A/N: gimlet eye - piercing stare
Cookies to Silver Lady & Maken & Lady Foxy Roxy who figured out the birthing peculiarity back in chapters 16 & 19 & 30!
Next chapter – Robert's identity. Yay!
Mpreg Warning: More gross bird anatomy coming! The first section describes the birth – I advise skipping it if mpreg squicks you. The rest of the chapter – starting with "Morning" – should be mostly safe. There is mention of the babies, but no more specifics about the pregnancy and birth.
Chapter 31 – Birth & Babies
The party landed – in various states of gracefulness – in the large hall of Draco's manor. Many noted that the place appeared to have acquired a few decorations since the last time they'd been there.
Harry calmed somewhat upon seeing that he was in familiar and safe surroundings but then noticed the group around him and hissed in warning.
Every person quickly stepped back a good ten feet. Harry hissed again and, while it wasn't quite as violent as his first warning, everyone nevertheless stepped back another five feet. Harry twittered in satisfaction before relaxing into Draco's embrace. There was only a moment of silence before another contraction hit and Harry let out another screech.
Neville winced and looked around frantically. The healer was supposed to have come with them. Where was she? He watched in relief as an older woman stepped forward towards Harry.
Harry screeched in denial and swiped at the woman before reaching in Neville's direction as much as he was able while now being constrained by Draco.
Neville jerked in surprise and said reassuringly, "You'll be all right, Harry. The healer will take care of you."
Harry screeched again and struggled to reach a hand out to Neville.
The healer stepped back and said, "It seems to me, young man, that Harry wants you to deliver the chicks. Surely there is no reason why you cannot do this." The woman's tone was far from questioning. She was commanding Neville's acquiescence and everyone knew it.
Neville stared at her in shock then shifted his gaze to Harry. "You want me to be midwife?" he asked in disbelief.
Harry screeched yet again and Neville took a tentative step forward.
"You know, Harry," he said softly, "I've never done anything like this. Are you sure?"
Harry twittered and extended a now-released arm.
Neville looked over to Draco and said, "Malfoy? Is this acceptable to you?"
Draco let out an affirmative tweet.
Neville quickly stripped off his outer robes and dropped them on the floor then closed the distance between himself and Harry. "I've no idea what to do," Neville said urgently as Harry grasped onto him in obvious relief. "Somebody tell me what to do." He'd been prepared to be part of the surrounding protection and support circle, not to be the midwife!
The healer spoke quietly from her position halfway between the trio and the attendants who were now joining hands. "I will talk you through everything as the others maintain the magic of the support circle," she said. "The first thing you need to do is get Harry stripped. Draco, too, so that the skin-to-skin contact can provide additional magical support."
Neville nodded then was surprised to be given an entire armful of laboring Veela but did his best to support Harry through another screeching contraction as Draco quickly stripped, tossing his clothing aside haphazardly. Draco then used his claws to rip off Harry's clothes.
"Well, I suppose that's one way," Neville said as he transferred Harry back to Draco. "What next?"
"Blankets," the healer said simply. "A nest. And the bath for the chicks."
Neville looked around for blankets and tub, certain that Draco would have left them nearby.
A blond-haired young man – Neville could only presume it was some Malfoy cousin – said, "I see them." The young man left the circle and returned to his place half a minute later with a couple of folded blankets. "There're others."
"Get them," Neville said and the young man dropped his armload before retreating once again. Neville quickly retrieved the blankets and brought them to where Harry and Draco were standing. He winced as Harry screeched again but unfolded first one blanket then another and laid them flat upon the floor.
Harry obviously didn't like the arrangement and started kicking in the edges near him. Draco continued to hold Harry but allowed him to walk around the blankets and kick them into a rough circle while Neville went to retrieve the stack of several blankets that the blond cousin had dragged back to the circle. Neville took the hint and unfolded then scrunched the remaining blankets around the perimeter. He was relieved when Harry chittered in satisfaction. He retrieved the tub the cousin had brought back before rejoining the circle and moved it to next to the "nest" and activated the charm on it to fill it with warm water.
"Now?" Neville asked. This had been the easy part, he was sure.
"You are aware that the chicks will be delivered through the cloaca?" the healer asked as Harry and Draco, back to front, knelt in the middle of the nest of blankets.
"Yes," Neville said with a nod. "And they'll come out with a thin, leathery shell that needs to be removed."
"Very good," the healer said then paused as Harry screeched. "The cloaca will invert and push out the egg. You will need to catch the egg as Harry kneels there. Do not pull under any circumstance or else you might harm the chick."
Neville nodded his understanding and knelt in front of Harry and Draco.
"It shouldn't be long," the healer said. "As long as there are no complications, no Veela birth takes longer than thirty minutes."
"And if there are complications?" Neville asked nervously.
"Then we will deal with them," the healer said. "Harry is in excellent shape, however, and the support circle is strong with magic. There should be no problems."
Neville nodded then closed his eyes and felt for the magic of the protective circle. It was strong, just as the healer had said. The magic circle was imperative in a Veela birth, he knew. Being a magical cross-breed, they needed the additional magical support to bring forth a new generation.
Neville opened his eyes and held up his hands so Harry could see them. Slowly, he lowered them onto Harry's belly. Harry let out a small twitter, but otherwise made no protest as his belly was stroked. Neville idly wondered when the spells hiding Harry's pregnancy had been removed. Perhaps at the gates? No matter. Neville continued to stroke Harry's belly slowly and started talking quietly about how honored he was that Harry had allowed him to help sustain the pregnancy, how he felt even more honored that Harry had chosen him to be the midwife, that Draco had allowed it. He talked about how much he was looking forward to being a godfather and how he was planning on spoiling the little twins.
Neville talked about any number of other things to keep Harry calm through the remaining contractions. Ten minutes later Harry was arching his back and Neville was nervously holding his hands under Harry as the first egg started to be pushed from Harry's body. It was only seconds later that the egg was wholly expelled into Neville's waiting hands. It was surprisingly clean.
"Place the egg in the water and carefully tear the shell open starting around the chick's head," the healer said. "Be careful not to pull the remainder of the yolk sac or you will damage the umbilicus. Once the shell is removed, the remaining yolk should be absorbed. After that happens, bring the chick out of the water."
Neville moved over to the basin and set the egg into the water. He took a deep steadying breath and ever so carefully felt for the baby's head then tore the egg open. Having done that, he continued to slowly pull apart the thin shell to reveal the tiny baby. He watched in wonder as a small orange-ish blob glowed then rapidly flowed into the baby and formed a bellybutton. He put both hands under the baby, despite it being small enough he could easily hold it with just one, and lifted the baby out the water. He reverently held the baby, staring in wonder, until the healer reminded him to dry the baby and wrap it in one of the blankets.
Neville turned back to Harry and Draco, who he noted were watching him closely though not with any signs of distrust, and showed them the baby. "It's a boy," he said softly.
Both parents cooed and Neville grinned then snagged one of the perimeter blankets and carefully dried the baby. The baby didn't seem too happy with the chill of the air and was making weak mewing sounds. Neville snagged another blanket and wrapped the baby up snugly. By the time he was done, he had more blanket than baby. He set the baby close to the side of Harry and Draco then returned to his prior position in front of Harry.
A minute later Neville winced at a particularly piercing shriek from Harry. Neville went back to talking softly and stroking Harry's belly and five minutes later had the second egg in his hands. He submerged the egg, carefully tore open the shell, and watched the remaining yolk magically absorb into the second baby. More quickly this time he lifted out the baby and showed him to his parents. "Another boy," he said with a smile. Both parent cooed again.
"After you've bundled up this one, get more blankets and wrap up Harry," the healer said. "He needs to be kept warm as his magic puts the Veela organs back into stasis."
Neville nodded and bundled up the second baby in an overly large blanket and set him next to his brother. He grabbed several more blankets as Draco pulled Harry down to lay next to the babies. Neville spread the blankets over the couple and carefully tucked them in.
"Move the chicks in closer so Harry can look at them," the healer said.
Neville did as he was told, grabbing another blanket to prop them upright a bit so Harry could see their eyes. The attendants continued to maintain the support circle until all three fell asleep some fifteen minutes later.
"What now?" Neville asked softly so as not to disturb Harry or the babies.
"Now you set the shells to dry and watch over your charges until Harry wakes," the healer answered. "He should wake within three or four hours then show off the babies to us all before taking them away."
So Neville followed the healer's instructions on what exactly to do with the eggshells then took a seat not far from Harry and the babies and…watched. He mostly watched the babies but occasionally he would look up and around to make sure that none of the others had snuck any closer. Though they mingled and wandered about the room, everybody stayed well back and Neville didn't have to figure out what to do should anybody cross the invisible line Harry had drawn.
Three hours later Harry did wake and did smugly show off his babies then did, indeed, leave with them. Draco told everyone as he followed Harry out to feel free to call for Bitzy if they were hungry and to find a furnished room to rest for the night, though they might have to share. Neville, quite tired and emotionally wrung out, thought a bed sounded like a grand idea. He decided to forgo dinner and found a sufficiently furnished room, stripped, crawled into the bed, and promptly fell asleep. He didn't even care if he found some stranger in bed with him the next morning.
--Morning--
Draco came out of the bathroom and found Harry gazing down at the babies that were still sleeping in the crib that had been ordered a few months ago. Draco joined his mate in admiring their children.
Harry looked up at Draco and said, "I made them. You helped, of course, but I made them. I made them for you."
Draco smiled at Harry. "They're beautiful."
Harry looked slightly offended. "They're boys! You can't call them beautiful!"
Draco chuckled but obligingly corrected himself. "Handsome, then. They're quite handsome, if tiny, little things."
"Yes, they are," Harry said smugly as he returned his gaze to the crib.
Draco chuckled again. "Come and dress," he said. "Then we can take them with us down to breakfast and show them off some more."
Harry liked that idea a great deal and moved to fetch a couple baby blankets from the cabinet. Once there, however, he paused to look at the brightly wrapped presents Luna had given him for the babies that had somehow appeared in the cabinet overnight. Bitzy must have fetched and unpacked his trunk yesterday. Curiously, and not a little warily, he searched through the gifts for the ones labeled "1" and "2" – he was a bit suspicious when he saw that the tags also had little pictures of a rose and a heart respectively.
Harry brought the two presents back to Draco where he had remained standing by the babies. "Here, you open one," he said.
Draco took the box reluctantly and slowly unwrapped the present. He noted that his mate wasn't moving much faster. They both eventually got the wrappings off and shared a glance before lifting the lids to reveal…baby blankets. Innocuous baby blankets.
Except…
"Are these the symbols of the Muses?" Harry asked, indicating the images embroidered on the blankets. He was curious as to their meaning but still leery of having the eyes of any divine being upon his children, benevolent or not.
"Yes," Draco said, also uncomfortable with the idea of divine interest. "This one, with the comic mask, is for Thalia and that one, with the tragedy mask, is for Melpomene."
Harry hummed a response as they both stood there staring at the blankets. "Well, we should dress and wrap up the babies," he said eventually. He resolved to ignore the supposed interest of the Muses until the babies could at least walk.
Half an hour later, Harry and Draco were seated at the head of the dining table, their babies between them in a raised bassinet. All through breakfast the guests would approach one by one to take another view of the babies, this time looking appropriately tiny as they were wrapped up in smaller blankets. Harry only allowed Draco, Neville, Pansy, and his grandfather to hold them, however. Nobody else even bothered to ask.
Conversation was light-hearted and varied. It was during after-meal tea that Draco's Aunt Madeline asked a question.
"Where did you find your architect, Draco?" Madeline asked. "I've been looking for a decent architect for ages. The one you hired is quite creative and very skilled; definitely the best I've run across. I'm surprised that I haven't heard of them."
Draco's face turned pink and Harry started snickering.
Chloe admonished Madeline about bringing business to the table, but Madeline defended herself. "It's not business," she said sincerely. "This is pleasure. I've been looking for somebody to build a small vacation manor for me on a property on the Riviera. But finding somebody with the requisite skills has been impossible! I hadn't realized just how far the architectural profession had declined over the years!"
"Is it really that bad?" Chloe asked in curiosity. "I've been toying with having a small forest cottage built but haven't started looking for anyone to construct it."
"It's easy enough to find a good firm to build something," Madeline said with a dismissive wave. "The problem is that the firms have all these specialists. There's people to do the foundation then another set of people to do the walls then another set to do the windows then another set to do the interior finishing. What I want is a true manor, one that is magically integrated within itself, like this one. Only a manor built by a true constructive architect can hold certain wards, like this one. But finding a constructive architect is impossible! You can't get great manors like you used to without one! And I've been looking for years!"
Throughout the woman's entire exposition, Draco's face had continued to get more and more flushed. And Harry just continued to snicker. Several of the others had noted their expressions and many eyebrows were raised in their direction.
"Goodness," Chloe said in surprise. "I hadn't realized."
"It's true!" Madeline said earnestly then turned back to Draco. "So, Draco, whom did you hire? You'll give me contact information, won't you? I'm definitely interested in hiring them. I'm sure they would be interested; I have 100,000 galleons budgeted for the construction. So, tell me, who built this for you?"
Draco was bright red as he mumbled something. Harry snickered a little louder.
"What was that, dear?" Madeline asked innocently. "I didn't hear you."
Draco gripped his teacup tightly, continued to stare at the table, and said, "I built it." His face continued to stay bright red as silence, except for Harry's laughter, descended upon the table.
"You built this manor?" Chloe eventually asked in surprise. She knew her great-grandson had had a summer project he was working on the past two summers but had had no idea that it might have been on such a scale.
"Yes," Draco admitted, still blushing hotly. At least Harry's snickers had decreased.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" Gaius asked softly. "I've heard some of Madeline's rants before and according to her no one had been able to do this type of thing for centuries."
"I taught myself," Draco said, squirming slightly. "I've always been interested in Malfoy Manor, even if I hated staying there, and my magic sight has always been good. I combined the two with lots of research on warding and construction spells and slowly figured how each piece was built. Then I started making models of the manor. At first it was just a physical model so I could learn what types of things I needed to do first. When I got to Hogwarts I started to integrate the ward spells into the models to learn how that was done. I still have lots of things to learn. I've never tried building completely in stone, for instance, nor on hills or into the side of mountains."
"This is a most impressive accomplishment, Draco," Gaius said, his tone giving truth to his words. "Even more so as you are barely eighteen."
"And especially since there haven't been any constructive architects for nearly two hundred years," Madeline said, also quite impressed. "As I said, the entire profession has been in decline. Later we can talk some business and put a contract together. I still want to hire your architect, and that's you."
Draco tried to regain some equilibrium and said, "I would be pleased to do business with you." He turned to his mate. "And you stop snickering at me."
"I told you," Harry said with a grin. When he'd found out that Draco had built their home he had told his mate that his services would be in demand should he let his skills be known. Draco had countered with the fact that he didn't consider himself anything but a novice still. Harry had snorted in disbelief and dropped the subject.
Draco merely sniffed at his mate's response and took a sip of his tea.
"Well, as long as we're talking about your amazing home," Hermione said with a smirk. "Would you please tell me where you acquired your library?"
Draco looked at the young woman blankly for a moment. "Pardon?"
"Your books?" Hermione asked pointedly.
Draco turned to look at Harry and cocked a questioning eyebrow. Harry merely smiled back innocently. "Just what books are you talking about? The last I knew, the library was rather empty but for a few of my reference books."
Hermione also turned to stare at Harry suspiciously. She leaned back in her chair and idly picked up her water glass to take a sip. "Oh, nothing too interesting, I suppose. Just all of the books ever written by the founders, including their personal and work journals. All the books ever required to be used by a student. And, of course, all the school's public records, including tests and syllabi for every class ever taught." She took another sip of water and watched as the expressions all around the table became shocked. And that was hard to do with a group of Malfoys. She noted that Harry's expression, while trying to remain innocent, started to have overtones of satisfaction.
Draco calmly set down his teacup and turned a stern gaze on his mate. "What have you done, Harry?"
Harry smirked and said, "I haven't done much of anything. I just had Bitzy make copies of what was available and put them in the library."
"Harry, most of those books can't be found," Hermione said with fond exasperation. "Salazar Slytherin's journals, for instance. I know for a fact that they were destroyed by the Ministry."
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe they really weren't."
"Harry," Draco said sternly, "How did you acquire those copies?"
"I don't think I want to give away all my secrets," Harry said stubbornly.
Draco leaned over the babies and put his hand behind Harry's neck and pulled Harry towards him. "Where did you get them, Harry?" he asked and tilted his head to the side, blocking the other's view of Harry's mouth, so that Harry could whisper his response.
Harry obediently whispered his answer into the provided ear and leaned back with a smug smirk.
The others watched as Draco's eyebrows rose and rose and then a smirk started to grow bigger and bigger. Draco also sat back and took a sip of his tea. "We'll have to see if your source can provide us with other books of interest, Harry."
Harry merely snorted in amusement and picked up his own tea. Likely Hermione would be all over him to learn his secret. He'd give it to her, too, as he had no intention of ever returning to Britain, much less Hogwarts and the Room of Requirement. Let Hermione and her people have their fun.
"So, Neville, how are you this morning," Harry said, deliberately changing the subject. "Did you have any problems from sleeping here instead of Hogwarts?"
Neville scowled briefly then said, "No. I slept fine. Thank you for asking."
"Do you want to return today?" Draco asked. "You're welcome to stay, of course, but if you feel it best to return…"
"No. I'll stay," Neville said firmly. "It's only three more days. Just…let me at your landscaping? It will keep me occupied."
"Oh, please do," Draco said with a small laugh. "I admit I'm no good at creating gardens."
"What is this?" Gaius asked suspiciously.
Neville, Draco, Harry, Robert, and Hermione all scowled and muttered darkly. It was Lavender who was the most collected over the situation and the only one able to answer instead of mumbling imprecations. "Neville was dosed with a place-binding potion – to Hogwarts we think, though we're not completely sure. It was only once before we caught it, but once is enough."
Gaius was taken aback at the response and he wasn't the only one. He ignored the gasps and exclamations from all around the table as he asked, "And you've been working at clearing the binding? Is that what you meant when you said you only had three more days?"
"Yes," Neville said tightly. "I'm sure this manor wasn't on the list of approved places, so I'll have a rough time if I stay. But I'm staying. It's only three more days of potions and spells to cleanse the bind and I'd rather suffer than return. I won't be good company, though."
Lavender patted Neville on the shoulder. "That's all right. We understand. And when you're free I'll have Harry free me, too."
"You're bound, too!" Chloe exclaimed. Like her husband, she also ignored the shock making its rounds of the table.
"No, I've been cursed," Lavender said, scrunching her nose. "It's an old curse that they used to use for birth control about a century ago until they realized that it had side-effects if left on too long. Hermione says I'll be fine, though."
"You will be," Hermione said. She turned to an appalled Chloe and added, "It's the sterilitas curse. If left on for a year or more it causes lingering fertility problems. It's been on Lavender only a few months so far. It was strongly cast, however, and we'll need Harry to break it."
"So you've waited until after the babies were born. Good," Chloe said with a nod.
Hermione nodded back and sipped some water. "That was the most important reason, of course. We also decided it would be better to leave the spell alone so as not to invite additional problems that we might not be able to counter so easily."
"Who has done this?" Gaius asked angrily.
"We think Dumbledore," Draco said with a grimace as he fiddled with his teacup. "We can't prove it, of course, but we're pretty certain. He badly wants Harry to stay in Britain and fight."
"He can't touch me, though, and he knows it," Harry said bitterly. "If he does anything to me, it'll just drive me away. So, instead, he's using my friends to try and keep me there. He sees them as a weak link in my general attitude of disloyalty to the cause. If he can get them, he can get me."
"And what about you, dear?" Chloe asked Hermione, a frown on her face.
Hermione smiled coldly. "He dosed me with a binding potion, too, maybe even the same one he gave Neville. Too bad for him I was already bound somewhere and the new bond didn't root. Because I was already bonded, I felt the new bond trying and failing to anchor. It was how we knew to check the others."
"And what actions are you taking against him?" Gaius demanded.
Harry snorted. "Nothing. We're leaving him to his own devices. That will be punishment enough for him as he fights this war without our participation."
"Without…so you don't want to create the nets?" Gaius asked in confusion.
"Oh, no, I do," Harry assured Gaius. "But Dumbledore will never know that. From his perspective it will seem as if I've abandoned the war completely. It will serve him right. I hope he suffers."
"So, I think I'll go to the French Ministry today and arrange for you eight to finish your tests next week," Robert cut in brightly.
Everyone turned to stare at Harry's grandfather in varying degrees of amusement and shock.
"I doubt the British Ministry will be reasonable," Robert continued blithely. "It would be a shame for you not to graduate, don't you agree?"
Harry laughed slightly, understanding that his grandfather was trying to re-lighten the mood. "Sure, Grandfather, I'd like that."
After getting the agreement of all the students, some eager and some uncaring, the talk turned to other miscellaneous topics and remained light-hearted for a time. Then someone asked about the ramifications of the public learning that Harry had chosen Draco as his mate. That subject was quickly dropped, however, when Harry quite crossly hissed out that he didn't care a single whit what the public thought of him.
So, in an effort to sooth a now agitated submissive with new chicks, the topic was swiftly changed to the babies. Everybody breathed an internal sigh of relief when Harry immediately took on a smug countenance and happily described the plans he and Draco had made.
Once the babies had completely absorbed the remaining yolks – about 24 hours after their "hatching" – they would be weighed, measured, and posed for pictures. Announcements would then be sent to The Quibbler, most of Harry's family (Gaius twitched at that but not many people noticed since most were staring at the amused grins on the faces of Harry and party), all of Draco's family (more than a few vindictive smirks were had at the thought of Lucius' reaction), and miscellaneous friends. Then the babies would be taken for the Queen's Blessing on the new moon, the 24th.
The Queen's Blessing, only given to chicks Veela-born, wasn't necessary or required, though most did seek it. It was also more customary to wait until the chicks were about six months old before securing the Queen's Blessing, but Harry wanted to seek it right away. There were a number of suspicious glances shared at the again amused looks on the faces of Harry and his party. Draco, too, looked askance at his mate, but recognized the signs that he wasn't going to be told anything just yet.
Most of the Malfoy guests left after breakfast, only Gaius and Chloe staying behind. Harry ignored those remaining in favor of taking his children away once again and getting a short nap. The magical birth had taken a lot more out of him than he had realized. After his nap, Draco had summoned the healer and glared a sulking Harry into a checkup. The babies were checked next, much to Harry's intense aggravation – how dare she touch his babies! – and were declared hardy and hale. The only reason he hadn't fried the healer was because Draco was right there telling him how bad an idea that would be. She wisely left the estate after she was finished.
It was while he was addressing announcements in the partially furnished library that Hermione came to join him. He watched her with a gimlet eye as she took another long look at his babies.
Hermione turned to her friend with a knowing expression. "They're adorable, Harry."
Harry grinned. "Yes, they are," he agreed. "Did you come to bug me for my secret?"
Hermione laughed lightly. "No. I think I've figured it out, actually. You used the Room of Requirement, didn't you? I don't know why I didn't think of that myself. How did you come up with the idea?"
"I didn't," Harry said with a chuckle. "I actually got the idea from Bitzy. The poor girl was so bored one day she was sobbing on my boots begging for something to do. The little snacks she was making for me to help with my pregnancy just weren't enough to keep her busy. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to ask about your sudden and complete turnaround on the subject of house-elves."
"I've learned a lot of things in my new position," Hermione said as she took a seat in one of the nearby easy-chairs. "One of those things was a crash course on the basics of sentient beings. I found out that house-elves can die if they don't have enough assigned work. Assigned being the operative word, not self-decided. So what did Bitzy say that gave you the idea?"
"I asked her what she could do," Harry asked then grimaced. "That wasn't really a bright idea on my part, actually."
Hermione laughed. She could just imagine the little elf listing out every individual task she could accomplish.
Harry laughed as well. "She said she was good at making clothes, that she could copy anything I pointed out. Then she said she could file papers. I got this little epiphany and asked her if she could copy papers. And she said yes."
"But what made you think about the Founders' things?" Hermione asked curiously. "Why not just set her to copying the library if that's what you wanted."
"I didn't want her to be found out so I didn't want her to go to the library. I took her to the Room instead and asked for the library," he said and once again grimaced. "That was also not a good idea."
"Why not?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to one side.
"There were too many," Harry said with a shrug. "Poor Bitzy got upset that she'd never be able to finish before I left the school and she wouldn't be able to come back. I had to think of some way to limit the number of books. Founders' writings and then the school related stuff was what I came up with. I didn't realize until later that some of the things the Room made were no longer in existence."
"Hmmm, I'll have to experiment," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"So if you didn't come to get my secret, why did you come?" Harry asked curiously.
"Can't I just want to spend time with you?" Hermione asked innocently.
"Maybe," Harry said with a chuckle. "But I'd be more inclined to think you had a reason. Or maybe you're escaping."
Hermione sniffed. "I can hold my own," she said haughtily.
"Right," Harry said with a smirk. "So was it Chloe? I know she wants to go shopping for the Blessing."
"Well, I have agreed to go shopping for yet another fancy dress that I will hardly ever wear," Hermione said wryly. "But, no, that's not why either."
"Why, then?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'd like to ask a boon," Hermione said tentatively. "And please don't think that if you say no that I'll be angry."
"What do you need?" Harry asked with a frown. "And why would you be worried? You know I'll help you however I can. Even if you weren't my blood-sister."
"It's about the shells," Hermione said and bit her lip. "Do you know what is usually done with them?"
Harry blinked in surprise and confusion. "They're usually sold. Wizards use the shells in several different potions. They fetch a pretty penny and the proceeds are usually placed into a trust account for the chick."
Hermione nodded. "Yes. More wealthy families will sometimes donate the proceeds to charity," she added.
"True," Harry said slowly. "Draco and I were thinking of starting a fund to help relocate all the Veela citizens in Britain to France. Did you want me to donate the proceeds elsewhere?"
Hermione paused. "I'd like to have them," she said hesitantly. "One of the potions that can be made is the Felix Felicis. My people and I…we could really use the luck as things go to Hell."
Harry was quiet for nearly a full minute as he thought over the request. Eventually, he nodded. "Tell Draco why and you can have them."
"Do you think he'll accept it?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"Yes," Harry said with certainty. "He knows about the prophecy. I told him after we mated. He believes it, understands it, as much as any of us do, and he's fine with your role ever since you told him. He does respect you, you know."
"He still calls me Granger," Hermione protested.
"You still call him Malfoy," Harry answered.
"And I will until he calls me by my first name," Hermione said stubbornly.
"Of course," Harry said with a small smile. He couldn't wait to see who would give in first. He and Pansy had a friendly little bet going.
--end chapter --
Birds do not have an umbilical cord per se. What they do have is an umbilicus that attaches the yolk to embryo. As the bird hatches the remainder of the yolk is absorbed into the hatchling's "bellybutton". This umbilicus can get infected but generally heals and leaves no scar. More than you wanted to know, yeah? (grin)
sterilitas, sterilitatis N (3rd) F 3 1 F XXXBO - barrenness, sterility, inability (female) to reproduce/(land) to produce crops;