Summary: Draco is a Healer, Harry is an Auror. When an accident sends Harry to St Mungo's and into Draco's care they begin to wonder if things can ever go back to the way they were.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings that you recognise; they belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money from this story.

A/N: Finally, an update! My writer's block has been back with a vengeance recently and it's been driving me crazy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter :D x

Chapter Fourteen: Surprises

Harry sat by Hermione's side as the Healer cast various spells over her rapidly swelling stomach and watched with amusement as she tried to conceal her excitement. She had maintained for the past few weeks that a baby would ruin her meticulously laid-out five-year plan but anyone who knew her well knew that the pink flush staining her cheeks only made an appearance when she was exceptionally pleased with herself.

"Do you want to know the sex of the baby?" the Healer looked directly at Hermione, her wand poised and ready.

"Can you tell already?" Hermione cocked her head and the older woman nodded. "Erm... okay, yes please!"

"Are you sure Ron won't mind? Don't you think that he'd want to be here when you find out?" Harry asked. Today was the day that he and Ron received the results of their Auror training exams and Mrs. Weasley had insisted that her son be at the Burrow when the owl arrived. Ron had been slightly put-out that he wouldn't be able to accompany Hermione to the hospital but said that he would rather she go with Harry than go alone.

"No, he said that he doesn't care if it's a boy or a girl, as long as it's healthy," she replied, turning to face the Healer, who smiled and handed her a vial of shimmering liquid. Eagerly, she downed the lot, pulling a face as she swallowed it. Harry squeezed her hand as the Healer waved her wand in mid-air and Hermione's stomach emitted a faint blue glow.

"Surprise suprise," the Healer laughed and shook her head. "It looks like there's going to be another Mr. Weasley!"

Hermione looked faint. "It's... it's a boy?"

The Healer nodded, smiling broadly. "Some things never change!"

"Ron's going to be so happy!" Harry laughed. "I'll go out and Floo him now while you get finished up."

Hermione nodded, still looking dazed, and Harry left the room in search of a free fireplace. He made his way to the entrance hall where he was met by Ernie Macmillan.

"Hi, Ernie," he extended his hand.

"Good morning, Harry," Ernie shook his hand briefly. "I take it you received my owl?

Harry frowned. "What owl?"

"Oh, I assumed that was why you were here."

"No, I'm here with Hermione. She just found out the sex of her baby," Harry grinned. "She's having another boy."

"That's wonderful, you must give her my best wishes. Ron, too," Ernie gave a tight smile. "Listen, Harry, we sent you an owl this morning but you must have left before it reached you."

Harry's smile faltered at his friend's serious tone. "Is everything alright?"

"It's about Mrs. Tonks," Ernie cleared his throat. "She had a heart attack in the early hours of this morning."

"Andromeda? Is she okay?"

There was a long pause.

"I'm afraid she passed away an hour ago."

Harry's mouth fell open and he gaped at the man in front of him. He tried to think of something to say but there were so many words buzzing around in his head that he couldn't make sense of any of them. Ernie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Harry."

Harry watched as Ernie turned away and left and he jumped when someone touched his arm.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, her eyes filled with concern. He turned to face her, unable to believe what he was about to say.

"Andromeda's dead," he said in a voice that did not sound like his own. This voice was calm and sounded very far away. Hermione's face crumpled.

"What?" she gasped. "How? When?"

"Heart attack," he replied in the same strange voice. "She died this morning."

"She wasn't even that old!" she said, her eyes glassy. "Oh, Harry, what about Teddy? What are we going to tell him?"

"Oh Merlin, I hadn't even thought of that. What are we going to tell him? He's going to be devastated. Fuck, what about funeral arrangements? I don't even know if she had a Will."

Hermione took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "There will be plenty time to think about that over the next few days. Now you need to concentrate on the Auror programme. Are you excited about getting your results?" she forced a smile and Harry found himself smiling back. He nodded and she Apparated them back to the Burrow, where Molly, Arthur, Ron, Bill, Fleur, Ginny and Draco were gathered around the kitchen table. There were two scrolls sitting side-by-side in the middle, almost like a centrepiece. There was a sombre atmosphere in the room.

"Did you hear?" Harry asked, his voice cracking. Everyone nodded sadly and Draco jumped to his feet, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I can't believe it," Arthur said, pulling out a handkerchief and polishing his glasses. "She was the same age as me and now..."

"It's just awful," Hermione remarked and there was a murmur of assent across the group.

After a long silence, Molly sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes. "Hermione, dear, how did it go at the hospital?"

"Oh, everything's fine. I found out the sex..." she trailed off, meeting Ron's eye and grinning.

"And?" Molly demanded, her eyes widening.

"It's a boy!" Hermione laughed as Ron jumped to his feet, enveloping her in a hug and grinning ear-to-ear.

"Another boy, that's wonderful!"

"Congratulations!"

"Do you have any names?"

Harry waited silently for the hubbub to die down. By the time everyone was re-seated, he was desperate to know his exam results and he turned to face Ron.

"How did you do?"

"I don't know. I wanted to wait for you to get here before opening mine. Malfoy brought your results over," the redhead replied, handing Harry a scroll marked For the attention of Ronald Bilius Weasley- CONFIDENTIAL in very neat, curly script. "I can't look at mine though. You can open mine and I'll open yours."

Harry didn't know what to feel. There were so many mixed emotions in the room. He was over the moon for his friends; he was devastated about Andromeda; he was worried about what would happen to Teddy; he was nervous about his results; he was nervous about Ron's results; he was touched that Draco cared enough about him to spend the morning with the Weasleys; the list was endless. He and Ron each gripped the end of their respective scrolls and, after silently counting to three, they gave a nod and tugged. Harry felt all the air leave his lungs as he read the words on the page and emerald green met ocean blue as the two friends searched the other's face for some hint of what was written in front of them.

"You passed!" they cried in unison and everyone around the table laughed, getting to their feet to congratulate them. Trying to ignore the guilty feeling gnawing at him, he smiled and laughed with his friends. He knew that he had every right to be happy and proud at this moment but he couldn't help thinking of Andromeda. And Teddy. Poor Teddy had lost both of his parents and both of his grandparents before he could even write his own name, something that Harry could identify with. He knew what it was like to grow up with no real family and he would rather die than put his godson through that. In a split-second, he made a life-changing decision and found that there was no doubt in his mind about what he had to do. He cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him.

"I'm not going to take the Auror position. I'm going to adopt Teddy."

-x-

A week later, Harry sat opposite one of the most respected women in Wizarding Britain, quill in hand as he scrawled a signature at the bottom of a lengthy scroll of parchment. He handed it back to her and she tapped it with her wand, a rare smile on her heavily lined face.

"I'm so glad that you changed your mind about my offer, Mr. Potter."

"Well, Professor, I'm just lucky that the offer was still standing by the time I did change it," he grinned, taking the Ginger Newt that she offered him.

"There was no luck involved, Harry," she surveyed him over her square spectacles. "I had a feeling that you would change your mind, especially in light of recent events," Harry looked at her quizzically and she smiled again. "After Andromeda, you are Teddy's legal guardian and you were never one to stand by and watch when someone needed help."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, my hero-complex is almost as well-known as I am."

"It's no bad thing, Harry," she said kindly. "It is what's going to make you a fantastic teacher. In fact, I have an extra... duty... that I would like you to take on. When I took over the post of Headmistress I really should have passed it on but I was so fond of my students that I really... I never found anyone that I..." she paused, looking him directly in the eye. "Harry, I would like you to take over as Head of Gryffindor."

Harry was stunned. "Me? Head of Gryffindor? Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!" she looked stern for a moment and Harry couldn't help but feel as though he were sixteen again and about to receive a detention. "Do you think I would joke about the future of my House?!"

"Professor, I'm honoured. Of course I'll do it," he could hardly believe what he was hearing. She smiled again and got to her feet, shaking his hand with both of her own. "Welcome aboard, Potter. I'll see you in September."

He took a handful of glittering powder from the pot by the fireplace and threw it into the flames. Taking a step forward, he shouted, the Burrow, and waited until the grates had stopped spinning in front of him before stepping out of the fire and dusting himself off on the rug.

"So?" Hermione got to her feet and looked at him expectantly.

"You're looking at the newest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Harry announced proudly.

"Congratulations, Professor," came a drawling voice from the doorway and Draco stepped into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, his face splitting into a huge grin.

"Waiting for you," the Slytherin replied, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "I couldn't wait all day to hear the news so I thought I'd pop in on my lunch break. I was helping Molly with lunch."

Harry couldn't describe how amazing it felt to hear Draco talk about his family with such ease. It was hard to believe that there had once been a time when the Malfoys and the Weasleys had been, quite literally, at war. He pulled the blond into a hug and pressed a kiss to his neck, trying to convey all of his feelings with that one simple action. Draco seemed to understand because, as he pulled away, he nodded, a soft smile on his face.

"There's something else," he looked around as Mrs. Weasley joined them in the living room. "McGonagall made me Head of Gryffindor."

Hermione threw herself on him, obscuring his vision with a mass of bushy hair, but he heard Draco's voice from behind him.

"So you're like some sort of Gryffindor king? Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse..." Harry spun around to face his now smirking boyfriend.

"Yep, I'm the king of Gryffindor now. I don't know if I can continue to be associated with any sneaky Slytherins," he teased.

"Is that so?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "I hope Teddy's in Slytherin when he goes to Hogwarts."

"I doubt it, his parents were two of the bravest Gryffindors I've ever known," Harry replied with a sense of pride mingled with sadness. He gave a small smile. "I love that kid. I can't wait to adopt him."

"Your meeting at the Ministry is next month, isn't it?" Draco asked and Harry nodded happily. Draco had been amazing throughout the whole situation. Not only had he supported Harry's decision to adopt Teddy, but he had stepped down as the Head Healer of his department and cut his hours by almost half so that he would have more time to help look after the child. They both knew that this was their chance to have the family they thought they'd never have. "I'd like to adopt him too."

"That'd be great," Harry began. "But the woman at the Ministry said that for both of us to adopt him, we would have to be married."

"Okay," Draco replied, shrugging.

"Okay, what?" Harry looked alarmed.

"Okay, let's get married," Draco said simply.

"What? Are you crazy?"

Draco looked crestfallen. "I ask you to marry me and that's your reply?"

"I didn't mean it to sound like that but -"

"You said that you wanted a family!"

"I do, it's just -"

"Just what, Harry? Just not with me?" Draco's hurt quickly turned to anger.

"Of course not! I just think we should wait until we know for sure."

"Know what? I know that I love you so what would we be waiting for?"

"I don't know, I just don't want to jump into anything without thinking it through."

"What is there to think through? We love each other, we live together and soon we're going to be looking after a child. What better time is there to get married?"

"Getting married is a huge commitment! It's a legally binding contract that involves a huge amount of time, money and emotional trauma if it falls apart."

"You think that we're going to fall apart?"

"No, of course not, but -"

"Then why can't we get married?"

"Maybe I just don't ever want to get married again," Harry said flatly, not looking at Draco. He suddenly became very aware of the fact that Hermione was standing behind them and he felt his face flush.

"Never?" Draco asked in a small voice.

"No," Harry whispered before turning on his heel and walking out, catching a final glimpse of Hermione cradling Draco as he fell apart.

-x-

A/N: Poor Draco! I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would marry him! Sadly, I think Harry would have something to say about that. Anyway, please review! x