Chapter Text
Harry walked into the potion’s classroom feeling exhausted. He´d been up all night tossing and turning, his mind remembering what happened during the war. Only late in the night had he been able to fall asleep. The only luck was that he hadn´t been keeping his dorm mate awake. Ron had been off to see Hermione, again. He scowled if he´d known Ron would´ve been gone he´d have sneaked Draco into his room.
He sat down with a huff, Slughorn standing in the front of the class. He starts talking but Harry quickly tunes out, not focused on the lesson in the slightest. He trusts Draco to focus on what they should be doing in class.
They´d gotten together around January, though no one knows. Draco and Harry had been pared by Slughorn for Potions. He said something about his best student helping his worst. Who he meant who was the best and who was the worst had been a discussion point between the boys.
With every lesson, the two seemed to get more accustomed to each other. Draco had already apologised for everything he did, and he showed his changes by helping anyone who was in need. He didn´t call out anyone, he was polite and a gentleman overall. He and Harry still butted heads though, and the tension between the two had reached a breaking point when they had to stay behind for a lesson once.
Harry smiled at the memory, one minute they´d been calling each other out on who had dropped their potion, the next moment they´d both been confessing their feelings.
It was only due to the truth potion that they´d spilt on themselves that it happened really, Harry had been studiously ignoring his own feelings for the boy. But with their confessions out in the open, it wasn´t long before the two had been kissing. After that, they started dating. That´d been about three months ago.
Draco bumped his side with his elbow, ‟earth to Potter,” he murmurs, ‟we´re making drought of sleep, go get this from the pantry,” he says pushing a paper in Harry´s hand.
Harry gave a mock salute before walking off to the storage. ‟Can´t believe you still have to work with the ferret,” Ron says when he too stands there to gather his ingredients. ‟You´d think saving the world would give you at least a free pass from that.”
‟I don´t mind,” Harry says for the umpteenth time. He rolls his eyes towards Ron, ‟he´s not that bad, he did apologise for everything.”
‟Yeah, let me just apologise for trying to kill Dumbledore,” Ron murmurs, ‟now everything is okay.”
Harry doesn´t dignify that with an answer, having grabbed everything. He turns and hands the ingredients to Draco. Their fingers brush, and Harry gives Draco a small smile, the boys' eyes returning it.
The first half of the potion goes very well. But then Draco adds the eyes of Newt and Harry takes one whiff of it before he staggers. He manages to grab Draco´s arm before he falls over.
‟Harry,” Draco asks concerned by the strength of his grip, ‟are you okay?”
Slughorn seems to notice the same thing Draco was and is immediately close to them. ‟Mister Potter are you okay?” he asks.
‟I don´t feel so well,” he manages. Draco holds his elbow, keeping him standing.
‟You should visit the infirmary,” Slughorn says with an unidentifiable look in his eyes, ‟there aren´t many people who react to this potion like that.” He turns to Draco, ‟you´ll be okay with taking him there?” Draco nods, and Slughorn vanishes their potion, ‟go then.”
Draco lets Harry take a seat while he grabs their stuff. With both their bags slung over his shoulder, they leave the classroom. Ron and Hermione´s inquisitive looks following them both.
‟What´s wrong Harry?” Draco asks softly while they take the stairs up. Harry is leaning on him though with every step farther from the dungeons he seems to feel better.
‟Better now,” Harry says taking his own weight again. Though he keeps his arm slung around Draco´s shoulder. He looks around before giving Draco´s temple a quick kiss. ‟Probably just something random,” he says trying to soothe Draco´s worries, ‟I have been feeling weird around some smells.”
Draco frowns, his worry only increasing with that information. ‟How long have you been feeling like that?” Draco asks worriedly.
Harry frowns, ‟uh,” he thinks back, ‟I mean, like a few weeks?” he shrugs, ‟it´s just some nausea, nothing bad.”
They walk into the infirmary, Harry removing his arm and walking in by Draco´s side. Draco gives him a sideways look, before handing him his bag, ‟I think you can take it from here,” he says. ‟Meet me in the room after,” he whispers quickly before walking out.
Mrs Pomfrey walks in seconds after, spotting Harry quickly. She gives an exasperated sigh, ‟I´d hope I wouldn´t see you here this year, mister Potter. And we´ve been doing so well.”
Harry laughs awkwardly, biting into the skin around his thumb. She gives him a stern look, and he drops his hand. She sighs directing him to one of the beds and casting a privacy charm around them. ‟So, what brings you here?” she says looking at him.
‟I didn´t feel well,” he says, ‟we were in potions making the,” he frowns, ‟drought of sleep. And Malfoy added the Newt eyes and suddenly I didn´t feel well.”
Pomfrey frowns, ‟have you felt like this before.” Harry nods, telling her the same he told Draco. Her frowns deepen, ‟any other symptoms you´ve noticed?”
This time it´s Harry´s turn to frown, ‟I, uh, I head some headaches? But I thought that was just because I haven´t been sleeping very well. Is something wrong?”
She seems to hesitate before she squares her shoulders slightly, ‟have you had intercourse somewhere in the last three months?” she asks with a straight face, ‟specifically with another man, in the receiving position?”
Harry flushes. ‟Uh,” he hesitates, looking away from her, ‟yes,” he says in the end.
She nods, pulling out her wand, ‟I´ll have to do some diagnostic test,” she says.
Harry frowns, his cheeks feeling awfully red, ‟what is wrong?” She doesn´t say anything focusing on the results of her diagnostic check.
‟It seems that you are pregnant, mister potter,” she says softly. She stands opposites him and Harry doesn´t know what to do. He looks towards her with wide eyes, unsure what to say.
‟But” he stammers, ‟how?”
‟It´s not unheard of,” she says gently, ‟though very much uncommon. There are only a few cases of unplanned male pregnancies. It seems you and your partner have a very compatible magical signature.”
Harry brinks rapidly, the words not truly processing. He stares towards his own hands.
She puts a hand on his shoulder, and he looks up. ‟There are some things we should discuss,” she says, ‟but maybe it might be an idea to tell the other father?” she gently suggests. ‟We´ll make an appointment for tomorrow, at noon,” she says, ‟bring the father if you want, but you don´t have to.”
Harry nods numbly, ‟is,” he pauses, ‟is there something I should know now?”
‟No need,” she says, ‟the foetus is in good health, and seems to be going well for the time.”
‟How long?” he asks.
‟I would say you´re about a month or two along,” she says, ‟if you want, I can tell you everything you need to know now. But I think it´s better if you let it sink in.” Harry nods, ‟take all the time you need,” she says before walking away.
Harry stares towards his hands, ‟pregnant,” he whispers. He groans, ‟of course this happens to me.” He looks towards his stomach, though nothing can be seen there. How long will that be the case? He shakes his head, he needs to talk to Draco, now.
He stands pulling his bag over his shoulder. He steps out of the infirmary right into Hermione and Ron, both with a concerned expression. ‟Are you okay Harry, you look white,” Hermione says.
‟Yeah,” Harry mumbles, ‟I´m not feeling well, so I´m going to go take a nap,” he walks away quickly, off to the eight-year common room. When he´s sure Ron and Hermione aren´t following him, he takes another turn, off to the seventh-floor corridor.
Draco is on him the moment he steps into the room, patting him down as if looking for injuries. ‟I´m fine, love,” Harry murmurs.
‟You were gone for half an hour,” Draco points out, pulling him towards the couch of the room, ‟what did Pomfrey say.”
Harry takes his seat, unsure how to tell Draco this. ‟She asked me if I´d been feeling like that before, and if I had any other symptoms.” He flushes at the memory, ‟after that she asked if I´d recently had sex with a man, `in the receiving position´.”
Draco frowns, he and Harry had both promised to keep this a secret, not ready to break the safe feeling between them. Especially not in the beginning stages of their relationship. Now though, they´ve both been more secure in their feelings.
‟You told her the truth, right?” Draco says, ‟I know we want to keep it a secret, but not if it involves your health.”
Harry smiles at him, ‟I did.” He takes a deep breath, ‟Draco,” he says catching the other boy´s full attention, ‟she said I´m pregnant.”
Draco blinks rapidly, his eyes going from Harry´s eyes to Harry´s stomach. ‟You are? How?”
‟Apparently it´s not entirely uncommon,” he says, ‟it only happens when the magic of both men is especially compatible.” His eyes flit over Draco´s face, hidden behind the impeccable pureblood mask he´d been taught to wear. ‟Draco, what are you thinking.”
Draco´s mask breaks showing a confused look, ‟I´m not sure what I´m thinking,” he confesses, ‟it´s a bit jumbled.” His eyes focus back on Harry´s, ‟what are you thinking?”
‟That something like this would only happen to me,” Harry says, ‟that no one knows we´re even dating and now I´m pregnant?” He shakes his head, ‟what will people say?” He shakes his head again dispelling that train of thought, ‟what are we going to do?”
Draco shrugs, ‟I don´t know sweetheart,” he says, his hand cups Harry´s cheek, ‟but we´ll figure it all out. Together.” Harry´s shoulders sag in relief pulling Draco into a tight hug. ‟Fucking pregnant,” Draco murmurs into Harry´s hair. He gives a short laugh.
‟I have an appointment with Pomfrey tomorrow at noon,” Harry says, ‟she said we had some things to discuss.” He pulls away, ‟she told me I could bring the other father.” He looks away, ‟will you come?”
‟Of course,” Draco says instantly, ‟if you want me there, I´ll be there.” Harry gives him a relieved smile, kissing Draco softly. When they part Harry pulls Draco close again as he lies them down on the couch.
‟What are we going to do,” Harry whispers into Draco´s hair.
Draco looks up, ‟I think we should first decide if you want to keep it or not.”
‟I should decide?” Harry asks.
‟Well, its s your body. I can hardly say that I want you to keep it if you don´t want to carry a child,” Draco says softly.
‟But that´s what you want, for me to keep it?” Harry asks. Draco´s eyes flit over his face before he nods. Harry smiles, ‟Yeah, me too.” Draco´s shoulders sag, his head retaking his place on Harry´s chest.
‟We should still see what Pomfrey says, maybe it´s very dangerous, or something like that. But, if it´s not, I want to keep it,” Draco says softly. ‟I´ve always wanted kids, you know.”
‟Kids, as in plural?” Harry asks, his fingers carting through Draco´s hair, soothing them both.
‟Yeah, I always hated being an only child,” Draco shrugs, ‟I´d love to have a big family. With you, I´d love to have a big family with you.” He looks up again, ‟I know we haven´t even been dating for that long, but I know that´s what I want. A future with you.”
Harry´s face is lit up in a smile, ‟I love you Draco,” he whispers, ‟I want that too, all of that.”
Draco surges forward kissing Harry deeply. ‟I love you too Harry,” he whispers between kisses. Soon they´re pulling each other´s clothes off, ‟use a protection spell,” Draco says with a laugh, ‟we wouldn´t want me getting pregnant as well.”
He stills, as does Hary, ‟you don´t think I could be?” Draco asks, wide-eyed.
Harry frowns, ‟I mean, technically you could, but you didn´t react the same to the potion.” He kisses Draco, ‟let´s worry about that another time.” Draco nods, pulling Harry back into a passionate kiss.
They lie together with similar peaceful expressions, ‟I should really go to my room,” Harry says, ‟I told Ron and Hermione I wasn´t feeling well and that I was going to take a nap.”
‟You didn´t lie,” Draco points out, ‟you did take a nap, only not in your own bed.”
Harry pulls Draco in another hug, ‟I´m kinda nervous for tomorrow,” he says, ‟what is she going to say?”
‟Don´t worry,” Draco says softly, ‟she´s probably just going to do a general check on you and give you some potions if your nutrient level isn´t okay.” Harry gives Draco a look, ‟you know I want to go into healing, I´ve started reading some things.”
‟Yeah,” Harry says with a smile, ‟I remember love,” he kisses Draco´s cheek, ‟I´ll see you at dinner, across the hall.” Draco opens the door for Harry, and he disappears.
When Harry arrives in his dorm room, Ron is luckily not there. Harry goes to lie down with a book, and seconds later Ron walks in, looking worried. He spots Harry, ‟Harry! There you are,” he looks around, ‟you said you were going to take a nap, but when I got up here you were gone. I was worried mate.”
Harry looks at the clock, wondering how long he and Draco had been in the room of requirement. With shock, he realises they´d been there for two hours. ‟I went to the Room of Requirement,” Harry answers, ‟I didn´t want you to have to be quiet if you needed things from here.”
Ron frowns but nods, accepting the explanation, ‟are you okay though? You look better.”
Harry shrugs, ‟I feel better, but Pomfrey wanted to see me at noon tomorrow. Just to check if it´s something that was just today or something I should be aware of.”
Ron nods, before grabbing his own homework, probably bullied into doing it by Hermione. He gives one longing look to his own bed before he leaves Harry alone.
Hermione and Ron look concerned towards him when he walks down to the great hall for dinner. Harry rolls his eyes, taking a seat next to Neville. They´ve gotten closer after the war, with Hermione and Ron focused on each other. When Harry sits down Neville immediately starts talking about a project, he´s working on.
Harry, who hadn´t really cared about Herbology, and still doesn´t, listens with mild interest. Neville is good at explaining things he is interested in, and Harry has seen his Herbology marks rise since getting closer to Neville.
‟Have you ever thought of teaching Herbology?” Harry asks Neville after he´s finished. Neville looks at him in surprise, ‟I just,” he smiles, ‟you´re great at explaining it Nev, and I would imagine it´s something you like.”
‟Yeah,” Neville says, ‟I was thinking of it.” He looks towards the head table, ‟Professor Sprout actually told me to also think about it. She told me I could use this project to start my apprenticeship.”
‟That´s great!” Harry says with a smile.
‟I did think about becoming an Auror,” Neville tells him softly, ‟but I don´t think I´d want to fight anymore. I´d rather just keep plants alive.”
Harry nods, ‟I know what you mean,” Neville shoots him a surprised look. Harry smiles, turning forward, his eyes catching Draco´s. ‟I just,” he shakes his head, ‟I was thinking I might try to become a Defence professor.” He gives a self-deprecating laugh. ‟I already talked to McGonagall about it, she thinks it could go well.”
‟You would be great,” Neville says with a bright smile, ‟imagine us both teaching here!” he looks towards Luna, ‟she´s thinking of becoming the Divination's professor.”
‟That´s great,” Harry says with a smile, ‟so you two are going well?” Neville blushes but nods. Harry gives a short laugh before they both fall silent, eating in each other's comfortable energy.
Around pudding, Neville catches Harry attention again, ‟I heard you weren´t feeling well today,” he says.
Harry nods, ‟yeah, but I´m feeling better already,” he looks towards Draco again, the blond in deep conversation with Blaise Zabini. ‟Don´t worry Nev if it´s something serious I´ll tell you.”
Neville nods, ‟I just wanted to check up,” he says with a smile. Harry gives him a smile. Neville grabs a cake and Harry takes one whiff before the same feeling as today hits him. He stands quickly, walking out of the great hall and into the bathroom. He´s just on time before he starts getting sick.
Neville is next to him in an instant, ‟Harry,” he says. Harry stands up shakily flushing the toilet. ‟That doesn´t sound like you´re feeling any better.”
‟Yeah,” Harry says softly, walking over to the sink and taking a gulp of water. ‟The smell,” he shivers, ‟it just made me sick. No idea how that happened.”
Neville frowns, ‟the smell of Coconut macaroons made you sick?”
Harry shrugs, ‟apparently,” he says. ‟Maybe it´s just the same thing during potions.”
‟You should go to Pomfrey again,” Neville says sternly.
‟I have a check-up appointment tomorrow,” Harry says, causing Neville to squint. ‟She wanted to make sure it really was just something benign.” Neville gives a short nod, ‟don´t worry Nev, I´m just going to rest here for a second. I´ll see you in the common room.”
Neville gives a short nod, walking towards the door. ‟Malfoy,” he says when they pass each other in the doorway.
‟Longbottom,” Draco answers with a curt nod. When the door closes behind them Draco is immediately beside Harry. ‟What happened? You just ran out of the great hall, and Longbottom was following you.”
Harry frowns, had everyone seen that? ‟I got sick because I smelled Coconut Macaroons.” Draco tries to keep from laughing, but he doesn´t succeed, ‟that´s not funny.”
‟I´m sorry darling,” Draco says with a smile, ‟at least it wasn´t because of treacle tart?”
Harry´s eyes widen in horror, causing Draco to laugh harder. ‟I think your friends were pretty worried. Seamus and Dean wanted to follow but Neville stopped them.” Harry groans, ‟what´d you tell him anyway?”
‟That the smell made me sick, and that I have an appointment with Pomfrey for a check to see what happened with potions was benign.” Harry says, ‟told the same to Ron, so they won´t worry when I´m gone around noon.”
‟You can tell them,” Draco says softly, ‟if that is what you want.”
Harry smiles, pulling Draco into his side, ‟let´s first see what Pomfrey says yeah?” Draco nods, ‟god, I have no idea how they´re going to react.”
Draco snorts, ‟about being pregnant or about dating me?”
‟Draco, they don´t even know I´m bi,” he says softly.
‟Maybe start with that,” Draco says with a laugh, ‟you don´t have to tell them if you don’t want to. This is something of us, you don´t owe them anything.”
‟I know,” Harry says with a sigh, ‟but they´re my mates, and I care about them. It´s not like I´ll be able to hide a fucking baby bump.” He stops, ‟or the fact I can´t drink anymore, fuck I forgot about that.”
‟No more coffee either,” Draco tells him, ‟Caffeine is bad for a baby.”
Harry groans, ‟any other things I can´t eat anymore?”
Draco frowns, ‟uh, raw fish and raw meat. But you don´t really eat that either way. Besides that, I think you´re okay.”
Harry nods, ‟you should go back to the great hall if you don´t want people to get suspicious.”
‟Does that still matter if we´re going to start telling people?”
‟If we want us to be the ones to tell them, yeah.” Draco groans, ‟you want to tell your friends?”
‟I want to tell Blaise, maybe Pansy,” he says, ‟I don´t care about the rest.”
Harry smiles, ‟and your mother?”
‟My mother,” Draco groans, ‟let´s not think about that for a second.” Harry laughs. ‟She´ll have some things to say, I´m sure of that.” He turns to Harry, ‟you´re laughing now, but wait until you tell Molly.”
Harry stops laughing immediately, ‟God, she´s still expecting me to go and get back with Ginny. Even though we´ve both told her that we don´t want that.”
Draco lifts an eyebrow, ‟she just wants her kids to be happy,” he says, ‟and I think she´d like to have grandkids.”
‟Well,” Harry says looking down towards his stomach, ‟that will be happening.” He pauses, ‟I´m not so much worried about Molly as I am about Ron though. He still calls you ferret.”
Draco shrugs, ‟I tried to show him I changed, but he´s too focused on Granger to see anything but her.” Harry snorts nodding, it´s a conversation they´ve both had many times before.
They exit the bathroom together, but both go separate ways towards the common room. It´s probably already getting filled with Harry´s friends. If he´s lucky Ginny and Luna will be there as well since they always join them on Friday.
Harry is proven right when he walks in and spots Ginny with Luna and Neville. He rounds onto them, a smile on his face. Neville gives him a look and he nods, letting the boy know he´s okay.
‟Firewiskey?” Ginny asks, holding out a glass towards him.
‟No thanks,” he says, causing Ginny to give him a sceptical look, ‟have an appointment with Pomfrey tomorrow, can´t show up with alcohol in my system can I.”
‟Fair,” she says, ‟more for us.” She downs the shot in one go, pulling a face a the aftertaste. Harry laughs and together they have a nice, relaxed night. Seamus and Dean join them not long after.
When he finally gets up to his room, he notices Ron´s bed empty again. He briefly considers getting Draco, but he doesn´t. He falls asleep and instead of dreams about war, he´s dreaming about a future with two kids running around, one blond and the other black-haired. When he looks down, he sees another bundle in his arms, this one with fiery red hair and impossibly silver eyes.
He wakes up with a smile on his face, and the dream is clear in his mind.
The day passes quickly, and before he knows he´s walking towards the infirmary, Draco would be meeting him there. He walks into the mediwitch´ office. She gives him a smile before directing him to his seat.
‟The other father?” she asks softly.
‟He´ll be here,” Harry says.
‟May I ask who it is,” she says. Harry opens his mouth to answer but there´s a knock on the door.
She smiles at him before walking over to the door opening the doorway. ‟Mister Malfoy,” she says, ‟is this urgent? I have an appointment.”
‟I´m here for the appointment,” Harry hears Draco says. Harry snorts. Madam Pomfrey looks around the door towards Harry, who nods.
‟Come in then,” she says opening the door. Draco takes a seat next to Harry. ‟Know that everything we discuss here is under doctor-patient confidentiality,” she says. Both boys nod.
‟I am sure you both have a lot of questions,” she says, ‟but I want to do an intensive diagnostic spell now, so I can see all I need about the foetus.” Harry nods, ‟just sit still for a moment.”
She casts the spell, and there are intricate webs forming over Harry. She reads them and writes a few things down. She performs another spell, and she writes more. ‟If I could have your arm,” she asks Harry. She puts her wand against his inner wrist, right over one of the veins there. She casts another spell, writing down even more.
She nods, ‟very well,” she says, ‟I asked you both here because I wanted to discuss your options. Have you thought about wanting to keep it or not?”
Harry nods, ‟yes, we want to keep it.” He grabs Draco´s hand who lets him.
‟If that is your decision, I want to ask if I can call the Headmistress in here. There are some things that should happen for the health of the baby.” Harry frowns worried, ‟the baby is okay, don´t worry. But the more it grows the more it´ll be needing specific nutrients, and access to both fathers magic.”
Harry frowns again, looking towards Draco. ‟Since the baby is of magic, it needs magic to grow,” Draco explains, ‟it could do so with just your magic, but sharing mine with yours would help you and the baby.”
‟How would you even do that?”
‟Physical contact,” Madam Pomfrey answers, ‟such as you are doing now,” she says her head directing towards their interlaced hands. ‟Skin to skin contact is the best, and for longer periods of time is even better. Most couples share a bed during pregnancy, which is recommended, especially in couples like yours.”
Harry nods, ‟I´m okay with McGonagall knowing, you?” Draco nods, and madam Pomfrey casts a Patronus, sending it off towards McGonagall. ‟Is there anything you can tell us, about the baby?”
She looks at her notes, ‟would you like to know the sex?”
‟Yes,” Draco says, Harry nodding as well. She smiles, ‟well, the diagnostics say it´s going to be a boy.”
‟A boy,” Harry says softly. Draco gives him a soft look.
‟With magical male pregnancies, the term is shorter than that of `normal´ pregnancies,” madam Pomfrey says after a few seconds, ‟normal pregnancies take around nine months, however, these take around seven months. I was right when I said you were two months along, so I estimate the birthdate to be around September.
‟Poppy,” McGonagall´s voice comes from the opening door, ‟you called?” Her eyes fall on both Harry and Draco, ‟what did you boys do?” she asks.
‟Headmistress,” madam Pomfrey says with a smile, ‟come sit down will you, I was just discussing some important things with these boys.”
McGonagall nods, taking the free seat next to Pomfrey. She looks at the boys expectantly. Harry and Draco look at one another before looking at Pomfrey unsure what to say.
‟What is happening?” Minerva asks Pomfrey.
‟Mister Potter is pregnant,” Pomfrey says, ‟with mister Malfoy´s child.” McGonagall´s eyebrows rise, but she remains silent. ‟As you´re aware, magical pregnancies need certain accommodation.”
McGonagall turns to Harry and Draco, ‟you´re planning on keeping it.”
‟Yes,” Draco says, ‟we are.”
McGonagall nods, ‟we´ll switch your roommates, so you two are in the same dorm room,” she says, ‟I´m sure Poppy can take care of the potions you should be taking.”
‟I will,” she says, ‟there is the matter of potions classes.” She turns to Harry, ‟potions on themselves are not dangerous, but there are some that you best stay clear off. I´ll talk to professor Slughorn and he´ll make sure you don´t attend potion classes that might be harmful.”
‟Mister Potter,” McGonagall says, ‟pregnancy is not something to take lightly. Take care of yourself and if you feel a strain in your magic, do not participate in class.” She sighs, ‟I will have to inform the staff.”
‟That´s okay,” Harry says. ‟I´ll be able to finish Hogwarts, right?”
‟Of course,” McGonagall says, ‟you´re not our first pregnant student, though perhaps the first male student. You can finish Hogwarts, and start your apprenticeship after a year break, as planned. Unless of course, you do not want to.”
Harry nods, not sure about that yet. ‟I´ll make an appointment with a specialised male pregnancy healer,” Pomfrey says, ‟he will be able to keep better track of the baby.” McGonagall nods, leaving them alone again.
Harry and Draco both nod, ‟is there anything we should know?” Draco asks. ‟About the pregnancy?”
Pomfrey grabs a book off her shelves, she taps the cover, spelling it to read something different. ‟This should have all the information,” she says, ‟if you want to tell your friends and family you can of course.”
‟How is he?” Draco asks.
‟He´s healthy, with a steady heartbeat,” she pauses, ‟do you want to hear?”
Harry nods immediately. Pomfrey smiles before casting a spell, the sound of a heartbeat fills the room. Harry feels his eyes water at that, the heartbeat beating inside him. Draco squeezes his hand, a smile on his face.
‟Is there anything else you want to know?” Pomfrey asks.
‟Is it possible for both of us to be pregnant,” Draco asks his face straight.
Pomfrey frowns, ‟It is very uncommon for a couple like yourself to produce two kids through this method, especially at the same time. But if your magic thinks both of you could handle two pregnancies it is not impossible.” She looks at Draco, ‟is it something you would like me to check?” Draco nods.
She casts a spell, ‟you are not,” she says. She sighs, ‟I suggest using contraceptive spells in the future.”
‟Any special ones we should be using? Or are the more common ones enough?”
‟The common ones are enough,” she says, ‟if you forget, and do not want to suddenly get pregnant again, there is a potion you can take the day after.” Harry and Draco both nod. ‟Anything else?” Draco and Harry both shake their heads.
‟Very well, I´m always available if you need any more information. Take care Harry,” she says, ‟I´ll send an owl with the appointment information.” They both nod, before standing and walking out of the infirmary.
They take the fast route to the room of requirement. ‟We´ll have to tell them,” Harry says the moment they sit down on the couch. ‟If we´re changing rooms, they´ll want to know why.”
Draco nods, ‟my thoughts as well, are you ready for that?” he asks, pulling Harry in an embrace, his back leaning on Draco´s chest.
Harry hesitates, ‟yeah,” he says with a soft smile. His hand goes to where their son is growing, ‟we´re getting a son.”
Draco smiles wildly, placing his own hand on top of Harry´s. ‟A son,” he says in wonder.
‟You know I had a dream last night,” Harry whispers, ‟we had three kids, one with your white hair, one with my black hair, and one with my mum’s hair.” He smiles, ‟The red-haired baby and black-haired kid had your eyes,” he says softly, ‟and the blond had mine.”
Draco makes a pleased sound, kissing Harry´s cheek. ‟That does sound like a good dream.” He pauses, ‟Harry,” he says. The boy turns around looking into Draco´s eyes.
‟I know that this is all going really fast,” Draco says, ‟we're getting a kid, and we´ve only been dating for three months. But to me, it feels so much longer. I trust you with everything I have, and I know you trust me too.” Harry nods. ‟I want our kid to be able to have everything it wants and to grow up happy with his two fathers. And hopefully two siblings, at least.”
Harry chuckles, nodding along. ‟I,” Draco falters, ‟I know deep in my heart that you are it for me, Harry. You´re the one I will spend the rest of my life with.” He pauses, pulling out his wand, and summoning the box he´d gotten from his mother when he turned seventeen. He holds it out to Harry. ‟I want to be able to call the father of my son my husband,” he says softly. Harry´s eyes flit between the box and Draco´s eyes. His own filled with tears. ‟Harry James Potter,” Draco says, ‟will you marry me?”
‟Yes,” Harry says, ‟yes to all of that Draco.” There are tears streaming down Harry´s face, and he kisses Draco deeply. When they pull away Draco opens the small box in his hand.
Inside there are three small silver looking bands, one with a green sapphire in the middle an elaborate pattern around it. ‟These have been in my family for a long time,” Draco says, ‟the one with the sapphire is the engagement ring, the other two the wedding ring. They´re all made of white gold”
Harry nods, ‟they´re beautiful.” He looks towards Draco, ‟you think it´d fit me?”
Draco laughs, pulling the engagement ring out of the box. ‟It should, they magically fit themselves around the chosen finger. It´s wizarding tradition to wear them on the right hand.” Harry holds out his hand with a smile, and Draco slips the ring on. It´s large, and when he lets go the ring resizes, fitting perfectly over Harry´s finger.
Harry looks at it in wonder, the cool colour springing out under his darker skin. Harry smiles brightly. Draco smiles sweetly, banishing the rest of the rings back to his room in Malfoy manor.
‟I know that the whole set is beautiful, and matches,” Harry says softly, ‟but I actually found something in my parents' vault this summer.” He summons it from Grimmauld. ‟It´s also white gold,” he says, opening the box. Inside is a silver ring, with a blue sapphire inside, ‟and a blue sapphire.” He pauses, ‟if you don´t want to wear it, that´s okay, but I thought, maybe you´d want to.”
Draco nods, ‟I´d love to,” he says softly. He holds out his hand, and the ring slips on like a glove, only slightly resizing to snug fitly around Draco´s finger.
They kiss softly, before parting again. ‟We should both find our friends,” Draco says, ‟we wouldn´t want them to find out because McGonagall made changes to the dorm rooms.”
Harry trudges to the common room alone, having decided he´d be the first to go back. The weight of the ring on his finger makes him smile slightly, though the anxiety about what he´s about to do makes it less.
When he walks in, he sees Neville with Luna and Ginny. He looks around searching for Ron or Hermione, but he can´t find them. He pauses, before walking to his friends. He takes a seat opposite them, and they fall silent when they see him.
‟Harry?” Neville asks, ‟what´s wrong? You had an appointment with Pomfrey right?”
Harry nods, ‟can we talk? Somewhere private?” he asks looking around. He sees Draco walking into the common room. His emotions are hidden behind his mask.
‟Are you okay?” Neville asks concern lacing his voice. Dean and Seamus notice walking over.
‟What´s wrong?” Dean asks.
‟You guys don´t know where Ron and Hermione are perchance?” Harry asks instead of answering. Dean frowns but nods, ‟can you get them? And meet us in the Room of requirement.” Dean nods again walking off.
‟Harry,” Ginny says concerned, ‟are you okay? You´re kind of scaring me.”
‟I´m okay,” he says, ‟there´s just something you all should know. It´s easier to tell it to you all at the same time than in small groups.” He rubs his forehead, and he sees Ginny´s eyes grow when she spots the ring.
‟Harry,” she says softly. ‟Is that what I think it is?”
‟Depends on what you think don´t it,” he says, ‟but I´ll get to it.” She nods slowly, looking Harry up and down.
They enter the room of requirement. It´s nothing like the one he´d been in with Draco, instead, it´s very similar to the Gryffindor common room. Harry takes a seat, the rest filling in.
‟What is happening?” Ron asks when he walks in. He looks concerned to Harry, who gives him a small smile. ‟Dean said you had something to tell us all.”
Harry nods, and they all take a seat. Neville is sitting closest to Harry, Ron on the other side. Harry takes a deep breath. ‟So,” he says, ‟there are a few things I need to tell you all.” He frowns, unsure where to start.
‟Does this have anything to do with you running out the great hall last night?” Dean asks when Harry doesn´t continue.
‟Yeah,” he says, ‟but there are a few more,” he rubs his eyes, and he remembers the ring only after. The only ones who seem to understand the meaning are Ginny, Luna, and Neville.
‟So, first thing,” Harry says, ‟I´m bi.” His friends all nod, and none make a stupid comment. ‟I´ve been dating someone since January.”
‟Who?” Ron asks, ‟why didn´t you tell us?” He pauses, ‟why tell us now?”
‟We didn´t tell you because we both wanted to see where it was leading to. And because we weren´t sure how you´d all react to it.” He winches, ‟I´m telling you now because we won´t be able to hide it for long.”
‟Harry,” Hermione says softly, ‟who is it?”
He doesn´t dare look at them when he says it, instead, he looks at his hands. He sees the ring and smiles again. ‟It´s Malfoy.”
There´s a stunned silence, and Harry looks around to see people looking shocked. When he turns to Ron, he sees the boy look angry. Harry winches.
‟You´re dating the ferret?” he asks his voice low.
‟Don´t call him that,” Harry says, ‟and yes, I am. If you weren´t too busy with Hermione, you´d notice he´s changed.”
Ron opens his mouth to say something but he´s interrupted by Hermione, ‟you really think that? You don´t think he´s just using your fame?”
Harry growls, ‟no I don´t.”
‟I think it´s nice,” Luna says sweetly, ‟you balance each other out, and your magic is really compatible.”
‟Maybe a bit too compatible,” Harry thinks. When Luna raises an eyebrow, he realises he´s said that out loud.
‟Are you happy?” Neville asks. And Harry nods, turning the ring on his finger. Neville catches the motion, and he pauses, ‟Is there more Harry?”
Harry nods, he pauses, ‟this is more awkward to say than I expected,” he confesses.
‟I still can´t believe you´re dating Malfoy,” Ron says, ‟I mean fucking around maybe? But dating? Next thing you´re going to tell us you´re moving in with him.” Harry feels his eyes widen; they should start looking into that. Fuck there is so much they should do.
‟Ron, shut up,” Ginny says. ‟Can´t you see Harry has something else to say?” Run grumbles something but he falls silent, ‟Harry,” Ginny says, ‟what else is there?” She flicks an eye to the ring and back towards his face.
‟Yeah,” he answers her silent question, ‟he asked me to marry him.” Ron splutters but with an elbow in his side from Hermione and a look from Ginny he stays silent. Harry smiles looking at the ring.
‟Oh,” Luna says delighted, ‟that is great. We´ll be family then.” Everyone except Neville and Harry turns to Luna with a confused expression, ‟what? Draco is my second cousin.”
‟Harry,” Hermione says cautiously, ‟don´t you think it´s a bit soon to marry someone you´ve been dating since January?”
Harry nods, ‟normally I´d agree. But, well, the circumstances are a bit different.”
‟You make it sound like you knocked him up,” Seamus says with a laugh. ‟Good thing you´re both blokes, eh.”
Harry blinks a few times, and he feels his cheeks heat, ‟yeah, so apparently that doesn´t matter.”
‟Wait what,” Dean asks, ‟you really knocked him up?”
Harry winches, ‟more the other way around.” There is a stunned silence before people start talking loudly.
Harry doesn´t listen to the quick talk. He looks around and all of them seem surprised but even Ron isn´t looking angry anymore.
‟Everyone shut up,” Ginny calls, they all fall silent. ‟How long have you known?” she asks softly.
‟I found out yesterday,” he says, ‟but we had an actual appointment with Pomfrey today, with a check-up and all.”
‟Do you know what you´re going to do?” Hermione asks, ‟you need to think about your education.”
Harry scowls, ‟I honestly couldn´t care less about my education right now, Hermione. But even so, I can finish Hogwarts even while pregnant.” He looks at her, ‟because I´m keeping him.”
‟Him?” Luna asks, ‟so it´s a boy?” Harry smiles and nods.
‟You´re really keeping it?” Ron asks, ‟even though you´re 18?”
‟I´ve always wanted kids,” Harry says, ‟as does Draco. It´s way earlier than I expected, but I´m not going to give this up. Who knows if we even could get pregnant after this?” It´s the first time he realised this, and he falters, thinking about his dream with three little kids. It doesn´t really matter if they´re genetically his or not though. Not to him at least.
He shakes his head dispelling the thought again, ‟yeah, it´s early, but I don´t care. I was ready to take Teddy until Andromeda told me she´d wanted to raise him. So, I´d already expected to be at least a father figure.” He smiles, thinking of his godson.
‟What about Auror training? What about your life?”
‟I didn´t even want to be an Auror anymore,” Harry says. ‟I want to be the Defence professor, and I´ll do my apprenticeship after a year break.”
‟You don´t want to be an Auror?” Ron asks, ‟since when?”
‟For quite some time,” Harry says, ‟I´ve fought enough dark wizards I reckon.” They laugh nodding.
‟Mate,” Dean says, ‟how the fuck did you get pregnant though?”
‟Well,” Harry says with a grin, ‟when two men love another,” Neville´s hand covers his mouth and Harry laughs. ‟No without kidding,” he says when he´s pried Neville´s hand away. ‟It has something to do with the compatibility of our magic. I´m not entirely sure, but apparently, when it´s really compatible it can cause magical male pregnancy.” He shakes his head, ‟never fuck without contraceptives.”
‟Obviously,” Hermione says, ‟even if you couldn´t get pregnant you should´ve. It´s not solely against pregnancies you know.”
Harry nods, ‟I know, but it´s not like I´d had sex with someone else before, so I was clean. Draco said he was too.” He shrugs.
‟Do you know how far along you are?” Hermione asks.
‟I never expected to be the one to answer such questions,” Harry laughs, ‟but yeah, around two months. So, I´ll give birth around September. And before you ask, no idea how that will go.”
‟This would only happen to you,” Dean says with a laugh. Harry nods.
He carts his hand through his hair, ‟wait,” Hermione says, ‟so that´s your engagement ring?” Harry nods, he holds out his hand for her. ‟Wow, it´s beautiful.”
‟Right,” Harry says with a smile, ‟it´s been in his family for some time.” He shows it to Ginny up close when she waves his hand over. ‟I gave him the ring I found in the Potter vault.” He pauses, looking around, ‟so, uh, what do you all think? About the I´m engaged to Draco and pregnant?”
‟I can´t say I´m not surprised,” Hermione says, ‟but at the same time it does make a weird kind of sense that you two got together.” The others nod, even Ron.
‟You have always been obsessed with the bloke,” Ron grumbles.
Harry feels himself relax, relief flooding his system. None of his friends hate him or are disgusted by him.
‟Don´t think I will be friends with him,” Ron says, ‟and you better not bring him to our room, but I can be civil.”
‟Actually,” Harry says, ‟we´ll be changing rooms. The baby needs both our magic, so McGonagall is swapping our roommates.”
Neville laughs at Ron´s face. ‟Zabini isn´t that bad,” Neville says, ‟he´s good at Herbology.” Harry laughs, of course, that would be what Neville would say.
They talk some more, his friends asking Harry how they got together. He tells the story with a smile on his face, and when they leave the room, he feels semi-relaxed.
They walk into the common room to see Draco sitting with Pansy and Blaise. They both immediately look towards Harry, their eyes going from his face to his stomach.
Harry feels himself flush and pushes down the urge to pull his cloak around him. Instead, he gives them a polite nod when their eyes go back to his face. They nod back and it´s more than Harry had hoped so soon.
He plays a couple of rounds for exploding snaps with his friends before the bell rings, signalling dinner time. He grumbles, standing. Harry looks towards Draco, wanting to talk to him. They´re out to their friends, but are they still going to hide from the rest of the world?
Draco catches Harry´s eye and sees the question in his eye. He tells his friends to walk ahead, and after a quick look around they nod, spotting Draco. It seems Draco did the same, as his friends are walking away.
‟How´d it go?” Harry asks when Draco is standing next to him.
‟As well as I expected,” he says, ‟They think I´m crazy, but they´ll support me.”
Harry laughs, ‟about the same with me.” He frowns, ‟I know we're out to our friends, but do you still want to keep it a secret from the rest of the school?”
‟I wanted to ask you the same thing,” Draco says, ‟I don´t, I want to hold your hand in the hallways, and be able to just take a walk with you. My main concern was my friends.”
Harry nods, ‟yeah, for me too.” He smiles, grabbing Draco´s hand and kissing it. ‟You should write to your mother, you know. Wouldn´t want her to hear about it from the papers. Because we can be sure that when we start walking around, with matching rings, and holding hands, the papers will talk about it.”
Draco nods, ‟I´ll write the letter after dinner,” he says. They start walking towards the great hall.
‟Come sit with us at dinner,” Harry says, ‟Ron promised to be civil, and the others will be cool.” Draco looks semi worried, ‟you don´t have to.”
‟I´ll join,” Draco answers, squeezing their hands. ‟Never seen the great hall from your vantage point.” Harry laughs.
‟Ron did say something I thought about,” Harry says, ‟he said something about moving in together.”
‟Blaise mentioned the same,” Draco says with a laugh. ‟It did remind me of all the things we should start looking at. Like where are we going to live? how are we going to name him?”
Harry nods, ‟yeah, I don´t think I want to raise a kid in Grimmauld place,” he says, ‟it´s still so dark and you can just feel the dark magic.”
Draco nods, ‟Yeah, I know mother is still living in our manor, but I´d rather not live there either.”
They walk into the great hall, unaware of the stares that they´re attracting. They´re still walking hand in hand, while Harry leads Draco to the Gryffindor table.
‟So, we should start looking for houses?” Harry asks. ‟I´ve been saying a lot of things I never expected to say today.”
‟I know what you mean,” Draco says with a soft laugh, ‟but yeah. I can look through the houses my family owns, but I think something just ours would be better.”
Harry nods, ‟yeah, I think so too.” Harry´s friends give him an exasperated smile when he and Draco stand before them. Neville makes enough room for the two of them to sit, and Harry smiles gratefully. ‟I´m thinking of selling Grimmauld place,” he says, ‟but I wanted to ask Andromeda and your mum first since they lived in the house as well.”
‟I think mum would buy it from you,” Draco answers, ‟though, it kind of defeats the purpose, because that would mean it would be ours again after she dies.”
Harry groans, ‟I hadn´t thought about that.” Draco laughs more carefree than he has in public so far.
‟This is different,” Seamus says out loud, looking between Harry and Draco. ‟There´s one thing between knowing it and seeing it.”
For the first time, Harry looks up. When he looks around, he sees almost everyone in the great hall looking at them. ‟They´re all looking,” Harry whispers.
‟Oh really?” Draco says sarcastically, ‟hadn´t noticed.”
Ginny snorts, ‟maybe if you hadn´t immediately brought him to the Gryffindor table after walking in hand in hand,” she says.
Draco smirks, ‟go big or go home.” Harry shakes his head with a smile.
‟Hello Draco,” Luna says with a smile standing behind him, ‟Is there space for me?”
‟Always,” Ginny says, making room between her and Draco.
‟Hey cousin,” Draco says with a nudge, ‟how´s the project going?”
Harry smiles when Luna jumps into a spiel about her divination project that she´s doing to be eligible for the apprenticeship program of Hogwarts. Harry turns to Neville intended in inquiring about his own. But he sees the way Neville is looking at Luna with a smile on his face.
Harry smiles, turning back to the table. He sees most of his friends looking at Draco and Luna. He frowns, is it so weird for them to know each other. They are cousins. Then again, Harry doesn´t even know if he’s got a second cousin.
‟She mentioned he was her cousin once,” Neville tells Harry, ‟But I´ve never seen them interact before.” There´s a smile on his face, ‟he looks actually interested.”
‟They´ve known each other for a really long time,” Harry tells him. The food appears on the table, and he looks around, ‟he always kept an eye out for her, as much as he could at least.” He spots some curry and pulls it towards himself.
‟Babe,” Draco says turning to Harry, ‟I wouldn´t eat that if I were you.” Harry frowns, Draco knows how much he loves curry. Draco holds up two fingers, ‟there´s Cocos in there, and spicy food will probably worsen your nausea.”
Harry frowns looking back at the curry in his hand. ‟But” he looks up to Draco with pleading eyes, ‟it´s curry.”
Draco laughs, ‟I´m not saying you can’t,” he says, ‟just, know what might happen.” Harry grumbles, he lowers his nose, smelling the curry.
He moves his head away quickly, pushing the curry away. He breaths a few times, before pouting. Draco tries to hide his laugh but doesn´t manage, and when Harry looks at him with squinting eyes, he´s laughing behind his hand.
‟I hate you,” Harry says, without actual venom.
‟I love you too,” Draco answers patting him on his shoulder. Ron seems to choke on his food but no one else reacts.
Harry flushes with how casual Draco said that. He huffs linking his foot around Draco´s. His friends haven´t spoken a word the whole time, looking at them. They´re eating and watching like they´re a show to watch. Harry grabs a pot with potatoes and starts piling his plate with them. He grabs some green with a pointed look at Draco, and also piles that on his plate.
Draco doesn´t say anything just turning back to Luna, who´s more than happy to continue talking. Harry smiles, before starting to eat. Slowly the conversation starts up, and Harry smiles towards himself. When pudding arrives, Harry steers clear of the Coconut macaroons, grabbing himself a piece of treacle tart.
No one has spoken with Draco, and it´s Dean who breaks first. ‟So, Malfoy,” he says leaning forward, ‟which sport is better, Quidditch or football.”
Draco frowns, ‟they´re two completely different games, aren´t they? One has only one ball the other four. One is done while running, the other with brooms.” He pauses cradling his chin in his right hand. Harry sees some of his friends’ eyes going towards the ring adorning his finger. ‟I´d say they aren´t really comparable. It´s like comparing golf with basketball or something. Quidditch is of course still better.”
Dean and Seamus look at each other bewildered before laughing. ‟You seem to know your muggle sports.”
Draco shrugs, ‟I had to do community service in the muggle world. I went to a sports centre for youth.” He smiles when he thinks back, ‟they think I go to an obscure boarding school in Switzerland.”
They stare at Draco, who just shrugs uncaring to their stares. ‟And you? What do you think is better?”
‟I agree with your sentiment,” Dean says with a small smile.
With dinner over Draco and Harry leave the great hall together with Harry´s friends. Ginny and Luna trail behind them. Halfway through the night, McGonagall comes in. She announces her presence loudly, letting them have the time to hide any bottles they ought to know should not be in the room.
‟Weasley, Zabini, Potter and Malfoy,” she says, ‟follow me.”
They do, standing easily. Draco had gone back to his own friends not long after arriving in the common room. She walks up the stairs towards the boys’ dormitories. ‟I´m sure mister Potter and Malfoy have informed both of you about the change in rooms.”
The four of them nod, ‟I´m aware you had the ability to choose your own roommate, and therefore I decided that you two can stay separated if that is what you wish.” She looks between Ron and Blaise. They both nod. ‟I thought you´d both say that. There has been an extra room in the tower that had been empty so far,” she says to Harry and Draco, ‟you´ll be moved there.”
They both nod, she keeps walking and Harry and Draco follow her. At the end of the stairs is a door that had been locked so far, and no one had cared enough to try and open it. McGonagall taps her wand against the wood of the door, and it swings open.
Inside is a king-sized bed, with two desks and enough space for two trunks. There is a small hearth at the end and there´s a comfortable couch in front of it. ‟It´s more luxurious than the others,” she says, ‟but I think you´d appreciate that the farther along you are.” She nods to Harry. ‟There´s a toilet and shower connected through that door.” She pauses, ‟you may call for your own house-elf if there is something you particularly need and or crave.”
Harry flushes but nods. ‟I´ll leave you to pack and unpack again,” she says. She turns before turning back again, ‟and boys, do be more careful in the future.”
They both nod. It takes almost no time to pack their trunks and carry them up to their own dorm room. They take their time though, placing their homework on their desks and arranging their bedside tables.
‟I only realised we´ve never actually slept in the same bed before,” Harry says. ‟I mean we slept on a couch together, but never in a bed.”
Draco nods, ‟yeah I realised that too.” He smiles at Harry, ‟though I know those times we slept on a couch were better than most nights in a bed alone.”
Harry smiles, nodding in agreement. When they go down into the common room, they see that most of their friends are already off to their own bed. There´s just Neville and Luna hugging on the couch.
They don´t bother them, instead of turning around and going back to their own room. They seamlessly fit around each other. Draco´s hand finds itself to where their baby is growing. Harry smiles, grabbing Draco´s hand in his. They fall asleep with smiles on their faces.
Harry wakes halfway through the night, finding their positions changed, with Draco lying tucked into Harry´s side. He lies awake for some time, but instead of tossing and turning, he stays still. He looks at Draco´s peaceful face, slack with sleep. Draco murmurs something unintelligible, before snuggling even closer to him. He smiles, trying hard to fall asleep again.
‟Mother gives her congratulations,” Draco tells Harry during lunch. They´re sitting at the Slytherin table this time. Harry feels like he´s being stared at more than usual, but he rarely cares. ‟Both on the engagement and the baby,” he says in a lower voice.
‟You told her about the baby?” Harry asks. He thought Draco had only told her about the engagement.
‟I didn´t,” Draco says, ‟but apparently the family tapestry shows engagements and children from said engagements as well.” Harry frowns, ‟don´t know how that works either.” Harry shrugs grabbing the eggs.
‟She says, and I quote, `I am glad to see you have found a man of good standing and wealthy background to tie yourself to. Though I wish you would have told me beforehand of this plan. As I had been in discussion with the Greengrass´ relating a fortunate marriage´. Like I was planning on this to happen.”
‟Wait, she was arranging your marriage?” Harry asks with a frown. ‟With whom?”
Draco shrugs. He moves around Harry, ‟Daphne,” he calls out, one of the girls to Harry´s side moves back to look at Draco. ‟You knew our parents were arranging a marriage between me and one of you?”
She frowns, ‟that would be Astoria then,” she answers, ‟I´m already promised to someone else.”
Harry frowns, ‟wait so that´s like normal?” Harry thinks back to Neville and Ron. None of them are arranged to be married. Though maybe Neville is and he just doesn´t know.
‟Sure,” another girl answers, ‟so Draco, are we getting married, or did you stop it? Seeing as you and Potter are getting awfully close.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
Draco holds up his right hand, ‟I´m already engaged.” Both girls step out of the bench in a second, rounding on Draco. They pull his hand towards them, almost dislodging Draco from the bench.
‟Oh, it´s beautiful,” the girl Harry thinks must be Astoria says. ‟You have good taste Potter.” Harry nods in thanks, ‟you have one too?” she asks. Harry holds out his hand towards them. They look with big eyes, Astoria taking a seat next to Draco, while Daphne sits next to Harry. ‟Draco,” Daphne says, ‟you gave him the family jewel?”
She must see the confusion in Harry´s eyes. ‟This ring was worn by generations of Malfoy. It´s said that when Lucius Malfoy married Narcissa he wasn´t allowed to use this because his parents had wanted him to marry another woman.”
Draco nods, ‟that´s true. Mother gave me the rings when I turned seventeen. I think mainly because she wanted to keep them safe from him.” He smiles, ‟father was supposed to marry Bellatrix, but he wanted mother instead. They´d been friends at school.”
‟Wait,” Harry says, ‟why are you all so casual about being married off?”
Daphne shrugs, ‟when you´re the heir to a major pureblood house it´s to be expected. Especially in this community,” she says circling the table. ‟And I mean it´s not like it matters. Sure, I´ll have to get an heir, but that´s it. If I wanted, I could just take a lover, it´s also pretty normal. And my husband will treat me right, or he will disappear from the face of the earth.”
‟Not if I make you disappear first,” Blaise says casually, ‟but don´t worry, you´ll find you won´t need to resort to killing me.”
‟I know darling,” she says with a sweet smile on her face, but Harry can see that there is a lot of mischief behind that smile.
‟Wait,” he says again, ‟you two are engaged?”
‟Of course not,” Blaise says, ‟we are courting. Most people,” he says with a pointed look to Draco, ‟do that before proposing to be married. Or diving into bed with their future spouse.”
‟Who cares about proper proceedings,” Draco says giving Harry a cup of coffee.
‟I thought you said I couldn´t drink coffee?” Harry says with a frown.
‟The book said max of two, but I suggest keeping it at one to be sure,” Draco answers.
Daphne and Astoria look with interest but don´t mention anything. Harry can see the cogs turning in their heads. ‟So,” Harry says, turning to Astoria, ‟sorry for taking your future husband? I guess?”
She waves it away, ‟I don´t care,” she says ‟it´s not like I even knew mother and father were talking with Narcissa. They´ll find another suitor for me, or maybe they´ll let me look by myself.” Daphne snorts and Astoria looks towards her with a venomous look, ‟I can dream can´t I.”
‟As if mother or father will let you marry someone you choose yourself. They´ll want a grandchild from you as well, not just from me.”
Astoria scowls, ‟there are enough options that don´t involve me getting pregnant,” she shakes her head, ‟besides, if Narcissa Malfoy accepts her son getting married to another man, then she doesn´t care about bloodlines anymore.” Astoria tilts her head, ‟though I guess she and my parents could come to an arrangement about me possibly carrying your child.” She lights up, ‟that could solve both problems in one swoop.”
Harry and Draco looked at one another before turning back to Astoria. ‟I wouldn´t put your hopes on that,” Draco says gently. She pouts slightly but nods in understanding.
After lunch, he, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione travel down to Hogsmeade. Harry had sent a letter to Molly asking her to meet him in the hogs’ head today. Luckily, she´d said she could. George was working in Hogsmeade so he too could be joining. Harry wasn´t sure yet if Bill, Arthur, Percy, or Fleur could join them. He hoped they could since he didn´t want them to hear about this through the prophet but he wasn´t sure. When he entered, he inquired about the private room he could have for a conversation. Aberforth showed them through the door.
Mrs Weasley hugged him the moment he walked in. Harry smiled, ‟hey Mrs Weasley.”
‟Harry, my boy, you´re worrying me,” she says, ‟you´ve never asked to talk to us like this.”
Harry nodded looking around. He sees Fleur and Bill, sitting next to Fred. Arthur and Percy weren´t there, but Harry hadn´t expected them to be, not really. They´ll hear about it through the family, it´s better than the prophet at least.
‟Yeah,” Harry says, his hands behind his back, ‟I didn´t want you all to find out about this through the Prophet, because I´m sure some students have already sold the story to Rita or something.”
Ron and Hermione winch, he´s probably right about that. Mrs Weasley looks towards him with even more interest. Ginny stands next to him with a soft smile on her face. ‟I´m dating someone,” he says, before winching thinking about how obvious their rings are. ‟More specifically engaged.”
Mrs Weasley stands in surprise, ‟Harry, my boy, who´s the lucky girl?” Her eyes look towards Ginny with some sense of hope.
‟It´s actually not a girl,” Harry says, his thumb goes to his mouth, biting at the skin around the nail. He sees their eyes look at the ring on his right finger.
‟Oh,” Mrs Weasley says softly, ‟who´s the lucky man?” her eyes don´t flit to Ron as they´d gone to Ginny.
‟It´s,” he falls silent, looking at Ginny. She stares at him unblinkingly. He turns back, ‟it´s Draco Malfoy.”
There´s silence around the room. Harry watches the Weasley´s warily, unsure how they react. These are people who lost a sibling to the war. People who´ve been mercilessly ridiculed by Lucius Malfoy. They haven´t seen the change Draco has made, they don´t see him being a better person. They just know the annoying kid that was hateful.
No one says anything until George starts laughing, ‟oh that´s a great joke Harry,” he says, ‟can you imagine you and Malfoy together.” Bill and Fleur look at one another before turning to Harry.
‟George,” Ginny hisses, ‟he´s not kidding.” Harry panics slightly, unsure how to react to that. He´d expected angry faces, not being part of a family anymore. He hadn´t expected George to think it´s a joke.
‟He´s not?” George asks unbelieving, ‟why would you want to marry the git?”
‟He´s changed,” Harry says softly. ‟He´s not the ass you all knew him as.”
‟Harry, why are you marrying him so quickly.” She pauses, ‟how long have you been dating?”
Harry winches, he knew this question would come. ‟We´ve been dating for a little over three months,” he says. He sees people open their mouths, either in shock or to say something. ‟I know, it´s quick, but, well, there´s something else.”
He closes his eyes briefly, steeling a breath before he opens it again. ‟I´m, uh, I´m pregnant.”
George splutters, ‟you´re sure he´s not taking the mickey? I mean he missed 1st of April by like a week, but still.”
Harry huffs, ‟I don´t think that´d be a very nice joke now, do you?” he asks. ‟I´m not taking the mickey, I´m engaged to Draco and we´re getting a kid.” He smiles softly at the thought before looking back up.
‟Oh, he´s for real,” George says, Ginny sighs pinching her nose. ‟Congrats?” he says in a questioning voice.
This breaks the silence that had been on most of the others. ‟Oh Harry,” Mrs Weasley says again, pulling him in another hug. ‟How long have you known?”
‟Two days,” Harry says softly, ‟I almost fainted during potions, so I was sent to Madam Pomfrey. She figured it out.”
She nods. ‟And you both decided that you want to keep it?” Harry nods with a smile. ‟Where is your fiancé right now?” she asks.
‟He´s downstairs,” Ginny says. Harry frowns, he thought Draco was still at Hogwarts. ‟I told him mum might want to see him.” Harry shakes his head with a smile. ‟Want me to get him?”
‟If Harry doesn´t mind,” Mrs Weasley says, ‟I´d like to see the changed man myself.” Harry nods, and Ginny walks off.
‟Congratulations Harry,” Bill says, he smiles sheepishly, ‟we also wanted to tell you guys something, mum and dad already know. Sorry for raining on that parade.”
Fleur laughs, ‟we hadn´t expected you to tell us this,” she says. ‟We thought you were announcing at most a relationship.” She stands, showing the obvious baby bump, ‟but it seems we had a similar announcement.”
Harry smiles, hugging Fleur, ‟congratulations Fleur!” he says, ‟was it expected?”
She laughs, ‟We planned on it,” she says, ‟I´m guessing you did not. I didn´t even know it was possible.”
‟We didn´t either,” Harry says rubbing the back of his neck, ‟it has something to do with the compatibility of our magic?”
The door opens and reveals Draco and Ginny next to each other. Harry holds back a laugh at seeing his ex and fiancé standing next to one another. Draco looks around the room his eyes immediately zeroing in on Harry. After that, his eyes travel to the Weasley matriarch.
Harry sees him steel himself before walking into the room. He stands in front of Mrs Weasley, ‟Mrs Weasley,” Draco says, ‟I´m sorry for any pain I or my family caused you. I hope you can forgive me for everything I did wrong. Under normal circumstances I would have asked you for Harry´s hand,” he glances to Harry, ‟I know you view him as your own child.”
She looks him up and down. It is a sight to see for anyone who hasn´t been to Hogwarts. Instead of wearing a button-down and slacks, like most pure-bloods, Draco is wearing muggle clothing. A muggle band t-shirt and jeans. Harry privately thinks that anything fits good on him but seeing Draco in muggle clothing is a sight to behold.
‟I didn´t know it was pureblood tradition to ask the family for their partner's hand in marriage.”
‟It´s not,” Draco says, ‟it´s muggle tradition. Wizarding tradition would be my mother talking to you concerning the dowry and things like that,” he makes a disgusted face, ‟let´s not do that.”
Mrs Weasley gives him an amused smile, ‟no? You do not wish that?”
‟Harry is not some property to be bargained for, neither am I,” Draco says.
‟Not that you won’t get property by marrying me,” Harry points out. He´s leaning against the wall with a smile.
‟I would still marry you if you didn´t have a penny to your name,” Draco tells him seriously, ‟I don´t care about your fame, and don´t need your money.”
‟I know love,” Harry says. ‟I know that you don´t care about any of that.”
Draco looks back towards Mrs Weasley, ‟I understand if you cannot forgive me. I just hope that I will be able to show you that I am worthy of your forgiveness. And that I truly am sorry for everything I did.”
‟You´re right that I can´t yet,” she says, ‟but I can see that Harry has and that he loves you. I can see you love him as well. That is enough for now.” Draco smiles while she extends her hands, he takes it gladly. ‟Welcome to the family Malfoy,” she says.
‟Thank you, Mrs Weasley,” he says, shaking her hand.
They part a few seconds later Mrs Weasley sitting down. Draco comes to stand next to Harry, the other gravitating towards him. ‟We should celebrate,” Mrs Weasley says, ‟maybe you could ask Aberforth for cake,” she tells George, ‟We´ll be welcoming two new kids into the family.” She looks towards Fleur, ‟in September and in?”
She gives Harry an inquisitive look. ‟Somewhere in November, I suspect?” she says with a look towards his stomach.
‟Actually, also around the beginning of September,” Harry says, taking a seat. Draco sitting between Ginny and Harry. ‟It only takes seven months, instead of nine.”
‟Kind of weird since you have to build a placenta,” Draco says with a frown, ‟I guess magic really helps?”
Fleur scowls besides Harry, ‟I wish my pregnancy would take that long,” she says, ‟I´m already done with the morning sickness.”
‟Amen,” Harry says. ‟I can´t even smell Cocos, it´s just,” he shivers.
Fleur laughs, nodding in sympathy, ‟I understand. I love chicken, but now, I can´t.”
‟I imagine it must be hard though,” Molly asks Harry, ‟to suddenly be pregnant. For me, it was, the first time at least.” She looks at Bill, ‟we did plan it though.”
‟Yeah,” Harry says, ‟I mean I didn´t even know it was possible. I guess I was kind of in shock at first. Had no idea what to think or do,” he shakes his head, ‟but Draco helped,” he says with a smile towards him.
‟Do you know what it is yet?” Fleur asks.
‟Yeah, a boy,” he says with a smile, ‟you?”
‟We didn´t want to know,” Fleur says, ‟though I feel like it will be a girl.” Harry smiles remembering the dream with the blond-haired boy.
George, who´d gone downstairs to get a cake for all of them, arrived back, serving them all with ease. ‟Well,” he says, ‟to two cousins I guess.”
They eat in happy energy, silent but happy. ‟You can always owl me,” Fleur says, ‟for any tips or help. I´ve already read almost all pregnancy books.”
‟Dray´s been reading one we´ve gotten from Pomfrey,” Harry says, ‟but thank you. I would offer the same but I´m as clueless as they come so I don´t think you´d have much help with me. But you can always rant.” Fleur laughs walking over to Draco.
They speak in brief French, surprising some of the Weasley´s with the ease Draco speaks it. ‟Good luck Harry,” Bill says with a clap on his back, ‟you can always ask for help.”
‟Your wife said the same thing,” Harry says with a smile, ‟thank you.”
George comes over to him, ‟sorry for thinking you were kidding,” he says, looking towards his mother.
Harry shrugs, ‟it does sound a bit like a joke if you don´t know,” he says. He gives George a nudge, ‟don´t worry about it.”
George gives him a smile, ‟take care Harry,” he says. Mrs Weasley gives Harry a tight hug, before giving Draco a hand. With that, the Weasley´s all leave, and Harry and his friends walk back towards Hogwarts.
Harry had been proven right about his suspicions someone had sold the story to the prophet. When he received his copy, his name was bright on the front page. ‟Our saviour, tied down by ex-death eater?” the title read. There was a picture of him, a big circle around his hand where the ring was situated. Next to a picture of Draco was placed, his hand encircled as well. Harry grumbles when he reads the article. There are speculations of a love potion, but also of a secret relationship dating back to before the war.
They cite that Harry talked at both Draco´s and Narcissa´s trials, stating it was a show of their deep trust. Harry had to laugh when there were speculations about their wedding, saying that they´d already booked the venue.
‟Well,” Harry says passing the paper to Draco´s waiting hands, ‟Rita hasn´t gotten any better it seems. Still sprouting nonsense. The only truth in that whole article is the fact we´re engaged. That´s it.” Draco laughs, handing the paper to Ginny.
‟At least there´s some truth to it,” Draco says, ‟she could´ve said something about you setting the trend of wearing rings and me following it. Or something just as ludicrous.” Harry nods.
Another owl flies down, dropping a letter. ‟Our appointment,” Harry tells Draco, ‟It´s next Friday, after class. It´ll be in the infirmary.” Draco nods. Harry turns the letter, ‟and this is my potions list,” he gives it to Draco, ‟at least I only have to take them during lunch and dinner.”
‟It´s not that bad really,” Draco says. ‟She says Slughorn will have them during the class.” Harry nods, already not looking forward to that conversation with the man. Slughorn still thinks Harry is one of his best students, while in truth it´s all Draco´s doing that their potions are even acceptable.