Thanks for the alerts, and especially thanks for the reviews :D
I usually reply to reviews using the reply function, but Argo doesn't seem to have that - skip this bit if you're not interested! As I explain below, the threat of Voldemort isn't an issue in my story, so Harry isn't able to use that. And my Wizarding World is definitely an unfair one; one that is firmly stuck in the past in some respects. Victims of rape would still have to give birth to the child unless there were extenuating circumstances, such as the ones I outlined in the previous chapter. As for your other review, there will be a lot of suffering for Harry yet, and it won't all be resolved by the end of this story. I'm glad you like Harry's attitude, and I think you're quite accurate about Hermione as well.
Argo also made me realise that I hadn't given background information on this AU. When I first started, the plotline was a lot different to how it is now. In my version, Voldemort never discovered how to make Horcruxes, so when the curse rebounded off Harry, he was killed. The only time I mention this, I think is in this line: 'Sometimes Harry wondered if it was true, if he'd really defeated Voldemort when he was only a year old...' I guess I just didn't want to waste a load of time and energy putting that in when it isn't really an important part of the story. There's more, to do with Lucius, but that'll spoil things, so I'll keep that under wraps until the sequel ;)
And finally, how many of you think that Oliver raped Harry? It's popped up in a few reviews now, and I'm curious. I don't mean statutory rape (which it was, as Harry is underage), but as in forcing Harry against his will to have sex with him. I'd really like it if people responded - I genuinely want to know!
Harry was lugging the heaviest trunk in the whole of Hogwarts to the train. Or at least, he was supposed to be, but it was being levitated for him, due to his 'delicate' condition. He was pretty sure that he could have done it without hurting the baby (not that he particularly cared) but Arthur would have none of it. Ron said he was jealous of Harry, but Harry would have given anything to switch their positions right now. He absolutely hated being pregnant.
For the last part of the holiday, he'd had to lie at home in bed, getting fatter and fatter on the 'doctor's orders'. It wasn't only on his stomach that he could feel the fat. Ron said that for once in his life, he didn't look like a street urchin, but Harry didn't care. What if he wanted to look like that? He knew it was girly to care so much about his looks, but… well, he was pregnant, wasn't he? He might as well have the thoughts to match the bits he was told he was going to develop. Ew.
They met up with Hermione on the platform, and by the way she was looking at his stomach (he knew he wasn't showing that much, especially not when he was in clothes), and he way Ron was blushing, he knew Ron had let the cat out of the bag. Harry fumed, but didn't make a scene. Once they got on the train, however, things could change… Did that mean he'd told that Oliver was… Harry wasn't sure that he'd forgive him if that was the case. He'd asked him not to tell anyone. It was a secret. See if he ever told Ron anything ever again.
There was a tearful goodbye, with Molly telling the twins and Ron to make sure that Harry and Ginny were well looked after. Ginny rolled her eyes affectionately, as she did every year, but Harry didn't know how he felt being on the other side of the 'look after' speech. He wasn't entirely sure he liked the implication that he couldn't do it himself. But he kept these thoughts quiet, and hugged Molly and Arthur goodbye. He wasn't going to see them until Christmas, although that was going to be interesting, what with Oliver and Collette's wedding.
Ginny went to go and sit with her boyfriend (although Ron refused to believe she had one) and friends, and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in a compartment by themselves. Harry was tired, so he enlarged the pillow that he kept in his pocket and laid it a few seats down, hoping to get some sleep. The train journey was just too long. But something was preventing him from drifting off. He opened an eye sleepily to see Ron and Hermione sitting stiffly and silently.
"…Guys?" he asked, confused. They started, not expecting to hear his voice, and Harry covered a smile.
"Yeah, Harry? What's the matter?" Ron said, breaking the silence.
"Why are you two being so quiet?" He saw Ron and Hermione share a look, and that's when he began to get annoyed. It was clearly visible on his face, and Hermione was the one who dared speak next.
"Well, we thought that sleep was very important when you're… you know, so we thought it would be bad to… interrupt your sleeping." Now he was quite angry.
"I'm not made of paper. A little bit of noise isn't going to make me miscarry. Not that I care." Ron winced quite hard, and Hermione blanched. Obviously Ron hadn't told her about any of the 'incidents' in which it had been realised that Harry couldn't give a toss about the baby growing inside of him – that in fact, he'd named it the 'parasite' (for its ability to suck all the joy from his life, apparently).
Before Hermione could open her mouth to say something Harry would make her regret, Ron changed the topic of conversation.
"Hey, 'Mione, are you a prefect too?" Trust Ron to bring up the only other topic guaranteed to make him angry. When Ron had received the prefect letter, and Harry hadn't, he'd smiled and laughed with the rest of them, but been incensed inside. Why hadn't he been made a Prefect? He got way better marks than Ron. He would go as far as to say that he was one of the top five in his year. When Hermione grinned and they began talking about the Prefect meeting that was going to start in a few minutes, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, intending to leave the cabin.
"Hey, where are you going?" Ron asked, surprised. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Well, seeing as you two are leaving for the perfect Prefect meeting, I'm off to find somewhere else to sit. I don't exactly want to be on my own." The two shared another look, but said nothing. Harry waited for a moment, then left.
He wasn't quite sure where he was going to go. He didn't want to sit with Ginny, who thought he was taking his pregnancy badly (well, of course) and that he should be more loving towards the parasite. Fat chance. And honestly, he didn't really like many more people (or know them that well). Maybe he'd have to make more of an effort, then. He sighed. It was great having Ron as his best friend, but sometimes the jealousy of the other could get in the way of things.
From the corridor, he randomly selected a door and knocked. When he heard a quiet 'come in', he walked in and was shocked to see the sight of Draco Malfoy, alone. He'd never really talked to the boy before, and never seen him without his entourage. After all, he was a Slytherin, and Molly and Arthur said they were the place Dark Wizards came from. But he couldn't help but remember Mafalda, Ron's cousin, who happened to be in that particular house. They seemed to forget that fact every time she came over, but she was actually really sweet, and Harry liked her, so he'd just have to try with Malfoy.
"Sorry, Malfoy, but may I sit with you? My friends have gone to the Prefect meeting, and…" He wasn't sure really where to continue with his sentence. Draco looked up from the book he was reading (Harry noted that his glasses looked very good, unlike his own) and nodded, a small smile lifting up the corner of his mouth. Harry sat down gingerly, feeling a fluttering in his stomach that definitely wasn't the parasite. Nervousness? Why? Draco went back to his book after a few moments of silence, and Harry endeavoured to get to know the boy.
"Malfoy, I would have thought that you would be a Prefect this year, how come you're not?" Malfoy put the book down, seemingly glad to have a conversation instead of having to read a book.
"My father thought I would be better suited this year concentrating on my studies, and I agreed with him. I hope to beat Granger this year, in fact. However, I may have said the same for you, Potter. Why is Ronald Weasley Prefect over you? You come consistently higher every year." Harry scowled.
"No, I'm not sure what the deal is with that either. I work hard for my marks, and he's just average… Well, I hope to ask McGonagall when we get to school. I can't see that she'll have any reason that will satisfy me, however." Malfoy laughed, and Harry found himself quite liking the sound.
They'd had quite an interesting conversation, Draco (the boy had said he was tired of hearing his last name) and he had managed to talk quite civilly (if not warmly) for the past few hours. Draco was quite surprised to find out that Harry took his studies very seriously, but Harry informed him that he took after his mother in that respect. He'd learned all sorts of things about the other, and he could quite firmly say that there was nothing wrong with Slytherin as a house. Mafalda was fine, and Draco was fine. Surely they couldn't be the only two good Slytherins in history, could they? Harry didn't think that was possible. Well, they had been getting on quite well before Ron had butted in.
"Harry, do you think you might want to… meet up at school some time? Maybe in the library if you have trouble with something?" Malfoy had said. Harry had smiled and nodded, a light blush on his face. By the answering blush on Draco's face, Harry had been able to tell that they had the same interest in mind. Harry had been about to ask Draco something (what it was now, he had no idea), when Ron had opened the door, looking annoyed.
"Harry, loads of people were saying you were in this cabin with Malfoy! I knew they were being stupid. What kind of thicko would sit with that idiot of their own free will?" Draco had coughed, and Harry had flushed with anger. Why couldn't Ron look around before he spoke?
"Obviously me, Ron."Ron had seen Malfoy and had gone rather pale, usually a sign of his shock, or his anger… Harry was under no illusion as to which one it was now. He'd been dragged out of the cabin with only the chance to wave goodbye to his new acquaintance. Ron had pushed him back into the cabin they'd been in before, where all their things still were and slammed the door. Apparently, Hermione was talking to Ginny, and would be changed before they saw her again.
And so here they were. Ron wasn't talking to him because he'd 'betrayed' him or something. When asked how, precisely, Harry had done so, Ron couldn't even give a straight answer. Basically, he felt that Malfoy shouldn't be talked to because he was Malfoy, and not because he'd actually done anything wrong. There was some kind of family feud between the Weasleys and Malfoys, so of course it was alright for Ron to hate Draco for absolutely no reason at all. Rolling his eyes, Harry decided that it was about time he got dressed.
To put his robe on, he had to pull off the bulky jumper he was wearing. His shirt rose up a couple of inches, and he could practically feel Ron staring at his stomach. Self-consciously, he pulled the hem of his top down again and looked at Ron with a quirked eyebrow.
"What, never seen a pregnant bloke before?" He said with a smirk. Just like that, the tension in the cabin dissipated, and Ron let forth, with,
"Blimey! I didn't realise you were getting bigger, I suppose. Sorry for being rough on you, and everything." Harry shrugged. Like he had said before, it wasn't as if he cared. But he refrained from saying it again, knowing how uncomfortable it made his friends to hear him speak of his child as a parasite. Which it was.