Triad of Mothers
Chapter 1: A Ritual
Harry's head pounded as he woke groggily, trying to remember what happened, and just why he was laying on a rough stone floor. He heard someone shuffling and trying to muffle their groans, and he sat up, slowly, attempting to withhold his own groans of soreness.
He looked around to find himself in a cell in some kind of basement. The walls were the same as the cold, rough stone he was sitting on. The only light came from a lantern inside the cell, and the other cells, and the ones along the wall outside it. There were dark, metal bars separating the cells and the hall.
He heard the groans again, although from someone else this time, and he turned to find that he wasn't alone.
In the cell with him was Professor Snape and Luna Lovegood, one of his best friends. They were both still laying on the floor, holding their heads and curled in balls, muffled groans escaping them every so often.
"Are you two okay?" He asked, worriedly as he crawled over and sat between them, resting a gentle hand on each of their shoulders.
They groaned in response, "Yeah, I get that. Do either of you know what happened? Or where we are?"
Everything was rather foggy in his mind as he lethargically tried to piece together what happened to them. But all he could remember was that him and Luna were leaving the kitchens where they had spent some time together, and Snape caught them.
Snape peeked through his hands and growled as he sat up, looking at both Harry and Luna worriedly.
"I swear, when we get out of here I am going to kill those bloody idiots," he grumbled, "As for your second question, Potter, we are in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. And no, Draco was not involved in this. It was Miss Parkinson, and Messers Crabbe and Goyle. Are either of you injured?"
"No, sir," Harry and Luna said together.
"Good," the Professor stood and stalked over to the door, examining it closely, and waving his hands for a second before growling in frustration, "There are magical dampeners. We can't use magic. But they seem weaker than the usual ones, so I believe they are only temporary,"
"Well, that makes sense, I guess," Harry said forlornly.
Of course it was only temporary. He had no doubt that they would all be dead soon, unless they, somehow, managed to escape.
He wasn't counting his luck, though.
A door crashed open down the hall and they heard heavy boots striding towards them.
"We'll be okay," Luna whispered to them both, "Eventually,"
Harry could tell that he wasn't the only one who wanted to look at her like she was crazy. How could they possibly be okay?
This was anything but okay.
The door to the cell crashed open and they all jumped round to see the Lestrange brothers standing there with sick grins on their faces.
"You three ready for some fun?" Rodolphus asked.
"Who cares?" Rabastan said before stunning the three of them and levitating them with little difficulty.
They were dragged through the air of the Manor, occasionally bashed into walls or doorways. Soon, though, they were dropped to the floor of a large ballroom which was filled with Death Eaters, and Voldemort was standing in the middle of a large ritual circle, the same circle they happened to be dropped in. They were still stunned, though, so they couldn't do anything as the snake-faced man grinned down at them.
"Well, well, well, isn't this an impressive sight? My followers have actually managed to do what I asked of them and brought you three to me. Stunned, too, which is just perfect. Can't have you moving out of this ritual circle before the ritual begins, you know. It is very important," Voldemort said, calmly.
"You may be wondering what you are all doing here, especially you, Severus," Voldemort said, "Well, it is simple. I am going to kill you all, eventually, but not after torturing you in a way that I think is rather ingenious, myself, because it will hurt you in ways I wouldn't have considered doing so before this ritual was brought to me, and it will help me in the long run,"
"I assume none of you have heard of the Triad of Mothers ritual," he paused for a few seconds but neither of them could speak, the Death Eaters laughed, though, some squealed in delight. Harry was panicking, he didn't know of it, but it didn't sound exactly great. Not that it made much sense since both him and Professor Snape were men, and therefore couldn't be mothers… right?
"This ritual is brilliant, I must say. I had never thought about having heirs before, because I don't need them for the typical heir duties, but now that I have heard of this ritual and the children it produces, I can't help but need it, you know. The power that they will have will be enough for me to truly take over the world if I raise them right. Who would have thought that both Harry Potter, and my dearest spy were bearers? If I had known I would have done something about it a lot sooner, Severus, but you decided to betray me instead, by not telling me of your gift, and by spying on me for the old fool,
"Who would have thought that these three were the most powerful magicals in the country, perhaps even the world? Even more powerful than me if their levels are anything to go by," he whispered that bit so only the three of them could hear it, and it was all shocking to Harry, he was terrified.
What was a bearer?
What was he?
"Who would have thought that these three would have magic most compatible with mine? Magics that would work more than well enough for this ritual?" he was speaking to the room again now, his voice smooth and deadly.
"The children these three birth will be the most powerful children in the world, and they will be wonderful assets to our cause. I get to torture these three with pregnancy, childbirth, and watching me take their children away from them the moment they are born, and then I can kill them, slowly, painfully, however I want. Because they won't be leaving us until the day they die,"
No.
Harry didn't want that.
He had to assume that being a bearer meant that he could get pregnant.
How Voldemort knew that before Harry knew that was beyond him but so many had kept secrets from him before that it wasn't entirely surprising.
But he couldn't do that.
He couldn't carry and birth a baby, his baby, and then watch this monster take his baby away from him just to use them for something, not to love them.
No, his baby should be loved. Not used.
He tried to get his magic to work properly and fight his way through the stunner still trapping him there. But he couldn't. He couldn't escape. He couldn't get them all out of there.
He couldn't do it.
A chime went off and the snake-faced monster chuckled.
"It's time to begin," and the Death Eaters cheered.
No.
He couldn't do this.
Couldn't the bastard just kill them?
Honestly he had been trying to kill Harry for so long, why didn't he just do it?
Why wasn't his bloody magic working?
A cold hand grabbed his chin roughly and yanked his mouth open. A potion was poured down his throat and for some reason it went down without him having to swallow.
He wanted, desperately, to throw it up, to get rid of the potion that will make him live that nightmare of watching his baby being taken away from him by his enemy. He couldn't do it. He couldn't.
And yet he couldn't vomit it up.
And it hurt.
Voldemort was saying words he didn't understand. He tried to hear them, tried to understand them.
But the pain was immense. His stomach burned and cramped and he wanted to scream. He wanted to escape.
But he couldn't.
His magic was too busy making a life that he wouldn't be able to protect, and he could feel every second of it. His heart felt every second of it, and he wanted to cry because he knew he would love this life, this baby, his baby, and he wouldn't be able to protect them.
He could feel his magic reaching out and Snape's and Luna's magic reaching out to him, and they were intertwining. Despite the pain he felt good about them two, and their magic. He felt like he could protect them and they would protect him. He felt cared for. He felt safe as their magics intertwined, and it was weird, because they were anything but safe.
But somehow he managed to feel a slither of hope because their combined magic was strong, powerful. More powerful than anything he had ever felt before.
And for a second he allowed himself the thought that maybe they could escape. That they could get out of this, and help, and protect each other.
Then he felt a tiny ball of life, of magic, that wasn't his own, settle into what he supposed was his womb. The womb he never knew he had. And the pain started to dissipate, though it didn't leave entirely. And his magic was joined to the two people he was being held captive with.
And Voldemort laughed.
"They are carrying my heirs!" he yelled, and the cheers were almost deafening, "The world will be ours!" and they got worse.
No.
No.
No.
He had to protect the others. He had to protect their babies.
He had to do something.
His magic flared, and he could feel the other's doing the same. Their bond was strong, their magic stronger. They could do this.
He felt his finger twitch, and the corner of his mouth.
They could escape.
Their magic was working again.
Properly.
In a move so quick Harry was shocked they didn't hurt themselves, the three of them joined hands and with a burst of magic they crashed through the wards around the Manor and apparated.
They landed, a few seconds later, in a large garden which, from what Harry could see from his position laying on the floor, was rather beautiful with flowers of all colours and kinds in well organised patches. There also seemed to be a forest surrounding the garden, and a Manor house in the centre of it all.
"Are you two okay?" the Professor groaned as he sat up, his hand on his flat stomach.
Harry and Luna sat up, also groaning.
"Erm, are any of us okay?" Harry muttered, "I mean we've just been held against our will by Voldie, and I'm guessing impregnated, against our will. I say guessing because I have no clue what a bearer is, or that I was one, am one? I don't know. It hurts. I feel weird. And Voldie was going to take our babies from us and raise them without love just so he could have powerful enough magicals to take over the whole world. I think we're doing splendidly considering we had to imagine ourselves carrying and birthing children who we wouldn't know, and would be forced into little soldiers for him to use," he was trying really hard not to be sarcastic, really, he was, but it was a bit difficult, "Honestly, though, what the fuck just happened?"
"You didn't know you were a bearer?" Snape asked, even more shocked when Harry shook his head, "Right, well, we should educate you on that. Though you should have been told during your health check with Madame Pomfrey during your first year,"
"What check? I didn't have any check with Madame Pomfrey that year, or any year really, other than the times I was in the hospital wing for being hurt by something, and she has never told me anything about it,"
He could tell that Snape was trying to hide his shock, and anger, but he was failing, and he could feel the Professor's magic wanting to go and confront the medi-witch also.
"You haven't had a health check?" the Professor asked, a little of the anger seeping into his voice, "The one where she checks for any signs of abuse, or magical abilities such as the boys being bearers?"
"N-no," Harry stuttered, "I was meant to be checked over for signs of abuse?"
Why wasn't he checked? It would have told them everything. He could have escaped.
He felt tears fill his eyes and he had no way of stopping them from falling because everything hurt too much.
He could have escaped.
"Yes, all the students are checked at the beginning of their first year. Then any cases are brought to me, as the Professor with personal experience in the matter, and I help them," the man said and it twisted Harry's heart.
As if this day couldn't get any worse.
He could have escaped.
Harry was shaking, he realised when the older man grabbed a hold of his hands and steadied them. His shoulders were still shaking.
"I could have escaped," Harry choked out quietly.
Why did everything have to hurt?
Why did it hurt to breathe?
What even was breathing?
"Harry," he heard someone say urgently, "You need to breathe for me, okay. I need you to breathe. In… and out… with me," one of his hands was placed on a firm chest, and he was instructed to breathe with them, "In… and out," over and over.
Somehow he eventually got his breathing under control.
But everything still hurt.
He could have escaped.
Should have escaped.
"Harry," Professor Snape said gently, "We'll find out what happened, okay. I promise. And you won't have to go back there ever again,"
"Promise?" Harry said.
"I promise," the man nodded, "We are bound together now, all three of us, and we have babies on the way. There is no way anyone is going to be able to separate us,"
"Babies?"
"Babies," the man nodded again.
"But I'm a man, you're a man?" Harry was still so confused, and hurt, and angry.
What was happening?
What happened?
Why?
"Yes, we are men. But we both also have wombs. I have books about it that you can read, they will tell you everything you need to know. And you can ask me questions at any time. I believe the Muggles call it intersex, but with wizards it is a tad different,"
It was then that Harry noticed they were sitting in a living room, on a large sofa opposite a fireplace, and he blinked in surprise.
"Do all wizards have wombs?" Harry asked quietly.
"No. There are a number of factors that determine whether you will have one. The main one being that you have to be magically powerful. But really it is Lady Magic that determines it, she gives a womb to the men who she thinks have what it takes to be a good mother. You have to have certain qualities. The books will go into more detail about it all. But not all wizards have a womb, and those that do, are still men, according to all the tests, our hormones, etc. but they just have the additional gift of a womb, and the ability to carry and birth children,"
"And there are babies in us now?" Harry said quietly.
"Yes. That little ball of magic you should be able to feel, that is your baby,"
Harry nodded, "And Voldie wanted to take them from us, and… and use them to take over the world?"
"Yes. Our babies will be magically powerful enough to do so, should they be raised for that sole purpose. But we will protect them from him. We will make sure they are safe. I promise,"
"But-"
"Harry, I promise you, our babies will be safe. We are in a Manor that no one other than us three, and my house elves, knows about. And we can stay here for as long as we need. We escaped because our magics are stronger than ever. And we won't be going back any time soon. Especially not with our babies. I promise. We are safe here,"
"No one can come here?" Harry said.
"No,"
"Good," Harry nodded.
Why did he feel so lost?
So out of it?
They were safe.
Their babies would be safe.
Honestly, Harry thought Voldemort was an idiot if he hadn't realised what a mother's love was capable of by that point.
Merlin, he was tired.
Hiya, I hope you are all well!
So, another story, I know, I know. But I have too many ideas, and I need to get them out of my head, ya know? I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. What would you like to see happen in future chapters? Is there anything you are guessing will happen? I am interested to hear your thoughts.
I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes and more. It is also where I have an update schedule and will be keeping you all up to date on what I am working on, both fanfics and original works. So if you are interested then I am happy to accept anyone into the group.
I hope you are all having an amazing day!
Kind regards,
Paige xx