I don't own Harry Potter.

Trade Mistakes: Chapter 16

Draco sat with his back propped against the wall in a bed next to Harry's. His boyfriend was snoring slightly and Draco couldn't stop the smirk that graced his face as he looked on. His smile grew wider as he looked down at the bundle of pink in his arms. Cressida Lilly Potter was so small Draco was afraid his clumsy arms would break her. Her plumb lips were shaped into a pout and she regularly sighed in her sleep. Draco ran a shaky finger down the side of her face and she wiggled in his arms. Madame Pomphrey entered the room, a small bottle in her hands.

"She's ready for a feed, Draco," Poppy said quietly, not wanting to wake up Harry. Draco gulped as he tried to situate himself. Poppy took pity on him and helped get Cressa in a good position. "Just like this. Keep the bottle up like this so there aren't any air bubbles. Good. Good Draco! You're a natural!"

Draco watched in awe as his daughter hungrily sucked down the small bottle, her tiny hand grasping his pale arm. Her skin was already darker than his, taking after Harry's. She did, however, have his white blonde hair and his small nose. Cressa's eyes were shaped like Harry's and Draco hoped that they would be emerald green, too. Once she finished her bottle Poppy helped him prop her up over hi shoulder and burp her.

"I'm going to take her and get her changed and put her to bed, Draco. You're pain potion is by your bed. I suggest you get some sleep. You're fresh from surgery and you're Healer must have been mad to let you come here. I'll be back shortly to change the bandage on your knee."

"Wait!" Draco cried out quietly. "Can I just hold her until after you change my knee? I mean they're going to make me go back to St. Mungo's soon and I just want to hold her as long as possible. Please." Poppy sighed before nodding. She placed Cressida back in his arms before leaving the room.

"You're a perfect little girl, you know that Cressida? You've got all the best of your Daddy and all I hope all the best of me. You're going to grow up to be smart and strong and a fighter. And no matter what you do, Daddy and Papa are always going to love you. No matter what I've been through and no matter what Daddy's still have to go through, you will always make things better. I love you oh so much." He placed a small kiss on her tiny blonde head. He swallowed the potion and kept his eyes on the perfect thing in his lap as the nurse wrapped his aching knee with gentle hands. The last thing he remembered as he fell asleep was the nurse lifting the baby out of his arms and kissing his forehead goodnight.

Harry woke up to the screaming of Cressida hours later. He blinked awake, staring at the ceiling in confusion before sitting up with a start. He laid a hand on his now mostly flat stomach and winced at the ache between his legs.

"Harry, baby," Draco mumbled in his drug addled mind.

"Yeah…yeah I'm going Draco," he whispered back. He carefully crawled out of bed, wincing again at how sore he felt. He guessed that was to be suspected; it's not every day you push something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of an orange. He limped across their private room to the small crib. The small baby wailed, her arms waving above her head. With a sigh Harry stooped down and picked up the small child, holding her to his chest.

"Shhh," Harry whispered, rocking her back and forth as he rubbed her head. She took a shuttering breath before screaming some more. Harry sighed before lowering himself into a nearby rocking chair. A bottle appeared next to the chair, floating in the air next to him. He took the bottle before biting his lip. He'd never fed a baby before; never even had the opportunity to turn it down. But he'd read the books and he was pretty sure it wasn't something he could mess up. He gently placed the bottle in Cressida's mouth and watched in awe as she sucked at it in earnest. Her milky blue eyes watched him as she gripped his finger in her tiny fist.

"Oh you're so perfect. Just like your Papa. God I don't want to leave you two; I don't want to walk away or fight. But you have to know, I'm doing this for you. I'm fighting this war, this battle for you. And Draco. And Ron and Hermione and their kids that they've yet to have. I'm doing all I can to keep you all safe, because I love you oh so much. And I will do everything I can to come back to you, to all of you. Because I love you more than I have ever loved anything in the world. And if…if I don't come back, Cressida, you have to keep your Papa fighting, okay? You have to make him keep strong. Don't make this be in vain. I love you so much my perfect little girl; you're the only thing I can't screw up."

In response Cressa looked up at her father with what he thought was a thoughtful look. He pulled the bottle from her mouth. She stared up at Harry in awe before burping quite loudly for an infant her size. Harry snorted before cuddling her close to his chest.

"Charming. I can see you're already taking after me. Maybe that's not such a good thing; I mean Papa's hair is already almost completely white." Cressida wrapped her tiny fingers around a handful of robe and fell asleep, Harry not far behind her.

"Damn it!" Draco growled as Ron unsuccessfully tried to help him back into the chair. His knee was throbbing but Poppy refused to give anything out of fear he fell asleep again. "Why can't I just stay here? You're suited to take care of me!" He yelled at the nurse. She sighed at the two boys before pulling out her wand and levitating Draco from the bed to the chair.

"Was that really that complicated, Weasley?" She asked with a shake of her head. "And to answer your question, Draco, I'm not yet suited to take care of managing all of your injuries. While most are either healed or in progressed stages of healing, should something go wrong, I wouldn't be able to help you. Now, are you going to be pleasant about this, or do I have to stun you?"

Draco sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he sighed. Harry grinned and steeped forward to place a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek, letting his lips brush over the scars.

"Behave," Harry whispered into Draco's ear. "A little birdy told me that you should be home by next week. So don't act up and don't make me wait any longer."

"I don't want to leave you two," Draco whispered back, his eyes trained on the baby cradled in Harry's arms.

"Yeah, well, we don't want you to leave either. Well I don't; I don't think Cressa really cares about anything other than those nice little bottles Madame Pomphrey keeps coming up with. But I'm sure if she was older she'd miss you terribly." Draco snorted as he failed to keep the smile off of his face. "But you listen to what Healer Jones says, take the potions when they give them to you, and work that little ass of yours off trying to get back on your feet, okay? I'll try to talk Remus into bringing us to see you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you, too," Draco whispered, trying to keep the tears out of his eyes and his voice. "I love you, too, Cressida Lilly." In response the baby yawned, gripping at her blanket.

"In her defense," Ron said from somewhere behind Harry. "She only has about three facial expressions and I think yawning is one of them. I don't think it's that she thinks you're boring."

"Gee, thanks Weasel," Draco said, shaking his head. "Can we get this over with before I panic and turn into a bloody mess again? I love you babe, and baby. I'll see you soon."

Harry smiled sadly as he watched Tonks hold out the portkey that took her and Draco away. He stood rooted to the spot for a long time before Ron placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take her," he said with a sad smile and Harry nodded, suddenly noticing how much his hands shook.

"Have a seat Potter," Poppy said as Ron sat down with the baby. "I need to make sure the birth canal is closing correctly and that there are no problems." Harry sighed but nodded, falling back into the position that had become far too comfortable for his liking. "Well, everything looks good. You should be completely back to normal by tomorrow."

"Can I start training again then?" Harry asked, biting his lip when everyone in the room stared at him like he had six heads. "What?" he asked, moving from one foot to the other.

"Dude, you just had a baby. And not a little one, I mean a nine pound baby that you pushed out of your MALE body that wasn't supposed to be able to hold her. And you want to start training again two days later?" Ron asked, his voice squeaking at the end.

"I have to agree with Mr. Weasley for once. It's a bit early to start training again, Mr. Potter," Poppy said, once hand on her hip as she gave him a disappointed look.

Harry looked from Ron to Poppy to a silent Remus. Didn't they understand? He had to do this. He was the Chosen One. If he didn't get back to at least where he was before he got pregnant, he was never going to stand a chance.

"I just had to take nine months off," Harry started in a quiet voice. "And I know for a face You-Know-Who wasn't just sitting around doing nothing while he waited for me to give birth. Ron, Remus, you've talked to Dumbledore about this. You know what part I play in this war. If I don't start training now, I'm never going to be ready. I've barely even used my wand the past four months, let alone in a way to defend myself. I have to do this."

Harry watched as Remus and Ron exchanged a look before nodding. Harry sighed in relief as Remus ran a tired hand over his face.

"What's the soonest he can start training, Poppy?" The Werewolf asked. The nurse huffed before checking his chart.

"Saturday," she finally said and Harry sighed in relief. "And not a second before, Potter!" With that she turned and left the room, her anger clear.

"Now you've done it," Ron said with a smirk. "Way to piss off the already pissy nurse." Harry glared at him before taking his daughter back and crawling back into bed with her.

"We don't need them," he mock whispered so Ron could here. "He's just a smelly Ginger." He barely dodged the pillow Ron through at him. "See! I'm out of shape! I'm a seeker and he almost hit me with a damn pillow!"

Remus sighed but walked away, his nerves already getting to him.

Draco clenched his teeth as he leaned heavily on the walker, a nurses hand pressed tightly to his back.

"Don't over-do it, Draco," Healer Jackson, his new physical therapist, called. "You haven't walked in months; no one expects you to be able to pick it all back up in just a few days."

The blonde growled in response, leaning heavily on his "good" leg as he shifted the bad one forward. The brace Healer Jones had placed on it held it straight, making him whimper again. Surprising even himself, he quickly worked into a rhythm, his grip on the walker making his knuckles look like they were going to burst out of his skin. Unsurprisingly, though, he quickly grew tired and fell into the wheelchair that hovered closely behind him.

"Well that was impressive!" Healer Jackson exclaimed, patting Draco on the back. "I won't see any problem sending you home Tuesday." Draco grinned.

"I think I'm okay. Can I keep working?" Draco asked hopefully. Jackson sighed but shook his head.

"I don't want you to over-do it and set yourself back. Get some rest and we'll work some more tonight." Draco frowned but nodded.

Once he was back in his bed, he curled up on his side, and held the picture of Cressida that Remus had given him the night before. He bit his lip as he thought of how he and Harry were going to do this. Reports of Death Eater attacks were in the post each day and Harry was already back to training. Draco feared that one day he'd wake up and Harry would just be gone; run off to save the world that could never seem to save itself.

So that left Draco, who was working as hard as he could to get home to his perfect little family. He knew he had to get better so he could be home with his daughter. He wanted to protect her from the day daddy left and he'd never be able to do that without being able to walk more than a few feet. With a sigh he closed his eyes, falling off into a blissful sleep.

AN: So sorry it's been so long! I hope you liked it.