Work Text:
"Paprika, paprika, where the fuck are you..." Draco mumbled while shuffling through the aisles. He's sure, he went already past them twice, but he would rather spend the entire day looking for them than asking one of the employees. Candy and cockies winked at him in quantity, and he stared at them with longing. But he knew, he had to cut back a bit on the sugar. His trousers and shirts were now too tight to wear comfortably and he didn't want to hide in robes. Jemma already loosened some of his clothes, but elven magic was only capable of so much. She almost broke his rules regarding self-harm when she anxiously told her master, that he had to go out to buy new trousers.
"Jemma is so sorry, Master," she squeaked and eyed Lucius's old cane in one of the vitrines longingly as if she wanted him to whack her with it.
"It's fine, Jemma. It was bound to happen anyway," Draco assured her briskly and she hurriedly excused herself to stress bake probably. But Draco wouldn't need any bribing to butter him up, as he was really pleased to see this happening to begin with.
The symptoms were just really late, that's all.
One of those symptoms was also the reason, he absolutely refused to leave the market without paprika.
He had a weird craving for it since last week but forgot to buy it every time he went out. Another symptom for sure.
The pregnancy really meddled with his brain.
Huffing, he shortly rested beside the frozen pizza. The cool air felt heavenly on his hot and sweaty skin. He would have to be careful to not catch a cold, but basking in it for a short while surely wouldn't hurt. The pizza mockingly smiled at him, and Draco could swear, he heard it moaning and pleading to take it home with him. He hadn't quite figured out the settings of the oven yet, but not time to find out than the present, he supposed.
The options were seemingly endless and everyone seemed more delicious than the last. In the end, he chose one with vegetables without any meat. Strangely he hadn't craved any special meat specifically and it had worried him for a while, but a trip to the doctor had dismissed his fears.
"As long as you remember to get your proteins from somewhere it doesn't matter, Mr. Malfoy," he said with a winning smile, that strained a bit at the edges. Calling around five am to ask this might have been overboard, but Draco couldn't sleep because of his anxiety. The doctors' assurances were a welcome distraction.
He packed two pizzas, one for him and one for Theo. The latter probably wouldn't come home until later, but Draco was confident to find out the settings til then. Pleased with his decision he moved over the edge to grab one of the last pizzas of its kind, but another hand was also reaching for it. Irritated, he held onto it tighter and scowled at the owner of the other hand.
"Excuse me, I was reaching for that first," Draco said plainly and tucked at the Karton, which was still in the grip of the other guy.
"Draco?" a disbelieving voice greeted him. And now that he's focusing on the guy rather than on the food, he's recognizing him. Harry Potter as he lived and breathed.
"Potter," Draco said back, a bit breathless, "what a surprise."
"No shit," Potter said and finally let go of the pizza. Draco hurriedly put it into his basket, least Potter changed his mind.
"Well, it has been a pleasure," Draco drawled and nodded awkwardly, before turning to leave. Every minute spent in Potter's presence was torture enough.
"Draco, wait," Potter stopped him with a hand on his arm, "are you in a hurry?"
"Yes," Draco said, "my husband is coming home soon."
Potter looked as if he might faint, "Hu- husband?"
"Yes," Draco said, now quite bored, "my husband of two years. It was in The Prophet." Not that he had wanted to announce it at all, but Mother had pointed out, that he didn't have to be ashamed of anything to keep it under wraps as he had to while dating Harry. Potter had been, understandingly, not very fond of media exposure at all, and getting a date in public had been close to impossible. Potter only agreed if friends came along to hide in the group.
It hadn't been all that long after the war, so Draco could understand the hesitation. But after almost two years he only felt like a dirty secret, something Harry had to hide away or something he could throw away easily if he didn't need him anymore.
And well. Harry had thrown him away for his picture-perfect family.
"I don't read it," Potter said, his face ashen while he held onto the freezer for dear life. "When was the wedding?"
"November, 3rd. He proposed on my birthday," Draco said, smiling down fondly on the ring, which adored his finger. He had wanted something plain and simple and this one fit his taste perfectly. Pansy probably helped Theo with picking out.
"Ehm... Congratulations," Potter said and scratched his neck, "Even if it's late."
"Thank you. To you too, I suppose. There was an article on yours in The Quibbler. A summer wedding, if my memory serves correctly." And it rarely did these days.
"Yes," Potter pressed out, "Molly insisted."
"Ah," Draco chuckled, "That's rather her thing, isn't it?"
Potter stood there gaping like a fish, floundering for a quick comeback for a moment. He probably hadn't expected Draco to be so salty in public.
"Ah, don't mind me, I don't have much of a filter these days," Draco apologized quickly while rubbing his stomach. His new clothes were hiding his bump quite well, but it was visible if he touched it. Potter's eyes zeroed on his hand, shock written plainly over his face.
"Wha-, you-, i-is tha-that," he stuttered helplessly and Draco tipped his head in silent affirmation.
And now Potter did faint.
Draco felt bad to let him lie there, so he ushered the prying employees away and cast a quick Renerverate to wake him up.
"Potter," he greeted him, "that was quite the reaction."
"Cut me some slack," Potter groaned, "I just found out that wizards can have babies. My worldview just shattered."
"My condolences," Draco quipped back, "But I frankly don't care. I just wanted to make sure, you were alright and you seem like it. I'll have to get going."
"Wait," Potter scrambled up to take hold of his arm again, "was this already possible when we-, ehm, when we-."
"When we were together, you mean?" Draco asked drily. Potter nodded.
"Well, there hadn't been a lot of wizards who wanted to experience the pain of pregnancy themselves, so the studies were limited, but there had been enough cases to grant survival for the carrier and baby both," Draco affirmed and let himself bask in smug satisfaction. He could see Potter's emotions wandering over his face and it was entertaining, to say the least.
Shock, incredulity, realization, and in the end, regret. So much regret and pain.
"I-," Potter whispered, "I see."
"Hm," Draco huffed and looked at Potter out of the corner of his eyes. He was silently crying.
"I'll bet, you would have liked to know that four years ago," Draco couldn't help but cruelly add. Mother had reprimanded him, whenever he spoke spitefully of Harry's actions, but Potter had been the love of his life then. He would have endured more years of hiding and the scorn of Harry's friends to just stay by his side. Like Harry had promised.
Harry's perfect fantasy shattered his illusions pretty quickly and Draco hadn't felt so generous to point out the possibilities. Harry had been so quick to leave him and he hadn't even tried to fight for them. He didn't deserve the knowledge.
Now it was far too late to change anything. Harry was married to ginger number seven and she popped out two children for him too.
Draco found love in Theo and they were expecting as well.
Sometimes fate could be quite ironic.
"Well, it doesn't do anything to talk about it now, I suppose," Draco said and petted his stomach lovingly, "as we're both in the beds with made. We'll just have to lie in them now."
A fleeting last look at Harry told him everything he had to know.
"But mine will be much more comfortable than yours. Have a nice life, Potter," Draco said, grabbed his basket, and left the still crying man behind.
He still had to find the paprika after all.