Fertility

As much as he liked the idea of impregnating Daphne and Susan, Harry still felt uncertain about his own ability to do it. Was he still fertile after all that he had experienced, starting with the Dursleys and up to Voldemort?

As a child, he had been abused, starved, neglected and often beaten. Some of these actions could certainly affect his ability to reproduce. Then, at Hogwarts, he had experienced some more exotic events, most of them ending by him staying in the hospital wing. How could he be sure none had affected him? Then the Horcrux hunt, the capture, the killing curse – would they have no effect on him?

Yet he had a reason to hope he was still able to do this.

It was during his vacation after the fifth year, when he was still mourning Sirius. The Dursleys left him alone, as long as he finished his chores. He used to spend each afternoon in the children's playground, watching the small ones as they played under the watchful eyes of their mothers or their baby-sitters.

One of the baby-sitters took notice of the moody adolescent. She watched him for a few days before approaching him. At first she thought he was also baby-sitting some child. His worn clothing indicated he could use some money. Then she noticed he was not watching any particular child. That intrigued her. Eventually she decided to talk with the young man.

"I see you're spending a lot of time here. Are you baby-sitting anyone?" she asked him.

Harry looked surprised at being talked to by anybody. "N... no, I'm not baby-sitting. I just love to watch small children play."

"That's a bit unusual for boys your age... You're fourteen, I assume."

"I'm fifteen, almost sixteen, and... well... I'm probably a bit unusual. My relatives think I'm a freak."

"No! I'm sure you aren't!" She was a bit surprised by the decisiveness in her voice. "I'm Ella, by the way," she said in a softer tone.

"I'm Harry. Pleased to meet you. Do you live nearby?"

They talked for hours. It was getting dark when Ella had to take her charge and leave the garden, promising to come back the next day.

Come the weekend, they were becoming inseparable. Ella didn't have any baby-sitting to do on Sunday, but they decided to just meet and walk around.

"There's a nicer garden, a few blocks away," Ella told him.

"Then why do you come here every day?"

"First – because that garden lacks a playground for smaller children, and then – I find this garden more interesting since I've met you."

Harry just blushed. Ella wanted to show him the other garden. They went there. She sneaked her hand into his and Harry found he liked it. The way she acted reminded him a bit of Hermione, only Ella was less restrained.

The other garden had several shaded benches, some of which were quite hidden. Ella chose one of those to sit and talk with Harry.

It was a hot day. Harry opened a few buttons in his shirt to let some air in. Ella looked at him. "I'd like to unbutton my shirt as well, but it's considered wrong for a girl to do so."

"I won't tell," he promised, "and I don't mind if you do."

He didn't expect her to unbutton it all the way, exposing her lacy bra and her naked tummy. This had a certain effect on him that didn't escape Ella's notice.

"Are you excited to see me this way?" she teased.

He only nodded.

"Do you want to see some more?"

His reluctant nod served as a trigger for her to remove the rest of her clothes. She looked very nice, with pale skin, round tits, flat tummy, long legs and a dark triangle of hair, the same dark brown as the hair on her head, between her thighs.

Harry's erection became quite painful, being restrained by his clothes. Ella noticed and smiled. "You can take your clothes off as well. Nobody comes here at lunchtime."

The grass served as a bed and they cuddled, caressed and kissed. Eventually she told him, "I want you to be my first."

Harry had no previous experience and he was very excited. Having heard all the stories some of the older boys were telling, he knew he could easily disappoint his partner if he rushed things. He did his best to stay calm and to do only what felt right. An hour later, they were no longer virgins.

He only met her twice the following week, before Dumbledore took him to the Burrow, where he almost forgot about his summer fling.

When Harry returned to the Dursleys for the last time, after Dumbledore's funeral, he saw Ella again. She was baby-sitting another toddler and looked somewhat sad. She didn't notice him until he sat at her side.

"Hi," he said. "Are you OK?"

She turned towards him. "I'm fine. Where have you been all this year?"

"At my boarding school, in Scotland. Why are you asking?"

She ignored his question. "Since before August?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, I've spent most of the summer with some friends, just as I'm going to do this summer."

He couldn't decipher her expression.

"I was looking for you..." she said, almost whispering. "I missed my period in August. I thought you would be interested; I thought it was your right to decide along with me..."

Harry wasn't sure he understood. "What was there to decide?"

She looked him in the eyes. "You got me pregnant. My parents thought I should abort as soon as possible. I thought you had a right to know. It was your child as well..."

Harry felt a shiver go through him. He could have had a child and he didn't even know! He had an image of himself holding a baby flashing through his mind. Then it dawned on him. Her parents insisted on abortion and he hadn't been around. There was no baby!

He looked at her again. She was a bit younger than him, barely over sixteen. She should have been free to enjoy herself and not be bothered by motherhood.

"I don't think we were old enough to keep it..." he said reluctantly.

"I know. The doctors said I would have been in danger had I tried to keep it, as my body was not fully developed yet. Still, I hoped..."

Harry hugged her comfortingly, noticing her eyes were getting moist. "You'll have your chance in the future, I'm sure."

"Will it be with you?" she asked.

"I don't know..." he sighed. He couldn't tell her about Voldemort's return nor about Dumbledore or the Death Eaters. He wasn't sure he'd still be alive in a few days. How could he promise anything in the future?

"Don't you like me?" she asked.

Harry looked into her sad eyes. "I like you very much. I could even love you under different circumstances. Yet I need to leave in a few days and I don't know if I'll ever be able to come back. You should go on with your life and forget me, or just remember fondly the times we've been together. I know I will."

That was the last time he saw her. The Dursleys left the next day and he moved that night to the Burrow. Yet now he knew he could reproduce, if the events since had not changed this.

/\/\/\/\

Harry couldn't remember exactly when it started. He only knew it was on a Friday. They were heading back to their private dorms after dinner. Hermione and Ron were the first to reach their apartment. Then others left the group until only Harry and Luna remained, living in the farthest two apartments. When they reached his door, Luna just followed Harry in. She first removed her shoes, delighting in the feeling of walking barefoot on the thick carpet.

She then went into the bedroom. A few moments later, Harry heard her call, "Aren't you coming to bed?"

They had not planned anything for the night, but he had already been very intimate with Luna and he liked her very much. He didn't mind sleeping with her if that was what she wanted.

Luna cuddled into him. "Love me, please..." she whispered, sounding quite frightened.

Harry hugged her closer, noticing how skinny she still was. He made a mental note to watch her eating habits. He kissed her head and caressed her back. Luna trembled in his arms.

"What is it, Luna? You're worrying me," he whispered back.

"It's nothing, really. Just... memories."

"What about? You know you should better talk about them. It's not healthy keeping it all inside."

"It's just..." She seemed unable to talk about it. She stayed silent for a long while, finding comfort in Harry's hug, before she could talk. "They made me sterile!" she said, almost shouting it.

Harry knew whom she was talking about and roughly when. "Tell me what happened," he asked her pleadingly, keeping his reassuring hug.

Luna's eyes were teary now, yet her voice became distant, as if she was telling about somebody else. "They used me for several days. I don't know how many they were or how long it was. Somebody was shoving himself into me whenever I was lucid enough to remember. Then they brought a few new girls. They probably raided some muggle houses. 'We don't need her anymore,' one said. 'Yea, but the Dark Lord wants her alive,' another reminded him. 'I won't kill her, but the filth should not be able to reproduce,' the first replied. He then cast a curse to make me infertile. Just thinking of what he intended to do hurt, yet the curse hurt even worse than cruciatus. They then put me in that cell and left me alone. I bled a lot. I thought I would die from blood loss, but they force-fed me some blood replenishing potion, to keep me alive."

She now turned her eyes towards Harry. "I wish I could give you an heir..."

Luna broke down, sobbing violently. Harry was at loss. He didn't know what to do. He just continued hugging her, whispering comfortingly in her ear and caressing her head and her back. He wasn't sure this would have any effect on the distraught young woman.

It was almost an hour later when her sobbing calmed down. Her hands started roaming Harry's body, encouraging him to do the same. She then kissed him forcefully, turning the kiss into a long and passionate snog as soon as he reciprocated. They continued making love for some time, until they were both exhausted and fell asleep.

Luna woke up with a smile, happy to be engulfed in Harry's arms. Harry felt reluctant at raising the subject again, fearing it would destroy her good mood, but he wanted to help her, and he needed to know a bit more. "Do you know which spell was cast on you? Have you tried to get some help reversing it?"

Luna lost her smile. "I've heard the spell and I have it written down, though I won't ever utter those words. I've sought help with Madam Pomfrey as soon as I was able to contact her and then I went to St. Mungos as well. They didn't know the curse and had no way to treat it." She could hardly keep herself from crying.

Harry tightened his hug around her fragile form. "Do you mind if I tell Hermione about this. If anybody can find you a cure, it's her. She'll do anything to help you, I'm sure, just as I will."

She smiled tearily at him. "You can tell her everything. I'll also write down that curse, so she can better research it, but please keep me out of it until you find a remedy."

Harry kissed her, wiping the tears with his thumbs. "I'll do it, Luna. I'll do everything in my power to help you."

She smiled at him. "I know."

Hermione was appalled at what the little blonde had to suffer. She was just as determined as Harry to find a cure for Luna. As usual, she started her research at the Hogwarts library. She could find nothing in the open sections. She asked the Headmistress for access to the restricted section. "One of our friends was hit with this curse," she showed her the parchment. "I want to find the counter curse or whatever other means to reverse it."

Minerva looked at her questioningly. "Were you hit by it?"

Hermione shook her head with a faint smile. "No, I'm already pregnant. Belatrix considered using it on me, but she thought it would kill me and she still wanted to extract some information first. Luckily, we escaped before she could do it."

Minerva nodded. "I see," she said, realizing who was the probable victim of the curse. She quickly wrote the permission note and handed it to Hermione. "I'll also ask Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn to check their private libraries for any mention of such treatment," she promised.

Harry also asked Neville to look for any herbs that could help, without going into details.

The last few weeks of school before the holidays were full of activity. Hermione was spending many hours in the library, searching a remedy for Luna. She usually came to Harry for some cheering up after delving into all those books about dark magic. Her quite large baby bulge didn't seem to disturb her too much, at least not when sex was concerned.

Susan increased the frequency of her visits with Harry during November, spending three nights each week with him and some evenings as well. She kept reminding him to wish for a boy before spilling into her.

Daphne also asked for four shags per week, at least. She kept her relations with Harry a secret no more, allowing her to visit his lodging at least twice a week, usually before dinner. She also kept reminding him of begetting a boy, although once they were together, she was only able to concentrate on the pleasures of her body. "It doesn't really matter, as your magic is so much more powerful, that the contribution of my magic is insignificant," she told Harry.

Then there was Luna. Luna needed him in a very different way. Although she loved making love with him, she needed the reassurance of his embrace, the goodnight kiss before falling asleep in his arms and the good-morning kiss, usually followed by a quick shag and an invigorating hug. Luna continued occupying his weekends, although she didn't mind if he also spent some time with other girls. "You do for me more than anybody has ever done. I shouldn't be greedy, though. There's enough love in you to give to others as well," she said.

Luna didn't even mind if he was busy in bed with somebody else when she came in. She would just wait on the couch, usually wearing no more than her knickers.

Harry liked helping all these girls, although he asked Lavender not to send more than one fangirl per week to him, as it was becoming almost too much. Even a horny young man needs some rest.

Between studies and shags, Harry also tried to help with the research for Luna. He tried talking with the professors and check their private libraries while Hermione did the research at the Hogwarts library.

Still, by the time they went on the winter holidays, there was nothing they could show for their efforts.

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