XxX
Title: Unbreakable Togetherness (nothing else grabbed me...sorry)
Scene: Takes place at a healer's office somewhere in the wizarding world.
Summary: A year and three-ish months after Ginny's death, Harry finds himself in an interesting position...er...condition? But in this he's not alone.
This is PART ONE in my "Togetherness" series. Please stay tuned for future parts...to be posted as separate stories (see "note").
Pairings: DM/HP (just assume that everyone else is as they were in the books...though you don't really get to read about them)
Rating: I rated this M for no other reason than the few f-words...no sex...not really (see "warning").
Warning: Not much to warn about, except that slash is implied by our boys' delicate conditions (M-PG), and the tiniest bit of kissing at the very end...nothing much to worry about...sadly, nothing hot and heavy. *sigh*
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! At least, nothing that's Harry Potter...all of that, of course, belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Note: I've decided to post this series of scenes between Harry and Draco as separate "complete" stories, because I'm afraid that I'm going to lose interest and just stop updating...and I know how much people hate that, because I do too. Each "scene" should be complete in and of itself. I will try not to leave you hanging, though I may imply that there'll be more to follow. I hope you can forgive my strange way of getting around using the "in progress" function...and for not continuing the series, should I so choose to just be done with it.
Posted: Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Word Count: 5,215 (this ONLY includes actual story, please disregard the "word count" provided by ff(dot)net)
Unbreakable Togetherness
Monday, November 29, 2021
[Exam Room #13]
Nervously, Harry sat (fully clothed) on the paper-covered examination table waiting for the healer to return with his test results. He'd been feeling rather poorly lately and couldn't quite get over the niggling feeling that it was more than the stress of losing his wife. Just over a year ago, two weeks after their three children had returned to Hogwarts, everything had gone to shit! Ginny had—with his blessing, of course—returned to the Holyhead Harpies to play another season—and she'd subsequently been killed on the pitch in a horrible freak accident that had injured several others. Harry'd been out of the office on official Auror business when he'd received an urgent message by Patronus from Hermione. Come quick! it said. No time to explain. We're at St. Mungo's.
Everything seemed to freeze for the moment—and then time started again, moving in slow motion from that point. Harry, of course, had dropped everything and followed Hermione's instructions. Immediately, he'd Apparated to the hospital to find the entire Weasley clan (minus those attending Hogwarts) sitting in a room that was much too small for them.
"What's going on?" he'd questioned the room at large.
"Oh! Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley burst as she pushed at the tears on her cheeks and came forward to embrace him. "I'm so glad you made it in time."
Hugging her back, Harry frowned over her shoulder at the rest of the people in the crowded room. His eyes connected with Ron's shining blue ones.
"It's Ginny, mate," said Ron. "There was...an accident in Holyhead."
At Ron's words, Harry froze—then he turned and bolted from the room. It didn't take him long to find someone who could explain, but it turned out that the only thing that mattered was that Ginny wasn't going to pull through. Though barely, she was still alive when he walked into her room, but she wouldn't be much longer. In fact, Harry'd only had about five minutes with her before she passed.
And now, just over a year later, Harry was still in a bad place. It had been nearly three months since he'd seen the children off to Hogwarts again (without his wife for the first time ever) and had since (with one minor exception) been home alone, moping and missing his dead wife...and thinking about things he probably shouldn't be. And somewhere during his time alone, he'd taken to rushing off to the loo—where he promptly deposited everything that was in his stomach into the toilet on a regular basis. Confused, and feeling like hell, he'd climbed into his empty bed (in his now empty house) and remained there for weeks on end—only getting up to use the toilet (or vomit into it)—thinking he just had a bug. It was Hermione, of course, who suggested it might be something else and pressed him to see a healer.
And that's what brought Harry to a private healer's office in London.
Sitting in [Room #13], Harry twisted his hands in worry and wondered what in Merlin's name was wrong with him—and now wished he'd taken Hermione up on her offer to accompany him to his appointment. Initially he'd asked her to come, but then he'd changed his mind and told her he'd go it alone—now he was regretting that decision, because some support would be nice.
And then the door opened and an older gentleman in long white healer's robes walked in, making Harry completely forget everything he'd been thinking about. Jumping off the table, Harry smiled nervously. "Doc—"
"Mr. Potter," the man interrupted as he thrust his hand out, "It's so nice to meet you, sir. I'm a huge fan."
Blushing, Harry took the doctor's hand and shook it firmly, then said, "Er...thanks."
"I'm so glad you chose my practice," the man went on. "I'm Healer Slashkilter."
Harry nodded and smiled, but he just wanted the healer to give it to him straight. "So ahh...what's wrong with me?"
"Well," the healer said with a smile, "I've looked over all your test results and it's simple really...you're pregnant, Mr. Potter. Congratulations," he chirped happily, a large smile plastered to his face.
At this Harry blinked.
"Now, as I no longer handle male pregnancies," the healer went on, "I'll have to refer you to the appropriate healer, but there are a few potions I'd like you to take in the meantime. I'll have my medi-witch give those to you on your way out, but I want you to make sure you make an appointment as soon as possible," he said as he looked up from the paperwork he was examining. "Male pregnancies can be...well, delicate at times...given our anatomy and the precariousness position of the—"
"Wait!" Harry cut in. "What did you say was wrong with me?"
"I just informed you that you're expecting, Mr. Potter," the older man said, then glanced down at Harry's file. "But nothing appears to be wrong with you at the moment, so you should be pleased about that. A certain amount of nausea is to be expected, I'm afraid...unlike women, however, many pregnant men report that that condition lasts far longer. There are potions that help with the nausea, of course, but most healers advise against them in the first trimester. You're lucky though," the man went on. "It appears that you're nearly through your third month, so—"
"Hold on," Harry interrupted again. "Expecting? What exactly am I supposed to be expecting?"
"A baby, of course," the healer responded. Then, because Harry must have appeared to be confused, he went on. "Are you all right, Mr. Potter?"
For a second, Harry just stared—and then he laughed and looked around the room, as if expecting to find someone hiding, ready to jump out and laugh at him. "All right. That's quite funny, Doc. Hysterical even. All I want to know is who put you up to this, so I can pay them back."
Confused, Healer Slashkilter frowned at him. "I assure you, Mr. Potter, that this is no joke."
Still smiling, Harry studied the man—and then his smile faded. "Are you...seriously suggesting that...I'm pregnant...as in, carrying a child within my body?" he asked, a hand coming up to rest on his flat belly.
The healer nodded.
"But...but I'm a...a m-man," Harry stuttered as he took a step back and away from the older man.
The healer's brow raised sharply. "Yes, I'm well aware of that."
Swaying slightly, Harry reached for table to steady himself and found himself being helped into the chair beside it.
"I take it this is a surprise?" said the healer.
Harry nodded. "Just a bit. I didn't know that men were capable of...getting pregnant." He could hardly said it, or fathom the thought of such a thing.
"Humph! I'm not surprised...given your Muggle upbringing, but...your partner should have known how to prevent this," he said with a frustrated shake of his head. "The spell is quite simple, really."
"My...my partner? He...he should have known... Wait! Are you saying you know who the...the other father is?" Harry asked, stumbling over the words.
"Well, of course, Mr. Potter," the healer said. "The tests we run tell us that and more."
"More?"
"Would you like to know the sex of the child?" Healer Slashkilter asked.
Harry blinked. He was definitely on overload. "Um. No. Not yet."
"Very well, sir," the healer said as he studied the confused pregnant man. Kneeling down, so he was eye-level with Harry, the older man put a hand on Harry's knee and continued. "I realize this is quite a shock."
Harry nodded. "Very much a shock," he said, then swallowed a lump in his throat. "My wife...she died just over a year ago."
Healer Slashkilter nodded. "I remember, Mr. Potter, it was in all the papers. I'm so very sorry for your loss."
Harry smiled weakly and continued. "I'm too old for this...forty-one."
The healer chuckled. "Forty-one is far from too old to have children, Mr. Potter. You're still a young man...by wizarding standards. It's actually fairly young by Muggle standards as well."
"But...I have three children already. Oh Merlin!" Harry exclaimed. "What the fuck am I going to tell my children?"
Harry was on his feet now—pacing.
"And the Weasleys!" he burst, quite frantic now. "They'll be so...disappointed in me. What if they hate me for betraying Ginny?"
"Easy now, Mr. Potter," said Healer Slashkilter. He'd risen and was gently trying to coax his nearly hysterical patient back into the chair. "This really is very good for either you or your unborn child."
Harry nodded and dropped into the chair again. "Right," he said, a hand absently going to his stomach again.
"And, you, in no way, betrayed your deceased wife, Mr. Potter...she's been gone for over a year and you're newly pregnant. Your families must expect you to move on."
Harry sighed and nodded—because everyone had been on him to 'move on.'
"Now, you do have options...if you'd rather not see this through," the healer continued.
At this Harry frowned. He was far too confused to understand what the healer was telling him.
"There is a termination potion," the healer explained, his eyes going to Harry's chart. "It's quite simple really, but you don't have much time to go with that option, so you'll have to decide quickly. And, of course there's the option of having the baby and giving it up."
His green eyes wide with surprise, Harry shook his head. "Oh. No, I'd rather not do...those things."
The healer smiled. "Right then. Shall I have my medi-witch help you choose a healer?"
Harry nodded dumbly, completely numb at this point.
"And, umm." The healer hesitated, not wanting to insult his patient by suggesting he'd been sleeping around. "Do you need to know who the other father is?"
Harry shook his head. "No, Doc...I'm well aware who the...er...other father is."
The healer nodded. "Splendid. Well then, let me just show you to my medi-witch's desk, so she can get you started."
Still confused, because he'd never thought something like this physically possible, Harry moved slowly toward the door and followed the healer down the hallway where they said goodbye with a firm handshake and a final, "Congratulations!"
Meanwhile, down the hall…
[Exam Room #23]
...Draco Malfoy impatiently paced in the small room over and over, mentally ticking off all the things he could think of that could possibly be wrong with him. He'd spent nearly every waking (non-vomiting) minute of the last few months on research to find the answers to his problem and he hadn't found SHITE! And the research was severely cutting into his parenting time; parenting that he was now doing ALONE, since his wife died in childbirth three years prior.
A stab of pain over Astoria's life being cut short just because he'd begged her for another child caused him to stop pacing just as he came to the far wall. Leaning his damp forehead against the cool wall, Draco raised his fists and placed them on the flat surface on either side of his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
"I am so sorry, Tori," he whispered desperately, his mind going to the day she'd given birth to their twin girls—and subsequently bled to death. The healers had told them there was nothing they could do for her, but he'd been furious with them anyway. And later, when he found out that his wife knew all along that this was a possibility and that she'd gone through with what he'd wanted anyway, he was angry with her for doing this to him—for leaving their children motherless and for leaving him alone! He'd even flown into a very un-Malfoy-like rage after her funeral, causing his sometimes still-unstable father to cringe, then sneer with disapproval.
But Lucius Malfoy wasn't given the chance to comment, because Draco's mother quickly stepped in and led her husband away (thank Merlin!) leaving Draco to his near apoplectic fit. He was quickly accosted by his dead wife's sister, Daphne, and his long-time best friend, Pansy, who were able to drag him away and help him mourn his wife behind closed doors where no one would bear witness to his rantings.
After that, Draco could barely get a moment's peace. With the help of family and friends, he'd been forced (quite literally) to soldier on. He had two squalling newborns, after all, and that was a lot of work that left him little time to think about how much he missed his wife.
But things were good now—or at least they had been, until nearly three months ago when he'd run into an old rival...and former lover.
Sighing, Draco straightened up and moved to sit in the only chair in the room, wishing that he'd allowed either Daphne or Pansy to accompany him. They'd both offered, but he'd declined, leaving them at his London flat to care for his girls instead, because Carina and Cassie Malfoy absolutely adored their aunties—and because he didn't have anyone else to sit for them, aside from his mother, whom he was avoiding at the moment.
Leaning forward to put his between his knees, because the current wave nausea was hitting him quite hard, Draco closed his eyes and took several deep breaths in an attempt to push it aside.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
Looking up at the man who'd so quietly entered the room, Draco stood up and tried to smile, but the smile quickly disappeared as dizziness overtook him and he had to sit again. "I...I didn't hear you come in."
"I'm so sorry I've kept you waiting, Mr. Malfoy," the older man said as he rushed forward and dropped a hand onto the blond man's back. "I'm Healer Slashkilter. Let me come to the point, so we can get you on your way to feeling better. It seems that you're pregnant."
Looking up at the healer, Draco chuckled. He very much expected the healer to laugh and admit that he was having him on, but when he saw the serious look on the other man's face, he sobered.
"Pregnant?"
"I'm afraid so," the healer said with a frown, his mind on his last patient as well as this one. "But really, Mr. Malfoy, I'm surprised you didn't know better...being a pure-blood and all. Were you not aware that male pregnancies were possible in the wizarding world?"
Slowly, Draco nodded. "Well yes, of course, but I..."
Then, as his stomach lurched, Draco shot to his feet and emptied what little was left in his stomach into the rubbish bin in the corner of the room. When he'd finished, he accepted the tissue the healer was holding out to him and blotted his mouth as he sank back into his chair.
"I am so fucking stupid!"
"I wouldn't say that, Mr. Malfoy," Healer Slashkilter contradicted as he went to the sink, "but it is unfortunate when these things can be avoided. I take it you're not...with the other father?" he finished, knowing full well that his patient was not with the 'other father'...since that man had just walked out of another examination room in a similar condition—and completely clueless as to what to do about his own situation.
Draco shook his head. "No...this was...a one-time thing."
"Are you sure?"
Draco frowned, then nodded.
"I see."
"Would you like to discuss your options?"
"Options?" Draco queried.
Handing his patient a wet cloth, the healer nodded. "Yes. There's no reason you have to have this baby, Mr. Malfoy. Of course, if you think you might choose to terminate the pregnancy, then you'll have to make that decision quickly."
Frowning, Draco quickly shook his head. "Oh no, I couldn't do that."
Healer Slashkilter nodded. "All right then. There is also the option of sending the child to an orphanage once its born."
Draco snorted. "Absolutely not! I've heard nothing, but terrible things about those places," he said, his mind going to how Tom Riddle had turned out, possibly due in part to his abandonment—possibly not.
The healer nodded. "There is also private adoption."
"That would be preferable to one of those horrible orphanages, but I don't think I could do that either," Draco said. "To have a child out there somewhere and not know him or her." He shook his head. "Besides, my mother would have my head."
Healer Slashkilter chuckled. "I can understand that, Mr. Malfoy. I'm long past my childbearing years, but my own mother would have had similar objections. So then, that leaves having the baby and raising it yourself, I'm afraid."
"Fan-fucking-tastic!" Draco said sarcastically, rolling his eyes for emphasis. "I already have three children that I'm raising alone...what's one more, right?"
The healer smiled gently. "Well, you could inform the other father, Mr. Malfoy; he's not the kind of man to let someone go it alone."
Sighing, Draco nodded absently as he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. Then he stopped and, with a frown, looked up at the healer. "You know who the other father is?"
Healer Slashkilter nodded. "Of course. That test is run with all the others."
Draco snorted. "Of course it is! That's just...bloody brilliant! I wonder how long before this is splashed across the front page of The Prophet. I'll be run out of England," he hissed. "The parents are going to love this!"
"Mr. Malfoy, this office has an Unbreakable privacy policy," the healer informed him. "What you choose to tell, or not tell, the public is entirely up to you...and/or Mr. Potter. But I do think you should talk to him."
Taking another deep breath, Draco nodded. "Right."
"In fact—"
"What?" Draco interrupted.
"Well, I'd be happy to arrange a meeting."
Draco frowned. "I don't think that's necessary, Healer Slashkilter. I'm actually quite capable of—" he started, but was cut off by a knock on the door.
"Excuse me," the healer said to his patient as he went to the door and opened it just enough to speak to the person on the other side.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but...Mr. Potter has a few questions for you," the medi-witch mouthed silently.
Glancing back at his current patient—who was now frowning—the healer looked back at the woman and nodded. "Have him wait in my office, please." Then closing the door, he turned back to Draco and said, "I'm sorry about that."
"Did she...just say that Potter's here as well?" Draco asked.
"I'm afraid I can't say, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco's brow arched. "I'm quite adept at lip-reading," he informed the healer. "Might want to keep that in mind in the future, in regards to your Unbreakable privacy policy. And I happen to know that Potter's quite fond of his own personal privacy."
Frowning, Healer Slashkilter opened his mouth to reply, but didn't get a word in because Draco pushed his way from the room to go find the raven-hair man who'd knocked him up.
Sighing, Healer Slashkilter followed.
[Healer Slashkilter's Office]
"Potter," Draco greeted as soon as he stepped into the hallway and saw the dark-hair man standing at a counter talking to the witch who was sitting on the other side.
Frowning, Harry turned around. "Malfoy? What brings you here?" he asked, clearly taken by surprise.
Draco glanced at the healer, who'd quickly followed him into the corridor, then back at the man he didn't seem capable of keeping out of his mind. "I might ask you the same thing."
Harry's eyes quickly flashed to Healer Slashkilter's flushed face. "You...you told him?"
The healer immediately shook his head and started to explain, but Draco cut him off.
"Told me what?" he demanded.
Frowning with confusion, Harry swallowed, then let it all fly. "That...that I'm pregnant," he blurted. "Of course, I had no idea it was even possible for a man to become pregnant, but...apparently it is," he rambled. "Who knew! But then, you probably did, you pure-blood prat! How could you do this to me? It's barely been a year since Gin was killed and I'm hardly holding myself together...and now this!" he spat. "What am I going to do now, Malfoy? What are the Weasleys going to say?"
Draco's jaw was hanging open in a very un-Malfoy-like manner. "You're...pregnant as well?"
"Is that all you have to say for yourself, Malfoy?" Harry snapped. "After everything we've been through in the last thirty years and you just...just... Wait! Did you just imply that...that...that you're...that you are too? Pregnant, that is?"
Chuckling, Draco said, "You are as eloquent as ever, Harry. And yes, it seems we are...in the same condition."
Harry's green eyes dropped to Draco's still-flat belly while Draco's gray ones did the same to him, then they lifted to meet once again. "How did this happen?" Harry finally asked, snarling the last word.
"Does the good healer here really need to explain the birds and bees to you, Potter?" the blond asked with an obviously teasing tone.
"Well, I wouldn't have thought so, no, but...apparently yes!" he almost yelled.
Draco chuckled at this. "It's quite simple really...our magicks allowed it to happen."
Harry frowned. "Then why haven't I seen other pregnant wizards? And why didn't you think to take measures against this happening? And…oh Merlin, what are the Weasleys going to say?"
Rolling his eyes, Draco snorted. "Oh, sod the Weasleys, Potter! Who gives a bloody fuck what they think? We've got bigger fish to fry, humph."
"Well, I do care, you arrogant twit ...they're my family, or did you forget. Unlike some people, I have no one else."
"Harry, I didn't mean it that way," Draco said with a sigh. The dark-haired man was clearly on the verge of exploding and he knew it wouldn't be pretty, so he turned toward Healer Slashkilter. "Do you have some place where Harry and I could sit down and talk?"
"Of course. Right this way, gentlemen," the older man said as he showed them into his office. Holding the door open for his patients, Healer Slashkilter watched them carefully. Harry entered the room first and flopped down onto the floral settee, then glared at the blond, who'd just elegantly lowered himself onto a plush chair. Sighing, the healer shut the door and went to sit at his desk.
"All right? Let's talk about this," the healer said. He'd opened both their files and was comparing them. "Looks like you both became pregnant on the same night, so you're due at the same time...approximately six months." Pointing his wand at a calendar on the wall, the healer muttered the appropriate spell and a date appeared: 17 June 2022. "So, let's make that the date then," the healer went on as he picked up a quill and started scribbling on a small pad of parchment.
Resigned to what was inevitable, Draco nodded absently, but Harry snorted and said, "So, Doc, could we go over this, so I have a better understanding of what's going on here. How exactly did this happen?"
But it wasn't the doctor who responded.
"Well, when I stuck my cock up your arse and came...and vice versa," Draco said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, "we both became pregnant."
At this Harry's face turned bright red. "Must you be so...vulgar? And Merlin, Malfoy, I don't need the logistics of...what happened between us. If you remember correctly, I was there, you twat! And, contrary to what you obviously think of me, I'm not stupid. What I want to know is how this happened, as in, why the fuck haven't I seen other pregnant wizards?"
"Mr. Malfoy was correct when he said it was your magicks that allowed it, Mr. Potter," said Healer Slashkilter before the dark-haired wizard could get himself more worked up. "But, what he didn't say is that only men who are soul mates are capable of this."
"Soul mates?" the two pregnant men said in unison.
The healer nodded. "Yes, gentlemen."
Harry and Draco looked at each other for a moment, then glanced away.
"Clearly, there was at least some passion on this fateful night," the healer pushed, looking from one man to the other, "or the two of you wouldn't be carrying the other man's child."
Slowly, green eyes met gray and they both nodded—albeit reluctantly.
"So, you two will either have to go through your respective pregnancies alone or choose to share the experiences...and the children."
Both men frowned, but Harry spoke first.
"He's carrying my child. Of course I'll want to be in his or her life."
Draco huffed. "Naturally, I feel the same."
Harry opened his mouth to protest, to say he'd rather raise his son or daughter himself, but snapped it shut because he realized he couldn't very well keep the child he carried, Draco's son or daughter, away from the blond—especially if he wanted to see and care for the child that Draco was carrying. Then he said, "So...what are we going to do?" It was almost a whine. Never, in a million years, would he have thought he'd be discussing such a thing with Draco Malfoy.
Shrugging, Draco said, "Hell if I know, Potter, but we had better think of something right quick, because I've been puking up everything I eat and I'm not going to be able to hide from my parents much longer. Mother's already had a few conniptions, because she hasn't seen her granddaughters since Scorpius went back to school; sent me Howlers and everything. And once she finds out about this," he gestured wildly, first at his own stomach, and then at Potter's, "she's never going to leave me...I mean, us alone! We'll never be rid of her presence at my flat."
"You don't live at Malfoy Manor?" Harry asked curiously.
"Certainly not!" Draco snapped. "Father's been simply unbearable to live with ever since Astoria died."
"Pfft! So, Lucius is still a right bastard, huh?" Harry taunted.
"Pretty much," Draco conceded.
Despite everything that was happening, Harry laughed at this.
"I don't think this is very funny, Potter," Draco snapped—but there was little fire in it; Draco was, as always, enjoying the banter he shared with his long-time rival—a rivalry they'd now shared for THIRTY YEARS. Who knew, when they met in Diagon Alley that fateful day back in 1991, that their loathing of one another would fester over the years and eventually turn into this!
Harry shook his head. "No, you're right, it's not funny, but...I guess we don't have much of a choice in this matter, do we?" he said as he got to his feet.
"I suppose not." Huffing, Draco rolled his eyes, then he too stood up. "My parents are going to have a field day with this one."
Harry grinned, despite the severity of their problems. "Everyone's going to have a field day with this, Draco. Can you imagine the media?" he groaned. "This is a disaster!"
"Could be worse," Draco said. "There could be explicit photos." He smirked as if he wished it were so.
Harry snorted. "Oh. Give them time, Draco, there's still time for that," he said. "How am I going to explain this to the Weasleys?"
"Would you stop worrying about the damned Weasleys!" Draco snapped almost viciously. He was tired of hearing how much that family meant to Harry when all he wanted—all he'd ever wanted, apparently—was for Harry to care about him. So, he was snappish...but at the same time Draco's heart warmed just from hearing the dark-haired man use his given name (twice!). "What about the children? How are we going to tell our children, Harry?" Draco asked. "All six of them."
Chuckling, Harry shrugged, then reached out and snagged Draco by the wrist and yanked him into his arms. "Who knows, but...we'll do it together."
Looking down at the man who was only slightly shorter than he, Draco smirked. Then, his eyes twinkling, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Harry's.
"Together is good," Draco whispered after they'd broken the kiss.
Grinning, Harry nodded, his arms still wrapped around the thinner man. "You need to put on a few pounds."
Draco arched a brow. "I'd say that's going to happen whether I want it to or not, hmm?"
"I suppose you're right," Harry agreed. "Just sayin' though."
"No need to point out the obvious, Potter."
Harry chuckled. "So, back to 'Potter,' are we?"
Draco only grinned, then leaned in for another kiss, which Harry returned ardently.
"This feels good," Harry said when they came up for air. "It feels...right."
"Naturally, Potter, you're now dating me!"
"You are such an arrogant twat!"
Grinning, Draco said, "But you love me though, don't you?"
"Pfft! I wouldn't go that far, blondie," Harry said as he gave the other man a playful shove.
"Hey now, none of that, Potter, or people will think The Chosen One mistreats his boyfriend."
"Aren't we a little old to be using epithets?"
Draco shrugged. "You started it."
"What are we, thirteen again?"
Draco sighed. "If only we were so lucky. If only we'd realized back then what we could have had."
Harry watched the blond man's semi-pout for about a millisecond—then he pulled him close again. "You are such a pessimist, Draco," he said. "We're together now, so that's all that matters."
"I suppose," Draco allowed. "Are you always so optimistic?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not!"
"Good, because that would become quite nauseating."
At this Harry laughed, then leaned in and took the other man's lips again. "We've a lot of time to make up for," he whispered breathily once contact was severed—if only minutely.
Draco nodded, which caused their noses to gently touch—and he decided that, if it were at all possible, then he never wanted to be separated from Harry James Potter again. "So...um...together?" he asked, needing reassurance—and hating that he felt insecure, such an extremely un-Malfoy-like emotion. His father would surely berate him for it if he ever were to find out, Draco was certain.
Smiling, Harry nodded. "From this point forward," he readily agreed, deciding not to mention the other man's obvious insecurity—and at the same time deciding to do everything in his power to erase said insecurity.
"It's not going to be easy, you know?" Draco pushed.
"Nothing ever is, Draco," Harry said as he took the other man's hands in his and wound their fingers together. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that nothing's ever easy. But we'll work through it...together," he repeated.
Grinning, Draco nodded. "I can live with that."
"So, would either of you like to know the sex of your babies?" Healer Slashkilter asked once the two fathers-to-be had finished gazing stupidly into each others eyes and promising eternal togetherness.
It took a moment for the two pregnant men to comprehend the question. Then, glancing at each other, they shrugged, then looked at the healer and nodded. "Sure," they said at the same time.
Clausula fabula narrator
This is supposed to say something to the effect of "End Story Telling" (or something), but I don't speak Latin, so...this is what you get! ツ
Author's Notes
You didn't really think you'd get away without author's notes from me, did you? Pfft! If you thought that, then you really don't know me!
Slashkilter – I got the name (or part of it rather, Umgubular Slashkilter) from the Lexicon and just had to use it since the story is somewhat "slash." Hehe.
Lexicon entry:
Umgubular Slashkilter - Something or other that Luna believed Cornelius Fudge had during Harry's fifth year. We're assuming it's a creature of some kind because of the context, but we're not absolutely sure... (OP18)
Families+
- Harry James Potter (b. July 31, 1980), (41) – black hair, green eyes
- Ginevra "Ginny" Molly Weasley-Potter (b. 1981), (dead – Quidditch accident) – red-haired, light brown eyes
- James Sirius Potter (16) – dark brown hair (?), blue eyes (?, like Uncle Ron's, maybe)
- Albus Severus Potter (15) – black hair, green eyes
- Lily Luna Potter (13) – red-haired, green eyes (?)
- Draco Malfoy (b. June 5,1980, (41) – pale blond hair, gray eyes
- Astoria Greengrass-Malfoy (dead – hemorrhaged giving birth to twins) – light blonde hair, blue eyes (?)
- Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy (15) – pale blond hair, gray eyes
- Carina Malfoy (3) – pale blonde hair, blue eyes (*)
- Cassiopeia "Cassie" Malfoy (3) – pale blonde hair, blue eyes (*)
(*) Note - I'm well aware that Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass-Malfoy never had twin daughters or that she died giving birth to said made up twins, but...this is MY STORY and I want it that way! So there!
(?) Further note – question marks indicate information that I either didn't know or just made up to suit my purposes (any of this could be changed later on, should I choose to add or remove)
Timeline (for my craziness)
2017
– Friday, September 1, 2017 – Albus James Potter and Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy attend Hogwarts for the first time (all parents there to see them off, epilogue compliant)
2018
– Astoria Malfoy dies after giving birth to twins
2019
2020
– Tuesday, September 1, 2020 – kids return to Hogwarts
– Tuesday, September 15, 2020 – Ginny killed in Quidditch accident in Holyhead
2021
– Wednesday, September 1, 2021 – kids return to Hogwarts
– Friday, September 10, 2021 – Harry and Draco run into one another, get sloshed, and end up in bed together
– Monday, November 29, 2021 ("nearly three months since kids went back to school") – Harry and Draco unknowingly go to the same doctor and find out they're both expecting
2022
– Friday, June 17, 2022 – Harry and Draco's babies are due