Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe belongs to JKR and anyone she legally lets use them. Not me.

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews, and all the fave and alert adds. I'm so happy you're enjoying the story! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 13

Draco stared blankly at the closed bathroom door in shock. Did Severus really think that Potter…?

Sighing, Draco ran his hand through his hair. Severus was his lover and he wanted to make sure that his actions didn't hurt him. But, he also felt this deep seeded resentment against Potter.

Draco leaned back and laid on the bed, thinking about his history with Potter.

The rejected hand.

His witnessing Draco's humiliating embarrassment in the Forbidden Forest.

Being Slytherin's heir and that humiliating, failed duel.

Granger slapping him.

Stupid famous Harry Potter in the stupid Triwizard Tournament and winning.

Draco paused. Was he being…jealous?

Draco took in a deep breath. Malfoys weren't jealous. They never had to be. They were always perfect and had everything they wanted and…

He needed to talk to someone…now…but who?

Mother. Mother would know what to do.

Draco stood up and hurried towards the front door. Destination: Malfoy Manor.

Draco climbed the steps up to Malfoy Manor, his mind instantly more at rest here in his childhood home.

"Master Draco?"

Draco looked down to meet eyes with Tippy, his mother's personal house elf.

"Tippy, call Mother."

Tippy blinked for a moment, before saying slowly, "Is Master Draco in an emergency?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Is Mother not home?"

Tippy shook her head, "No, Mistress Malfoy is with the children."

Draco's other eyebrow joined the first, "Children?"

Tippy nodded. Draco blinked blankly before saying, "Tippy, call Mother now. It is an emergency."

Tippy nodded and popped away while Draco collapsed in the armchair in the parlor. Children?

"Draco. Is everything alright dear?" Narcissa entered quickly, her sky blue robes gently flowing around her.

"Mother." Draco rose to embrace her.

Narcissa frowned and cupped her son's cheek, "Draco? Is something the matter?"

Draco swallowed, "Mother. My world…it's falling apart. I don't…"

Narcissa gently squeezed her son's arm, "Come child, tell me." She led him to the sofa, gently settling him next to her, giving him her full attention. Her eyes betrayed the concern she felt for her son, who looked anguished and confused.

"Mother. I…I…"

Narcissa took pity on her son, "Is this about Harry?"

Draco's gaze snapped up to his mother, "Harry?"

Narcissa sighed, "Draco…"

Draco stood, "No…no…Mother, not you too! Father and then Severus, and now you? Must he steal everyone from me?"

Draco turned, intending to storm out, and wasn't expecting his mother's sharp voice to stop him. "Draco Lucius Malfoy! You will sit down right this instant and listen to your mother!"

Draco's eyes widened. His mother hadn't taken this tone with him since he was seven. Pursing his lips, Draco sat down, though he did shoot his mother a deadly glare.

Narcissa sighed and clasped her hands together. "You have been so immersed in your Healer training, and you were so happy and…free in your life away from Britain… and then dealing with Severus and Harry's situation… your Father and I didn't want to…burden you with sad news."

Draco froze and leaned in towards his mother, "Mother, what happened?"

Narcissa looked down before looking back up at her son and taking his hand in hers. "Eight months ago…after years of failed attempts…I became pregnant."

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

Narcissa smiled sadly, "I…was so happy. As was your father. But, after years of trying, we were afraid to tell anyone. At four months, I felt more confident and we were going to tell you. And then, a week later…I…"

"Mother," Draco's anguished whisper echoed through the room.

Narcissa swallowed and gave her son a watery smile. "I should've expected it. I mean, over twenty years of trying, and I'm starting to grow old in age…"

"Mother! You are still young and fertile; you're in your prime age as a witch. We live so long…"

Narcissa smiled and patted her son's check lightly, "Thank you dear. I wanted to tell you, you are my son and a Healer, but…after so much sadness…we didn't not want you to suffer too."

Draco pursed his lips and squeezed his mother's hand, "I wish you had, but I understand."

Narcissa nodded, "Yes, well, I was…miserable after the loss. I…I felt it was my last chance, after this one, there would be no more. And, oh, how I wanted to give you a sibling, your father a daughter…" Narcissa broke up, choking on her tears. Unable to take his mother's abject misery Draco enveloped his mother in his arms, squeezing her tight.

For a few minutes neither son nor mother spoke a word.

Finally Narcissa gently pushed Draco away and wiped her cheeks with one manicured hand and continued, "For a while I was inconsolable. So much so that your father suggested leaving the Ministry and spending some time away, traveling maybe, but away from Britain."

Draco blinked in surprise. "But father loves his job."

Narcissa smiled, "Yes, yes he does. And after the war, he is treading on thin ice; he cannot afford to leave. He may not be welcomed back. And with Harry as his main responsibility, he was able to better his reputation. But, I could not convince Lucius not to leave."

"What did Mother?"

Caressing his hand, Narcissa said, "Lucius went to turn in his resignation letter to Harry first. Harry was surprised to say the least. He, apparently, refused to take Lucius's letter. When Lucius informed Harry of the reason, Harry asked Lucius for a week to try and…help me…and if he couldn't then Lucius could leave. Lucius was astonished, but he knew as well as I that Harry seems to have the ability to…make the impossible possible. So he gave him a week."

Draco looked at his mother dumbfoundedly, "What the hell did Potter do that Father couldn't?"

Narcissa let out a laugh, her voice tinkling like fairy bells and looked at her son fondly. "Harry has…a unique outlook on life and problems. He fights them very differently from your father. What Harry did…was very much characteristic for him. But something your father would never have thought of."

Draco leaned forward...

Flashback

Narcissa looked up in surprise from her sad brooding to see the concerned and sad face of Harry Potter.

"Mr. Potter." Narcissa rose, turning slightly to make sure her face did not reveal any of the misery she felt deep within her soul. Breathing and drawing the Malfoy mask on, she said, "If you're looking for Lucius, I'm afraid he hasn't returned. Would you like to wait in his study for—"

Harry drew close and laid a hand gently on Narcissa's arm. "Mrs. Malfoy. My condolences for your loss."

Narcissa froze and took a shuddering breath. "Lucius told you."

Harry nodded and then gently prodded the woman to sit on the couch, where he joined her and gently took her hand in his. "I am so very sorry."

Narcissa nodded, staring blankly at the hand which held hers.

"I always wanted children you know."

Narcissa looked up in surprise to see Harry gazing steadily out the window. "From when I was very young, I always wanted a big family. Who would love me unconditionally and who I could smother with mine." Harry glanced back at Narcissa, "And then I realized I was gay."

Narcissa kept looking at Harry in surprise.

Harry laughed bitterly, "It is amazing the amount of pain the human body can inflict on itself. My dream, my one, precious, coveted dream and I would never be able to have it. Not the way I wanted."

Narissa nodded, squeezing Harry's hand. Although their situations were different, in many ways, they were very similar.

"When I realized I couldn't have children because of my…inclinations, I cried. I was miserable for weeks. I couldn't do anything."

Harry quirked his lips, "Ron went crazy because he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, and Hermione kept lecturing him about teenage angst."

Harry turned his brilliant green eyes back towards Narcissa, "And then I met Zoe."

Narcissa looked at Harry questioningly. Harry took his free hand and drew out a photograph of a young girl, maybe seven years old, playing in the sand. She turned and smiled brilliantly at the camera before returning to play. Eyes blue like the sky and hair as black as night, she was a gorgeous child.

"She's an orphan, a causality of war."

Narcissa looked up to see the fleeting look of deep seeded sorrow graze over Harry's face.

Clearing his throat, Harry said, "She was very young, only a year old, when I met her. She was in the room next to where I was meeting one of the Aurors at the Ministry. I heard her crying, and of course, being curious like I am, I went next door to see what the problem was. She was sitting there, all alone, in her makeshift crib. Just a little baby, and all alone in the dreary Ministry."

Narissa's heart clenched for the poor abandoned child.

"That day I discovered there were many children like her, of all ages, orphaned or abandoned because of the war. A war that I had to fight. That I had to win."

Here, Harry's eyes locked with Narcissa's icy blue ones, and she gasped at the pain she saw within them.

"I felt responsible. So, I decided, I couldn't have children of my own, but I could help them. Make sure they didn't have a childhood like mine…or like Voldemort's"

Narcissa's eyes widened. She had forgotten that the Dark Lord had grown up in a Muggle orphanage.

Harry nodded, and turned back to gaze at the photo, "I couldn't give my own child the care and happiness that I had desired as I child. But I could give it to these children, orphaned like me and like the evil man who this war centered around."

Brushing the photo with his fingertips, he placed it in Narcissa's hands and closed her fingers gently around it. "On the back is the address of the orphanage I opened for them. It's open to all magical orphans, we educate them, take care of them, feed them, love them. Molly Weasley is one of the main managers of the orphanage, though we have a number of other people who supervise, including Ginny Zabini and Luna Longbottom. And Daphne Greengrass."

Narcissa looked up in surprise, a Slytherin? In a Gryffindor sponsored orphanage?

Harry smiled, "I thought maybe you'd like to go and visit them. It might help. They are children who could never love or be loved by the parents who were unfairly snatched away from them. And you could never give your love to the child that was unfairly snatched away from you. Beneficial for both of you, don't you think?"

Harry rose and began to walk out, even as Narcissa stared blankly at the photograph.

And then, being the sneaky half-Slytherin that he was, Harry paused in the doorway and said, "Besides. If Molly Weasley can do it, then I'm sure Narcissa Malfoy can as well."

Smirking, Harry swept out the door and Narcissa half-glared, half-stared at his retreating back.

End of Flashback

"I made a decision two days later and went to the orphanage where I met Althaea. She was this lovely baby, platinum blonde hair and eyes as green as grass. She was sitting at a table and playing with a doll. I walked in and she looked up and smiled at me and waved. Daphne introduced me as Aunt Narcissa and the lovely child goes, 'Hello Aunt Cissa, it's wonderful to meet you.' Five years old and what manners." Narcissa smiled at her son's gobsmacked face.

"Somehow, Harry Potter found just what I needed to help fill that hole within me. Not that I will forget my child. But I know that there are children who need just that love, just because they are not mine…"

Narcissa looked out the window, gripping her son's hand, "Once, the Malfoy line was all that your father and I cared for. No other child would do. But, well, we do have you, but those children, if you had seen them."

Narcissa looked back at Draco, "It saddens me so."

Draco grasped his mother's hand, "Potter…"Draco swallowed, "Potter did this, after Severus and he were married?"

Narcissa nodded and suddenly Draco slumped, his shoulder's falling, his hair moving from its precise positioning to drop in front of his face.

"Draco? Dragon, what is it?"

Draco looked up into his mother's eyes, "I fear…I fear I have been jealous of Potter..."

Narcissa raised and eyebrow, "Why child?"

Draco sighed and leaned back, "He always had everything I wanted Mother. He was popular, had friends, was famous, always ended up doing the right thing…"

Narcissa smiled, "Perhaps."

Draco scowled, "And he always reveled in it."

Narcissa sighed, "Did he?"

Draco glared at his mother, "And he always buts in between Severus and me and it's putting this…thing...between us! We're always disagreeing and having fights! It's never happened this much before."

Narcissa sighed again and stroked Draco's hand, "Love, fights are normal for couples."

Draco pouted, "Not for us."

"Then perhaps your relationship isn't really as strong as you think it is."

Draco looked at his mother in surprise, "Excuse me?"

Narcissa smiled gently, "Draco, fights between couples are normal, are necessary. If you do not fight, you do not compromise. If you cannot compromise, how do you know that each of you is not hiding something that may drastically be hurting you? You must confront things you disagree upon and compromise, and that, my child, is what makes a relationship stronger."

Draco scowled, "But he's ruining our relationship!"

Narcissa frowned and pressed her hands against her sons, "Forgive me my child, but frankly, you seem to be doing that perfectly fine on your own."

Severus frowned as he took stock of his potions. Him and his big mouth. What had he been thinking telling Draco all that? The boy…he may love him but Draco wasn't always the most understanding.

And Potter, what was he going to do about him? Secret after secret, he felt that no matter how much he unraveled about Potter, he would never learn everything there was to know about him.

Severus sighed and put his hands in his pockets, freezing when he felt the photo hidden away in his pocket. He must've moved it with everything else from his other robes. Drawing it out, Severus frowned as he took in what was in the photograph. It was obvious that Draco and Potter were…friendly in the photo. At least, neither hated the other. And yet, Draco acted so angrily presently. Why? Did they fight? Was there a disagreement? What had happened?

"Severus."

Severus looked up to find a pale Draco standing in the doorway.

"Draco?" Severus shoved the photo into a drawer under the lab counter and moved towards his lover, alarmed at the pale complexion the man sported. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Severus drew the younger man into his embrace, concern seeping into his voice.

"I…I apologize Severus."

Severus looked down in surprise at Draco, his concern increasing as the younger man seemed to clench his robes desperately.

"Draco, what is the matter? You're forgiven, it's alright. But what is the matter?"

Draco looked up and choked at the concerned expression on his lover's face. How could he ever deny this man, this lovely man who loved him so, who cared for him like no other? How could he be a stubborn prat and insist he was right?

"I love you Severus."

Surprise bloomed in Severus's eyes. Though both knew that there was mutual love between them, they rarely said the words. Cupping his lover's face in his hands, Severus stroked his thumbs over Draco's cheeks. "I love you too Draco."

Draco let out a choked sob and buried his face in Severus's neck.

"What is the matter Draco!"

Draco swallowed and then, his face still pressed against Severus's warm neck, retold his mother's story.

He omitted, however, the hour of contemplation his mother's words has provoked. The idea that he might be sabotaging his own relationship by holding the childish grudge, by driving a wedge between him and his lover in the form of an argument about Potter, as him mother slowly and calmly explained to him, had twisted his heart in agony and he had rushed back. Draco knew that sometimes he was an irritating prat, but if he lost Severus…he would have nothing. And if putting up with Potter meant less arguing with Severus, then so be it.

Severus clutched Draco against him, his face blank in surprise, as he processed the story.

Draco looked up and laughed bitterly, "I'll try Severus, I will. I even went and checked on Potter before I came down. He's sleeping, I ran a diagnostic, the potions are working like they're supposed to. But…but I can't promise you anything. Potter…Potter just rubs me the wrong way every time I see him. But if the man can do everything he has, the least I can do is try and get along, right? I am a Malfoy. I can't let him better me."

Severus chuckled, even in his selflessness Draco was selfish. "When's your shift?"

Draco cast Tempus. "Two hours."

Severus grinned rakishly, "Well then, no time to waste right?"

Draco's eyes lit with hunger and he dragged Severus away towards the bedroom for a couple of rounds of fantastic make-up sex.

The photo lay forgotten in the drawer.

A/N2: I wasn't sure how this chapter would go over, which is why I've been dithering about it for a few days x.x And, I promise, we're FINALLY going to get some serious Harry scenes in the next chapter!

Review please!