I don't own Harry Potter.

Trade Mistakes: Chapter 17

Draco stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hand gripping his cane tight. He felt better than he'd felt in months, only his bad knee hurt. Tonks chatted loudly as she carried his belongings into the house, calling for Remus as she went.

"I'm up here!' He called back quietly, a bundle of pink wrapped in his arms. He smiled when he saw Draco and came down the stairs.

"It's so great to see you up and about, Draco!" Remus said, nodding his head towards the living room. "Let's sit down and you can hold your kid. She's missed you." Draco nodded, leaning heavily on the cane as he fallowed Remus.

"Where's Harry?" Draco asked as he carefully lowered himself onto the couch, letting his bad leg go straight.

"Training with Kingsley," Remus said as he gently laid Cressida in Draco's arms.

"Seriously? Already? Our daughter isn't even a week old yet." Draco pried his pinky into Cressa's closed fist and she squeezed it tightly as she yawned.

"Yeah, I know," Remus said, yawning too. "Trust me, Poppy's not happy about it. But he had a good point; You-Know-Who hasn't been sitting around and waiting for Harry to pop out a kid. He's been getting stronger and Harry just had to take 9 months off. You and I both know about the prophecy; he's the only one who can kill him. So if starting to train after four days will make him stronger, then so be it."

Draco bit his lip, keeping his eyes locked on his daughter's face. He was relieved that the scars didn't seem to scare her. He straightened his glasses, taking in the perfect being in his arms. With a sigh, he spoke again.

"He's going to leave soon, isn't he?" Draco asked Remus, his voice even and chipper although Remus could sense the bitterness.

"I'm not sure when exactly, but it'll probably be soon. And then hopefully this whole war will be over with."

"And I'll be a single father," Draco whispered bitterly. "Can you take her and show me where my room is? I'm kind of tired." Remus sighed but nodded, scooping Cressida up in his arms and leading Draco slowly up the stairs.

Harry snuck in the room a half an hour before supper. Draco was snoring slightly on their bed, curled on his side. Harry gave a small smile, contemplating if he should shower first or crawl in bed with Draco first. Finally he decided Draco was more important and he moved behind the blonde, wrapping his arm around his thin stomach.

"Mmm," Draco moaned, wiggling in Harry's arms.

"I've missed doing this," Harry whispered, placing a kiss on the back of Draco's neck. "And I like being able to hold you without my stomach being in the way." Draco laughed, his eyes still shut.

"I've missed this, too," he said, wrapping his hands around Harry's.

"We've got a half hour until dinner's ready. I only need five to shower. Let's just stay like this," Harry whispered in Draco's ear.

"I'm fine with that." The two boy's laid together, Draco keeping his eyes shut. Finally he licked his lips and cleared his throat. "When are you leaving?"

Harry froze, his breath catching in his throat. He didn't want to have this conversation; not here, not now. Not when Draco was just getting home.

"I'm not sure. It'll probably be another month…."Harry trailed off, squeezing at Draco's waist. "It's going to be okay."

"Right. It's not like Dumbledore's been raising you to send off to slaughter. But yeah-run off, fight the Dark Lord, die. As long as it's for a good cause, right? It's not like you don't have a family of your own now. But no one ever thinks of that. Not about the Chosen One at least." Draco pulled away from Harry, leaning heavily on his arm as he tried to sit up.

"Draco…" Harry whispered, his hand trailing up Draco's arm.

"Forget it," Draco whispered back, finally pulling himself into an upright position. He leaned heavily on his cane. "Don't follow me." Harry sighed as he watched Draco limp away. Although their voices had been quiet, Cressida whimpered loudly as he left before breaking into tears.

"Let me guess, you're mad at me, too?" Harry said with a sigh as he stooped to pull their daughter out of her bassinet. Their tiny family's happy homecoming had ended quickly.

Remus found Draco in Sirius' old room a half an hour later, cradling an old book on his lap where he sat on the floor. Remus sighed as he lowered himself down to the floor across from Draco, a sad smile on his face.

"Whatca looking at?" Remus asked, flipping through some paper that were piled close by.

"Black family album," Draco mumbled back, running his pale digits across the page. "Sometimes I forget that Sirius and I were related."

"Well with the way your mother and Bellatrix behaved, sometimes I think Sirius liked to forget he was related to the Malfoy's. No offense, Draco." Draco laughed quietly, nodding his head.

"I can't say I blame him, really. Sometimes I'd like to forget I'm a Malfoy, too."

"You could always take Harry's name," Remus said, idly flipping through the pictures that had been in the bottom drawer of the dresser behind him.

"He'd have to stay alive long enough for me to do that," Draco said, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. The scars felt weird under his fingers and the pressure made his vision fuzzy. Remus sighed, nodding his head sadly.

"I know this isn't easy on you, Draco…" he started, biting his lip when Draco snorted.

"No really?" he asked sarcastically. "I was disowned for joining the Light side, I was kidnapped and tortured for months by my own father and had to undergo months of rehabilitation to be in the piss poor shape I'm in now. And after months of hell I find out I'm going to be a father at the age of seventeen. And now my boyfriend, the love of my life, is going to take off and go fight a war that no one believes he can win. He's going to die for some great cause because no one else can do it and it's bull shit. But yes, this has been just rainbows and butterfly's for me!"

"Hey now," Remus said, his voice low. "There's no need to get testy with me because you're mad at Harry. This isn't easy on me, either. He's the only family I have left, Draco."

"I just don't want him to go," Draco whispered, his 'good' eye watering up. "And I can't even cry properly because the tear ducts in my right eye were destroyed by the venom. God."

"This isn't going to be easy, Draco. And I know you've heard that a lot the past couple months. We don't know how long Harry's going to be gone; but I'm going stay here, as long as you'd like me to of course, and help you take care of Cressida while he's gone. Tonk's and Hermione and Ron and Molly will stop by, too. We're holding off on having Molly come over, though, 'cause she'd never leave. I plan on doing my best to get you through this, Draco."

"Thanks, Remus," he whispered quietly, propping his glasses on the top of his head as he closed his eyes. The two men sat in silence for a while, the cracks and groans of the old house comforting them. Finally Draco sighed. "Remus?" he asked quietly, biting his lip.

"Yes, Draco?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

"I don't think I can get off the floor…" Remus laughed quietly, climbing to his feet and carefully helping Draco to his feet.

"Just one foot in front of the other," the werewolf whispered, and Draco thought maybe he wasn't just talking about walking.

Harry was curled on the couch, a warm bottle in his hand as he fed Cressa. He kept whipping off his face on his shoulders, the tears staining his t-shirt. There hadn't been a sound from upstairs in a while but he knew without seeing them that Draco and Remus were together, talking about him.

Didn't they get it? He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to leave Draco a single parent; he didn't want to miss his daughter growing up or the possibility of having more kids. Hell, Harry didn't even want to fight this war. He was scared, but he knew he had no choice. He was the Chosen One; the prophecy had screwed him years ago.

Did he think he'd make it out of this mess alive? Harry wasn't sure, to be honest. Nine months off hadn't helped him at all, that was for sure. There were many people who knew much more than Harry that he felt were more suited for this. Sadly, these well trained people didn't have a choice. He'd been learning more spells each day and had lost most of his baby weight already. Harry was pretty sure pushing a nine pound baby out a tiny hole with limited pain potion proved he had a pretty awesome pain tolerance. He just had to hope it would be enough.

Cressida wrapped her tiny fist in Harry's shirt, her wide eyes watching him in wonder. It was too soon for them to take on their true color, but Harry wondered if they'd be green like his. He only hoped she didn't have his terrible eye sight.

"You know I don't want to leave you, right, sweetie?" Harry asked quietly. "I would give anything not to leave you. When I first found out I was pregnant, I wasn't sure I wanted you. Horrible, right? It's just the timing. At the time, you're Papa had just been taken and it was like my world was falling apart. And even now, when you were my life line for so long, I hate thinking I've brought you into a world so dangerous. A world where I'm considered 'Undesirable Number One' by a ministry ran by Death Eaters. Given the choice, I would have waited, you know? I would have waited so there wasn't a chance of leaving you and your daddy alone. But now that you're here, I don't know what to do without you. And I don't want to leave you, baby. But I don't get a say in it.

"But you're going to be okay. Because you weren't even supposed to make it this long; babies made from two men are dangerous and don't always make it this long. But you're here, and you're healthy, and you're loved. And even if daddy doesn't come back, you'll have your papa and uncle Remy, and aunt Hermione and uncle Ron. And you'll be the most loved little baby in the magical world. And you'll be safe, even if daddy has to die to make it so.

"I don't want to leave you, Cressida, but if it means keeping you and papa and uncle Remy, and everyone else safe, I will. But just now, Daddy will always love you, my beautiful baby. And even if you might not remember me, I'll always be there."

Harry was sobbing by the time he finished his speech, his body shaking as he held his daughter tight to his chest. He laughed slightly when she burped in response, her tiny fist still wrapped around his shirt. He held her close as she fell asleep, the tears continuously falling.

After a while he heard a sound on the stairs; a light click and then a thump repeating the whole way down. It took him a moment to realize it was Draco and his new cane. The blonde paused at the doorway to the living room, panting and biting his lip.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, rubbing at his eyes again. There was something about the way that Draco looked in the dim light of the fire. The low light made the scars stand out on his pale skin, making him look more mysterious. He blue eyes, although much more dull from the torture, stood out in the dark frames, causing Harry to bit his lip.

"I'm sorry, too," Harry whispered. He lifted one arm, nodding his head. Draco let out a shaky breath and limped towards the couch. He fell heavily on it, a low groan escaping his lips. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked, putting his arm around Draco.

"My knees a little stiff and my eyes are super dry, but other than that I'm okay I guess. How about you?"

"I'm fine," Harry whispered. "Let's not talk about me and the training. Just a tricky subject, you know?"

"Okay," Draco whispered. "Let's just stay like this for as long as possible." Draco burrowed his head into Harry's shoulder, his eyes falling shut.

"For as long as possible," Harry whispered back, his eyes falling shut too. Remus found them a few hours later, the tiny family asleep by the fire.

AN: I'm so sorry it's been so long. School is crazy. I hope you liked it!