about himself and Draco, she had taken some time to comprehend the news, and had been rather reserved at their first visit.
It hadn´t taken long for her to warm towards Draco however, and after she had learned how he had turned away from his family and the destination his father desired for him, and at what costs, she had fully included him into the extended family.
Draco often felt ashamed around her when he remembered how badly he had verbally abused her back in school, and didn´t think he deserved her affection. Simultaneously, he drank it up as though his life depended on it, seeing as he had never had a mother like that; Narcissa had been everything but affectionate.
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Draco now watched Molly as she was making the rounds, until she reached the little group which consisted of Charlie, Hermione, Harry and himself. Smiling affectionately, she pulled Draco close: "You look tired, dear," she observed in a low voice. "Have some more champagne, it´ll liven you up!"
"Oh no thanks, I´m fine," he quickly said, unsure as to wether he should tell her that he was not drinking alcohol, and why. Harry however disengaged himself from the increasingly heated discussion Hermione and Charlie were having about Dragon Classification Laws, slung his arm around Draco´s midriff, smiling, and looked at his lover questioningly.
Draco could tell he was near bursting. He had no other mother to tell, after all, so when Draco nodded, Harry leaned forward conspirationally: "Molly," he all but whispered, "we´ve got some news. Draco´s pregnant."
Molly gaped at him for what seemed an eternity, and Draco could feel his face flush.
"He´s... you´re... what?" she stammered. "How? Is this a joke?"
"It´s not a joke, but quite a long story," Draco replied, and Harry nodded vigorously, grinning at Mrs Weasley´s disbelieving face.
For a moment, Draco feared that she would turn away disgustedly, as she seemed to sway on the spot.
In the next moment however, she had pulled Draco into her arms once more, in one swift, surprisingly quick motion, and stroked his back: "That´s a miracle," she whispered.
"A magic-induced miracle maybe," Harry said, still beaming.
Mrs Weasley turned to him as soon as she had let go of Draco: "You´re going to be a father," she whispered, her eyes swimming again. "You´ll finally have your very own family... oh Harry!"
She hugged him once more. "Of course I didn´t mean that we´re not... you know." she added after she let go of him.
Another arm sneaked around Harry´s shoulders all of a sudden, and he nearly jumped, but it was Ron. "He´s practically a Weasley, so it stays in the family" he said quietly if grinning, and Harry deduced that his friend had guessed what they were talking about.
It meant a lot to him that Ron had accepted his relationship with Draco, and that he was approving of their wish to have a child. Ron had been a loyal friend and almost a brother ever since they had gotten to know each other, and Harry was glad for his support.
Mrs Weasley all but descended on her son now: "You already know?"
"Yeah..." Ron looked a tad uncomfortable now. "I couldn´t tell you, could I?" he defended himself. "That´s not my business. Not to mention that Hermione would have had my head if I had."
"Oh, you..." Mrs Weasley scoffed, but Harry cut in now to appease her: "We wanted to wait a little, you see, to make sure everything was all right. Hermione and Ron are the only ones who knew until now."
"Oh, my dears... that´s your decision of course, but I´m so happy..."
Draco slid his hand into the pocket of his dress robes, clutching his baby-bump through the cloth.
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As the evening wore on, Molly noticed that Draco was paler than usual and looked a little strained whenever he seemed to think no one was watching him.
At one point he left the room to use the bathroom, and Molly followed him a while later, pretending to be pleasantly surprised when they met in the hallway.
"Come into the kitchen with me," she invited him and took his arm, "I could do with a cup of tea now. All the champagne is making me wobbly!"
Draco, glad to be away from the crowd for a while, silently complied.
Molly whisped up two mugs of tea for them and they sat down at the kitchen counter, much like Hermione and he used to do.
"Ah," she sighed, kicking off her shoes, "this is better. It´s awfully nice of you all to surprise me like this, but I´m getting too old to be on my feet all the time..."
Draco laughed quietly: "60 is not old," he demured.
"Maybe not, but it´s no walk in the park either," she agreed good-naturedly.
"Nothing is," Draco murmured and looked down at his mug. Molly saw that one of his hands was moving underneath his robes, and assumed he was stroking his belly.
"Are you all right, love?" she asked quietly.
Draco nodded and shrugged at the same time.
"I´m scared," he whispered after a long moment of silence. "I´m so happy with Harry, and we´re both very happy about... this, and it scares me. I realized that I don´t think Harry could cope with it if something happened to the baby... what if something goes wrong?"
Molly cocked her head: "Harry has coped with a lot of difficult matters in his life already," she stated firmly. "But that´s not the point, is it? It´s very common to fear for the little life you´re carrying. It´s more than just a fetus to you, and you can´t bear the thought of losing it."
When Draco looked up, she nodded: "Yes, dear, I´m talking about you. You should come first, Draco. You´re the one who´s pregnant, and I think I´d be very much mistaken to assume that Harry´d only care about the baby if something happened, or that it wouldn´t be exceptionally hard on you either. Don´t you think he´d be equally, if not even more, concerned about you?"
Draco averted his eyes again: "I suppose," he said softly.
"Of course he would," Molly confirmed. She reached out and took Draco´s hand that was lying next to the mug: "I lost a baby once," she said so lowly that it was hardly understandable. "It was terrible, for both of us, but Arthur did not once make me feel as though it´d been my fault."
"I´m sorry," Draco whispered. "I didn´t know."
"You couldn´t have, dear, we never told anyone."
She squeezed his hand: "Arthur didn´t make me feel guilty, and Harry wouldn´t either, I´m sure of it. He loves you very much, Draco."
Draco drew a shaky breath: "I know."
Molly smiled: "If an old woman is allowed to give you advice: talk to him, dear. Tell him about your worries. I know you´re considerate of his job, but this time is mostly about you, and you´re entitled to let your partner coddle you for once. Your own job is hard enough, therefore you should be able to enjoy the pregnancy, and look forward to the baby."
Draco nodded, feeling his eyes swimming again: "But... what if this is the only chance we get?"
"Then you will somehow manage to handle it," she said, her own eyes moist as well. "Losing a child is never getting easier, and it hurts as much if you only have one as it does if you have seven."
They were weeping together silently now, sharing their emotions.
Draco felt as though the knot around his insides, the centre of his fears which had threatened to drown him lately, had come undone. His tears were actually doing him good, and he only hoped that he had not ruined Molly´s evening by making her think of her dead son.
A moment later, she answered this unspoken question of his however, by looking up: "Georgie will probably bully your guardian angel to work overtime, you know?"
They stared at each other for a moment, then both of them broke into shaky laughter.
"Thanks," Draco breathed, wiping his eyes.
"You´re welcome, dear," Molly quickly stroked over his cheek. "You´ll be fine, you´ll see. If I´ve learned one thing about Harry, it is that he fights for what he values."
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Back in the crowded living room, after cooling their reddened eyes for a bit, Draco suddenly felt an arm around his midriff.
"Molly´s right, you look tired, sweetheart," Harry stated, eyeing him affectionately and undeniably quite maudlin as well. "Are you all right?"
Draco nodded, feeling the weight on his heart lifting considerably all of a sudden. "Yeah," he said, smiling. "I am."
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That night, for the first time in weeks Draco fell asleep before Harry.
Who admittedly was considerably sloshed, but managed to refrain himself from waking his lover just to tell him how much he meant to him.
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To Be Continued
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