Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Beloved misfit	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 7493 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor gain profit from it. J.K. Rowling owns it

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Author's note: This story was supposed to end with just two chapters. However, yet again my brain has betrayed me and the chapter is becoming far too long to past it as one chapter.
So I'm cutting the chapter in two again, so this is part 2 and you can expect a part 3 to be posted soon as well (just need to finish two last scenes).
One day I'll manage to finish a birthday fic in just one chapter ... One day ...
Warnings: oh boy, probably the most heaviest part of the three when it comes to angst. This chapter contains a nearly breakdown (I hope I didn't screw this particular scene up too badly, but I have no experience with it, so apologies if I messed up), more nastiness from the parents-in-law, MPreg, problems with the pregnancy, drama, insecurity, time skips ... I think I've mentioned the most important warnings
n: Harry couldn't send his Patronus because his magic was focusing on the baby. As for Kreacher: you'll see what happened to him in this part
I hope you'll enjoy!

Part 2
Becoming grandparents had not softened Lucius' and Narcissa's attitude towards him. It had been a stupid wish, but he had hoped that by showing them he was capable of giving Draco an heir (even though he had chosen to have a child because he wanted children and not to please them), his parents-in-law would finally soften up towards him, maybe even accept him eventually.
If anything, their attitudes seemed to worsen.
Every visit with Scorpius present, Narcissa made sure to inform Harry of everything he was doing wrong. He was given his son his milk in the wrong way; he was not dressing him appropriately; he was holding him the wrong way; he was not capable of soothing him in the correct way …
Nothing he did was good enough in their eyes.
Harry tried to ignore the snide remarks, focusing on caring for his son, but these remarks hit him harder than before. He was terrified he would screw up as a father, not knowing how to act because he never had the perfect role model – the Dursleys hardly could be considered the perfect role models.
Every time Scorpius cried or refused to drink his milk, panic threatened to overtake him while a voice in the back of his mind told him in a poisonous whisper he was screwing up.
Draco tried to take care of Scorpius whenever he could, but he was busy the entire day at his job. It had been decided that Harry would stay at home for at least two years to take care of Scorpius and that afterwards, their son would go to a Wizarding kindergarten, so that Harry could start working again.
Scorpius was eight months old when Harry nearly broke down completely.
He had visited Lucius and Narcissa without Draco (as he had been called away for an emergency in his lab) this time. Apparently it was some sort of Pureblood tradition to visit the grandparents every week to show the progress of their grandchild.
Harry dreaded this day every week, because it meant he would hear that everything he did was wrong and that he was unfit to take care of a Pureblood child.
It had already been a tiring week. Scorpius was a rather fussy baby during the nights and since he was born, Harry hadn't had the chance to sleep through the night. He had been stealing some hours during the day whenever he could – meaning when Draco was there to take care of Scorpius – but throughout the months, he had never become fully rested. This of course reflected in his appearance: there were slight bags underneath his eyes, his skin had become rather pale and the stress of enduring Narcissa's remarks combined with his worrying about Scorpius had made him drop weight, causing him to look slightly thinner than before he became pregnant.
This week, Scorpius had been even fussier than usual, crying loudly until he fell asleep or until he had eaten. The quietness lasted for an hour or two before the crying started anew.
So by the time Saturday came and with that, the weekly visit to the grandparents, Harry's nerves were already high strung.
"Your appearance is not really befitting of a Pureblood's spouse, Mister Potter. If you can't handle taking care of yourself, how do you expect us to trust you with taking care of our grandson?" Narcissa spoke idly, taking a sip from her iced tea. "Maybe you should hire a house elf to act as a nanny. A house elf will know how to take care of a Pureblood child."
Unlike you was the unspoken afterthought.
Harry clenched his teeth and concentrated on distracting Scorpius with his bunny. "I can take care of Scorpius; I don't need the help of an house elf," he replied stiffly.
"Really?" Lucius raised an eyebrow. "I would be more inclined to believe that statement if I hadn't seen your appearance."
An hour. He had been sitting here for an hour with a fussy, red faced Scorpius, enduring their remarks. That had to be enough, right? If he had to stay any longer, he would probably resort to hexing them and that would be hard to explain to Draco.
He stood up. "We need to go home now," he said in a flat voice. "Draco will be home soon, so I need to start making dinner."
Lucius waved his hand, as if Harry needed his permission to leave.
Grinding his teeth, Harry turned around to leave.
"I guess your cooking skills are something to be admired, unlike your parenting skills," Narcissa chimed with a small laugh. "I doubt it's your appearance that convinces Draco to come home to you."
Without realising it, Harry tightened his grip around Scorpius and Apparated straight through the wards, hearing them break with a loud 'crack'.
He appeared on their front porch and he marched inside his house, slamming the door behind him.
The slamming of the door startled Scorpius and the little boy started to cry loudly; his cries sharp and high.
"Oh no, sweetie, I'm sorry; please don't cry," Harry pleaded and cradled the boy carefully against his chest, walking up and down in the hallway, hoping that the repetitive motion would put Scorpius to sleep.
"Please, Scorpius, can you go to sleep for daddy?" he said and squeezed his eyes shut. "Daddy needs to get some sleep too."
In response, Scorpius started to cry harder and Harry winced, feeling a headache building up.
"Come on now, you must be tired, right?" he said desperately and walked to Scorpius' bedroom, so that he could put him down in his crib. "You've just eaten, so that can't be it." He checked the diaper by putting his hand underneath Scorpius' trousers clad bottom. No full diaper either. Then why was he crying?
"Please, sweetie, please go to sleep!" Harry placed the blond boy carefully in his crib and Scorpius started to wave his arms agitatedly, his small legs smacking against the mattress, while his face became even redder.
Harry tried to soothe him by rocking the crib carefully, but no matter how long he rocked or talked soothingly to his son, Scorpius kept crying without stopping once.
Maybe Narcissa was right. Maybe he really was a failure as a father. His son was crying and he couldn't even figure out what was wrong with him. What kind of father was he?
Even calling Kreacher wouldn't help now, because the old house elf had died a month before Harry gave birth.
Another ear splitting cry made him release the crib with a wince and he sunk down on the floor, his back against the wall.
He was so tired of it all. No matter what he did, Narcissa and Lucius weren't close to even accepting him and now he couldn't even soothe his own son. All he had to do was take care of the household and of Scorpius and he couldn't even do that.
What kind of husband and father was he if he couldn't even accomplish the simplest things?
"I can't do this," he moaned and tears started to drip over his cheeks, his shoulders heaving with his sobs.
He was failing at everything he did – how could Draco even stand to be around him?
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the familiar sound of the Floo activating. He didn't hear a suitcase being dropped on the floor, nor footsteps hurrying up the stairs.
He didn't see Draco entering the room and go in a beeline to the crib, picking up their son, whose cries had weakened.
It was only when the sound of crying had disappeared that he looked up dazed. He could hear Draco's voice murmuring something to their son in a soothing tone, together with the sound of a vial being uncorked.
He stiffened. Draco had seen what had been going on. He had seen their son crying alone in his crib while he sat there uselessly on the ground, like a child that couldn't do anything. He would realise how pathetic Harry was and then …
And then what would happen? Would he realise what Narcissa had seen: that Harry was pathetic and not worth the hassle to put up with for the rest of his life? He knew he looked terrible; while walking up the stairs, he had caught sight of his appearance in the mirror and he had barely been able to supress a wince. His hair resembled a bird's nest more than ever; his bright eyes had dulled and light bags had started to grow underneath his eyes while his former tanned skin had turned into an almost sickly pale colour. He had lost all his pregnancy fat, but instead of gaining his muscles back, he just looked thin, almost as thin as he had been during his last few years at the Dursleys.
He wasn't exactly desirable anymore. It didn't escape his attention that he and Draco barely were intimate anymore. That was mostly his fault, he knew. The first few months Harry's body had been recuperating from the pregnancy and the strain of the birth. After that, Harry was often just too tired to do anything more than sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow – only to wake up a few hours later, because Scorpius needed to eat. He knew Draco was willing to take over the nightly feedings – the blond had offered to do so on multiple occasions – but Harry had turned those offers down, because he knew Draco needed his rest. Draco worked the entire day, while Harry just took the household and caring for Scorpius on his shoulders. In Harry's mind, Draco's job took up far more energy than his household chores.
Since Scorpius' birth, the intimacy between them was restricted to a few simple kisses every day and the occasional hug.
He couldn't even remember when exactly they had last done it.
"Harry."
Draco's soft voice made him tense up. Footsteps neared him until they stopped in front of him and Draco knelt down before him.
"What happened?"
"I screwed up," Harry replied flatly and gripped his hair tightly, tugging on it. "Scorpius kept crying and I can't figure out why."
Draco sighed and when he raised a hand, Harry involuntarily flinched. Draco paused, but stretched out his hand and placed it softly on Harry's cheek, caressing it.
"You didn't screw up, Harry. Scorpius is fussy, because his first tooth is coming through and his gums are aching a bit. I gave him a potion that would help with the ache and his pacifier. He's sleeping in the crib now," Draco murmured.
"I should have known it was his gums that were irritating him," Harry mumbled and could hex himself for not figuring that out. Of course; how could he not have realised that Scorpius' first tooth was coming through? He was eight months old; the book about babies he had been reading mentioned that the first tooth could come through during the eight month and that the child would act fussy and cry more easily because of the pain.
Why hadn't he realised that sooner? He was with Scorpius all day, he should have noticed what was going on.
"The only reason why I know it, is because I used a Diagnostic charm," Draco replied patiently. "Otherwise I wouldn't have known it either. You didn't screw up, Harry."
"I should have thought about using that charm," Harry murmured and bit his lip. "I can't believe I didn't …"
"Harry!"
He looked up startled when Draco raised his voice a bit.
Stone grey eyes regarded him with worry. "You look tired as hell. Why didn't you tell me you needed help? I would have pushed some of my work to my subordinates," he said, lowering his voice again, mindful of their son dozing off in his crib.
"I don't need help; I, I can handle it," Harry retorted weakly, but even he knew how stupid that sounded. It was clear he couldn't handle it alone. What would have happened if Draco hadn't returned sooner?
"Harry, you look ready to collapse," Draco sighed. "I should have noticed sooner how tired you are. You need time to rest."
"I'm not going to collapse, I promise. I just … just …"
But he was on the verge of collapsing. Taking care of Scorpius took more effort and sucked up more energy than he had expected and he often wondered just how the hell Molly had managed to raise seven children and still look energetic.
A hand rubbed and massaged his shoulder. "You need some decent rest. I'll take up the nightly feedings now, so that you can rest through the nights. I'll call my mother and ask if they want to babysit Scorpius throughout the day until you are recovered. I'm sure she and father won't mind."
"NO!" Harry shot to his knees and clutched at Draco's arm, preventing him from getting up. "Scorpius doesn't need to be babysit by your mother!"
Draco stared at him bewildered. "Why not? She won't mind, I promise."
How could he explain why he didn't want to hand over Scorpius to his grandmother? Harry could already imagine the sort of taunts they would come up with now if they heard that he wasn't even able to handle an eight month old child. They would consider this further proof that he wasn't fit to be a father, even though Harry was trying his hardest to be a perfect father. Maybe they would even manage to convince Draco that Harry wasn't worth the hassle and wasn't worthy of being his husband. What if they used their connections in the Ministry to convince them that Harry was unfit to be a parent and took Scorpius away?
It was a statement of how far Lucius and Narcissa had gone in their taunting that Harry seriously considered them able of taking away his son.
"I – we don't need her help. I can take care of Scorpius – I don't need her help," Harry insisted, unconsciously gripping Draco's arm tighter.
Draco sighed and looked away for a few seconds. "Would you mind if Aunt Andromeda helped during the day? That way you can spend time with Teddy as well. I'm sure he misses his godfather and that way he can spend time with his cousin twice removed as well."
Harry bit down on his lip and shifted his knees. He supposed it wouldn't be that horrible to have Andromeda around to help him. At least she had never taunted him about his blood status or about his parenting skills. She was pleasant to be around with and honestly, he could use some help with Scorpius.
It had also been a while since he last had visited his godson.
"Yeah, okay," he muttered after a bout of silence.
Draco tilted his head to drop a soft kiss on his lips. "Go rest; I'll make dinner, okay?"
Harry wanted to protest, state that he was capable of making dinner, but Draco's determined face made it clear he would not tolerate any protests, so Harry sighed and with a weak smile left to their room to take a quick nap in their bed.

"Your grandmother says it's time for you to go home, Teddy," Draco spoke up and entered the living room.
Three year old Scorpius looked up with wide eyes. "Teddy bye bye?" he asked curiously.
The ten year old stood up with a regretful sigh. "Yeah, I have to go, Scorp."
Seated on the couch, reading the file of one of his new cases, Harry looked up with a smile. "You can always come back this weekend, Teddy. I'm sure your grandmother won't mind."
"I know," Teddy replied, but still pouted a bit. He bent down and hugged Scorpius, making the blond boy giggle and then walked over to Harry to give him a hug as well.
"Tell your grandmother I said hi, okay?" he smiled and dropped a kiss on Teddy's hair, which had changed to sandy blond hair.
"Will do."
Scorpius occupied himself with the play set of small wizards and witches that could move and jump and started to mutter something – most likely dialogue belonging to the little figures.
Harry watched the scene with tender eyes. After the first year, Scorpius had managed to sleep through the nights, making it a lot easier for his parents to regain their much needed rest. Andromeda had helped a lot as well – for a few hours every day she had visited them for the first two years, taking care of Scorpius and the household, so that Harry could sleep. Teddy accompanied her whenever he could, eager to play with his cousin.
Draco entered the room, right when Scorpius started to clap his hands, because two of the wizards were floating.
"Seems like his magical outbursts are becoming more frequent," Draco murmured and sat down next to Harry.
Harry nodded. "Hm, just yesterday he made his mashed peas disappear," he said dryly.
"I guess he didn't approve of his lunch," Draco chuckled. He placed his arm around Harry's shoulders and threw a glance at the file. "New case?"
"Yeah, but it's an easy one from what I can tell. Shouldn't take me more than an hour to break it," Harry murmured, closing the file after writing down one last remark.
"I've been meaning to ask …" Draco trailed off, a look of uncertainty crossing his face.
The dark haired twenty-seven year old placed the closed file on the table next to him and turned to look at his husband. "What?"
Draco bent towards him, bringing their faces closer and lowered his voice. "What do you think about having a second child?"
"A second child?" Harry repeated surprised. "Ah, eh, I haven't thought about it to be honest. I thought you wouldn't want a second child."
"I know how it is to grow up without any siblings and I don't want Scorpius to experience that loneliness," Draco replied and gazed at their son, who was ignoring their conversation in favour of his toy set. "I know he has Teddy, but Teddy will be going to Hogwarts next year and Scorpius would benefit from having someone close to his age."
A second child, huh …
When he had discovered that men were capable of carrying children, he had envisioned himself with at least two children of his own. After getting together with Draco, he had just assumed the man would only want one child, because the Malfoy family never had more than one child (presumably to prevent fights over inheritance later on).
He had been content to have only one child – knowing in the back of his mind that he had a high chance of only having one thanks to the state of his body – but now Draco had started the subject of a second one and his buried desire to have at least one more reared its head again.
"So what do you think? If you don't want to have a second one, I understand – you've only been back to work for a year, but I just thought …"
Draco's rambling was cut off by Harry's lips.
"I wouldn't mind having a second one," Harry smiled and pressed another kiss on surprised lips. "When do you want to … you know …" he trailed off, unwilling to say anything indiscriminating when their son was near them.
"Whenever you're ready," Draco answered immediately and looked a bit embarrassed at his eager reply. "Sorry, it's just … I really want to have a second child with you."
Harry chuckled and rubbed his thumb over the hand that was placed on his leg. "I'll ask Snape whether he wants to make the potion again."
He ignored the small voice that told him Snape wouldn't be willing to make the potion again in favour of answering Draco's enthusiastic kiss.

"Are you out of your mind?" Snape asked flatly and stepped away from the cauldron in which he had been stirring a purple potion.
Harry fidgeted in the doorway of the laboratory. After the conversation with Draco – and an in depth one later on in the evening that included details like when he would take leave from his work – he had written a letter to Snape, asking whether he was up for a visit.
He had received a response two days later and now here he was three days later. Scorpius was being babysat by Andromeda and Teddy and Draco was overseeing the meeting with a woman who wanted to start up a shop solely to sell Draco's potions.
"My magic has been stabilized for more than two years now," he pointed out calmly. "As long as my magic is stabilized, then my body can handle a second child, right?"
"Potter, you were already pushing your body and magic with the first one. Carrying a second one might make you end up as a Squib or even dead," Snape said coldly, wiping his hands clean of some specks of the potion that had splattered on his skin.
"I can handle a second one," Harry insisted and took a step closer. "I'll be careful like the first time. I'll make sure that Draco won't be away in a meeting when I'm nearing my due date. Sir, Draco and I really want to have a second child."
"Would Draco still be eager if he knows how risky it would be for you?" Snape asked softly, his black eyes glittering.
Harry stiffened and glowered at his old professor. "There is no need to inform him, because it won't be risky. I know what I'm doing and I know my body can handle a second one."
But Snape shook his head. "I cannot, in good conscience, give you the potion. Your magic was very unstable near the end of your pregnancy and this would be a huge risk. I know you like taking risks, Potter, but I am not going to watch Draco suffer if it turns out your body cannot handle a second one."
Harry clenched his hands and glared at the man, who looked calmly back. He couldn't go back to Draco and tell him that Snape wasn't willing to give him the potion. Draco would want to know why and if he told him the reason of Snape's refusal, Draco would most likely abandon the idea of a second child and Harry could not let that happen.
He knew it could be risky, but he just needed to be careful. He would be even more careful than he was during the time he expected Scorpius and that was saying something.
He bit his lip; he didn't want to do what he was planning next, but he couldn't let go of the desire to have a second child.
"Fine," he snapped and turned around. "Then I'll just look up another Potions Master and ask that person for the potion. I'm certain that person will be willing to give me one."
He was nearly at the front door when Snape's cool voice carried over to where he was.
"Potter. Wait."
Even with the guilt of tricking Snape like that, Harry went back with excitement bubbling up in his stomach.

As it turned out, carrying their second child was more taxing than he had expected. The first four months went by without much problems; he was tired during the mornings and experienced morning sickness – often lasting throughout the day – but overall, it wasn't that bad. Nothing that a few Anti-Nausea potions couldn't cure.
Snape, who was rather pissed off at the way Harry had managed to convince him to give him the potion, still insisted on doing weekly check-ups, starting from the moment he knew he was pregnant. The due date was now estimated to be around the middle of April, which meant Harry had to take a leave from his work starting from the fifth month to make sure he didn't exert himself.
They had informed Scorpius about the baby when Harry was four months far and the dangerous months had passed. The little boy had been apprehensive at first – not really understanding how a baby could possibly fit in his daddy's belly – but after a while he seemed happy to gain a new brother or sister.
The rest of the family and friends were informed a week after Scorpius had been told. Harry's friends and Andromeda had congratulated them and Teddy had been excited, looking forward to gaining another cousin on who he could dote.
Narcissa had hugged Draco and Lucius had given him a congratulatory nod, but as soon as Draco had turned his head for a moment, Narcissa had looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smile on her lips while Lucius had shaken his head.
"I guess this is one way to keep him with you," Lucius had murmured.
Their snide remarks and overall cold attitude towards Harry didn't stop – and by now he had given up on ever gaining their approval. He tried to ignore them as much as possible, focusing his energy on Scorpius and the growing baby inside of him, enjoying the intimate moments he could steal with his husband.
However, whether it had to do with the pregnancy making him more sensitive or just the fact that years full of snide remarks were finally hammering down on his emotional state, one day when he was six months far, during Scorpius' birthday, he came close to losing the baby.
Lucius and Narcissa had insisted on celebrating Scorpius' fourth birthday in Malfoy Manor and Harry hadn't had the energy nor a good reason to protest against it.
He had insisted on having Andromeda and Teddy at the party – he had wanted Hermione and Ron to attend as well, but he had no desire to subject them to foul remarks, so he had decided to have a private party with them the following day.
The day had started out relatively well. The party started at exactly one p.m. and first lunch was planned, followed by Scorpius opening his presents. After five presents were opened, there was a break in which Draco helped Scorpius with cutting the birthday cake. Teddy was taking pictures of it, claiming a birthday party wasn't complete without taking pictures.
Harry had seen Lucius and Narcissa stiffen when Andromeda and Teddy had entered the garden (which had been spelled to have warm weather) and he couldn't help but be glad about that. Even if they didn't like Andromeda and Teddy, they still couldn't say anything about it, because public appearances had to be kept even between family and friends.
The atmosphere was so light hearted that Harry carelessly let his guard down – and that was probably why the remarks hit him so hard.
Narcissa appeared next to him without any warning.
"How is the baby developing?" she asked idly, taking a sip of her champagne.
Harry stiffened; his hands, which had been slowly caressing his visibly rounded stomach, stilled. "The baby is doing well; Snape said there were no problems," he replied flatly, hoping that she would leave him alone now.
No such luck.
"Usually men don't have more than one child," she murmured, her eyes fixed on Scorpius who was opening a small present. "Not only are their bodies too exhausted after the first one, but also because they don't want to feel like they are leeching off of their partners who take up the role of bringing in the money." A sharp smile appeared on her face, her eyes shining coldly in the dull sunlight. "I guess some people are too noble to complain about their leeching partners."
Harry stood up abruptly, clenching one of his hands in his shirt. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," he muttered and walked out of the garden, trying to ignore Narcissa's light hearted chuckle.
As he walked to the nearest bathroom, he thought that he should have mentioned that Draco was the one who had brought up the subject of a second child. It was not like he liked 'leeching' off of Draco; if he wanted this pregnancy to progress smoothly, he had no other choice than to take time off from his work. If he had his say, he would still be working as a Curse breaker. It wasn't that he didn't like being around Scorpius – the opposite actually, he usually couldn't wait to go home when he was still working because he missed his son – but he liked being busy and helping other people. Breaking curses fit those two categories perfectly.
Too bad that his job proved a hazard for his unborn baby.
The door of the bathroom closed soundlessly behind him and he immediately went to the sink to splash water in his face.
Narcissa had made it sound as if he had gotten knocked up, just to stop working. As if he wanted Draco to provide for him like he was his … his private whore or so. Harry winced at that thought and stopped splashing the water, staring down at the sink.
Lucius or Narcissa had never called him a whore to his face, but he had heard enough implications in their comments to pick up that that was what they considered him to be at times. In the beginning of his relationship with Draco they especially had made it clear to him that he was nothing but a nice body for Draco to occupy himself with for a while. After Draco had proposed to him, their comments had changed to implicating that his only worth was in bed and that he couldn't offer Draco anything else besides his body.
Hands clenched tightly around the white, impeccable sink while his breathing started to become laboured.
This was the first time however that he had been called a leech. Not even during his first pregnancy had he been called that. But he supposed that that was because Scorpius was their first grandchild – and if either of his in-laws had had a say in it, Scorpius would also be their last.
A twinge of pain in his sides made him clench his teeth.
What had he done to deserve such nasty in-laws? He had lost his parents at an early age, had endured years with a family that hated his entire existence, had lost several other people including Sirius and Remus and had battled one of the darkest wizards in history multiple times before finally defeating him. Wasn't that enough to warrant him some good luck after all that? What did he have to do for his in-laws to finally stop with their poisonous remarks?
Drowning in his dark thoughts, he never took notice of his magic swirling wildly around him nor looked in the mirror to see how pale he had become.
He only noticed something was going horribly wrong when a sharp stab of pain, like a knife slashing across his skin, shot through his body with his stomach as the origin. His stomach in which his baby was kicking frantically.
With a gasp, he looked down and his sight started to become blurry when a dark spot on his light brown trousers began to spread.
He sank down on the floor, his hands clutched around his stomach. "No, no, no, this can't be happening," he whispered in panic, but before he could call a house elf for help, everything started to spin in front of his eyes and then only darkness greeted him.

"…you mean, it was dangerous!? He never told me …"
"… didn't want me to tell you for fear …"
"Of course I wouldn't have if that meant …"
The conversation was muted, but it took place behind a closed door – meaning that the people talking were most likely conversing louder than was considered to be a normal conversational tone.
Green eyes opened slowly, the owner of them becoming aware of his surroundings.
Harry was back in Grimmauld Place, lying in his bed underneath the sheets. His sight was slightly blurry, which meant that his glasses were taken off of him.
For a brief moment he wondered why he had woken up in bed, until the events of that day hit him like a sledgehammer and he soundlessly sucked in his breath. He wrestled his arms free from underneath the sheets and felt his stomach. It was still as rounded as before – was that a good sign?
He sat up and stared down at his rounded stomach. Closing his eyes, he pressed down with three fingers, fiercely hoping he would get a response.
It was faint – almost unnoticeable. He shifted around, bringing his legs up so that he could cross them and almost cradle his stomach between them and pressed down again, urging his magic to reach out.
A small tendril of magic seemed to touch his own, greeting it almost shyly and he felt a soft push giving against his fingers.
Harry brought a hand to cover his mouth and a couple of tears leaked from his eyes. For one horrible moment, he had thought he had lost his baby. But the baby proved to be stronger and he was still safely inside of him, even though this had been a very close call.
The door to his bedroom was opened and Snape entered soundlessly, his hair looking oddly ruffled and splotches of red coloured his cheeks.
"You have once again managed to defeat the odds, Potter," Snape murmured and he sounded exhausted.
"What happened?" Harry asked nervously, bringing his hand down. "I remember feeling pain and … and bleeding."
"You did indeed bleed quite a lot," Snape sighed and leant against the closed door. "You went through three vials of Blood Replenishing potions, before you had enough blood in your body again. I don't know exactly what happened, but the stress that you were experiencing was driving your magic out of control and as a result, you nearly went into labour. I managed to stop the process on time, but it was close."
"How come I'm here? I would have thought I would be in Malfoy Manor," Harry said, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had come close to losing his child. It was one thing to assume that, but to hear his assumption being confirmed …
"In the state you were, you needed all the help you could get, so Draco brought you here in order for the house to extend its magic to help you," Snape replied in a neutral voice. "It took hours before your magic calmed down and your body was stabilized."
"Hours?" Harry frowned and looked around. The weak sunlight shining through the parted curtains could either mean it was morning or late afternoon.
"It's Monday," the older man answered curtly. "You were unstable for almost the entire day and it was only around four in the morning that your magic stopped lashing out."
"Thank you for … for helping me and my baby," Harry said softly and swallowed, finding it hard to meet the dark eyes.
"I told Draco everything."
"What do you mean with …"
"I had no choice. Last evening your state worsened and for a moment the possibility existed that Draco needed to choose between keeping you alive and your baby," Snape continued flatly. Meanwhile his wand was slashing through the air, performing a Diagnostic charm. "He asked me today how your body could have been in such a vulnerable state if the pregnancy was progressing smoothly."
Draco knew. He knew how dangerous the pregnancy in reality was. Worst of all, he now knew that Harry had kept a lot of information about the pregnancy hidden from him.
Harry closed his eyes and tried to ignore the sick feeling that rose up in his stomach.
"It's time for you and Draco to talk," Snape murmured and his robes rustled when he disappeared.
Silence reigned when his husband entered the room. Harry wasn't sure what to say and instead clenched the sheets between his hands, worrying his lip between his teeth.
"Our wedding's anniversary is in three weeks," Draco announced abruptly, breaking the silence.
Harry stared at him bewildered, not certain where he intended to go with this particular conversation topic.
"I was thinking about our vows." Draco raised his head and stared at him with unreadable eyes. "More specifically the part where we swore to tell everything to each other, bar the content of presents."
"Draco, I can explain," Harry started weakly.
"So you can explain why my husband apparently didn't want me to know that carrying a second child could leave him as a Squib or worse?" Anger and hurt seemed to wage war on his face, each emotion trying to get the upper hand. Those eyes, usually a soft grey, at times even resembling silver, were now hard as stone and Draco's shoulders were tense.
"If I thought the risk had been too big, I wouldn't have taken the potion, but I wanted a second child," Harry replied in a small voice. "It's … this is the first time my magic has acted up like that. It won't happen again, I promise."
"Harry, you don't seem to understand the issue here," Draco spat and raked his hands through his hair, messing it up. "Even if you thought the risk wasn't that big, you still should have informed me about it! I'm your husband, for Merlin's sake!"
"But if I had told you about the risks, you wouldn't have wanted this baby!" Harry fired back, throwing his head up so that he could look straight in Draco's eyes. "I know you, Draco; you would have said I shouldn't take the potion and …"
"And can you blame me for that? Yes, if I had known the pregnancy would be risky, I would never have brought up having a second child." Draco started to pace up and down in front of the bed, his hands clasped behind his back. "Having a second child is not worth it if it means you get hurt during the process – I love you and I don't want to lose you, Harry; surely you can understand that?"
Harry swallowed and started to rub his stomach in an effort to calm himself down. "I won't get hurt. I … you want this baby as well, right?" he asked uncertainly. Something about the way Draco was talking about their baby made it seem like he didn't welcome it anymore. That, now he knew there were risks involved, the baby wasn't worth it anymore.
But he couldn't want to …
Draco sighed and sunk down on the bed, occupying the space next to Harry's legs. "You know I want this baby," he said softly. "But I don't want to be put in a position where I have to choose between you or the baby. No baby is worth losing you."
"I'll be more careful," Harry mumbled; his hand motionless on his stomach.
"You won't have a choice about that," the blond laughed humourlessly. "Severus has basically put you on bed rest. You can still walk around in the house, do some light chores, but you have to rest as much as possible."
Harry wanted to protest, but he knew that bed rest was a small price to pay for keeping his child safe. So instead he kept quiet and nodded.
"Severus said that this was most likely caused by stress," Draco murmured and looked hesitantly. "What happened?"
Harry gazed at Draco and released a sigh. How could he tell his husband that his mother had been taunting him again and that he hadn't handled it as well as he normally could? Admitting that would either lead to a fight between him and Draco or a fight between Draco and his parents and Harry didn't want to come between them. As much as he loathed Lucius and Narcissa, they were still Draco's parents and he could clearly see how much they adored him. He didn't want to be the cause of a fight between them.
"I don't know." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I haven't been sleeping well lately, so maybe that was the cause?"
Draco clucked his tongue in worry. "Why didn't you tell me that you didn't sleep well? I could have given you something."
"Didn't think about it," Harry lied.
"If you still don't sleep well, let me know, please?" Draco murmured. "I don't want you to stress yourself." He shuffled closer on the bed so that he could give Harry a kiss on his lips.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," Harry whispered and slid his fingers through fine, blond hair.
He received a wry smile in return. "I guess that's something I need to get used to, being your husband and all."
A pale hand touched his stomach almost reverently. "I'm so glad I didn't have to choose between you two."
They shared another tender kiss.
"I love you," Harry murmured, feeling the baby inside of him kicking when the blond shifted his hand over his stomach.
"I love you too." Grey eyes gazed at him lovingly.
"Uncle Sev, I see daddy?"
Scorpius' question made Harry smile and the couple broke apart.
"I guess Scorpius is becoming too impatient now," Draco chuckled and stood up. "I'll go get him."
Harry nodded and discreetly wiped away the few tears that had gathered in his eyes. Damn hormones were making him more emotional than he normally was.
"Daddy!" Dark green eyes – a copy of his own and his mother's – stared at him in excitement and the little blond boy toddled over to the bed as fast as his small legs could carry him.
"Hey sweetie," Harry grinned and helped his son climb on the bed.
Here in his bed, surrounded by the two people he loved the most, it was easier to push the memory of Narcissa's sharp tongue to the back of his mind and forget for just a few moments her treatment towards him. His family still mattered more to him than the poisonous barbs Lucius and Narcissa threw at him.

AN2: All right, so next part will definitely be the last. It will be up in a couple of days normally.
I hope you liked it!
Cuddles
Melissa
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