Hermione and Susan received notice that Wizarding Health Journal would publish their study in the next issue. It would hit on Friday and Susan begged to join the Harry, Ron, and Hermione Saturday night drinks to celebrate. Hermione could sense the drinks were less important and the presence of one Auror was the true reason. But after a quick owl to confirm, Harry and Ron had no issue with it. However, Ron ended up begging off drinks for the night.
However, on Saturday morning the Daily Prophet had picked up the study and covered it on the second page - thankfully not headline news. Yet, the reporter had picked up the single speculation sentence in the discussion portion and ran with it. The article made the study out as though Hermione and Susan said that Death Eaters weren't able to have children.
That was very much not the case. Besides, just the correlation of no people with Death Eater names being announced in the paper during the period of Voldemort's first defeat from 1981 - 1994 and then after his permanent defeat after 1999 did not mean there was clear causation.
Harry had a weird day at work. Everyone was talking about the 'birth dearth' - an unfortunate nickname the Daily Prophet coined to discuss Hermione's article. There were several formerly marked Death Eaters who had paid their debt to society and returned to the wizarding community. And about half of them were in the Auror's office calling for Susan and Hermione's heads.
Some squawked about libel laws, some pushed for a force to arrest the two, and some just wanted to yell at someone. Why, oh, why did they all convalesce in the Auror department? Honestly, Harry could probably easily dispatch the crowd. But if they were here, it meant they were away from Saint Mungo's, not disrupting Hermione and Susan at work.
Letting them stew throughout the day, Harry told himself that he would break it up if they became unruly. Thankfully none of the Death Eater families causing trouble were bothering him. Yet, he was aware half the reason they were civil was his presence.
Tuning out the commotion, Harry focused on his current case. The Lestrange brothers stared up at him from the files he was reviewing. Narrowing his eyes, Harry tried to think of their next move. In the three years since the fall of Voldemort, most Death Eaters had been caught. Some were sentenced; some were released; some were locked up for life; and an ever-dwindling number of Death Eaters were still on the run.
Harry had been doggedly tracking the brothers for the past six months. They'd been sighted in England - buying a strange assortment of materials. He'd only been able to confirm their acquisition of rat spleen, Veela blood, and Ashwinder eggs. Despite Harry's Potions NEWT and former ownership of Snape's textbook, Harry couldn't think of a potion that used all three ingredients. What were the Lestrange brothers planning? Setting up an appointment with the last witness to run through the recounting of seeing the Lestrange brothers again and coordinating a visit with a potions expert for next week was the best he'd accomplished at the end of the day.
Merlin, but he was tired at the end of the day. Preparing to leave, Harry eyed the crowd still lingering around. It had lessened as the day went on, but there was still a significant chunk of people who showed no signs of leaving. Harry sighed and prepared to intervene.
"Alright! Everyone clear out! If you think you have a legal leg to stand on, contact my office in the morning. However, if you, like my family, have been posting birth announcements in the paper for decades, go home!" A voice called out from the other end of the large room.
Harry really shouldn't have been surprised to see Draco Malfoy. The man had joined the Magical Law Enforcement Department and was a force to be reckoned with. Harry was just glad the blond wizard was on their side. They'd even worked together on a few cases in the past.
The crowd cleared quickly with a few grumbles after Malfoy's announcement. Harry had been slightly impressed that people were still around after the entire day. Walking over to Malfoy, Harry clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Malfoy."
"Don't mention it. I'd have stopped by earlier, but it's been a busy day," Malfoy replied.
"Well at least let me buy you a drink in thanks. I'm meeting Hermione and Susan at the pub," Harry nodded his head to the floo.
"No Weasley?" Malfoy asked as he followed Harry to the fireplaces.
Harry chuckled. "No Ron tonight. I thought you two had cleared the air?"
"Cleared the air? Yes. Willing to spend recreational time together? No. Honestly, a Potter-Granger combo is already pushing it," Malfoy teased.
"You could just call me Harry, you know?"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow as they reached the fireplaces. "Sure, I'll start calling you Harry when you start calling me Draco."
Harry winced. "Okay, point taken." Then he stepped through the floo to the pub. Stepping out of the way at the crowded pub, Malfoy was just a second behind him.
Looking around, Harry finally spotted Hermione and Susan hanging on to a booth in the back.
"Fuck me, but Granger looks delicious," Malfoy said.
Harry nudged him with his elbow. "You might actually have a chance with her," he said. Though Harry always thought Hermione looked incredible, it seemed someone had spread the news. Multiple men were crowding around the booth chatting up Hermione.
Malfoy put a hand on Harry's arm to pull him to a stop. "Potter, do you mean it?" He was staring at Harry directly in his eyes. Harry blinked.
"Yeah. She just got out of a relationship not too long ago. So, if you aren't looking for anything serious, you might be perfect for her right now." Harry said.
"I'm not free for anything long-term, so this would be incredible," Malfoy said.
"Don't tell me, you'll have to talk to her about it. I'll go and grab us some drinks." Harry gave Malfoy a light shove towards the booth. Shooting a glance over while the bartender filled up some pints, he saw that Malfoy had sidled right up to Hermione.
As he walked up to the table, he noticed Susan eyeing him closely. Strange.
"Hey, Harry! Come sit by me." Susan gestured to her side of the booth. Setting a pint down in front of Malfoy, Harry rounded the table to settle in next to Susan.
It was a pleasant night. Harry was surprised to see so many men keep coming over to flirt with Hermione. However, her attention seemed to focus on Malfoy more than anyone else.
When Susan and Malfoy got into a discussion about the study, Hermione turned to Harry. "What is up with our table tonight?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"People keep coming up to us! You've had more than double the normal amount of women coming up to hit on you, and I've never had this much male attention in my life!" Hermione said.
Now that she mentioned, they had been interrupted more than usual. "Hermione you look incredible, and we know that I always look amazing," Harry dramatically ran a hand through his hair, fluffing up his messy locks.
"Stop it." Hermione smiled to herself.
"No, but I'm serious. I've half a mind to throw you over my shoulder, drag you out of here and go have my wicked way with you," Harry said. Where did that come from? It was true. But Harry could usually keep those thoughts inside.
This time Hermione laughed.
Harry pretended to look put out.
"Promises, promises," Hermione teased back.
"Hey now, if anyone's going home with Granger," Malfoy started. Hermione just raised an eyebrow at the man. "It should be her decision. Now, Granger, don't burst my pride. Tell me I'm at least in the running." He smirked at her.
"Nice save. I'd say you're near the top." Hermione smiled at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about. So, how do I claim the top spot?" Malfoy's voice had dropped an octave.
"You have to earn it." Hermione leaned into him.
Harry chose to tune it out. "While Draco fights to go home with Hermione, what's a girl have to do to go home with you, Harry?" Susan put a hand on Harry's arm and started slowly rubbing it.
"Asking nicely is a good start," Harry said and threw his arm behind her back. Susan moved her hand from his arm as he shifted and rested it on his chest. If Susan wanted to make a move, Harry was happy to let her.
"Want to get out of here?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Harry said. He slid out of the booth and offered a hand for Susan to take. As they left, Harry glanced back to see Malfoy helping Hermione into her coat.
A week later the pub group was back to the original Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio. Ron looked very calm.
"What's with you?" Hermione asked.
"What do you mean?" Ron replied.
"You were bent out of shape about magical births - not typical behavior for your average businessman - and now you're cool as a cucumber. What gives?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.
Ron took a drink trying to dodge answering and looked at Harry. Harry just raised his arms in surrender.
"Okay, fine. Luna wants to have kids."
"Molly will love that," Harry said with a sarcastic tone. "Or are you planning to get married first?"
"I asked." Ron put his head in his hands. "She said it wasn't time yet."
"But it is time to have children?" Hermione cut in.
"I love her. She's seen how I am with my nieces and nephews. I do want to have a kid. Luna and I don't need a ceremony to prove our love to each other. She said if I was just doing it to make my parents happy, she didn't want one. And, honestly, I don't particularly want one. My first wedding was Bill and Fleur's and look how that turned out."
"Okay, first of all, that led to a happy marriage and two pretty great kids," Harry said. "Second of all, how does Luna and you wanting to have children lead to asking Hermione to study a hundred years of births?" Harry asked.
"We were worried that something was preventing magical births. And, Hermione's research proved there was! It just won't affect us." Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Wait! Correlation is not causation. We don't know for sure that it is only Death Eaters. Also, Don't you think that may have been an overreaction?" Hermione said.
"With our luck? No. Plus, in our second year, who decided the only way to solve our problems was to brew a seventh-year potion to spy on Malfoy?" Ron raised an eyebrow at her.
Hermione flushed. "It worked! We found out it wasn't him."
"Well, your research worked here too."
"Oi, Ron, ask Hermione about Malfoy," Harry said, nudging Hermione with his elbow.
"Ugh, don't remind me." Hermione sighed.
"Oh no. What about that git?" Ron asked.
"They slept together," Harry said in a sing-songy voice.
"Stop," Hermione begged. She took a drink from her pint.
"Gross. I don't want to know about that. Please don't tell me any details." Ron said, covering his ears.
"That's not it," Harry said, pulling one of Ron's hands away from his ear. "Don't be dramatic. Apparently, the next day, his engagement to Astoria Greengrass was in the Daily Prophet."
"No!" Ron's mouth dropped open.
"Yes!" Harry said. "And, the wedding is a week from now!"
"He owled me to clarify that it was arranged by their parents and they weren't together yet," Hermione said miserably.
"You should send them a wedding gift," Harry laughed.
"Your love life is a mess," Ron said.
"Well, what about Harry?" Hermione gestured at him with the hand holding her drink.
"What about me?" Harry asked cautiously.
"The same night I went home with Malfoy, Harry left with Susan." Hermione leaned forward over the table. "Ever since she has looked terrible - bags under her eyes, looking pale and she kept getting vertigo during routine tasks."
"You don't think she's pregnant, do you?" Ron asked, scandalized.
Harry paled. "No - I - the contraception spells were cast. She's a healer. She would have let me know if something had happened."
Hermione waited for a beat to let it sink in for Harry. "It hasn't even been two weeks. No, I don't think she's pregnant. But when was the last time you got tested? Maybe you gave her something?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I'm scheduling an appointment as soon as possible now that I know that!" Harry said.
Hermione nodded at him.
It took a couple of days before Harry could get an appointment. Harry resolved to get there early as soon as it was on the books.
He'd done the simple series of tests pretty regularly, but it had been quite a few months since he'd last done them. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anything wrong with him, and Susan would be fine.
Harry hadn't seen her since he'd left her place the morning after. They'd both agreed it would only be one night and that they'd still be friends after. But, this was concerning. Plus, the healers were taking their sweet time to come and tell him the results.
Finally, two healers walked into the room. "What's going on?" Harry asked, rubbing his hands on his pants to dry them. His voice was higher than normal as he was worried.
"Mr. Potter, I'm Healer Clearwater. First I want to stress that your test results came back negative for any diseases."
Letting out a deep breath, "Well, that's great! You had me worried for a moment there. The long wait, the two healers, clearly there's no big deal here." Harry's voice was back to normal.
"I'm Healer Smith, and I joined Healer Clearwater here as there was an irregularity," The other Healer said.
"An irregularity? What does that mean?" Harry asked.
The two healers looked at each other and then back at him.
"It seems that you have a strange … genetic marker," Healer Clearwater said.
"Alright, please just say whatever this is," Harry begged.
"The marker appears to take in energy. We're concerned that this might put your sexual partners at risk. If you were to be intimate with the same partner twice in the same six-month period and they lacked the corresponding genetic marker, you could drain them. Over time, it could lead to their death," Healer Smith said.
Harry sat down in shock. "I'm sorry, you're saying I could kill someone by having sex with them? But I've had partners more than once before and they've been fine! It's not like I sprouted as a succubus or something overnight," Harry tried to joke.
The two healers looked at each other again.
"Wait, are you saying … I've suddenly become a succubus? How does that even happen? I thought all the succubi and incubi had been wiped out. Hold on, the concurrent genetic marker … I need to find an incubus to have safe sex! What the hell!" Harry yelled.
"We understand this may be distressing to you," Healer Clearwater said.
"Distressing? Ha! That's one word for it." Harry ran a hand through his hair quickly. "How did I become a succubus?"
"We're not sure at this moment. But there is a precedent for how to live as an unmated succubus without killing people. Besides, once you find your mate-" Healer Smith started.
Harry cut them off, "Mate! I'm sorry, what? I have a mate now?" Harry asked.
"Yes, every succubus has an incubus mate and vice versa. Now, you don't have to be celibate until you find your mate. But clear consent is paramount. As long as your partners know what they are getting into ahead of time, you can help them mitigate the effects. Always let at least six months lapse between intimacy with the same partner. Otherwise, you risk stealing their life force," Healer Smith added.
"I'm not sleeping with anyone if it puts their 'life force' at risk! What is a life force? How do I find my Incubus? Do they have a choice?" Harry was horrified at how this conversation was going.
"Your incubus mate is your perfect match. Since you've been turned into a succubus, they would have also been turned. You can identify them as someone that you're extremely attracted to. Your magic will respond to their magic. Plus, you will start to have dreams of them. Once you mate, you will be able to avoid draining people's life forces and only drain their energy." Healer Smith said.
"Your incubus mate will be able to help people conceive. Before mating, you will need to be careful." Healer Clearwater added.
"Alright, can you at least help me narrow down when this happened?"
"Unfortunately, we can only tell you that six months ago, when you were last tested, you did not have this genetic marker," Healer Clearwater said.
"Right. Great, then. So all I have to help me find them is dreams, attraction, and magical compatibility. How will I confirm that I've found them?" Harry asked.
"That is all the information we have. These records are very old and the only ones that survived to the modern day." Healer Smith said.
Harry let out a deep sigh. "Do I have to be held for anything - like observation? Or can I go?"
"We have to go over a few more details before you're released. For the good of the public and your future partners." Healer Smith said.
"I'm not sure there will be many future partners at this rate," Harry muttered. He resigned himself to sitting through the rest of whatever knowledge the healers felt they had to impart to him before he left.