A/N: Finally! An update! Sorry it took SOOO long. Life is hectic. See one of the first five chapters for the disclaimer. :D
Harry found his God-father in the large library that the house possessed. He was sitting with his eyes closed behind a huge desk that dominated one end of the room. It would have been beautiful had it not been coated in layer upon layer of dust.
"Sirius?" Harry said as he crossed the room to the desk. "Are you awake?" Sirius' head lifted and he gave the boy a large smile. He stood and came around to the front of the desk to join Harry.
"So….Are you ready to fill me in now?" Sirius asked as he leaned back against the edge of the desk behind them. Harry adopted a similar stance and looked up at the older man.
"I thought someone would have told you." He sighed and crossed his arms in front of him self as he shook his head. "Did you hear about the last attack at the school?" Sirius nodded. "Do you know Cho Chang?" Sirius thought for a moment before nodding.
"Ravenclaw seeker, right?" Harry nodded.
"Yeah, she was also engaged to Cedric Diggory." He said as he looked down at the floor. "And pregnant with his baby."
"Pregnant!" Sirius said in surprise. Harry nodded and smiled slightly at the older man's reaction.
"Pregnant." Harry replied. "She was impaled through the chest by a tree branch when Wormtail hit her with a jinx and to make a long story short…She knew she was dying and transferred her baby into the closest available person; me." He looked up at his God-father. "I'm pregnant Sirius." The man's mouth dropped open in shock. He stared at Harry for a minute before he started chuckling.
"Nice try Harry." He said, in between the chuckles. "Seriously, what was Madame Pomfrey checking you for? Were you hurt in the attack?" Harry sighed in frustration as he smoothed his hands down his belly. He smiled when he felt the baby kick again and quickly grabbed Sirius' hand, laying it palm down over the spot she was kicking. Sirius gave Harry a confused look. "What are you doing Harry?" The boy shushed him.
"Shh…just wait." He said. "Come on Sweetie, do it again." He whispered. Sirius started to pull his hand away. Harry pressed it back down, not letting him move.
"Harry…" He cut off his statement with a gasp as he felt a little thump against his palm. "Oh my God." He breathed as he willingly left his hand on the boy's belly. "You weren't kidding." He looked at his God-son, shocked. Harry gave him a wry smile.
"Nope. She's really in there." Sirius looked back down as he felt another little flutter against his palm. "I'm at twenty weeks. I couldn't tell you in a letter. There's always the chance that it could be intercepted, and we want to keep this quiet for as long as possible." He paused as Sirius lifted his hand away, and looked up at the older man's face. "I'm really sorry Sirius. I thought someone would tell you." Sirius laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"It's alright Harry. You didn't have a safe way to contact me. I don't blame you. Dumbledore, on the other hand, is going to get an earful. He should have told me." He heaved a sigh and looked at the boy standing next to him. "So, is everything alright? With you I mean?" Harry smiled.
"Yeah, I'm good. Madame Pomfrey does an exam every week just to make sure everything is going okay. I had some pretty bad morning sickness in the beginning, but it's better now." He leaned back against the desk's edge and sighed. "I just wish things would calm down. I was only at the Burrow for a couple of weeks before we had to up and leave, and now we're here and Uncle Vernon is gone and Petunia and Dudley are pretty much homeless. I finally get to see you again and now I'm going to have to leave in a few days for school." He looked up and met Sirius's gaze. "I'm really not looking forward to that." Sirius cocked his head to the side and gave the boy a confused look.
"I thought you liked school?" He said. Harry nodded his head as he pushed away from the desk and began to wander around the room.
"Normally, yes." Harry said as he looked at the book shelves and glass cases that covered the walls of the room. "But, it's going to be hard this year." He sighed and walked back to the desk. He continued when he saw his God-father's curious gaze. He ran a hand over his stomach before he spoke. "She takes a lot out of me, ya know." He looked down at his hands as he started playing with the edge of his oversized shirt. "I get tired pretty easily, and it's hard to focus on one thing for to long." He looked back at Sirius. "Plus we're trying to keep the baby a secret for as long as possible. I don't know how we're going to manage that, what with everyone keeping en eye on me and visits to Poppy and special lessons. It won't be long before some one guesses. And to top it all off I think I've started having cravings." Harry said in an irritated voice. Sirius started to chuckle at the last comment and Harry threw him a dirty look that was softened by the wry grin that went with it. "It's not funny." He insisted. "I'd kill for some Mango chicken right about now." Sirius continued to chuckle as he walked past Harry toward the door, ruffling the boy's hair on his way past. "Well, I'll leave you to get settled in Harry. I need to have a little talk with that Headmaster of yours." Harry winced in response. "And maybe I'll talk to Molly and see if we can take care of that craving." He winked at the boy as he turned and left the room, leaving a grinning Harry behind.
As soon as Sirius left the room Harry headed back to the book shelves that he had glanced over during their conversation. One of the titles had caught his attention. He perused the shelves looking for it and smiled when he saw the book in question. He reached up and slid the dusty tome from its spot on the shelf. He carried it over to the desk and plopped it down, raising a large cloud of dust in the process. He coughed and waved his hand around to clear the air before sitting down in the desk chair that Sirius had occupied before. He ran his hand over the cover of the book to clear off the dust still clinging to it, and read the title.
Wandless Magic: Is It In You?
A guide to your own inner power
By: Prudence Halliwell
Harry snickered at the name; Prudence. Talk about old fashioned names, he thought, as he opened the book. Within minutes he was completely absorbed in its contents. He was abruptly brought back to the real world by someone flicking on the lights in the dimming room. He looked up to see Hermione smiling in approval.
"I'm glad to see you reading Harry, but you'll ruin your eyes if you don't have decent lighting." Harry smiled as she walked towards the desk. He removed his glasses and waved them at her. She grinned sheepishly. "Well, you don't want them to get any worse do you?" He smiled as he put his glasses back on.
"Nope." He dog eared the page he was on in the book and watched Hermione cringe out of the corner of his eye. She just shook her head at him and pulled the book over so she could read the title. He watched as her eyebrows rose slightly.
"Wandless Magic? Where did you find this?" She asked Harry. His brow furrowed. Hermione wasn't usually dense. He gestured to the book shelves all around them.
"In the library maybe?" He suggested. She stuck her tongue out at him and ran her hand over the cover of the book.
"It looks old." She commented. "I can't believe you folded down the page Harry. This book is probably an original edition." She threw him an irritated look and snatched a piece of paper from the rubbish bin. She gently opened the book to the page he had marked and slipped the paper in between the pages before carefully smoothing out the crease he had bent in the page. She pushed it back over to him. "You'll have to let me read it when you're through." Harry nodded at her as he sat back in the chair.
"Well, anyway, I was supposed to come and tell you that dinner is ready. Sirius says you won't want to miss out." Harry grinned as he pushed the chair back and jumped to his feet. He could almost taste the mango already. He came to an abrupt halt as he was rudely reminded that he was supposed to stand up slowly. One hand flew to the side of his belly and the other to the desk top for support as he inhaled sharply. "Harry?!" Hermione was immediately by his side helping him to sit back down.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Harry said as he silently berated himself. He gingerly rubbed the side of his abdomen as the pain started to fade away. He looked up to see Hermione standing anxiously beside him.
"Should I get Madame Pomfrey?" She asked in a worried tone. Harry shook his head as he continued to breathe deep and evenly, the pain diminishing with each breath. "What happened?" She asked as he started to relax. Harry sighed.
"I stood up to fast." He said. She gave him a confused look. "Madame Pomfrey said that there is a ligament in there that pulls sometimes if to much strain is put on it. Apparently mine doesn't like me to stand up to fast." The pain was completely gone and he put his hands on top of the desk and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He felt a slight twinge but it faded within a few seconds. Hermione stepped up next to him her brow still furrowed with worry. He reached up and gently smoothed his thumb over the furrows. "I'm fine Hermione. Don't worry." She nodded and visibly relaxed before ushering him through the door and on to the dinning room.
Harry was a bit disappointed when they got there. The table was heavily laden with what appeared to be a ham dinner with all of the trimmings. He sighed in disappointment and let Hermione direct him to a chair. He grinned from ear to ear, however, once he was seated. Sitting on the table just behind his plate and utensils were two small, white cartons with red Chinese writing printed on the sides. He turned and gave Sirius a knowing look. The older man just shrugged and smiled. Harry reached for one of the containers and opened it. Mango Chicken. He dumped some rice from the other container onto his plate and heaped the chicken on top. He looked up to see the Weasley family eyeing his food in curiosity. Hermione leaned over to get a better look.
"Ooh! Chinese!" She squeaked before lifting her fork and swiping a piece of the chicken. She quickly popped it into her mouth before Harry could even say anything.
"Hey!" He hollered. "Get your own!" The rest of the group chuckled at their antics and began eating their own dinner, although from the smell of it, most of them wished that they were sharing Harry's.
Harry glanced around the table as he worked on devouring his chicken. He noticed that his aunt and cousin were missing from the meal. Sirius saw him frown when he noticed they were missing.
"Dudley wasn't up to eating at the table and your Aunt didn't want him to eat alone. Dobby took them both plates right after we started." He told Harry. Harry nodded. He vowed to himself that he would try and talk to Dudley tomorrow. Hopefully they would be able to at least be civil to one another with out Vernon there to encourage the rift between them. He finished his food and pushed his plate back with a sigh. With a full stomach and the knowledge that he was as safe here as it was possible for him to be, he started to become quite drowsy. Everyone else was enjoying some tea, and quiet conversations around the table. Overall the atmosphere was quite peaceful.
A horrific shriek followed by screams and insults about muggles and mudbloods broke the mood and had everyone starting in shock. Sirius just rolled his eyes while everyone else rushed out to the foyer where the shouting was coming from. Dudley and Petunia stood on the landing, staring in shock at a portrait of an old woman. The old woman was the one doing the screaming and shouting. Sirius pushed past all of the on-lookers and stormed up to the portrait. As soon as she saw him her tirade switched to screams of 'traitor' and 'muggle loving filth'. Sirius slapped a hand to the portrait and pointed his other hand strait at its nose.
"Mother, if you don't shut up I'm going to take everything in this house that isn't fastened with a charm, and burn it." She gaped at him and drew a breath to continue, but he interrupted. "Go ahead, push me. This stuff means absolutely nothing to me, and you know it." She snapped her mouth shut, turned up her nose and sniffed haughtily. Sirius yanked the ratty curtains shut again and turned to usher the traumatized Dudley and Petunia the rest of the way down the steps.
"That was your mum?" Dudley asked when they got back into the dinning room. Sirius nodded as he showed Petunia to a seat. "I feel sorry for you mate." Dudley said as he glanced back at the foyer. Sirius chuckled.
"Thanks for the sympathy. I REALLY wish there was some way to get that picture down." He offered Aunt Petunia a cup of tea, which she accepted with a shaky smile. "I'm glad to see you made it down for some tea at least. Dudley, would you like a cup?" Dudley nodded silently and looked around the table. The only empty seat was the one that Sirius had been sitting in, next to Harry. Dudley walked to the seat and sat down shooting a mumbled hello in Harry's direction. Harry looked at his aunt and she nodded at him, encouragingly.
"Dudley?" Harry said. The heavier boy turned to look at him. "I'm really sorry about Uncle Vernon. I'm sorry this happened." Dudley nodded and turned back to his tea, but not before Harry saw the glassiness in his eyes. Harry pushed back from the table and stood carefully. "I'm going to head up to bed awhile. All that food made me sleepy." He made his way to the door amid various calls of good night and up the stairs, making certain to make no noise when passing the curtain covered portrait.
He had just finished changing into his night clothes when Ron came in the room. He was carrying the book that Harry had been reading earlier.
"Hey mate." He said by way of a greeting. "Hermione said to give this to you. You left it in the Library." He plopped it down on Harry's bed and went to dig out his own night clothes.
"Thanks." Harry said as he moved the heavy book onto his night stand. He climbed into his bed with a weary sigh. He lay there listening to Ron getting ready for bed. Just as he started to nod off, he felt the baby kick. He sighed again and smoothed a hand over his belly and she seemed to calm down. He was asleep in minutes.
Harry felt that he had only been asleep a short time when he drifted back to consciousness. He blinked a few times as he wondered why he was awake. A slight jolt to his bladder gave him his answer. He groaned quietly as he sat up and threw back his blankets. He made his way to the bathroom and was heading back to his room when he saw a faint light coming from under Ginny and Hermione's door. He remembered that he had promised to tell Ginny when the baby's movements could be felt by other people. He walked up to the door and lightly knocked on it. After a few seconds Hermione opened the door and peeked out. She looked surprised to see Harry and opened the door the rest of the way.
"Harry? It's late, what are you doing up? Are you alright?" She asked in a worried tone. Ginny came and stood next to Hermione, looking just as worried as she motioned for Harry to come into the room.
"I'm fine" Harry replied. "The baby has decided that it's fun to bounce on my bladder. I had to go to the bathroom and saw your light on. That's when I remembered that I had promised Ginny I would tell her when the baby started to kick." Ginny's eyes opened wide and she drew in a breath. "You're not the first to feel it though, Sorry."
"Really! She's kicking enough that we can feel it?" Ginny asked, excited. Harry just smiled and reached for her hand. She gave it willingly and moved closer to his side. He placed her palm on his belly, just below his navel, where the kicking was the strongest, and held it there. Ginny squealed when the next movement pushed right against her hand. "That is so amazing!" She breathed as she gestured for Hermione to come closer. "Give me your hand." She took Hermione's hand and placed it right where her own had been. She beamed a toothy grin at Harry when she felt the movements. Harry rested his own hand next to hers.
"She's been really active today. She doesn't usually wake me up at night. Hopefully she doesn't make this a habit." He said with a bit of frown. "I'm tired enough all the time without my sleep being interrupted." He yawned widely and started back out the door. "I'm going back to bed. Good night ladies. Don't stay up to late." The girls just smiled at him as he opened the door.
"Thanks for stopping in Harry. I've been waiting to get to feel that." Ginny said as she gave him a quick hug. "Sleep well." Hermione just waved over Ginny's shoulder. Harry smiled and waved back.
"You too." He said. He walked back to his and Ron's room and snuggled back down into his bed. He had to wait about another thirty minutes before the baby tired herself out enough that he was able to drift back to sleep.
Everyone was up early the following morning. Harry was annoyed that he couldn't make the trip into Diagon Alley with everyone else, but he understood that it was for the best. He gave Mrs. Weasley the money he had left over from the previous school year as well as his Gringotts key, just in case. He was going to need a whole new wardrobe as well as all of his school supplies and new robes. Mrs. Weasley had taken his measurements and then she and Mr. Weasley, accompanied by all of the Weasley children and Hermione, flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.
After the last person had disappeared through the floo network, Harry settled into one of the comfortable wing back chairs in the library, intent on getting through another couple of chapters in his book. He was finding it to be a fascinating read. According to the author, any spell that could be done with a wand could also be done without one, with diligent study and practice. The author had studied instances of what muggles called psychic abilities. She theorized and proved that these were actually instances of wandless magic accidentally being cast by squibs or those who were unaware of their magical abilities. Among these instances were cases of telekinesis, pyrokenisis, teleportation, and divination.
Harry had read through a couple of chapters of theory before he was interrupted. His aunt and Dudley came into the room carrying cleaning supplies and buckets. His aunt smiled at him when she saw him.
"Hello Harry. I was just going to do some cleaning. I can go on to another room if you're busy in here." She said as she motioned to his book. Harry smiled back and shook his head.
"I'm not busy. I was just reading. I was about ready to take a break actually. My neck is getting stiff." He marked his place in the book with the piece of paper and set it aside before getting slowly and stiffly to his feet. As he stood and stretched his back out he noticed once again that Dudley's attention seemed drawn to his belly. He wondered why the other boy was so fascinated by it. Aunt Petunia also seemed to notice because she nudged Dudley with her elbow.
"Don't stare Dudley. I raised you with better manners than that." Dudley flushed and turned his gaze to the floor as he mumbled an apology to the room in general.
"It's alright Aunt Petunia." Harry said. "I should get used to it. I'll be getting plenty of stares when I go back to school." He looked at Dudley. The boy seemed completely different. His father's death was a real blow. The baby started moving again and Harry was oblivious to the fact that he had automatically started rubbing his belly, lost in his thoughts about Dudley. He was jerked back to the present by the clattering his aunt made as she set her cleaning supplies down on the desk. Dudley's gaze was once again back on Harry's stomach. "She's moving around right now. Would you like to feel it?" Dudley seemed surprised by the question but nodded mutely. Harry walked up next to Dudley who raised his hand and then stopped; uncertain as to where to place it. Harry smoothed his shirt and touched a spot on his belly. "You can feel it the strongest here." Dudley placed his palm over the spot Harry had indicated and waited. After a moment or two he felt a soft little nudge against his hand. Not very strong, but still noticeable. He smiled and looked up at his cousin.
"That must feel really odd from the inside." He said as he removed his hand. Harry nodded as he smiled back.
"It's amazing though. And annoying at times. Especially when she decides to bounce on my bladder in the middle of the night." Dudley smirked and moved over to help his mother. "You know you don't have to do any cleaning Aunt Petunia. Dobby will get it caught up." His aunt just shrugged.
"It's not like I have anything better to do. Besides, you know me, I can't stand to see a mess and not clean it up." She grinned at Harry over her shoulder. "Molly just said to stay away from the curtains. She said they have something called Doxies in them?" She looked at Harry who nodded.
"They bite and the bite is mildly toxic to humans." He said. "I think House elves are immune to it though." He walked over and took a can of dusting spray and a rag from the box of supplies on the desk. Aunt Petunia looked at him with a frown and he rolled his eyes. "It's not going to hurt me to help with a little cleaning. I'll only do the stuff I can reach easily." She nodded and they got down to the business of clearing the neglected room of a few decades worth of dust and grime. Sirius joined the party after curing Dudley who had been bitten by a charmed snake ornament in one of the cabinets.
They sat taking a break a little while later in the half cleaned room; chatting as they planned how to tackle the other half.
"Mr. Black?" Petunia said, earning herself a glowering look. "Sorry. Sirius, I was wondering? How do you feel about that portrait of your mother? Do you care if it's destroyed or did you just want to take it down and stash it somewhere?" Sirius snorted.
"I'd be delighted to see it destroyed. If we could get it off of the wall, I'd burn the damn thing." Petunia nodded and got up to look through her cleaning supplies. "These are all cleaning supplies that I asked the Professor for." She held up a large white bottle. "This one is called Turpentine. We use it to clean up spilled paint and clean out paint brushes." A wide grin split Sirius face. "Do you think the picture would be…charmed…against muggle cleaning agents?" She asked. Sirius laughed. He got up and took the bottle and a rag from Petunia and practically ran from the room, the rest of the quartet following behind him.
"Oh Mother!" Sirius shouted as the entered the foyer. "I have something for you!" He stalked up the steps and pulled the curtains back as Mrs. Black started her tirade. "Look mother, just for you. Now, Mrs. Dursley over there (Muggle Filth!) …tsk tsk. Mother that's not very nice…anyway, Petunia says that this is something called Turpentine. Muggles use it to clean up paint." The portrait grew quiet. "I wonder mother…would you have had your portrait charmed against muggle means of removal?" Mrs. Black's eyes widened as she looked at the bottle in her son's hand. "Let's just see, shall we?" He tipped the bottle and wet the rag in his other hand. Harry stepped back out of the range of the strong fumes, but he was still able to see that a large swath of paint came off onto Sirius rag when he drew it over the painting. Sirius crowed with delight and attacked the portrait with vigor; happily working his way into the center of the portrait from the edges. Mrs. Black screamed and screeched the entire time. Finally the only paint left on the canvas was a square in the center that was completely filled with the scrunched up form of Mrs. Black. Sirius blew her a mock kiss. "Good bye Mother." He grinned as he wiped the rag right through the center of the square and then erased it completely, leaving a canvas filled with only murky traces of the paint. He turned and handed the rag and the bottle to Petunia. "That was so therapeutic." Harry laughed at him from down in the foyer.
"You wouldn't happen to have a portrait of Voldemort around here would you?"
An exhausted Mrs. Weasley and crew returned from a routine and thankfully uneventful trip to Diagon Alley heavily loaded with supplies. They were just in time for dinner, so the sorting of said supplies was put on hold. After the meal was cleared away by Dobby and another clearly reluctant and resentful elf, whom Harry assumed must be Kreacher, Mrs. Weasley approached Harry with a velvet Gringotts bag in hand. Harry waited for her while Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny started lugging all of their new supplies upstairs. When she reached Harry, she handed him the bag while rummaging around in one of her pockets. She pulled out his vault key and handed that to him as well.
"I did need to pull out some money for you new robes." She said with a small apologetic smile. "So, since we were already there, I pulled out a little extra for you, so you'll have spending money for the year." Harry gave her a grateful smile as he put both his key and the pouch of money in his pants pocket.
"Thanks, I didn't even think about that." He said as they turned to follow the other children. She smiled back, placing her hand lightly at the small of Harry's back as they started up the stairs.
"I told the others to take your things up stairs to your room. Ginny and Hermione helped me pick out all of your clothes, so they can show you everything. I hope you like it…." She stopped talking and walking at the same time. Harry looked up to see her staring at the blank canvas framed by open tattered curtains on the wall at the landing. She turned wide shocked eyes to Harry's smiling face. "What happened?!" She asked in an awed voice. She didn't think that they would ever be rid of that screaming old harpy. Harry's grin widened.
"Sirius, a bottle of Turpentine, and many years of pent up anger and resentment." He said simply as he started up the next flight of steps. Mrs. Weasley hitched up her skirts and hurried to catch up with him.
"Turpentine? What's Turpentine?" She asked as her hand settled comfortably back into its previous position.
"It's a chemical that muggles use to clean up paint." Harry explained. "Aunt Petunia had the idea that maybe the painting wouldn't be charmed against muggle stuff and she was right." Mrs. Weasley gave a small laugh of satisfaction.
"And good riddance I say." They stopped at the door to Harry and Ron's room. "Alright dear, you go have a look at what we got for you. If you don't like something, we can always exchange it." And with a smile and a pat to his arm she was bustling back down the steps. As Harry turned to head into the room he saw Dudley lingering by the window at the end of the hallway.
"Hello Dudley." He said. He received a quiet 'Hi' in return. "Would you like to come in for awhile?" Harry invited. "We're just going to be sorting through some of our new school things." Dudley shrugged but joined Harry at the doorway with a small smile on his round face.
The following six days were spent packing, checking and therefore repacking school trunks. Harry made sure that he packed all of his new clothes. He was already wearing the new trousers on a regular basis. They had been charmed to keep cool in the hottest of conditions and to keep up with Harry's growth. The soft fabric clung to the curve of his belly, but in an inexplicably comfortable way. His hand-me-down shirts were still large enough so he decided to save all of his new ones for school.
The evening before their departure found everyone gathered around the large kitchen table drinking tea and indulging in various puddings. Harry seemed quiet and pensive, toying with his treacle tart. Ginny sat down next to him and gave him a little nudge with her shoulder.
"You alright Harry?" She asked. "You usually tear into your Aunt's treacle tart." Harry gave her half a smile as he continued to twirl his fork through the desert.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little nervous I guess." He laid down his fork and rubbed his hands over his belly with a sigh. "What with quitting Quidditch, weekly appointments with Poppy, special lesson plans, a ballooning belly, and you guys all fussing over me…..I just wonder how long it will be before someone figures out what's wrong with me. I want to keep her secret and safe forever, you know." Ginny laid her hand on his belly and smiled at the slight movements coming form inside.
"I think she can tell that something is going on." Ginny said. "She seems as restless as the rest of us." Harry nodded as he placed his hand next to hers.
"She has been a little more active this evening. She can probably sense that I'm nervous. Poppy says that unborn babies tend to be very sensitive to what the 'mother' is feeling." He glared at Ginny when she smirked at his use of the word 'mother'. "And calling me any form of the word mother will result in a severe hexing." He warned. Ginny shook her head and chuckled.
"Daddy suites you much better." She said. Harry blushed and sighed feeling some of his nervousness dissipate.
"I guess all we can do is take it as it comes." He said as he picked his fork back up and nibbled at the sticky sweetness clinging to it. Ginny gave his arm a squeeze.
"It'll be alright Harry. Just think, once people do find out about her, she'll have everyone from three of the four houses looking out for her. She's a Gryffindor, a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff. That little one's going to have a lot of aunties and uncles." Harry smiled and took another bite of his desert, suddenly feeling much less apprehensive.