Darkness Shadows Light

CHAPTER NINE - I\'M ALREADY VISUALISING THE DUCT TAPE OVER YOUR MOUTH

The following afternoon found Harry, Ron and Hermione walking down to the lake, Ron had spoken to Hermione earlier that day promising to tell her everything that was going on. He couldn\'t stop the blush at this blatant lie, they weren\'t going to tell her everything, they were going to tell her what they needed her to believe.

They sat down on the grass, pulling their books out of their bags to make any casual observer think they were merely studying. Once they had all opened their books, Hermione looked impatiently from Harry to Ron and then back again.

\'So, which one of you is going to tell me what\'s happening?\' she asked.

Ron looked at Harry expectantly, they had agreed that Harry should be the one to tell the story.

\..pr..promise you\'re not going to freak out?\'

\'Harry, I can\'t think of anything that could me freak out after spending over six years with you and Ron as my best friends.\'

\'Well the truth is the Imgonnahaveababy,\' he said in one garbled breath.

Hermione looked puzzled as she tried to decipher what he had just said and then her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the penny dropped.

\'Oh. My. God.\' she gasped. \'Of course, it all makes sense now!\' The sickness at the beginning of the year, the tiredness and the strange mood swings, but there was one more thing...

\'So who\'s the father?\' she asked, turning red as she realised exactly what Harry must have been doing to get pregnant.

Harry glanced at Ron, who hung his head, refusing to look at either of them.

\'Ron?\'

\'Yes?\'

\'Are you the father?\'

\'Yes,\' he mumbled.

\'I didn\'t know you were gay!\' Hermione felt incredibly hurt that they had hidden so much from her, she had never thought *Ron* was gay. In fact she had always thought he liked her, though waiting for him to make a move had obviously been a bad idea.

\'I\'m not gay,\' Ron protested fervently, finally managing to look at Hermione.

\'Bisexual then,\' conceded Hermione.

\'I\'m not bisexual either, I like girls and only girls...\'

Now Hermione was totally confused.

\'What Ron means is that it was all a mistake. It shouldn\'t have happened and it won\'t happen again.\' Harry explained, trying to make it clear for Ron\'s sake. He had screwed up his own lovelife and had no wish to screw up Ron\'s.

\'Okay,\' said Hermione slowly. \'Let me see if I\'ve got this right. You and Harry are having a baby ther,her, but you\'re not together.\'

Both of them nodded.

\'I can\'t believe you didn\'t tell me before,\' said Hermione, the hurt sounding in her voice. \'Just how far along are you, Harry?\'

\'About three months,\' said Harry quietly. \'I found out about six weeks ago.\' He was finding it quite peculiar that Hermione seemed more surprised about him aon aon and upset that they hadn\'t told her, than the fact that he was male and pregnant. He said as much to her.

\'Well I\'ve read about it happening before,\' admitted Hermione. \'But isn\'t it really rare?\'

\'Yeah,\' said Harry gloomily. \'Only four others in history, lucky me...\'
\'Who else knows?\'

\'Just Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.\' More lies.

\'Well, you\'re going to have to tell everyone soon, surely it will start to show before long?\'

\'I know, my clothes are already getting pretty tight.\'

\'Well there\'s expanding charms for that,\' said Hermione confidently. \'I\'ll help you with that.\'

\'Thanks,\' said Harry gratefully. He wished he had got up the nerve to tell her earlier, he should have known Hermione would take it all in her stride. \'So you\'re not freaked?\'

\'Not really, it\'s quite exciting actually! I wonder if I could write a paper on this for history,\' she said thoughtfully. \'I could get some extra credit...\'

\'No way!\' exclaimed both Harry and Ron.

Hermionokedoked disappointed.

\'There is one thing,\' said Hermione. \'You really ought to tell Ginny before it becomes common knowledge. She\'s going to be awfully upset.\'

\'Why?\' asked Harry, both he and Ron looked at Hermione mystified.

\'Because she still likes you, Harry. I told you to tell her you were gay last year when you realised. Just think how upset she\'s going to be to find out that *and* that you\'re pregnant by her brother!\'

Both Ron and Harry looked dumbstruck, neither had thought of Ginny before now.

\'Oh god, she\'s going to be so devastated,\' said Ron with horror.

\'You mean she *still* likes me?\' said Harry with disbelief. \'I thought she was dating Colin?\'

\'Broke up,\' said Hermione shortly. \'Neither could cope with the fact that they both worship you.\'

\'Hell,\' said Harry vehemently, punching the ground. Everything ed ted to get more and more complicated.

\'So how are you feeling now?\' asked Hermione. \'You\'ve been awfully strange the past few weeks.\'

\'Actually I\'ve been feeling a lot better the past couple of days,\' admitted Harry. \'Madam Pomfrey said I should after the first trimester.\'

\'Well that\'s one good thing. At least you should be able to concentrate on your studies now. You must be awfully behind.\'

Harry laughed, it was typical that Hermione would be worrying about his schoolwork.

\'Well if that\'s everything, can we go back inside?\' said Harry, shivering. \'It\'s pretty cold out here.\'

\'I just have one more question,\'

Harry groaned, but Hermione was smiling , mischievously.

\'What?\'

\'Can I be godmother to the baby?\'

\'Only if I can be godfather!\' interrupted Ron.

Hermione looked at him strangely. \'Ron, you\'re the father, you can\'t be the godfather!\'

\'Oh yeah,\' said Ron weakly. Harry shot himirtyirty look.

\'I\'d be thrilled if you would be the godmother,\' said Harry, hoping to distract Hermione from Ron\'s faux pas. And anyway, he couldn\'t think of anyone who would make a better godmother, especially if he wanted to keep this child on the side of good.

\'Brilliant,\' said Hermione looking pleased.

After a few more minutes, Harry once again shivered and they decided to head back indoors, agreeing not to talk about this unless they were positive they were alone. Neither of them had noticed the beetle in the grass only a few feet away from them...

******

*The taut, lean body under him moved against him. He loved the little hitch in his breathing every time he thrust into him. Their lips met in a deep, drugged kiss, tongues tasting each other, teeth nipping and teasing. He ran his hand down the quing ing muscles, he couldn\'t last much longer, it was too good to last. He felt the body below him tense and then the tale tell wetness flood between them. With one final thrust he released himself deep within that willing body. He looked down into those startling green eynd wnd whispered, \'I love you, Harry Potter\' and in that moment knew it was true.*

Snape woke up sweating, sticky and cursing himself. He hadn\'t had a wet dream like that since he was a teenager. He stilled as he remembered the words he had uttered in a place he couldn\'t control them. Was his subconscious trying to tell som something? Did he love the young wizard? The sensible part of his mind told him it was absurd, but the part that still believed in happy endings was screaming \'yes, yes, yes!\'

He knew then that he had to get Harry back...