So many reviews! I should do cliffhangers more often! :evil grin: But since I was so mean last time... and since the kids had a decent day... and since I had so many reviews... I'm giving you an extra long, four parter today. Enjoy!
Part 10/?
Severus moved as fast as he could while trying not to look as if he were rushing. It had taken far too long to get the rest of the class cleaned up and out of the room. He didn't dare leave them alone, or with only another student in charge, at this stage of the potion. Perhaps if Draco had still been in the room... then again, there was no way the blonde would have allowed himself to be left behind.
Running only steps behind him were Granger and Weasley. He thought about ordering them back to their class, but did not feel like fighting with them at the moment. Instead, he ignored them, focused on where he was going. They were a staircase away from the Infirmary when a despairing wail cut through the air.
Reputation be damned. Severus pulled his robes up around his knees and started running up as fast as he could. If he wasn't so worried, he would have found it amusing that the two much younger Gryffindors couldn't seem to keep up with him. As it was, all that mattered was the fact that he recognized his son's voice. And his son was crying as if his world had ended.
He slammed open the door to the Infirmary and stopped dead. Madam Pomfrey was magically spreadeagled against the wall, and looking very distressed. Harry was sobbing as if his heart was broken. Draco was showing more expression than he'd ever seen, frantic and sorrowful.
"What happened?" Severus barked out as he rushed forward. He paid no attention to the restrained mediwitch, heading straight for the two boys.
"Daddy!" Harry screamed. "She killed my baby!"
Severus wrapped his arms around the boy as he looked at his best friend's son. "What is he talking about?"
"What did you do to Madam Pomfrey?" Ron asked, glaring at Draco.
Hermione was obviously paying more attention. "Shut up, Ron!" she hissed.
Draco gulped and dashed tears off his cheeks. "She was looking weird when she gave Harry a potion, so I went and looked, and it was an abortifacient."
"What's that?" Ron whispered to Hermione, who had paled.
"It causes a miscarriage," Hermione told him absently. She was glaring at the mediwitch by that point.
Draco was still talking. "I tried to get him to throw it up, but I couldn't do it. Help him, please!"
Severus' first thought was that if Harry was pregnant, that explained so much. Then, the rest of the news penetrated. Severus' eyes were black with a rage none of them had ever seen before. He pressed Harry into Draco's arms and waited until he was surrounded by all of his friends before heading into the storeroom. His eyes caught the hints that Draco had missed, the fireplace with a bit of Floo powder on the hearth, the potions in a disarray, showing a nervousness and uncertainty not usually associated with the mediwitch. Finally, he looked down at the broken potion bottle on the floor. Reluctantly, he knelt down and checked the label. His eyes went wide and he quickly ran his finger through the residue still on the floor, checking its appearance and smell before putting a little of it on his tongue.
Kneeling there, alone, he let his mask fall. Relief was bright upon his face and only massive self-control kept tears out of his eyes. Only for a moment did he kneel there, fighting his emotions, before he was once more on his feet and striding out. He had to tell Harry immediately. He knew what something like this would do to his still insecure, and sometimes emotionally fragile child. He would not let his boy hurt for any longer than absolutely necessary.
He stopped and took one more look at the potions. There. He strode over and picked up one of the vials, double checking to be sure it was the one he wanted.
He walked back in and his heart clenched at the sound of Harry's broken sobbing. He warned the others away and pulled Harry into his arms. "Harry," he said softly. "Harry, listen to me, it's okay."
It was obvious Harry wasn't listening, although the other teenagers were looking at each other in surprise. How could it be okay?
Severus grabbed Harry's face between his hands, and stared into his eyes, as he barked, "Harry James Potter Snape! Listen to me!"
Harry hiccuped, startled, but his wet, green eyes met the dark, worried ones of his father.
Severus smiled reassuringly. "It's going to be okay," he said strongly, making sure he kept eye contact.
"But... my baby?" Harry's voice broke as he asked.
"Your baby will be fine, too," Severus said softly. "The potion she gave you only works on normal pregnancies, not magical ones."
"But what if it's not magical? You said that the spell on the bed wouldn't work on me." Harry asked desperately.
"You're male," Severus reminded him carefully. "It's not possible for it to be a normal pregnancy."
"But, what if..."
Severus covered his mouth. "That's enough. It's a magical pregnancy, and you both will be fine," Severus told him. "Drink this." He held the vial to Harry's lips and watched him gulp it down. Severus waited for several moments, just petting Harry's hair. "Are you calm, now?" he finally asked.
"Yes, sir," Harry answered softly.
"What did you give him?" Hermione asked, watching the almost unnatural calm on Harry's face.
"A calming potion," Severus explained. "It won't hurt the child or react badly with what he's already taken."
"So you were telling the truth about that aportivi-thing?" Ron asked.
"Abortifacient," Hermione corrected him absently.
"I wouldn't lie to him, especially not about something like that," Severus said reprovingly. He looked down at Harry, who had his hands wrapped around his stomach, but didn't seem to be taking in much that was going on around him. "I thought you were going to wait a couple of years before giving me a grandchild," he gently teased, trying to bring him back around. He wanted him calm, not completely out of it.
That did get a response, as Harry's green eyes slowly crept up to meet his. "How did this happen?" Harry asked quietly.
"I'm not entirely sure," Severus admitted. "More than likely, it has something to do with you being a mage."
Harry slowly smiled slightly. "Doesn't everything?"
"It sometimes seems that way," Severus agreed.
"What I want to know," Draco put in, "is, what are we going to do with *her*." There was a load of hate in that last word, and it didn't take his gesture to figure out who he was talking about.
Everyone looked up at her, but Madam Pomfrey only saw one of them. Never before had she seen such anger and disgust in the eyes of the sweet boy she'd been taking care of for years.
"Give her to my husband," Harry snarled.
"Good idea," Draco said evilly. The real surprise was that even Ron seemed to agree with that statement.
They all noticed the startled shock in the mediwitch's eyes, but only Hermione seemed to understand why.
"Why does it surprise you so much that he's married?" she asked.
Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth but there was no sound.
"Oops," Draco said insincerely. A wave of his hand and the silence spell was taken off.
Harry suddenly stood and stalked forward. Severus and Draco could feel the magic that had started to pour off of him. Hermione, Ron, and Madam Pomfrey did not have the ability to feel it as the mages did, but the pure intensity made their skin feel like it was crawling, and they could feel that something was gathering around them.
"This is *with* a calming potion?" Draco asked, shocked.
Severus just nodded, making sure to be within arms reach of Harry at all times, hoping he'd be able to control him if he lost it.
"Why," Harry growled. "Why did you try to kill my baby?" His voice went from anger to pain in the space of a single sentence.
"I thought it was the right thing to do," Madam Pomfrey said pleadingly.
"The right thing to do!" Hermione was the one that got that out first. "How could killing an innocent child possibly be considered the 'right thing to do'?"
"You didn't decide it yourself, did you?" Severus suggested.
"I don't understand," Madam Pomfrey, shaken, replied haltingly, "He said that the only way Harry could be pregnant, was if he was forced, or if it was Voldemort, reborn. Either way, you would never want the child, and an abortion without you ever knowing, would be the most humane thing. He didn't say anything about a husband!"
"He?" Ron asked, confused.
"Dumbledore!" the other males growled together.
Part 11/?
"What do you mean, Dumbledore?" Ron asked angrily. "Dumbledore wouldn't do something like this!"
"Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?" Hermione asked more calmly.
"I'll prove it," Harry growled. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate while muttering a spell under his breath.
His eyes flew open and his words faltered to a stop as a large hand closed hard around the back of his neck.
"Don't even *think* about it!" Severus said, shaking him slightly. "You will not transform in your condition. It would be too dangerous. There are other ways." He let go and strode back into the storeroom. It took him only seconds to find the hidden doorway to the back storeroom, the room with the most dangerous potions within it. It took bare seconds more to find the vial he was looking for. In less than a minute, he was back out and staring at the mediwitch.
"We *will* find out how this travesty came about. You can either take this willingly, or I can pour it down your throat, and I won't be gentle about it, or I can let Harry and his husband deal with you. If I were you, I would not take the third option. If there wasn't one particular question I want answered, I wouldn't even be giving you the first choice."
Recognizing that there really was no choice, Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to take the truth potion. They waited until her eyes blanked, but before Severus could start the inquisition, Harry jumped in, "Why did you try to kill my baby?"
"I didn't," Madam Pomfrey said woodenly.
Harry growled, and the magic he was putting out in his rage increased.
Severus laid his hand on his shoulder. "That's the question I wanted answered," he said softly. "You knew that potion wouldn't work on a magical pregnancy, didn't you?"
"Yes," the mediwitch answered immediately.
"Then why did you give it to him?" Draco asked, confused. "Just to scare him?"
"No," Madam Pomfrey said. "He told me to."
"He told you to give Harry that particular potion?" Hermione asked.
"No," Madam Pomfrey admitted.
Normally Severus would have taken the others to task. Veritaserum interviews tended to go much better with only one person asking the questions. However, they weren't speaking at once, and the questions were following each other fairly well and being specific enough. He decided to let it go unless the students got out of hand.
"So why'd you use that one?" Ron asked.
"So the baby wouldn't die," Madam Pomfrey said.
"All right, I'm confused," Ron admitted.
"I think I understand," Hermione said thoughtfully. "You were ordered to do it, but you didn't want to, so you did it in such a way that it wouldn't do any harm, right?"
"Correct," Madam Pomfrey replied, as the others were trying to work that out.
"Well, why didn't you just tell him 'no'?" Ron wondered.
"I couldn't," was the mediwitch's monotone response.
"Is it Imperious?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"No," Madam Pomfrey replied.
"So why didn't you argue with him about it?" Ron asked, surprised.
"I couldn't," was all the mediwitch could answer once more.
Harry snorted, still beyond angry, though no longer at the one in front of him. She'd fought as hard as she could against the commands she'd been given, and done well at it. "How come you haven't asked the question we started this for?" he asked his friends. He turned to the older woman. "Who is *he*?"
"Albus Dumbledore," she said, in as blank a voice as before.
He could see the other Gryffindors were having a hard time believing it. Maybe keeping what his family thought of Dumbledore a secret hadn't been the best thing to do. He didn't care. All that mattered right now, was the revenge he was going to get for this threat. He had all the answers he needed. The only reason he was still standing here, and not already moving, was because the others weren't quite ready to move. They still had questions. He gathered his rage around him like an electric blanket. He would wait, but only for a few more moments. If they didn't have their answers by then, they'd have to get them off of Dumbledore's corpse!
"Why?" Ron asked in an almost desolate voice.
Harry could understand that. He'd once had that kind of faith in the old man. His had just been eroded long ago.
Madam Pomfrey couldn't answer; the question was too broad for the potion.
Harry had another question. "Have you ever done this before?" he asked in a dangerous voice.
Madam Pomfrey seemed to have trouble answering. He frowned, it wasn't that broad a question. He decided to refine it anyway. "Have you ever given an abortion potion before?"
"Yes," Madam Pomfrey answered at once.
Hermione was the one frowning now, also trying to figure out what the problem had been with the question before that. "Have you ever done it without telling the student what it was, or against their will?" she finally asked.
"No," the mediwitch replied.
"Did the parents know?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Madam Pomfrey answered.
Severus decided to ask a question he'd been wondering about. "How long has there been a contraceptive potion in the pumpkin juice?"
"One hundred seven years, two weeks," Madam Pomfrey replied immediately.
Everyone blinked. *That* was a surprise.
"Why didn't my father know about it?" Draco asked.
"The Board of Governors decided to do it to keep purebloods from breeding with 'inferior' classmates during their time at Hogwarts. The policy is only reviewed every thirty years," Madam Pomfrey explained.
This was all very interesting, but Harry was getting impatient. If they were going to be using their time doing this, there were more important questions to be asked. "What did Dumbledore say was the reason for trying to kill my baby?"
"He said that if the child wasn't Voldemort, or from him, it was more than likely Severus', and an abomination either way," Madam Pomfrey answered.
The resounding crash of breaking glass brought all eyes to the dark-haired boy, as every piece of glass in the room shattered at once. Severus found himself seriously impressed; most of the glass items had unbreakable charms on them, and even magic would have had a very hard time even cracking one thing, much less shattering everything to splinters.
Harry didn't leave much time for his father to notice that. He'd turned on his heel and was moving through the room. He wasn't running, but the others found they had to in order to keep up. The beds and furniture he passed were pushed away from him by nothing but the power of the magic wrapped around him. The door to the Infirmary blew off of its hinges while he was still ten feet away. The three realized it was lunchtime and so headed for the Great Hall.
Severus called Lucius as he ran, telling him to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible. Once that was done, he nodded to Draco. The two of them started trying to pull magic from Harry. They weren't worried about what he'd do to Dumbledore, but rather, for anyone else who might accidentally get in Harry's way. They did not want him to have the injury of another student on his conscience.
They should have thought it through better. Severus, especially, should have understood what was going to happen. The rage was too much a part of the magic Harry was putting out. It was aura magic, where the aura was rage. And in trying to calm him down, they were pulling that rage into themselves.
They were already beyond angry. They had simply been trained to think things through before reacting. That defense was stripped from them as the three mages' magic linked together.
Part 12/?
Conversation stilled as the doors of the Great Hall slammed open and against the stone walls. Everyone looked up, wondering and a trifle worried. Harry Potter... Snape strode through. A Harry Snape who was radiating so much pain and anger that even those who had not the slightest trace of empathy could feel it. By his side glided the two Slytherins. The Head of House looked absolutely lethal, while the Silver Prince looked glacially murderous.
All eyes were on them, almost missing the two Gryffindors running in behind them. The students and teachers all followed their eyes to the place where Dumbledore sat as a benign dictator over the Hall. The seat that was empty.
"Where is he?" Harry growled.
"Mr. P... Snape, is something the matter?" Professor McGonagall asked carefully.
"Where is Dumbledore?" he snarled.
"Headmaster Dumbledore," the Deputy Headmistress reproved, "was called out of Hogwarts on an emergency. Is there something I can help you with?"
Harry didn't seem to hear the last part. "Yeah, sure he was," he muttered.
Before anything more could be asked, a distraction came from behind. "'Arry!" Hagrid called as he walked into the room, carefully holding a pair of multi-colored snakes with pleated wings, only one of which was moving.
Harry felt some of his rage being pushed aside by concern. It didn't go away; no, it would take a very, very long time and probably a bit of violence before he'd be ready to give up this anger, but it could be pushed aside. Those watching breathed a sigh of relief as much of the tension dropped from the room.
"Hagrid," Harry acknowledged, walking toward him quickly. "What happened?" He reached out to pick up Flick, only to have Spitfire move in front of him threateningly.
"I 'as showin' 'em off to the class when this little one started hissin' and thrashin' about. The big one didna' seem too good, neither. I tried to 'elp 'er but nothin' worked."
Harry nodded absently, before turning to the one awake minidrag. /Spitfire, what's wrong? What happened to Flick? Why won't you let me pick her up?/
*/She became overloaded. You were feeling intense... anguish, fear, despair, followed by killing anger. It was too much for her. If you touched her right now, it would be even worse./*
"Well?" Hermione asked as the hissing stopped.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And again. He didn't want to give up his anger. The rage kept back the fear; it warmed him inside. But it was hurting one of his friends. And if the choice was between being angry and hurting Flick, or letting it go and getting her better, he didn't really have much of a choice.
Severus and Draco felt the rage fade from within them as Harry started to calm down. As they regained control of themselves, they glanced at each other before starting to chivy Harry and Hagrid out of the room. Severus tried to recall everything that had happened. It was immediately obvious that *this*, perhaps even more than the way Dumbledore used it, was the reason for those warnings about mages working together.
Draco kept his expression carefully blank as the group moved out the doors and out of view of the gossipmongers in the Great Hall. He was *not* happy. He did not like being controlled by anyone or anything. He didn't blame Harry for what had happened. He knew how much the thought of his new brother or sister being killed before it was even born upset *him*, and he realized how much more important the child was to Harry. That didn't mean he had to like what had happened. What if Dumbledore hadn't left? They would have killed him right there in front of everyone. Not even his father would have been able to keep them from Azkaban! Dumbledore did need to die, and as painfully as possible, but it needed to be done sneakily, or perhaps, legally. The only good thing about what had happened, was the fact that they hadn't announced *why* they wanted to see Dumbledore. If they'd gone in *announcing* they wanted the Headmaster dead, then they would be the first ones suspected when his corpse was found.
Harry was explaining that his emotions had overwhelmed his empathic bonded, even as far away as they were. He had to calm down or his very touch could hurt the minidrag. His friends tried to help calm him down as he worked to lock away his out of control emotions. It still took more than fifteen minutes before Spitfire moved away and allowed Harry to pick up his mate. Hagrid left soon after, glad the pretty snakes were going to be all right, and ready for lunch of his own.
"Now what?" Harry asked, gently petting the snake.
"Well, first," said Severus, who'd been thoughtful, prioritizing, "your husband is probably waiting very impatiently down in the Chamber, and you obviously need to talk to him. Next, we need to find you a mediwitch or wizard that we can trust, and then decide what we're going to do about your schooling. We also need to talk about what just happened between us, and what we're going to do about Dumbledore."
"He's too powerful to attack personally right now," Draco said. The other two nodded in agreement as they started down to the hidden Chamber.
Ron blinked. "Is it just me, or was that weird? Twenty minutes ago all they were thinking about was killing him, and now they're saying he's too powerful to fight."
Hermione nodded absently. "Very strange," she agreed, watching them walk away.
The two Gryffindors suddenly realized they were being left behind and ran after the other three.
The five reached the entrance to Salazar's private rooms and stopped in shock. That Blaise was waiting there was not really a surprise. He'd been there when they'd made a spectacle of themselves at lunch, and probably wished to find out what was going on. He also knew how to reach the opening even if he couldn't get inside by himself. The surprise was that he was not alone.
"You told them?" Ron asked in shock. He turned to the other two. "Not that we were really trying to exclude you, Nev, but he should have talked it over with us first."
Thyme shook her head with a smile. "Are you forgetting that I'm a Slytherin? And that, like most of us, I really don't like secrets being kept from me. It didn't take very long to figure out there was a secret room behind this wall, that you all knew about, although I've never been inside. When we saw Blaise starting to head down, we decided to join him."
Harry opened the secret passageway. He didn't care that Neville and Thyme knew this secret and were about to find out another. Right now, all he cared about was that his husband was only two doors away and he had something very important to tell him.
He wondered what Lucius would think of what he had to tell him. He knew they had talked of having children, but it was supposed to be *after* he had graduated and they had gotten married for real. If they were only promised in the eyes of the wizarding world, even if it was a minimum time marriage, did that mean the baby was a bastard? He didn't think of it that way, but would Lucius? He shook that thought away. Of course he wouldn't. Lucius wasn't like that. Right?
At that moment, as the newcomers were looking around in shock, the door to the inner rooms opened and the regal form of Lucius Malfoy strode through.
Harry took one look at his lover and lost it.
Faster than he should have been able to move, he was within Lucius' arms, sobbing out all the pain, anger and fear he'd kept bottled up to try and soothe Flick.
Neville and Thyme just stared wide-eyed in shock at the sight of their friend being held gently in the arms of the Minister of Magic, the Lord Malfoy.
"What's happened?" Lucius demanded, shifting his hold until he was completely supporting his young husband's weight.
"Why don't you take him into the other room," Draco suggested. "Harry's got something to tell you."
Part 13/?
Harry felt himself being lifted, and tightened his grip around his lover's neck. He didn't even consider letting go until they were within the apartment and he was seated in his husband's lap. Even then, he just squirmed around a little until he was comfortable, buried his head into Lucius' shoulder, and continued to sob.
Lucius looked worriedly down at the boy in his lap as he ran his hand through his hair. He'd been very concerned when Severus had called him and ordered him to come to the school, but had not been able to learn any details. The twenty-five minutes he'd spent waiting had been some of the longest in his life. The only thing that had kept him from leaving the rooms and finding his husband was the unchanging ring on his finger.
Harry's sobs finally ran down and after a moment of silence, Lucius turned his head so he could look him in the eyes.
"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" Lucius asked quietly.
Harry took a deep breath and just blurted it out. "I'm pregnant."
Lucius blinked as his mind tried to comprehend that. Pregnant? How? It shouldn't have been possible. He wanted time to get the idea through his head and consider every possibility. Looking down into the scared, wet eyes of his mate, he knew he didn't have that time. There really was no choice but to accept and move on.
"Why does that make you cry?" he asked softly. "I thought you wanted a child."
"I do!" Harry said vehemently. "I'd accepted that I wouldn't have a baby for a couple of years, but I didn't give up wanting it!"
"Then what caused this?" Lucius wiped the tear streaks off of Harry's cheek.
Harry's expression crumbled. "The baby almost died," he whispered hoarsely.
Lucius hissed in a breath as his mind ran through the possibilities. "What happened? Did you get dizzy and fall off your broom? A potion accident? What?"
Harry shook his head at each of those ideas. He took a deep breath and snuggled in harder, needing the support. "I was sick in Potions this morning, so Dad had Draco take me to the Infirmary."
"I thought you said it wasn't a potion accident," Lucius frowned.
Harry shivered. "It wasn't. I've been sick for a week. I've been able to keep it under control, but the smell of this potion was really bad."
Lucius wanted to say something about that, but had no doubt that Severus had already taken care of it or soon would. "So, what happened?"
"Madam Pomfrey gave me all these tests and then went into her storeroom. She was gone for almost forever, but finally came out and gave me a potion," Harry started breathing more quickly as he remembered. His voice began to raise, "I drank it. Why wouldn't I? I knew she was acting a little weird, but I was thinking I was really sick or something."
"What was it?" Lucius said calmly, seeing Harry start to become agitated once again, and rubbing Harry's back, trying to get him to calm down before he hyperventilated.
"I don't remember what Draco called it," Harry admitted, his eyes going a little glassy. "But it kills babies!"
He squeaked as he was suddenly being hugged with all Lucius' strength.
"But you're *fine*, right?" Lucius said almost desperately. "You and the baby both?" The baby wasn't real to him yet, but he thought of what such a loss could do to his young husband. That was what was scaring him at this point. He could feel as his fear began turning to cold anger. If the child had died before he even knew it existed, he would have been slightly sad, but mostly determined to get revenge. However, Harry would be utterly devastated.
Harry nodded. "Uh-huh," he muttered. "The potion doesn't work on magical pregnancies."
"Thank Merlin," Lucius murmured. He frowned. "Shouldn't Madam Pomfrey have known that?"
"Yeah, she did," Harry growled. "We gave her Veritaserum. Dumbledore used a compulsion on her, but since she didn't really want to kill the baby, she used that potion."
Lucius deliberately moved one hand off of Harry's back and placed it on the arm of the chair they were sitting in. "And where is Dumbledore now?" he purred, his hand squeezing the wooden chair arm until it creaked.
"He ran away like a coward," Harry said angrily. "And he's too damn powerful for us to fight."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lucius answered darkly.
"He is, though," Harry was getting despondent.
Lucius disagreed, but decided to leave it for the moment. "So, a baby?" Lucius got enough control of himself to be sure he wouldn't hurt Harry and wrapped both arms back around him.
That did it. Harry's entire demeanor brightened. "A baby," he said almost worshipfully. "We're going to have a baby."
Meanwhile, in the outer room, the others found themselves having to explain things to a flabbergasted pair.
"Look," Neville finally said. "I can kind of understand that Mr. Malfoy isn't as bad as we all used to think. It's been kind of obvious this summer. What I have trouble with, is your dad letting Harry get close enough for them to be a couple."
The others were looking at Draco with interest. Honestly, they'd all kind of wondered that, and the fact that he didn't even know it was Harry made it even harder to believe.
"Because Harry was a *guest*," Draco told him patronizingly. "I didn't give him much choice about coming home with me either."
Eyes went wide all around. Hermione looked around, confused. It was obvious that what he had just said explained quite a bit for everyone else, but she didn't understand what the big deal was. She wasn't used to being the only one without information and she didn't care for that feeling at all.
"Would someone care to explain?" she asked, annoyed.
Ron looked at her in surprise. "You don't know about hospitality?"
"Of course not," Draco said condescendingly. "She's muggleborn, everyone knows muggles are uncivilized."
Hermione glared at him. "Of course I know what hospitality is, but it sounds as if you're talking about something more than what I learned about it." She turned to the one she thought might give her the answers she sought. "Professor?"
Severus deigned to explain. "The Code of Hospitality is very specific about the duties and responsibilities of a host to both guests and visitors. As well, of course, as the duties of said guests to their host. If Harry was brought to the Manor as a guest, Lucius was honor-bound to treat him like family, to make sure he was protected and had those things necessary for his well-being."
"But Mr. Malfoy wasn't the one to invite him," Hermione complained.
"What does that matter?" Blaise asked. "Draco's his heir and Harry was invited into his home. Who invited him doesn't matter at all."
Hermione looked around at the purebloods around her and saw they all understood. She obviously had to do some research on this. "So there's an actual written out code, and this is taken really seriously?"
Everyone nodded. "Even if You-Know-Who had still been alive and had ordered Mr. Malfoy to bring Harry to him, he wouldn't have done it. Not while Harry was a guest within his home." Thyme explained.
"There's something else I want to know," Hermione changed the subject. She would ask more about the code after she'd checked the books.
"Of course there is," Severus sighed.
She ignored that, and grabbing the Professor and Draco, pulled them off to a corner. Not everything had been explained to the other three yet. That was going to be up to Ron to deal with. She turned to the two mages. "Why don't you want to go after Dumbledore?" she asked.
"He's too powerful," they said in eerie unison.
"You didn't think he was too powerful half an hour ago," she reminded them.
They looked at each other, surprised. "She's right," Severus said thoughtfully. "Ask Draco again," he suggested, casting a silencing spell.
She did and he unblocked his hearing as Draco once more said the oldest mage was too powerful to fight.
Severus nodded his understanding. "I knew that newspaper geas couldn't be the only one. But it does not help. Even knowing that I have got a compulsion on me, saying, 'he's too powerful to fight', is not changing the fact that I *do* feel it. As long as I'm feeling like that, I will not be able to fight to the best of my ability. Not unless I'm enraged to the intensity I was earlier. And no one can fight to their best in that situation."
"Any idea how to break the compulsion?" a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Harry leaning into his husband's side, a beaming smile on his face, even considering what they were now talking about.
"Someone outside of us is needed. Someone we trust," Lucius remarked. "A mage is not necessary, but whoever it is must be able to use wandless magic."
Harry sighed. "I don't know anybody else who uses it," he said dejectedly, a little of the happiness fading.
"Will I do?" a voice asked, with a timidity in it that they hadn't heard for months. They looked up to see Neville standing there. He looked worried, but also very determined. He took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "I've been able to do wandless magic for the past six months or so. I want to help." He turned to Harry. "And, congratulations, Harry. I'm happy for you."
"Of course you can help, Neville," Harry stepped forward and enveloped his fellow Gryffindor in a hug. "And, thank you."
Part 14/?
Harry and Lucius had led the way back into the apartment, where they all gathered around in the sitting room.
"So, what do I need to do?" Neville asked courageously.
"For right now," Severus answered. "Nothing. I believe I know how to break the compulsion, but I would rather go over the books one more time. I'll inform you of your duties when I know for sure."
Neville agreed with a nod. He couldn't help being a little intimidated, being in the same room as both his still fearful Potions Professor and the Minister of Magic. However, that wouldn't stop him from doing whatever he could to help Harry.
"The first thing we need to do, is find Harry a doctor that we can trust," Lucius said thoughtfully.
Severus considered for a moment. "My choice would be Madam Faire. She has been specializing in pregnancies since before I was born, and is considered the foremost expert in male births. From what I understand, nothing is considered more important to her than her patient's well-being. Unfortunately, she retired last year, wishing to spend more time with her grandchildren."
"Perhaps I could... persuade her to come out of retirement for one special patient?" Lucius purred.
Harry glared at his lover. "I don't want you being mean to my doctor."
Thyme laughed. "Or I could ask for you. After all, she is my grandmother."
Everyone looked at her in shock. "You're grandmother's name is Faire?" Blaise tried to hide his chuckle.
Thyme Scarborough, sister of Parsley, Sage and Rosemary, rolled her eyes. "Yes, her name is Lillith Faire and yes, she's my mother's mother."
"Do you think she would help?" Harry got back to the important things.
She just nodded. "She didn't really want to retire, but there were 'irreconcilable differences' with the hospital. She was planning on starting a private practice in a couple of years."
"Are you sure she won't mind starting early?" Harry asked worriedly.
"I'm sure," Thyme answered. "Besides, it's not as if she'd be moving in or anything. Normally, you'd only see her every couple of weeks unless there's some reason for you to go more often."
"Will I like her?" Harry asked.
"You'll love her. Unless of course, you don't follow her directions. She can be a real martinet about what you should and shouldn't be doing. And if you're doing something that might hurt either yourself or your baby, she'll make sure you know it, and make sure you *never* consider doing it again." Thyme warned him.
"She sounds perfect," Draco laughed. "He needs someone to force him to follow rules now and then."
"I'll write to her tonight, but where are you going to meet?" Thyme asked.
"There's the next question," Severus reminded them. "Are you going to stay in school?"
"Why wouldn't he?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Some of the classes might be dangerous," Hermione reminded him.
"Not to mention, they probably want him as far away from Dumbledore as possible," Blaise added.
"Both of which are good points," Harry said. "But I can't just leave school. Not only would I miss my friends and father, but what would I do with myself all day? I'd go mad just sitting around the Manor by myself. Lucius has to work, even Jeri and the girls have their jobs. Besides, I can't help but feel that if I leave, he wins, and I don't want to see how that would get twisted around by him and the press. Also, wouldn't I have to take this year over again, and be put in Ginny's class?"
"As much as I would *hate* to lose our esteemed Potions Master," Ron started, causing everyone to laugh, "couldn't he go with you and tutor you, so you don't miss a year of school?"
Severus shook his head. "My contract is unbreakable, and runs through Harry's last year. I can't quit, take a leave of absence without being in St. Mungo's or dead, or even look for a new job, until it runs out."
"Look," Harry sighed. "Let's start with what I can not do."
"You can't play quidditch," Hermione said immediately.
"I will not even let you in the room while certain potions are brewing," Severus spoke up next. "However, there are only two of those for your year group. There are certain others that you would not be allowed to test, but could brew."
"No transformations," Lucius added. "That includes your Animagus form Nothing that will change your body, even if it's just an arm."
"That's not a problem," Hermione had her own input. "The syllabus said we're not going to work on human transformations until next year."
Neville thought for a moment. "Herbology should be safe. There aren't any really dangerous plants, you know, ones that spit out toxins or are poisonous, not this year anyway." He frowned for a moment. "Except leech root. You should really stay away from that one."
"We'd have to check on Charms," Blaise added his own counsel. "There might be a couple you shouldn't have done to you, but there shouldn't be that many. Professor Flitwick isn't real big on that sort."
"I don't expect there would be any problems with Ancient Runes or Magical Theory," Harry said. "Which leaves DADA." He sighed. "Why couldn't we have an incompetent teacher again this year? We're doing practicals, including dueling, once a week. There's no way I can do that, is there? The book work wouldn't be a problem, but the other is too dangerous."
Severus and Lucius were glad they didn't have to bring that up.
"Can't you talk to Professor O'Feahr about that?" Blaise asked. "Maybe he'll just grade you on the bookwork. After all, it's obvious you know quite a bit about the practical aspects."
"I can try," Harry agreed.
"Of course, you might not be able to complete the year," Thyme warned. "I know Grandmother has had to put almost a third of the male pregnancies she's dealt with on bed rest for the last three months or so. You wouldn't be able to go to class if that happened. And what are you going to do once the baby is born? Who's going to take care of it and you while you're recovering?"
"Cattie take care of Mistress Jade and Mistress Jade's baby!" a voice said vehemently from beside Lucius' chair. The little house elf glared around at the humans to make sure her point got across, before laying a small tray next to the arm of the chair and disappearing.
Draco blinked. "I thought Cattie was so shy she never spoke."
Harry laughed. "Obviously, she feels this is important enough to speak up. And you've got to admit, she's been doing a wonderful job." He eagerly reached for the tidbits on the tray. "She always knows just what I want," he said around his mouthful.
"Okay," Hermione said, trying to get things back on track. "You're going to be staying in school, at least as long as possible. The next question is, when do you want to tell everyone?"
Harry dropped the food he was eating and stared at his friend. Then he sighed and settled back. He looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know," he groaned. "Do I have to?"
Various versions of the answer 'yes' came from around the room.
He was silent for a long, long moment. "I'm not ready for that," he finally answered. "I just... I can't deal with being the center of attention again. I can't."
Lucius pulled up close and started rubbing Harry's back to calm him down once more. For the first time since they came down there, Flick moved off the table she'd been resting on and curled up around her human's neck and shoulders, adding her own version of calmness.
Harry turned to look up at his husband. "I don't want to deny my child or you, but I don't want to announce the pregnancy, either. Can't we just let it come out when it comes out?"
"That assumes Dumbledore or Poppy don't announce it first," Severus reminded him.
"If they do, then I'll deal," Harry sighed. "But I don't want to have to tell everybody, either."
"We can put it off for a little while," Severus agreed reluctantly. "though I don't think you should leave it too long."
Harry nodded his agreement. "I just don't want anything more to set me apart, you know?"
"We understand," Ron told him.
"We'll do it as you want, for now," Draco agreed for the others.