It was Cissy who handed Harry the information for the marriage counselor Draco chose. She did so after dinner a few days later when he was picking up his daughter from the Manor. He was happy Draco was so eager for this, because it meant Draco was serious about giving their marriage another try. At the same time, he had no experience with counselors, having refused to go, even after the war. He'd always been able to handle things on his own. But if this would help their marriage, he wanted to give it his best effort.

"They want to see both of you individually first, before the initial couple's session. Draco will be going in tomorrow. You should make you appointment for as soon as possible so that the two of you can be seen together before the holidays," Cissy said.

Tucking the card with the pertinent information into his robes' pocket, Harry said, "Thank you. I was sort of hoping we could do this over the holidays when I'm already off. I don't want to take much time off work so that I can take off when the baby comes, but I'll figure something out."

"They won't do any intake sessions over the holidays, but if you have that done first, they do offer their usual weekly sessions over the holidays."

"Great! I'll see what I can do."

"About the holidays, Harry, have you and my son discussed your plans?"

"No…"

"Well you need to. I assume you will want to spend time with Eiona on Christmas too."

"Yes, I do. Last year worked out great with you coming over to my place in the morning, spending time with you and Lucius at the hospital around noon, and then us going over to the Burrow in the evening."

"You were married then. Now you are separated. That changes things."

Harry slapped himself in the face and groaned, realizing what this was going to do to the Christmas morning he'd been picturing. It wouldn't be like last year when the three of them woke up early to happily tear into their presents. He might not even have Eiona in the morning. He might wake up alone, with no one but Kreacher and Hissy in his lonely house.

"Alright, I'll talk to him about it," Harry said.

"Good. Eiona is packed and ready," Cissy said handing the nappy bag over, ending the conversation.

Harry took the bag and his daughter home. He wanted to send an owl off with a letter to the marriage counselor asking about appointment availability, but without Draco around, he had no owl to send.

"That's it; I'm asking for a new owl for Christmas," Harry told his Eiona.

Dozens of people had already asked if they could get him one, but he'd always refused, because the memory of Hedwig ate him up inside when he thought about getting a new one. But this was the house elf situation all over again and if getting a new elf could turn out alright, then getting a new owl could too.

"Awl?" Eiona asked, looking up at Harry with her wide green eyes.

"Yes, owl. I lost my Hedwig during the war, you know. She died protecting me." Harry didn't know if his child understood half the things he said, but she looked at him with understanding and reached out with her arms wide open for a hug. He hugged back, nuzzling into her growing blond hair.

In the end, Harry waited until the next day when he had a break at work to fire-call the marriage counselor. Draco must've gone out of his way to find someone who worked evenings and weekends to fit into Harry's schedule, because Madam Harris worked eleven to seven Wednesday through Friday and nine to three on weekends. She even had a timeslot open that Friday that he could make. He booked it and later he let Cissy know that he was going to be late picking Eiona up on Friday.

During the hour long introductory session, Madam Harris asked Harry to tell her about his life, his marriage, and his feelings. She was a middle aged greying witch who wore her hair in an old-fashioned up-do with square-rimmed glasses and a kind, open face. She gave off the impression that she was genuinely interested in listening to anything he had to say. She wanted to know everything from Harry's deplorable childhood with the Dursleys, to his defeat of Voldemort, to his job at the Ministry, but what they spent the most time on was his marriage. He relayed the events, feelings, and thoughts that led up to him asking for a divorce and everything that happened since, including why he'd changed his mind.

Harry had gone into the session nervous and anxious, dreading what Madam Harris might say or do. He and Draco were basically giving the power to moderate their marriage to this woman. If she didn't like him, then she quite possibly could encourage Draco to leave him. She had the power to speed the divorce along or slow it down, based on what she said to Draco about him. But after an hour he felt much more calm and relaxed about the idea. The witch seemed fair and unbiased and if he played his cards right, he just might be able to get her on his side.

The first joint appointment with both Harry and Draco was that Sunday afternoon. Harry was nervous again, fidgeting in an armchair while Draco lay back on the nearby sofa. Madam Harris sat in the other armchair, her notepad and quill in hand. There was a tea service on the end table between Harry and Draco. Draco had poured himself a cup, fixed it to his liking, and left it to cool. Harry hadn't bothered, not wanting his slightly shaking hands to betray his nerves.

"Alright, if you are both ready to start, I have a recommendation with where we should begin," Madam Harris said and they nodded. "Harry, Draco has expressed his concerns with the reason why you want to call off the divorce and continue the marriage. He feels that you are only interested because of his pregnancy and that once this baby is born, the two of you will slip back into the way things were before. Can you understand why Draco feels this way, Harry?"

"Um…" Harry said, trying to think about it. "He thinks I only want him for our kids, but that's not true."

"Why do you want him, Harry?"

"I don't know. I just do. I miss him. He's hot and funny and a good father. My life was so much more fun when he was around. I was happy and I want that back. He made me feel good," Harry answered, remembering to include his feelings, because Madam Harris always seemed to want to know.

"But you said your life wasn't fun anymore when you told me you wanted the divorce," Draco interjected.

"It wasn't. It was before. It was brilliant before we got married, but when your father got sick, it became less fun. It was still good most of the time, but it was stressful. It didn't get bad until after our anniversary."

"When I started experiencing pregnancy symptoms in combination with my hypoglycemia," Draco supplied.

"Yes, but I didn't know that was what was going on. I didn't know it was temporary and would go away with proper treatment. I thought the rest of our lives were going to be like that. I feared things would keep getting worse," Harry said.

"So what you are saying, Harry, is that you decided to divorce Draco, because the two of you were going through a rough patch and you thought that it was permanent?" Madam Harris asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"And if you had known, Harry, that the rough patch was temporary, you wouldn't have asked for a divorce; you would have stayed in the marriage and tried to work through it?" Madam Harris asked and Harry agreed. "And if another rough patch were to hit in the future, when the children are all grown up and out of the house, you would still stay? You wouldn't want out when the children are no longer there tying you to him?"

"Yes, I'd stay. I love our children and I'm thrilled about the new baby, but they aren't the only reason I want Draco. I'd still want him without them around. I love him."

"But your daughter was the reason you two came together in the first place," Madam Harris said.

"Yes, she is the reason why Draco ended up staying with me, but her existence isn't what made me fall in love with him," Harry insisted.

"Then what did?" Madam Harris asked.

"Him! His gorgeous face and hot body drew me in initially, but it was him that I fell in love with and him that I was obsessed with in school. His snarky zingers used to drive me crazy until I started craving them."

"What was your obsession like in school?"

"I was always drawn to him, even first year my days seemed to revolve around him. I looked for him at mealtimes, just to see what he was doing. Whenever I saw him in the hallways, my entire attention was instantly drawn to him. I'd spend entire days thinking about my last encounter with him. We were always fighting and arguing, it's true, but it was fun arguing with him. He was the most interesting person I knew."

"Draco, how did you feel about Harry in school?" Madam Harris asked.

"I thought he was a rude, self-centered, conceited git, but he was still the highlight of my day," Draco answered.

"Good, it's mutual. Now let's get back to the issue of the divorce. The Daily Prophet raised an interesting point about the possibility that Draco might someday develop Motor Neurone disease, like his father. The Prophet suggested, Harry, that if Draco were to be diagnosed with an incurable fatal disease, you would leave him. What do you have to say to that Harry?"

"It's absurd. First of all, Motor Neurone disease isn't fatal, it's treatable. Lucius is proof of that. Secondly, Draco won't have it. Just because it runs in his family, doesn't mean he'll get it," Harry answered.

"You don't know that," Draco replied softly, looking down to avoid making eye contact."

"I know it. Draco, look at me," Harry requested and waited until Draco looked up. "You are not your father. You won't have your father's disease. Eiona won't have it either. You will both be fine, I know it."

"How can you know that?" Draco asked.

"I just do. I feel it deep down inside. You may have hypoglycemia, but you do not have Motor Neurone disease."

"Harry, I realize you may feel that way, but you still haven't answered the question. What if, twenty years in the future, Draco was diagnosed with a fatal disease? What if he was doomed to a slow, painful decline and eventually death? Would you stay with him?"

"Yes. I'd take care of him. I made the mistake of not realizing he needed help before, but I won't do it again. Next time I'll make sure he sees a healer right away and I'll take care of him. Maybe I'll need a nurse to help me if he's really sick, especially if the children are young, but I'll still be there for him. I'll take care of him myself as much as possible. I won't leave him; I won't make that mistake again."

"Draco, do accept Harry's answer? Do you feel that he means it?" Madam Harris asked. Harry waited, looking at Draco, with baited breath for the answer. Draco nodded and Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Is there anything else either of you would like to say about this issue, or are you ready to move on to the next one?" They both indicated that they were ready to move on. "Alright, next I would like to discuss Draco's problem with communication. I think a lot of the unhappiness Harry was feeling could have been avoided if you, Draco had done a better job communicating with him. You didn't always have problems telling him how you feel, Draco. From what you both told me, you used to have no trouble insulting him at school, correct?"

Draco nodded. "Yes, but exchanging insults and hexes isn't exactly good communication in a relationship," Harry added and Draco chuckled.

"That is true, but at least back then Draco felt confident in expressing himself, Harry. He and I talked in depth about this issue during our initial meeting. It seems to me that this issue with communication started after the war when he came to live with you. The dynamic of your relationship shifted dramatically then, did it not?" Madam Harris asked.

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "He stopped insulting me and causing problems. He was just quiet and kept to himself at first."

"That has to do with that fact that you had just won the war, Harry, while his side had lost. He was an accused Death Eater relegated to your custody. You were no longer equals; you had power over him," Madam Harris replied.

"But I never made him do anything. I didn't tell him he had to keep his mouth shut. I didn't treat him like a prisoner or force him to change. He was a bloody awful Death Eater; he never liked killing or torturing. He's just not that sort of person. That's why after the war he switched sides."

"No, that is why he resisted orders to hurt and kill, but his family is why he switched. The Malfoy family has long believed that it is important to be on the winning side. When it became clear that He Who Must Not Be Named was not going to win, they began to prepare to switch sides. That is why they didn't fight in the final battle and why after the war, Draco did his best to acclimate to your side. He was raised to believe in pureblood supremacy and he had to relearn a great many things rather quickly when he came to live with you. Everything he thought he knew was wrong and he did his best to pick up what you believe and to think your thoughts. Do you see how that led to this unevenness between the two of you?"

Harry had never thought of it like that before, but now he did. He thought of what it must've been like for Draco, alone, scared, and pregnant in the house of his once sworn enemy. The hopelessness that he'd feel if he were in Draco's place, stuck in Draco's house, and faced with forgetting everything he knew in favor of the beliefs of the winning side. He'd never stand for it. He wouldn't throw out his belief in muggle rights in favor of pureblood supremacy, just because his side had lost. But the reverse was just what Draco had done, despite generations upon generations of Malfoy teaching.

"That must've been very hard for him," Harry finally answered softly. He felt he should turn and say it to Draco, but he didn't quite have the courage to look at Draco at the moment. He feared that he had somehow brainwashed Draco and made Draco believe his beliefs. And if he looked at Draco now, he might just see that horrible truth on Draco's face.

"Yes, it was hard for him, but he did it. You, Draco, are a very strong person to pull through that. But, the consequence of your change and your incarceration is that you saw yourself at a lower position than Harry when you entered into a relationship with him. You were on unequal footing from the beginning and that was perpetuated in your marriage. That is why you have trouble communicating with him now. If you disagree, your first instinct is that you are wrong and should try to keep your mouth shut. That has caused Harry to be unaware of when there is something wrong. He doesn't know what he does that hurts your feelings. He doesn't know what he's doing wrong. This communication issue, I feel, is the critical issue that the two of you must overcome to create a balanced and healthy marriage," Madam Harris said.

Harry looked at Draco then, locking eyes, and said, "Draco, now that I think about it, you've changed so much for me. I didn't ask it and you shouldn't have had to ask it of me; obviously I'm not as smart as you. I didn't realize there was a problem. But now that I do, I vow to you that I will do everything I can to learn to understand your culture. There are a lot of things I don't like about it, but there are a lot of good things too. I want to learn about all those good things. I want to do that with you, together, because I love you."

"I think the two of you have made real progress today. I want to see you both back for another joint meeting next week. And Draco, we have another one of our individual appointments already on the schedule, correct?" Madam Harris asked and Draco nodded. "Then we're all set for today."

"Wait, he has another individual appointment? Do I need another one too?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and no. He has one and you do not need one."

"Why?"

"Because your husband has issues that I feel it would be best to work on individually at the moment. If and when you need a little extra help, then we can meet without him. But for now, I think you've shown great initiative on your own. Enjoy your holiday."

Harry accepted that answer. Then farewells were exchanged and Harry and Draco left together for Malfoy Manor. Harry still had to pick up their daughter, but he would've saw Draco home either way.

Author's Note: Our boys have finally made it to therapy! It will continue in the background probably throughout the end of the story, with frequent snippets and the occasional full chapter devoted to it. So, if there is ever something that happens that you think they need to talk over, please let me know. I have the emotional range of a teaspoon, so I am really going to need help with this therapy thing.

Up next will be Christmas. Please Review!