A/N: This chapter is very different from the last five, so I'm hoping I worked it right. Please, read and enjoy!
Dedication: I don't dedicate many of my chapters, but I got this wonderful illustration forOf Love's Bestowingfrom this wonderful reviewer named Strega and I just couldn't let that go without saying something. I wish I could put it in the chapter. Thanks Strega! I love you! -smooch- This is for you!
Chapter 6
"There it was… standing majestically in the pool of crystalline water. Its shining head of silky mane was glazed with water, causing the sun to form prisms of light off of the beautiful unicorn. Proudly upon its head protruded a spiraling horn that practically glowed with power.
"The small princess was stopped in her tracks; her small feet nearly couldn't contain the urge to charge forward to this beauty. She wanted to hold and pet the beautiful creature, to show it all the love she could. It was an overwhelming desire that-"
"What does 'overwhelming' mean?" A small redhead asked as she sat rapt with interest over the story being told to her by her godfather. She usually didn't like to interrupt him while he was talking because it was rude, but he had explained that if she didn't know a word, she should say something, or she might miss an important part to the story.
The dark-haired man smiled calmly down on his goddaughter. "It means that something is so powerful that it just makes everything else seem unimportant." He told her gently as he adjusted her on his knee slightly.
"Like chocolate?" She asked, her tone full of innocence tainted with the maturity her godfather exuded onto her.
"No, more like," He thought for a moment with a hum in his voice, "the love I have for you. It's so strong that I would do anything for you. It's stronger than anything else. It's almost overwhelming." He kissed her cheek gently.
"Oh." She giggled as the beard stubble tickled her skin. "Okay." She nodded for him to continue as she licked her lips and leaned closer to him, excited.
"Where was I?" The man thought about it for a moment.
"The princess wanted to hold the unicorn." An amused voice cut in from the doorway to the living room. The fire brought out the man's fiery hair brilliantly as he leaned against the door jam and gestured for the dark-haired man to continue with the story.
The little girl looked up to her father and frowned. "I can stay up to hear the story, right, Daddy?" She asked, biting her lip adorably as she looked up to him with her eyes turning to mush.
The redhead chuckled at his child's antics and nodded. "As long as Uncle Harry doesn't mind finishing the story, I can wait." He responded as he looked back to his long-time friend. "You don't mind her, do you, Harry?" He asked with a grin.
"No." Harry answered him, carding his fingers through his hair. "Not at all." He looked back to the angel of a girl sitting on his leg. "So, she wanted to pet the unicorn." He looked for her nod before going on. "The princess remembered though, that the deer she had tried to approach earlier that day would always run off. Her father, the king, had told her it was because she was too noisy and the creatures were afraid of her. She didn't want this unicorn to fear her though, so she remained still. As she watched the beauty bathe in the pond of water, a figure moved in the shadows on the opposite side of the clearing. The princess gasped in fear as she saw an arrow being pulled up to aim at the creature. Just as she had made up her mind on what to do-"
"Elizabeth! Harry! I'm back!" A familiar voice shouted as they heard a door shut with a slam. "Where are you guys?" The female voice asked.
The little redhead, Elizabeth, growled angrily in annoyance as the story she was so intent on, was yet again interrupted.
Suddenly, the cause of the interruption entered the view of the doorway with a bag of groceries in her arms. The bushy-haired woman paused as she took in the scene of the living room –the fire was blazing in the hearth, little Elizabeth was sitting comfortably on Harry's knee, Harry was sitting in his favorite leather arm chair, her friend George stood in the doorway with a knowing smirk plastered over his face, and little Elizabeth looked downright pissed- then she sighed.
"You aren't telling her those silly stories again, are you? Harry, I thought we talked about this." The woman shifted the groceries onto her other hip, so that she could firmly arch her finger-shaking-arm (you know the one that parents always use to chaste their child) to place her fist on her slightly chubby hip.
The man in question at least had the grace to look a bit ashamed, though he didn't really appear sorry for what he had done.
"Ah, come on, 'Mione." George interrupted. "I don't think a bit of story-telling can really scar her for life. Besides, she's learning big-girl words."
She shot him her trademark glare and he silenced immediately. After he was sufficiently quieted, she returned her gaze to her other friend.
"What was it this time? Sword fighting? Dragon slayers?" She questioned with a raised brow. "You know, I wouldn't have such a problem with this if you just told stories about things that actually happened, like King Author and the Round Table."
"That's so boring though!" Elizabeth whined as she glared at Hermione. "Uncle Harry tells the best stories!"
"You weren't telling her about your school days, were you?" Hermione asked, with a dangerously low tone to her voice as she ignored the child and glared at Harry.
"No." Harry swished at her with his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I learned my lesson after you got mad at me for telling her about the basilisk. No, I was telling her about a young princess who came across a beautiful unicorn in a pool of water in the forest." He described briefly.
"One of those 'learn a life lesson and stop being such a git' ones." George told her with a smile as he took the bag of groceries from her and headed off to the kitchen to unload them in the cabinets.
Hermione looked long and hard at Harry for a moment before sighing heavily. "Could you at least try something with some historical importance?" She begged agitatedly.
Harry looked at Elizabeth's horrified face as it pleaded with him to say 'no', then he looked back to his friend. "I could try." He nodded once to her. "How was the shopping?" Harry always mused that Hermione would have made a wonderful mother. She had all of the motherly instincts, even during school when she would worry for them constantly and bother them about how much they ate, or in some cases, didn't.
Hermione came farther into the room and played with Elizabeth's silky red hair –that always seemed to be softer on children, rather than adults- before answering Harry. Elizabeth didn't seem too pleased as she fumed about the changing of storytelling, but endured Hermione's touches.
"It was fine. I think she just went straight upstairs though. All that walking had her dead on her feet –what with the extra weight and all. Angelina was raving about Elizabeth the whole time and bragging about the new little one that's on the way." Hermione shrugged it off, but Harry saw the hurt in her eyes. After the complications of her first stillborn child, Hermione had been unable to have anymore. It had broken her heart.
She grumbled about it constantly, that Angelina had come out of her pregnancy in perfect shape, but she had come out of hers with stretch marks and weakened stomach muscles that caused extra fat to collect around her hips and stomach no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it. She still looked good to everyone else, with just a bit of extra-something that she liked to poke at and complain about.
"You look terrible." Hermione told him gently and her face frowned in a concerned way that showed off the beginning of worry-wrinkles.
"Thanks, I'm fine." He told her, slightly amused.
"But–"
"Where is Daniel?" Harry questioned with a gentle smile that was never too far from his features whenever he was around his friends.
She sighed in surrender, "Ron's taking care of him. Ellen (Ellen Moon. The book only says a last name in the first book, so I put a name to it and called her Ellen.) couldn't come along for this trip with us. She says that she still wants to come along for next weekend's trip to Diagon Alley though. We all need potions ingredients and she wants to pick up a few new cook books." Hermione stated quickly as she turned for the kitchen that was down the hall of her house. With all of the research work she did for the Ministry they at least paid her well enough.
Hermione and her younger friend Ellen ran a Bed and Breakfast as partners during the winter months, when people wanted to get away to someplace else for vacation, or Christmas time. It had been Ellen's husband's idea that they do something to occupy themselves when work was slow, so they had decided on the B&B. It had made everyone happy to see the light shine in Hermione's eyes when she had so many wonderful people from all over the country coming to Scotland and staying at her B she was able to associate with all types of people. What really made Harry happy, though, was that she was never alone. In the summer months, she had her friends, and in the winter time she had her customers.
As Hermione came back into view with a glass of water for her friend, Harry spoke, "So have they resolved their, eh…" Harry glanced at the child in his lap as she leaned onto his chest and began to doze. He didn't want to talk about her parents with her right there, but she never seemed to like to part with him whenever he was at Hermione's.
Hermione caught his meaning and nodded with a small smile as she set down the glass of water on the table beside Harry. "She fire-called to tell me that they were staying home to talk it through." The woman told him with a kind tone.
"That's good." Harry sighed in relief as George came into view at the entrance again.
"It's about the time for bed." George announced softly as he approached his daughter. He would have let Harry finish the story, but he knew his friend had to go, and his daughter was half asleep anyway.
"Five mo' minutes." Elizabeth whined tiredly as she was pulled away from the warmth of Harry's chest. The child seemed to wake up slightly in her daze and reach her hand out again for Harry, but she instead wrapped it around her father's neck, tucking her head in the crook of his shoulder, against his soft sweater.
With that weight off his aching legs, Harry stood and stretched like a cat, his back arching and causing a loud crack to fill the room. He reached for the glass of water and drank half of it down his parched throat before taking another breath. George came forward and kissed Harry's cheek briefly. "Goodnight." He whispered. "And thanks for watching her."
Harry nodded his acknowledgement before smiling and clearing his throat. He then headed off to the kitchen to put the cup in the sink –Hermione on his tail.
"Night, George!" She called to her friend as she tried to find where the man had put all of her groceries away and to place them in their proper places: where she would be able to find them again.
Harry chuckled as he watched her go at it.
"Night, Harry. Night, Hermione." George called. The stairs creaked as he took Elizabeth up to the room that she always got whenever the Weasley family stayed at Hermione's. Of course there weren't enough rooms for all of the Weasley clan, but George, his wife Angelina, and their daughter Elizabeth always managed to pop over in between seasons at the B&B.
They could vaguely hear Angelina greeting her husband and kissing their daughter goodnight at the top of the stairs, but no more was heard as they went to put Elizabeth to sleep.
"Where are you off to?" Hermione asked as she pulled the peanuts out of one cabinet and put them into another two cupboards over.
"It's Saturday." Harry announced to her, as if that would explain everything.
"Oh, yeah." She nodded her head a few times, then checked the Muggle grandfather clock on the opposite wall. "You don't have much time." She told him in warning. He glanced at the clock as well and sighed.
"You're right." He washed out his cup quickly, then rushed to her Muggle telephone. He quickly dialed the number he knew by heart and waited for the answer. "Hi, Serena, it's Harry." The girl on the other side of the phone laughed and said a few things before they both laughed and said goodbye. "Gotta go!" Harry told Hermione as he came up on her side and kissed her cheek.
"Bye." She called to him as he rushed out the kitchen door. "Hey, wait!"
Harry appeared in the doorway again without a word and she smiled to him. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"I have to visit The Manor again. Routine." He told her with a wry grin.
"Oh." She responded before turning back to finding her food again.
"Why?" He asked her quickly, not wanting to be late for the pizza he had just ordered, or subsequently late for his date with the Laundromat.
"I was just wondering if I'd have company." She told him, sounding a bit depressed. "George and Angelina are going back with Lizzy and the guests won't arrive until Wednesday." She told him.
He felt a pang of sadness for his friend that the Ministry had chosen now to send him on his errand to The Manor. For Hermione's work at the Ministry she didn't have to leave home. She could do her work and research at home, then take her results to work whenever she found any. It was the ideal job since she also ran most of the B&B herself. Ellen was, of course, with Ron most of the time, so how could she really contribute to the B&B, except in the mornings? Ellen would come in and help make breakfast for the guests, then help clean up and go off to her work in some Muggle library.
Harry decided he would try not to worry about it at the moment and he would send word to her from the Manor as soon as he got there.
He quickly went to the study room that was just next to the kitchen. As soon as his owl Hedwig saw him, she hooted happily at him from her perch in the corner.
"I have a job for you, girl." He told her affectionately. "It's another message to Malfoy." He laughed as her feathers bristled slightly. She hated the other owls at the Manor. They were all so nasty and greedy around her, making her feel rushed and unwelcome. Harry knew this and smiled wryly. "Sorry, but you know how Malfoy is."
He quickly scrawled the message and tied it to her leg before giving her a treat and opening the window for her to be able to leave through before shutting it right behind her.
It was bitingly cold outside. He would need a thick jacket tonight.
After a quick kiss to Hermione's cheek and a short search for his keys, he donned his Muggle leather jacket and opened the front door. As he shut the door, he looked out onto the cold street, then to his motorcycle.
He breathed in the harsh night air and sighed out a reverent smoky breath. He loved his motorcycle. It had been Sirius'.
It had shocked him when he found it locked away in the Ministry's many 'Confiscated Items' holding rooms. He had been perusing through one of them a while after he had become an official Auror, when he had come across the motorcycle. He had thought that Hagrid had gotten rid of it, but apparently it had been seized from him and brought to the Ministry. After a bit of 'calm discussions' between Harry and the Minster, which entailed a great deal of Harry's anger rolling off him in a magically threatening manner without one yelled word, (which Harry was proud of) he had finally won the motorcycle, and all rights to it and any other things that the Ministry had of Sirius'. Harry had thought that he would have had to pull the 'I killed Voldemort and asked nothing of you' card, but his domineering presence and cold mask of determination alone had been enough to make the Minister weak in the knees. The older man had caved easily.
Harry hadn't been too sure how to even board the motorcycle at first, but he had paid for lessons and gotten his license. It had only taken one ride on the motorcycle for him to come to love it. It was better than apparating to him.
For him to be able to move the motorcycle with his bodyweight and hands… it was just like flying. The fact that the motorcycle could also take to the air made it even better, but he still liked the use of gravity and how when you took a sharp turn you moved much the same way as when you did on a broom. It was just a tad more dangerous with the bike, in Harry's opinion, and that was probably what added to the enjoyment of it all; the danger.
He boarded his motorcycle, put the key in the ignition and let her warm up as he adjusted himself in the seat. He had his clothes in the two carriers on either side of the butt end of the bike. Enough for his visit to the Manor. Of course it was all dirty, so he had to get the Laundromat before he went to the Manor.
Pulling his helmet onto his head –mostly only because of the freezing night air- he zipped up his jacket as he planned out his route to the pizza restaurant in his head before revving his engine and taking off out of Hermione's driveway.
It was ten miles into town and another six to the pizza restaurant. He wove in and out of traffic as he finally made it to the town to the outskirts of the other side of town. The back-roads wound on for another minute before he finally arrived at a short slightly rundown building with old cedar shingles, and a few beer lights in the windows. Harry parked his bike and started inside without a worry for his vehicle in this dark part of town.
He entered the establishment and was immediately embraced by a short mousy-haired brunet –her breasts pressed to his stomach.
"I've missed you so much!" She squealed and clutched him tighter. "Where have you been! Another job for those nasty people you work for?" She demanded as her face turned red with rage when she stepped back. Her hands shot to her hips as she took his weary appearance in. His trips always brought him back weary. "You look like death warmed over." She commented with a scowl. "I don't like those people you be workin' for." She snapped angrily. There were snickers from behind her as the cook came up to Harry and shook his hand.
Customers around the establishment either yelled a greeting to Harry, or nodded to him as he came in further. Not many came to 'Dan's Grab n' Go Bar'; the name was a bit of a deterrent to those who weren't regular customers, which meant that everyone knew everyone there. A nice friendly atmosphere despite the shady looking characters.
"I know you don't like them, Serena." Harry told her as he kissed her cheek. "Hey, Sam." He shook the balding cook's hand back and smiled at him. "Is the food ready? Jen's waiting." He urged.
Sam nodded a few times, then went to get the food.
Harry passed Serena two twenties and she gasped, biting her lip as he stared up at Harry guiltily.
"But Harry-!" She cried out.
He quieted her with a kiss to her forehead. "It's just for worrying for me. I don't know what I'd have done without friends like you guys this past year." He smiled lovingly at his friend. It was a ritual for him to dirty the few Muggle clothes he owned throughout the week –and of course, his robes got filthy from all the work he had done for the Ministry lately- so he would always do his laundry on Saturday nights, that would leave him Sunday to sleep in. He would call Serena, announce that it's him, and she would know that he needed two pizzas and two sodas by the time he arrived. He would pick the food up, then go to do his laundry with his friend Jen who happened to own the Laundromat.
Sam brought out the pizzas and drinks and thumped Harry on the back, as a manly gesture of tenderness and a goodbye all rolled into one.
"Bye, Harry." He went off back to the kitchen as Harry yelled a goodbye after him.
"Bye, babe." Serena said as she pulled Harry by his sleeve a bit lower so she could kiss his cheek.
"Bye, 'Rena." He whispered in her ear as he went to leave. She shivered as his breath caressed his cheek and she pulled on his sleeve again.
He leaned down to her height so that she could whisper into his ear, as he raised his brow in wonder.
"Anytime you just need to unwind, my bedroom door is always open, babe." She told him with a soft moan. He nodded with a polite smile as he pulled away from her and out the door. He wondered briefly if the pizzas would cool too quickly in this cold night air before he got to the Laundromat. Without a second thought, he used wandless magic to spell a warming charm on the food.
With practiced balance, Harry managed to drive back into town and to Jen's Laundromat.
After another ten minutes he was parking in the back parking-lot of the Laundromat, beside Jen's old P.O.S. of a car.
He knocked on the back door, and no sooner had his hand left the door than it was open and an arm yanked him inside with the food.
Harry's auror instincts told him to dodge, then attack with either a dagger from his boot, or a wandless spell, but his natural instincts told him to be calm; this surprise was not something to fear… well, maybe just a little.
"What took you so long!" A very agitated very pregnant woman snapped at him. "You look like shit." She told him after a look-over. Of course, she knew Harry was gorgeous, but bags decorated his eyes, his skin was paler than usual, and his hair was too flat for it to be healthy either.
"Well, hello to you too." He mumbled, slightly miffed at being knocked for his appearance more than twice in one day, by practically every woman he had seen.
"I already started my laundry a few minutes ago, but you can still catch up. I saved your washers for you." She told him with a pudgy smile. Harry had known Jen for half a year and she'd been pregnant since before he had known her.
He really hadn't had a need to go anywhere else for laundry when he had had his own flat, but Muggle washers were so much fun and the nice smell of fabric softeners beat magical cleansings any day.
After leaving the food with Jen, he went and gathered his separate bags of clothes and the sodas that he had stored with his clothes for the drive.
Quickly he returned back inside and dumped one bag of Muggle clothes in one washer, and the other bag of Wizarding robes more discretely in the other. He was a man after all. Who honestly wanted to take the time to separate their clothes by color and take up six washers, when all you needed was two and a few good shoves to get it all in there. He used Jen's fabric softener and detergent like he always did and he slipped a ten into her jacket when she wasn't looking to compensate her. He was sure she had figured out where the money came from, or she might have started to grumble about him always using her stuff. She said nothing about it though, and merely smiled at him as they sat on the table that was for folding laundry. They faced each other and started eating their pizzas.
"Bring chips next time." Jen suggested.
"What kind?" Harry questioned as he pulled out the deck of cards they kept hidden under the table for Saturdays.
"Barbecue something." She responded as she took another bite of her cheese, sausage, and pineapple pizza.
"Jeez." He grumbled the word that he had caught from all of his Muggle friends. "Your appetite is really weird." He told her with a frown.
"I know." She groaned. "I hated barbecue anything before, but now…" She sighed heavily as she shifted her pudgy weight around a bit. "What game do you want to play?"
"Rummy?" Jen suggested with a shrug.
Harry shuffled and dealt the proper cards to them both before glancing at his friend's engorged stomach.
"How long?" He asked her as he scanned his cards and moved them around in his hand before looking up at her, waiting for her to take her turn.
"Pardon?" She responded as her eyes met his. She snatched up the card next to the deck and laid down three kings before discarding and looking to Harry for a response.
He scowled at her newfound points, then looked back up to her.
"How long until your baby's due?" He questioned with a slight growl to his tone. Jen always won at this game, no matter what he did to contradict it. He could have all four aces and still lose to her. It was terrible.
"Less than two months." She whispered lovingly a she absently started to stroke her belly. His eyes softened on her as he watched her do this.
"You look wonderful." He told her honestly. She did. She had a lot of extra fat that would stick with her after the pregnancy and she probably hadn't been able to see her feet for months, but she looked gorgeous with her dirty-blonde hair, innocent blue eyes and swollen stomach.
"Liar." She snorted as she looked over her fat thighs and enormous hips.
"No." He responded in such an affectionate and longing tone that it made Jen stop dead in her tracks. She looked up into Harry's misty eyes and remembered how much he had talked about family… the family he had never had and everyone else had. If she hadn't been married she would have asked Harry to spend his life with her and be her baby's father. He was such a wonderful, caring, and handsome man with his tender gestures toward every living creature, and defensive attitude when anyone tried to disrupt or hurt his friends in any way. He was a very possessive person when it came to his friends and the people he considered 'family'.
She smiled warmly at him and tears slipped out over her face.
Damn hormones! She thought inwardly. It was horrible that she couldn't control her emotions, but who could really control the urge to cry when looked at by this heavenly angel that had nothing of what he really deserved in life.
"You really are beautiful." He whispered to her as he wiped away her tears with a napkin gently and kissed her forehead, causing the blonde to blush prettily. "Doesn't your husband tell you that?" He asked.
She shook her head a few times. "He does… but I don't believe him, and yet…" She sighed and laughed, "… yet I believe you, somehow. I know, just by that look in your eyes that you are being honest and… that makes me happy." She told him firmly.
Harry smiled at her. He swung both ways, but he had never really been attracted to Jen. She was pretty and all, but there was nothing between them. This baby though… he could honestly say it made her look very sexy. He could just imagine the wife that he might have had –that might have bore his children- looking like her. Beautiful. It made him deeply sad that he would never have a family like her. He suddenly wanted to be very far away from there, but… he couldn't leave.
He just picked a card and continued with game in silence –every now and then taking another bite from his pizza, or another drink of his soda. Within no time the washers were done and the clothes needed drying.
Harry changed over both of there's, since it didn't seem like Jen would be able to rise from the table and get back up successfully any time soon, so he put both of his and all five of hers into dryers, then started them with a special card that Jen used so she wouldn't have to put in quarters.
"I've missed you, Harry." Jen told him as she watched him work.
He hummed his acknowledgement as he continued working with the dryers so they wouldn't scorch his clothes.
"You've been gone for a long while now. I was surprised when you called me out of the blue Friday." She smiled at him, even though he couldn't see her.
"Sorry about that. Leaving, I mean."
"It couldn't be helped." She sighed heavily. "It's your damn asshole employer that's making you leave so often." She growled deeply, as if she wanted to wring the bastard's neck, whoever he was. "Still not going to tell me where you work?"
"Maybe after the baby's born." Harry joked –very amused by both her rapidly changing moods, and the fact that she wanted to kill his boss. "That way you won't endanger the baby in case my boss gets in a kick or two." Harry responded with a smirk.
She laughed loudly as he finished his work. "Sure." She giggled, her mood, yet again, changing.
"I'm going to be leaving in about three months." He told her casually, and it caused another loud groan to come from her.
"I never see you anymore." She whined loudly, causing the only other person in the Laundromat that late at night to look at her with a quirked brow.
"It's the way it has to be." He sighed. "Besides, it keeps me going. I have no direction for my life right now, so this is basically all I have. I like the work mostly, so it's not that bad." Harry then stealthily hopped back up onto the table and dealt out a hand of Go-fish. "Besides, I'll be here long enough to see your little one's birth."
She smiled at that. Yes, she had asked, and Harry had promised to be there in the delivery room with her. She would ask her husband to do it, but he fainted whenever he was around blood of any kind. That wouldn't do. She needed someone to hold onto her hand just as tight as she could squeeze, and someone she could scream at about the pain. Yes. Harry had agreed, and she would be damned if she let him leave on some kind of trip without her having her child.
"You have the beeper, right?" She wondered suddenly.
Harry grimaced. She had offered the idea of cell phones, but Harry hadn't been too keen on the idea, so she had settled for beepers. "Yeah." He pulled the thing out of his pocket and looked at it incredulously.
"Keep that with you at all times. Remember your promise." She warned with a frown.
He nodded. He would be there.
It took six hands of lost games before Harry finally gave in and the dryers were done. Another ten minutes later and all of his clothes were folded and in the carriers on his bike. He walked back into the warm Laundromat and kissed Jen on the cheek.
"Oh!" Jen exclaimed as Harry turned to leave. He turned back quickly and saw the bright smile on her face. "It kicked!" She told him and eagerly grabbed his hand. "Feel." She pressed his hand to her swollen stomach and Harry gasped as he felt little feet kicking inside of her. He had to fight to keep the tears from coming. This was so wonderful. There was a little life-form inside of her that would come out soon.
Harry knelt down suddenly and Jen gasped at the sensation Harry kissing the little child inside of her stomach. As his lips met her stomach, she felt a spark of something. It was like the feeling of sliding on hardwood floors without meaning to, in just your bare socks –that chill through your body and spine… it was almost tangible. She wanted to reach for the spot where Harry's lips had touched her, but she didn't want the sensation to leave her so she let it be. Harry stood and she wished suddenly that she wasn't married, and that she could take this younger man home with her. She was only six years his senior, what did it matter? But no. Harry had to go off into the world. He wasn't the kind to sit still. He needed to find his true love and settle down somewhere. He needed to make his own family. It was something that she was very bent on seeing happen, even though it couldn't be with her.
"Thank you." Harry whispered to her as he squeezed her hand affectionately. "That was wonderful." He told her sincerely.
He turned after Jen could say nothing, and he left through the back again.
"Bye, Harry." She murmured as the door closed. "May God's blessings go with you, Angel." He had to be an angel. Many people had touched her stomach in interest before, but none –not even her husband- had sent such a warm feeling through her.
The wind was biting, and wretched. His lips were chapped, and his jeans didn't keep much of his own body warmth in. It couldn't be helped while he was on the main road though. He would have to endure the chill at least until he had reached the outskirts of town, so that the amount of people who would see him would be minimal.
Once finally outside of the town, he pulled over to the side of the back-road, steadied his bike and pulled out a thick robe and warm black cloak from his laundry pile. He quickly donned these things over his Muggle leather jacket and jeans, then tied down his helmet and switched gears on his bike so that he could fly. As soon as the gear was turned the bike began to float and immediately turned invisible along with its driver –a little extra feature that Harry had coerced Lee Jordan into doing for him. (The man was very talented with magical machines.) From there it only took a pull of the handles and a rev of the engine to get the bike racing up into the night sky like a broom.
It was over an hour fly through the open sky to get to his destination.
"Middle of nowhere." Harry groaned for the hundredth time as it started to rain lightly. A thought came to Harry's mind with a snort at the oddity of the thought, No Man's Land. He mused about that thought and its relevance to how he and his host at The Manor had been at a near warring stage for the younger years of their lives.
As he noticed the rarely used road below him that would lead to the Manor, he landed on it and changed the engine back to a Muggle one.
The rain was getting heavier as he sped off down the road until he finally came to the rusty gate of the Malfoy Manor. He sighed as he reached out for the gates with a free hand. It still looked as inhospitable as the last time he had been here.
Harry groaned as he looked over the vast expanses of land that belonged to the Malfoys as it started to rain more heavily. "Here we go again."
Reviewers!
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews!
Prongsblacks: Thanks for the compliment. –blush- I hope you think the same of this chapter. I worry about it because it's from Harry's POV.
DaftMeg: -chuckle- No, I don't think Lucius would give up Eva. Sorry. Hell, I wouldn't give her up either if I had her. You liked the snake thing? I'm glad. It just randomly hit me whilst I was typing. Yes, Lucius is a bit delicate at the moment. He's putting himself back together. The next chapter will have so much information in it. It'll be fun to write!
Strega: Hehe. This is sorta for you because you made me so happy lately that the words kind of poured out. I hope you like. Yes, Harry wants kids. –sigh- He thinks he'll never get them… –wink wink- but we know the truth. I didn't really get a chance to mention Snape in the chapter. Harry doesn't really like Snape, so I couldn't very well answer your question of why Snape helped Lucius, but I'll tell you now. Lucius and Snape were close when they were in Slytherin together. They were both good conniving friends, and that's why Snape is Draco's godfather. Even if Snape had a fallout with Lucius in the way of friendship, Snape would still help Lucius because he wants Draco to be happy, and that's how you make Draco happy.
Dark-faerie161: Glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you will mention if there's anything that you'd like to know, or that you were curious about in this chapter. I'll never know what I did wrong if my wonderful reviewers, like you, don't tell me.
Yana5: Yah! Harry has arrived. The fun shall begin. –suspenseful music- You ask if Harry will become pregnant? Well, I'm not quite ready to divulge such information at this time. –wink wink- You'll find out later.
Fragonknight01: Thanks. I'm so encouraged by all of the reviews I get that it just makes me pour out the chapters. –smile- I'm probably neglecting my other stories at the moment, but this is just so much more fun to write.
Immortal Memories: Thanks. I like that you like the story. It makes me laugh when I read your reviews.
Steph: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the father/son part. I enjoyed writing it too.
Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy: No worries. This story will be finished. The ending is already plotted out in my head. I just have to get from point A to point B. That's all. –smile- Thanks for reviewing. It makes me keep writing.
JoRaven: Yes, more Harry. Plenty of Harry. I felt I was neglecting Harry so I dedicated the whole chapter to him. It's only been about two weeks. Hope that wasn't too long of a wait. I'm working on the next chappie already, so hopefully that will be out soon.
Foolishwandwaver: Me? Evil? Nasty? –tear- I've done it again too. –sob- I couldn't help myself! Maybe the next chapter will have a better ending. I haven't finished it yet, so I can't even imagine how bad that ending will be. Sorry.
Acr: Sorry to disappoint. I was thinking of a situation where Lucius would have to track Harry down, but it was original, yet cliché, and I don't think this has been done before, so… Hopefully you'll like the version just as much as if Lucius had gone after Harry.
Shawnsgoddess: You liked the talk they had? Good. I did too. Thank you for asking so many questions. Those are things that I will definitely get around to explaining, but I thought it would be too crammed to throw it into this chapter. You beg so prettily. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm working on the next one already. Hopefully it won't take too long.
HecateDeMort: Thanks. Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the last… maybe more. I've got all sorts of fun things planned for the next chappie. I hope you'll all like it. –paces nervously-
LilyMalfoy13: Thirteen? What a lucky number! –smiles- I love the name. Glad you like my story. Hope you liked this chapter too. Really excited about it.
Death-by-inkpen: It's okay that it took you a little while to review. I'm just happy that you did! What do you think of the story so far? Do you have any questions that need answering? I'd hate to leave you in the dark.
Sweetpea-Fairy: I'm thrilled that you like the story. I was worried. I'm a bit worried about this chapter and the next. Damn it! I'm worrying about the whole story past this point. –sigh- Hopefully, it'll turn out alright.
Sabrith Alastar: Glad you enjoy the story. I have some time off this week, so that's why this is coming out now. If you have any questions. Please ask away. I don't want to leave anything out.
ConstanceNicholson: I'm thrilled that you like my story. I didn't want this one to be like every other. I wanted to do the veela thing, but have it be different. I'm glad you think I have a good vibe to this story. You'll tell me if it gets too cliché of course. That's what I'm trying to avoid.
Bitter Black Tears: Your review made me smile. It's good that you like it so much. And if you have any questions, I hope you'll ask in your review. Wouldn't want to leave anything out.
Bella Snape: What a lovely name. Your review made me smile; thank you. Please, review again with any questions or comments on the chapter.
Chocolatedemon: Yes, a cliffie. I wanted them to end in the same spot, and this was about it. The dementor thing will be discussed in future chapters. Sometime eventually. –chuckle- Thanks for reviewing. Please, ask about anything else you're curious about too.
KatFay: Yes, bloody cliffhanger. Bloody weather. Haha. You hit the nail on the head with Draco. He has a mate. –twiddles thumbs- You'll find out about –cough cough- that person, eventually. You'll find out about the dementors soon too. It's all to come. –smile-
Ironic-humour: Thanks for reviewing, even if you were being kicked off the net. I'm glad you took the time. I'm so happy about finally updating. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
Elvengoddess696: Thanks for that review. I'm hoping that you enjoyed this chapter too. I'll try and keep up the good work. If you tell me what you want or what you don't, I'm sure that'll make it easier too. I only have some of this planned in my head. I could always use an inspiration or muse!
Bleckybecs: I'm thrilled that you reviewed, even if you think you don't know what to say. A word or two is fine. I'm happy you did. I suppose it's kind of funny, but you reviewed yesterday and it just kind of gave me the urge to update. –smile- Hope you enjoy.
A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I loved hearing from all of you! It makes me get that itch to write whenever I get reviews. –smile- The next chapter should prove to be fun… or funny, depending on how you look at it. –chuckle- Until next time!