January 31, 1999
The rest of the week flew by it seemed. Harry only had one run-in with Ginny, she was still trying her whole let me be a step-parent thing. Harry told her that he had too much going on for a relationship and again, he made his choice that he was not getting back with her. Of course, she got pissy and stomped away saying that one day, Harry would see they were perfect for one another, and that they would be together. That happened on the 29th and it did make Harry uneasy because it meant she was no longer pouting and whining, just angry and that could mean desperation.
He would really need to watch himself; he was almost six months pregnant. He would be in another week or so. The teenager had to admit that with Severus now knowing the truth, he didn't feel as stressed out to reveal it. If that made him a coward, so be it. Draco told Harry how Severus responded to the news before explanation and Harry was certain that if he had been the one to reveal things, that it would not have been so calm. But now it was out, and Severus knew.
The only thing left was for Harry and Severus to work out how they'd handle things. The man's words were still firm in mind that Severus wanted to help however he could to ease things for Harry, and he wanted to be part of the pregnancy in the ways of coming to check-ups. That was fine with Harry, of course, he didn't intend on fighting Severus over that. The man wanted to be part of his child's life, why would Harry deny him anything regarding the child just because it wasn't born yet.
Plus, Harry wanted to keep things civil. While he hadn't officially decided for after the baby was born; he was leaning towards keeping it and he could co-parent with Severus for things. The two were likely going to be in each other's lives for close to two decades, so Harry felt a conversation topic should perhaps be how to make things work between them. Not as a couple, but parents who shared custody.
Currently, Harry was laying in bed. It wasn't a rough day, but his stomach did not like sitting upright. So Harry was reclined and reading through his Potions textbook since he couldn't brew the ones not safe for pregnancy. Draco was either in the infirmary or with Severus for tea. Harry never did get any messages from Severus on when they were to meet, so he supposed he had the rest of the day for free time.
In the headmaster's office, Draco sat with his godfather while they chatted.
"I should get back to the dorm and check on Harry." Draco set his finished cup down on the tray.
"Why? Is he alright?" Severus inquired quickly, concern lacing his tone.
"Rough morning." Draco stated. "He was sleeping when I left."
"Rough how?" Severus wondered now.
"Didn't you two sit down and talk about the pregnancy when he was in the infirmary?" Draco questioned.
"No, not really. We spoke a bit, and agreed to be civil. But I left after he used the bathroom and settled back onto the cot to eat dinner. I haven't had a chance since then. I meant to invite him here to discuss things over the weekend. It got away from me." The headmaster admitted.
"Well, you have time now. Why don't I floo to the common room and see how he's doing? If he's up for chatting, I'll send him to you via floo. I rather not send him through the halls, that obsessed little harlot is probably hanging around outside the entrance again." The blond rolled his eyes. "Leave the floo open for ten minutes. I'll let you know, or you can always go to him." Draco stood up.
"I can't be in the dorms unless it's an emergency and I doubt this conversation needs to happen in the common room. Aside from those who were present in the hospital wing when the paternity was revealed to be me…No one else knows." Severus responded.
"Alright, that's fair. I'll go check on Harry and report back to you if he's up to talking." Draco stepped into the fireplace, calling his destination as Phoenix House Common Room. Draco disappeared in the green flames and appeared in the common room, surprising a few who were there. No one cared though. Draco was technically a teacher's aid, so he could use the floo system within the school.
Draco made his way up to his and Harry's dorm, and saw the teenager awake. "Hey, you're awake." Draco greeted.
"Yeah. Woke up a bit ago." Harry replied.
"How are you feeling?" The blonde wondered while walking next to Harry's bedside.
"Still tired, not as nauseous…But it's there." He responded gently. "Just reading right now."
"Well, I just came from seeing my godfather. He admits the time got away from him and he forgot to send you a message to talk about things. But he's free right now. You up to go visit him? He said something about a talk that was tabled until you left the infirmary?"
"Yeah. He wants to be brought up to speed on the baby, all the things he's missed." Harry mentioned. "I'll go see him."
"The floo in the common room is open to his office, if you'd like to use that." Draco offered.
"Thank you." Harry got out of bed slowly, used the bathroom and collected a few things from his desk before leaving the dorm with a wave goodbye to Draco. Harry made it downstairs to the common room and stepped into the fireplace, calling for the Headmaster's office and disappearing into the flames. Getting to Snape's office, he stepped out.
"Hello, Harry." Severus greeted. "I'm pleased to see you feeling better, Draco said you had a rough morning. Not that I know what it is in regards to."
"Headmaster," Harry replied gently.
"Please, call me Severus, Harry." Snape invited. "We're to be frequent in each other's lives throughout the duration of your pregnancy, and perhaps beyond that as parents to this child." He informed. "Unless we're with mixed company, such as other teachers or students, you can call me Severus."
"Thank you. I'll try, but it'll be a hard habit to break." Harry responded.
"I understand. Would you like to have a seat?" Severus asked. "There's a couch too, if that would be better for your back?" Harry took up sitting on the couch, fixing the pillow behind him until he could recline slightly and the nausea lessened. "Would you like any tea, coffee, snacks?"
"Just water, thank you. Draco says I need more…And I'm trying to behave with the treats and snacks." Harry said. He really had. He had cravings for certain things during meal times, but he tried not to snack at random. He set himself at three a day, little snacks for between breakfast and lunch, then between lunch and dinner, and then one more after dinner, but before bed.
Usually for when he was doing his assignments and needed a little something because his child was a night owl with being more active in the evening. Severus brought Harry a large cup of ice water, charmed to stay cold, and took a seat beside him on the other side of the couch.
"I do apologize that I never got back to you, Harry. The influx of work the past week has been insane." Severus stated.
"It's okay, Dray told me. I can't imagine you wouldn't be busy as headmaster." Harry replied.
"I won't be when this term ends. I never intended to come back, but the school needed its former headmaster to help repower everything. I guess the only way to retire from this post is to retire from it or be removed by the board of education. Or pass away." Severus mentioned. "Minerva already knows, and I believe she'll be taking over while finding a replacement to teach Transfiguration."
"Is Neville taking over for Professor Sprout?" Harry wondered.
"I believe so. And it is unsure if Draco will take over for Madam Pomfrey, or he will move on to work for St. Mungos." Severus stated. "Slughorn plans to stick around for a couple years more, as does Flitwick, and the rest."
"What will you do once you leave?" Harry questioned.
"Work from home. I have multiple contracts as a Potions Master to brew for businesses. The hospital, clinics, and here. Other brewers are contracted too, but theirs are typically just what they learned in school. I am someone who went above Hogwarts schooling to earn a mastery in brewing. I brew things others can't because they don't understand it." Severus explained.
"Like the paternity potion? Draco said you are the one who did it." Harry said.
"It was a joint effort, but I did most of the work in order to teach Draco how it was done. He is my godson, he's been brewing beside me since he was probably six." Severus replied. "He only wanted to know for you learning who the father of the baby was, but now that he knows, it's an added skill he has as a healer."
"But enough about all that. My retirement from Hogwarts' Headmaster is still some months away." Severus began again. "Let's talk about you." The man added.
"What about me?" Harry wondered.
"What are your plans after Hogwarts? I know you no longer desire to be an auror." Severus inquired.
"After spending seven years fighting Voldemort, I didn't fancy spending the rest of my life chasing down criminals, dark magic folk, or anyone aspiring to be the next Voldemort." The teen admitted.
"I can't say I blame you." Severus nodded. "And you said you didn't want to fight anymore."
Harry shrugged a bit. "Yeah. So I don't know what I'm gonna do. Haven't given it much thought other than knowing I don't really want to work for someone else. If I decide to stay part of the child's life, I'd like to work my own hours in order to be around for the baby. Flexible schedule, I guess. And that is originally what the topic of this talk was to be. About the baby…So what do you want to know?"
"Everything you can tell me. I've missed five months of this and as knowledgeable as I am, I admit that I'm not well referenced in anything regarding pregnancy." Severus confessed. "Other than some symptoms and how it happens in males and females. And like I said that night at the club…I'm sorry I released inside of you. I meant what I said that I don't do that without prior consent to avoid the situation of getting anyone pregnant."
"You didn't know who I was, and I didn't know who you were. We were both drunk and thought the other was a muggle…We were caught up in it, it didn't cross either of our minds to discuss limits or boundaries in sex. Nor that we were actually wizards. We both did what we did on the idea that there would be no repercussions, Severus." Harry told him.
"I'm sure if we were a tad more aware and you knew I was a wizard, you would have cast a contraceptive charm or pulled out. Right?" Severus nodded affirmatively. "But that's not how it went. We didn't know and now we deal with the fallout of a drunken night. Besides, you went into it with more knowledge than me. I had no idea wizards could get pregnant. Sirius obviously forgot to mention that in his and Remus's sexual education crash course when I was fifteen…" He grumbled.
"And I know how utterly rare it is to get knocked up without assisted potions. So had I known it was possible, I might have also been more cautious in a muggle club where wizards or witches may go in disguise and not assume I was safe. I might have suggested a condom if I'd known other magic folk had the same idea as me and knew male pregnancy was possible." Harry sighed.
"But it happened, so here we are. Life lessons next time, I suppose. Never assume or do more research." Harry added. "It would just be my luck that the first time I have sex, I end up pregnant. Yes, my sheer dumb luck." He muttered. "I swear Professor McGonagall jinxed me when she said that back in first year…If something happened it was always Ron, Hermione, and me. And if it's rare and can happen, it happens to me."
But Severus only heard one part of that muttering and coughed, having been taken by surprise and inhaled his tea. "I'm sorry…What did you just say?"
"What?" Harry asked.
"It would be just your luck that the first time you have sex you end up pregnant…" Severus repeated. "You never had sex with a male before that night? I was your first?"
"No, Severus." Harry replied.
"Then you were making a joke?"
"What?" Harry blinked. Did Severus not understand that he confirmed never having sex with a male before? "Oh my god…Severus, no. I meant that I never had sex, period, before that night." Severus stared at him.
"You were a-,"
"A virgin, yes." The teen confirmed. "And yes, you were my first."
"I mean, forgive me for asking this…But I was a teenager too once and I would like to know how the hell you did not have sex at all before that night?" Severus inquired.
"I was a bit preoccupied trying to stay alive through the school year. You know…Sorcerer's Stone, Basilisk, believed escaped murderer, werewolf, and rat traitor. The tournament. Umbridge," Severus snorted at Harry naming Dolores as something dangerous he faced. "Don't you judge me, Severus. She was a bitch…She was using a blood quill on students in detention. She kicked me off the Quidditch team. She tried to Crucio me. She did slap me. Draco is witness to that! And she wasn't actually teaching us anything."
"And my god that fake fucking smile and bubbly personality. And the pink." Harry groaned. Severus chuckled. "If you don't mind forward and not filtered." The man shook his head and motions for Harry to continue. "But then there was the ministry battle, Sirius died, Voldemort possessed me. Dumbledore died, being on the run…" He trailed off. "I had bigger things to worry about than getting laid like everyone else was. Like not dying. I know teenagers deal with hormones and whatnot but…It never got to me. I was always too busy trying to survive or stressed out."
"People tried, don't get me wrong. To flirt and seduce…It just didn't work on me. So yeah…I was never tempted. Then there was the fact that in fifth year, when it might have triggered being fifteen, we discovered the link between me and Voldemort and knowing I couldn't shield my mind and if I did anything, there was a chance Voldemort saw. Not exactly a turn on. In fact, the very idea of him seeing and then bringing it up during a battle was the ultimate turn off." Harry informed.
"I cannot argue your reasoning on that last one." Severus nodded. "But really? Nothing at all? Kisses, making out? Foreplay?" Harry shook his head. "Wanking?" Again, Harry shook his head. "I admire your self-control."
"Thanks, I think…" Harry replied. "I mean, I kissed Cho in fifth year. And a couple times with Ginny during sixth…But that was it. Kisses. I didn't get turned on or nothing."
"And nothing even after the Dark Lord was gone?" Severus questioned.
"There was also way too much going on after the war. Trying to recover from it with the rebuilds, and everything else. Sex just wasn't on the mind. I mean, Ginny sure as shit tried…But we were broken up and with how she's been now…I am almost confident that if it had happened, she would have well equipped herself with her mother's help to end up pregnant…"
"So then she could pull some pure-blood tradition or rule that she was pregnant with my baby, so I had to be with her." Harry scoffed. "But that didn't happen because everything was busy and my state of mind after it all was just…" He didn't even have to find a word, Severus nodded, showing he understood. "And what brought on that night in the club was just needing one night away from the wizarding world, and not being Harry Potter. You know?"
"It had been a really bad day and I needed something to take the edge off. You wanna know the funniest shit about that night too?" Severus nodded. "I turned down guys all night who wanted to have sex with me. Everyone who got more touchy than just dancing tried to suggest having some fun, and I refused..."
"On the notion I told myself that my first time would not be drunk bathroom sex with a complete stranger…And then we bumped into one another and several drinks and dances later, that's exactly how my first time went…" Harry laughed. "I'm still trying to figure it out. How I said no all night, but not to you." He added.
"Maybe because I wasn't a stranger to you," Severus offered.
"But I didn't know it was you." Harry reminded.
"And I didn't know it was you. But there was something about you I'd been drawn to when we bumped into one another. I even said that…I'd have to stick around a bit longer to figure out what spell you cast on me." Severus said. "What I mean is…Maybe we didn't know…But at the same time know. That we were familiar to one another. Perhaps the bump, however brief, was enough for our magic to know we knew one another."
"You told me in the infirmary that you knew I was conscious after you hit me with that spell in the shack…That you've always been able to do that, sense people's energy." Harry nodded. "So maybe you didn't see me because of the disguise, and we were drunk…But maybe your magic knew it was me, or at least…Someone you could trust? Someone you knew and that removed the stranger feeling?"
Harry arched a brow at him. "I'm not saying that's what happened. Maybe you were just really fucking drunk and horny and at that point, you decided to say fuck it and actually let go of all that self-control you held onto for like four years. Seriously, Harry, that's impressive you were not tempted at all in school." Severus said.
"You said you wanted one night away from the wizarding world, and not be Harry Potter. Why? Because of your fame, and despite you fighting for seven years, stressing out, doing all you could to protect people, actually died, and defeated Voldemort…People still have expectations of you."
"And you wanted one night away from all that. Where you could be someone else, and pretend that you had nothing holding you back. No one watching your every move. No one coming after you…" Severus paused. "And in that mindset, while drunk, you just…Let go and did whatever you want because you could. No one to tell you want to do, no one to control you."
"You had your freedom, Harry." The man added. "And maybe after so many drinks, and relaxing, you stopped having that mindset that you had to adhere to…Standards. I know how it sounds, but really think about it…You refused all night, but when we first bumped…You weren't drunk yet. Not enough to agree to what you believed was a bad decision that you'd regret."
"But after we met, you could say, you relaxed. Started drinking more and stopped worrying about everything that had been going on. Tell me…Despite ending up pregnant, and realizing months later that the person you did that with was me…" he paused. "Do you regret that night? Do you regret just letting go and having fun? Regret that your first time was in a nightclub bathroom?"
Well, when Severus put it like that…Harry shook his head. "No. Not one bit…I think you're right. Maybe I just got drunk enough to not care if it happened. And maybe it could be part of you guess that bumping into one another may have sparked our magic as familiar to one another. I have always trusted you."
"I don't see how. I was always on your case…" Severus stated.
"I told you, I've always been able to sense energies. And I suppose while I never knew due to how young I was, I never made the connection. But I have always trusted you, ever since first year. When Voldemort was attached to the back of Quirrell's head, Quirrell told me that you'd been the one trying to save me during my first Quidditch match." Severus blinked a few times. "Maybe even before Quirrell told me you were trying to save me. I didn't realize it until you gave me your memories. When you came to the cottage, and held mum…"
"That's where I know your energy from. And maybe I didn't know who you were then, but there was always this feeling of…Familiarity after I saw you at the head table when I came to Hogwarts as a first year. I suppose I didn't call it trust because of how you acted towards me, but after I learned that you tried to save me…It made sense. It was familiar cause I sensed it that night in Godric's Hollow. And seeing you at eleven, there was just this instant feeling of…He's okay. Something told me I could trust you…So I did."
"And I have ever since because you were always there to save me. Even when you killed Dumbledore, cause you had me stay quiet…When I went after you, you never really attacked me. You just kept me back from getting into a fight I couldn't win with the others. And you made sure they also didn't attack me…It wasn't until the walk back when I realized you weren't against us, I just…Kept it to myself because I knew you had to have a reason." Harry told him.
"What do you mean you realized I wasn't against you?" Severus asked.
"The night you killed Dumbledore. Your killing curse was blue. Not green. You killed him because he told you to. I heard you tell him before I left with him that he asks too much, and that you didn't want to do it anymore…But he basically ordered you to remember your promise or whatever. That was the context I got out of it." Harry said. "It didn't click until that night on the tower what that meeting was about. When you stopped Draco. Dumbledore said please, not as a beg not to do it, but for you to do it,"
"Well, you're more observant than I gave you credit for." Severus remarked.
"Not really observant, just…Had a lot of time to go over the events of that night when I walked back to the castle after all of you left. I knew I trusted you still, but no one else would believe it…So I kept it to myself." The teen shrugged. "And also, I didn't want to sell you out or get you caught in your soy thing. I knew you were with us, but no one else did. Including the Death Eaters and Voldemort…But we're off topic again."
"Yes. Seems to happen easily. Tell me everything I need to know." Severus said.
"Your godson knows more than I do." Harry stated.
"In general pregnancy." The man replied. "I want to know more about yours, so I can better help and be there for you. What are these…Rough days you experience?"
"Just days when I feel sick and tired all day. I don't have any focus, the only relief is staying in bed and resting. Eating the most bland things. There are times the stomach soothers don't work." The teenager informed.
"What other things do you experience?" The older man questioned.
"Recently or throughout the whole pregnancy? Cause it starts like a small amount and then others add in…" Harry remarked.
"Tell me from the beginning. How did you end up finding out you were pregnant, what things did you feel?"
"I always felt sick at random. Like the night I was late to your office, I'd been in the infirmary for a headache reliever…Ended up puking twice. And you saw one of the other times, when Ginny wouldn't leave me alone." Harry stated. "Other symptoms were tired all the time. Frequent bathroom use. Nipples hurt at the slightest touch. Draco took notice of it, and I'd been refusing to go to the infirmary. So he cast the scan spell and that's how we learned I was pregnant." Harry informed.
"Since then other symptoms that have been added into the pot are sensitivity to smells. Foods I love, I end up hating. Things I used to hate, I love." He continued. "Heartburn. Back pain, swollen ankles. Sometime in the last few weeks I've started feeling flutters. Draco says that's the baby kicking and moving lightly. That's it so far."
"What is this…Weeks thing?" Severus asked.
"Just another way to measure how far along I am. Pregnancy is nine months, or forty weeks. Right now I'm…" Harry paused to remember how far he was now. "Twenty-two weeks, which is like five and half months along. So…When I'm twenty-four weeks, I'll be considered six months. At twenty-eight weeks, I'll be considered seven months."
"Then you'll be eight months at thirty two weeks, and nine months at thirty-six?" Severus confirmed to see if he had it right.
"Yes. And the weeks count by six days. So today I'm twenty-two weeks and two days along. I'll be twenty-three weeks on February 5th." Harry nodded.
"I understand. When is your next check-up?" Severus wondered.
"Draco sees me every two weeks right now, the next one should be for February 5th, actually." Harry informed.
"And what do the check-ups reveal? Just that everything is progressing as it should?" The man asked.
Harry nodded. "He checks me first. Heart rate, blood pressure, temperature. He measures how much my stomach has grown." The teen enlightened. "Then he'll do the spell to check the baby. He looks for deformities, development issues, magic, placement. At some point, I guess, the baby will completely turn upside down."
"Is that for the birth?"
"Yeah."
"Do you…Give birth the same way a woman does or is it that cesarian way where they cut your stomach?" Severus questioned.
"You mean c-section?" Harry looked at Severus as he nodded. "I haven't decided yet what way I'll do it. Draco said my body may shift on its own for delivery."
"You mean, like, develop female genitalia?" Severus looked surprised.
"Temporarily, yes. And it would really just be another hole, I guess. Draco says that it happens with some male carriers that it develops on its own and won't know that until about a month before I'm due. But for those who don't develop it automatically, Draco says there's some potions and spells that will bring on the change." The teenager stated.
"Those whose bodies shift on their own will start doing it a month before. Usually it doesn't take more than a few days to a week to form, but if that point hits and it doesn't happen on its own and someone wants to give birth that way; the potions are taken about two weeks before the expected due date and everything forms over about two days." Harry added.
"Why so early before the due date?"
"Because babies come when they're ready, or so Draco says." Harry shrugged. "Can come earlier or later than the forty week mark. It happens when it happens, I guess. But that's why there are so many options in giving birth."
"What do you mean?" Severus arched a brow.
"There have been pregnancies where the expectant parent goes into labor as early at seven months, even at six. These babies come out extremely small and require a lot of medical attention in order to sustain them while they finish growing. I assume it might be different with magical babies…" Harry paused.
"But in my case as a male…If I start showing signs of going into labor earlier than June, Draco can take the baby out via C-section, cause it would be the fastest way." He informed. "That's in a really early delivery case." Harry added. "There's a chance I go into labor early, but not super early and my body shifts on its own at like…Eight months. That's just when it would be time."
"These are also things that Draco checks on during the prenatal visits." Harry mentioned. "When the baby turns down, we know we're in a stage where I could give birth any time. There's also times that the baby does not turn and I know for muggles, that's dangerous. Again, don't know if it's different for wizards and witches."
"But if the baby stays on time, we wait for my body to shift on its own and if it does not, I can opt to take the potions and spells to deliver that way or I can just let Draco cut my stomach and take the baby out. Then it just takes a few days for everything to go back to before I got pregnant." The teenager explained.
"I believe I understand…" Severus finally said. Surely there was a book he could read to prepare for all this. "Would you…Be against me being present for the birth?"
"Of course not." Harry responded. "It's your child too, Severus."
"When are you due? You've only said June, but not exactly when…" Severus wondered.
"June 4th is the forty week mark. But again…It can happen earlier or later than that. If I went too late past then, Draco would be monitoring and at some point, decide when we'd need to induce labor or have a c-section." Harry revealed. "I shall try to keep you as informed as possible as things draw closer to the birth."
"I appreciate that." Severus nodded. "Draco said that we should see each other more frequently, so I can take some of the load off you supporting the baby's core. When you were in the infirmary, I only transferred some of my energy to the baby directly from my hands to your stomach…But if you're not comfortable with that multiple times a day, we can research other ways."
"We'd have to ask Draco what would be best." Harry mentioned. "But I think when I talked to him before we knew it was you, he said just being in each other's presence like this is enough. I believe he only suggested physical contact in order to ensure the baby gets where it should be right now since it's gone almost six months only receiving from me. And usually in male pregnancy, the two parents of the baby are together, a couple."
"The baby gets what it needs from both. Our situation is different with us not living together, cuddling, or having sex like a normal couple would and those are the closeness factors in where the baby gets the biggest boosts from both parents." He said. "A couple also had feelings for one another and just being in each other's presence can be helpful too."
"I understand. It's a mix between physical contact and closeness. Draco sort of explained it in the infirmary that I needed to maintain my emotions or the baby would pick up everything, and negative emotions weren't helpful. We can ask him at your next checkup, if you like. I'm willing to do whatever for the sake of the baby." Severus said.
"We don't have to ask him. I don't mind you touching me, Severus." Harry informed.
"You don't?" The man inquired, surprised.
"Why would I mind? Severus, we had sex in a nightclub bathroom stall like six months ago. I didn't mind your hands on me then," Severus went to say something. "And I know we were both disguised as others and using different names, but it doesn't change who we actually were." The teenager remarked. "I've known you're the father since mid-December."
"We still said that night that it was a great time and we'd do it again if we ended up being in the same place again. Well, here we are." Harry motioned, referring to the fact they were in the same room. "I'm not saying take me to your room and shag me breathless again," He paused as Severus blinked a few times at the forwardness of his statement.
"But in regards to you touching my belly so our child gets what it needs from both of us to grow properly and develop its core in a balanced manner; I do not mind." Harry informed. "Obviously don't go trying to do it in the middle of the Great Hall, but I'm sure we can arrange a time or two during the day or a few times a week to meet and do all that."
"Of course. I understand now. Forgive me…I know it was still us, but that night, we believed we were strangers and I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it now that things have been revealed of who we truly are." Severus stated.
"Like I said, it doesn't change anything." Harry replied. "All that aside, we said we needed to talk to work this out. Us being in each other's lives for the duration of the pregnancy and most likely afterwards too in order to co-parent the baby…" He paused. "We don't need to figure out visitation or anything right now…We can save that for once school ends and we've both left…"
"But we're both going to be raising this baby, so it's fair to say we need to be able to get along. Be civilized…" Harry suggested. "So perhaps we can work out these…Moments where you and I have to be close for the baby to get what it needs from both of us, we can get to know one another better? You've only ever known me as my parents' son and a student you taught for six years…" He paused. "We don't know one another on a personal level. I told you before that it was likely we'll be in each other's lives and should probably try to be friends." The teen offered.
"I would find that arrangement agreeable. And where do we stand if people find out?" Severus asked. "We can't say people never will…You're a very public figure, Harry. And that Weasley girl…I don't like her obsession with you. It's concerning and if she were to attack you, I cannot say for certain I'd be able to hold myself composed." The man admitted.
"Ginny can talk all she wants, and it's…concerning, of course…but I'm not taking it to the Ministry DMLE level unless she tries to hurt me or the baby." Yes, it was something Harry worried about, but he knew that getting stressed over something that had not happened yet wasn't good for him. Plus, it made him feel sick. "I think for now…We just go with the flow. We don't tell anyone and we try not to draw attention to anything going on." Harry said.
"One of my concerns is that despite both of us being of age, people will default to paint you as the bad guy who slept with a teenager. The rest of the story won't matter…" Harry mentioned. "So for now we just don't say anything or do anything. We'll keep our meet-ups quiet. And if people do find out, we'll figure it out…But for the time being, I really don't wanna have to open up that can of stress, so to speak."
Severus nodded. "Then for now, we'll just go with the flow. I'll find a way to keep us in contact without anyone knowing." With all that agreed on, Harry pulled out a book from his bag and gave it to Severus. "What's this?"
"You've missed everything since I found out…I've been keeping a book of all the checkups and whatnot. Takes you through a visual journey of when I learned I was pregnant. The scan pictures, size, all that."
"Thank you, Harry." Severus smiled softly.
"You're welcome." Harry replied, smiling back.