Survival of the fittest | By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 9 |
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling |
Author's note: You may have noticed it (or you may not have) but this chapter is called Part 1 (just like the previous chapter). Now I know I mentioned in the former chapter that the next chapter would contain all the reactions. *pauses* Well, as it turned out, if I put all the reactions together I would reach more than 20 000 words and well, that's a bit too much *winces* So after discussing it with a friend, I've decided that the reactions would be spread out over three chapters.
First part contains Narcissa's reaction. Second part will contain Lucius' and Severus' reaction and the third (and last part) will contain Remus' and Sirius' reactions (I know most of you have been looking forwards to the last ones' reactions, so I apologize for making you wait longer, but yeah *winces*)
! Be sure to read the AN underneath the chapter as well.
Warnings: MPreg; a bit angst; chapter edited by myself (so I apologize for any mistakes left) and I hope I portrayed Narcissa's reaction well. I don't have any experience with this particular talk, so I tried to whinge it from what I've read in stories and from what I've seen on tv.
I hope you'll like the first part!
Chapter 9: Informing the family Part 1
30th of October
"What made you decide to not take the potion?" Draco asked an hour later when they had moved to the couch. Harry was sitting between his legs, leaning against Draco's chest and both their hands were placed on his stomach. Sapphire had joined them on the couch; purring and kneading Harry's leg until she had lain down on his lap to take a nap.
Mara and Ruby were lying in front of the fire while Garin was curled up in a dark, cool corner of the room. Rowen had taken residence somewhere near the Owelry – where exactly he didn't want to say and Draco was all too happy to have only one pet following him instead of two to complain about Rowen's refusal.
Harry turned his head towards him; his eyes were still red rimmed from crying, but he had calmed down. "I started thinking about how the baby would have looked like," he replied softly. "And then I started thinking that I probably would be forever wondering what kind of child we would have gotten. And I …" he trailed off and looked away.
"And you, what, Harry?" Draco asked softly and freed one hand to grab Harry's chin and lift it towards him so that the younger boy had to look at him.
Harry seemed embarrassed and he looked down, avoiding the other one's gaze. "I didn't want to kill our baby," he admitted reluctantly. "It's … it's something of us together and I … I just couldn't."
"Well, I'm happy you didn't go through with it," Draco muttered and kissed his cheek.
Harry frowned. "If you're happy that I didn't go through with it, then why the hell did you brew the potion in the first place? Why didn't you stop me?" he demanded to know and turned around, dislodging a disgruntled Sapphire from his lap. She meowed softly in complaint, but moved towards the arm of the couch and fell asleep there.
Draco looked at him calmly and answered, "Because while I do want this baby, I wasn't going to force you to keep it. What kind of person would I be if I made my lover miserable by demanding he kept a child he didn't want?" he asked rhetorically. "I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to and that includes keeping a child. I told you before, Harry, I wouldn't have been mad at you if you aborted the baby. And I wouldn't have resented you for it either," he added when Harry opened his mouth. "So that's why I didn't stop you; I don't want to make you miserable."
"But wouldn't you have been miserable if I had taken the potion?" Harry inquired and let himself be manoeuvred around until he was straddling Draco's legs with his arms resting on his shoulders.
Draco shrugged. "I would have mourned for a while, but I'd rather have you with me, happy, then unhappy and miserable because you were forced to keep the child."
Harry blinked and stared at him quietly for a while. Draco gazed back serenely. Honestly he didn't understand the point in going on about this, when they had made their decision, but he would wait until Harry got it off his chest, whatever he was brooding on.
Eventually Harry sighed and bent his head down to kiss him. "Sometimes you seem more Gryffindor than Slytherin," he chuckled weakly and this joke, albeit a weak one, let Draco know that Harry wouldn't pursue the subject further, considering it to be closed now.
Draco smiled back and slid his arms around him, kissing him back. "Don't mention this to the other Slytherins – my reputation wouldn't survive," he retorted mock solemnly.
"Your reputation is safe with me," Harry whispered against his lips and for the rest of the day they didn't leave Harry's quarters; spending their time instead mapping out each other's bodies, content with just caressing and stroking each other until they fell asleep in each other's embrace.
Halloween passed by in its usual festivities, although Harry and Draco didn't engage in the games the Slytherins played now. Harry didn't feel like it and Draco just didn't like the thought of either him or Harry doing something with another person for a dare. Blaise had mocked them and called them cowards, but had to retreat, sulking all the way, when his skin was spelled bright blue with pine tree green spots; Daphne had consoled him, offering soothing words in his ears while behind his back, she had given them an amused grin.
Three days later, on Thursday, Harry looked at the announcement board in the hallway before going to breakfast (still feeling slightly queasy after having rushed to the toilet an hour ago to expel his dinner of last night) and realized with dread that he would have a serious problem in three weeks.
On Saturday, the twenty-sixth of November, a Quidditch match was scheduled with Slytherin and Ravenclaw as the opening match of the year. Normally he would have been ecstatic at the prospect of a Quidditch match, but how could he play Quidditch when he was pregnant? There were Bludgers to think off and Beaters eagerly batting those Bludgers to him to prevent him from catching the Snitch. So far he had been hit twice by a Bludger – once in his second year, courtesy of Dobby and once last year, thanks to Ron – and while he could deal with the pain of a broken bone, he couldn't risk his unborn child. What if the Bludger hit his stomach? Or what if a Bludger threw him off his broom and made him fall?
The risks were too big for him to attempt to try to play. But what could he do? They could hardly play a match without a Seeker. Even if they made the reserve Seeker play in his place, people would be wondering why he wasn't playing. He could hardly explain he was pregnant.
"Shit," he muttered underneath his breath and then hurried to the breakfast table, when his stomach grumbled its protest at the lack of food. How he could feel hungry after throwing up was a mystery to him, but he wasn't about to complain.
Ruby nudged his hand once when he sat down at the table and he could feel his presence behind him.
He had just started spreading marmalade on his second toast when he was joined by Draco and he lifted his head to accept the kiss the blond gave him.
"Good morning," Draco greeted him and reached for the can with coffee.
"'Morning," Harry replied. "Have you read the announcement of the Quidditch match?"
"Yeah, we open the season against Ravenclaw," Draco frowned and looked dismayed at the selection of jam that was present on the table. "Should be an easy match – I've heard who their Seeker is and he's not good enough to compete with you."
Harry felt himself flush a bit at the compliment and cleared his throat. "About that; don't you think we need another Seeker for the match?" he lowered his voice, not wanting anybody to hear this particular discussion.
"Why would we need another … Oh." Realization hit Draco and he grimaced. "Damn it, I hadn't thought of that. You can't play in your condition." He drummed his fingers on the table and sighed. "We can't forfeit the game and we can't play without a Seeker. I reckon there is no other choice than to let the reserve Seeker, Hendric, take your place."
"Hendric? But you told me he wasn't up yet to play in matches," Harry remarked and took a bite of his toast. He swallowed when he was done chewing and continued, "Aside from that, how are we going to explain why I'm not able to play? They'll know we're lying if we tell them I'm sick and we can't tell them the truth."
Draco began gathering his own breakfast and didn't reply, but Harry could see that he was deep in thought.
If by some miracle, the Slytherins believed that Harry was sick, then it still posed a problem every time there was a match – he could hardly say he was sick every time they had to play. And if he had to be honest; while Harry was usually for giving everybody a chance to prove themselves, he had seen Hendric practicing after Draco had complained to him last year about his "horrendous act that is supposed to be flying" and he had to agree with his lover that the boy (who was two years younger than them) wasn't good enough yet to play as Seeker. During practice he had missed the Snitch more often than he had found it and that didn't bode well during a match. It was just a game, but every House played to win.
Having Hendric substitute him as Seeker wouldn't give them a good shot at winning the game unless they had luck and the boy found the Snitch before the other Seeker did.
"Letting Hendric substitute for you during the game would be risky, but we can't have you playing," Draco muttered and sighed. "The only other option is that someone uses Glamours to look like you and play in your place."
"Glamours?" Harry repeated bewildered. "But for that we still need to tell that person something to explain why I can't play – and why on earth the rest of the school can't know why I'm not able to play. Where are we going to find that person?"
Draco's eyes slid over the Slytherin table (automatically skipping the places where the first through fourth years were seated) and then they rested on one particular person.
He smiled. "We need somebody who we can trust to keep their mouth shut," he started softly.
"Yeah," Harry nodded warily, trying to discover who Draco was looking at.
"Why not Daphne?"
"Daphne?" Harry's exclamation of surprise was louder than he intended and several students turned their heads to look at him curiously. He threw them a glare and once they had turned around again, he bent his head towards Draco and whispered, "Daphne? I'm pretty sure we can trust her, but don't you think she'll want to hear the truth? For that matter, can she even fly decently?"
"Don't worry about the flying – I've seen her flying before, when she joined our practices occasionally before you were sorted into Slytherin. She's nearly as good as us and she has excellent vision. She has more chance at spotting the Snitch than Hendric," Draco snorted. Then he grimaced. "And yes, she'll probably want to hear the truth," he admitted begrudgingly.
"You have known her longer than I have; do you think she'll be able to keep quiet about … this?" he patted his stomach awkwardly, not daring to voice the actual word.
Draco nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, she'll keep quiet about it. She'll realize how dangerous it could be if this news was known, so she'll keep her mouth shut. Although," he added and smirked, "we may have to bribe her with letting her buy stuff for it."
"I think I can live with that bribe," Harry responded dryly and rolled his eyes. "When are we going to talk to her?"
"I believe she has Divination now, so let's talk to her after lunch," Draco murmured and then turned his attention towards Harry's plate, where a half-eaten toast was lying between the crumbles of its predecessor. "Start eating; you haven't eaten enough yet."
"I've already had one toast," Harry protested and scowled.
"You're eating for two now, so having a bit more nutrition in your body won't hurt," Draco spoke softly, but firmly and squeezed his thigh.
Harry opened his mouth to retort, but came up with nothing, so he gave up and resumed eating his breakfast.
They managed to find Daphne on her own when she left the Great Hall after lunch. As soon as she had risen from her seat, Harry and Draco had followed her, having finished their lunch a couple of minutes earlier.
"Daphne, can we talk to you?" Draco called her attention and she turned around.
She furrowed her eyebrows lightly at seeing both Harry and Draco, but nodded cautiously. "Yes, I have some time before I need to go to my next class."
"Not here," Draco murmured and beckoned her to follow them.
"What's going on?" she asked confused when they entered a small, dusty classroom that from the looks of it hadn't been used for many years.
"We need to ask you something," Harry began hesitatingly. Daphne would be the first person who would know about the pregnancy and he didn't know whether this was a good idea or not. He knew she could be discreet when she needed to be, but considering the magnitude of this particular secret, he wasn't so keen on telling other people.
"Oh?"
"We want to ask you to take Harry's place as Seeker during the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. You need to wear Glamours so you appear to be him," Draco said calmly and leant carefully against a desk, after casting a suspicious glance at it.
"Glamours? Why would I need to pretend I'm Harry and take his place?" Daphne asked and frowned. "If Harry can't play that day, then put the reserve Seeker on the field."
"That's not possible."
"Why not?"
"Because…" Harry bit his lip and shared a look with Draco. The blond nodded encouragingly. "Before I tell you, you need to promise that you won't say anything about this to someone else. Nobody can know about this."
"Not even Blaise?" she furrowed her eyebrows, looking troubled.
"No, not even him. Maybe we tell him about this later," Harry replied and he wiped his slightly sweaty hands off on his trousers.
"Alright, I promise I won't tell anyone," she said and looked solemnly, no trace of humour left on her face.
"I – well, it so happens that I'm … It's not easy to say this, but …" Harry stammered, feeling inexplicitly nervous at the prospect of telling someone else about the baby.
"What Harry is trying to tell you is that he's pregnant," Draco cut in and crossed the small space so that he could wrap an arm around Harry's waist.
"Draco," Harry hissed and scowled at him. Did he have to be so blunt about it?
Daphne opened and closed her mouth a few times before she regained her composure. "Oh, well, this is unexpected," she cleared her throat. "I didn't know you were trying for a baby. Not that it's any business of mine, of course, but well, usually people wait until they have graduated."
"We weren't trying for a baby," Draco responded and grimaced. "It's a long story, but this pregnancy wasn't planned at all."
"But you decided to keep it."
"Obviously," Draco inclined his head.
"So in order to keep it a secret, you need me to take Harry's place in the game."
"Yes; our reserve Seeker is not good enough yet to be put on the field and we needed someone we can trust to keep quiet about the real reason," Draco looked expectantly at her. "So, are you willing to take Harry's place?"
Daphne smiled. "Sure; though I'm not as good as you."
"You're nearly as good as Harry, which is good enough against Ravenclaw," Draco replied casually and hissed when Harry stomped on his foot. "What the hell?"
"How the hell do you manage to combine an insult and a compliment all in one sentence?" Harry shook his head and looked apologetically at the girl in front of him. "I'm sorry, Daphne. What he meant was that you're one of the best flyers in the school."
"I know what he meant, Harry," Daphne laughed and her eyes glittered in amusement. "I don't mind – I'm used to his backhanded way of complimenting someone."
Draco huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, let's meet two hours before the game starts so that we can perfect the Glamours," she continued, losing the trace of humour.
"That's good," Harry nodded. "And thank you, Daphne."
She chuckled and embraced him tightly. "Just remember that I'm going to spoil this child rotten," she winked.
"What a surprise," Draco snorted, but smiled.
She looked at her watch and tsk'd. "Sorry, but I really need to leave now if I want to be on time for class."
"Sure; we won't keep you any longer," Draco said and all three of them left the room, sneezing softly when the disturbed dust flew into their noses.
Daphne quickly walked away and Draco grabbed Harry's hand and both of them began to leisurely walk towards Harry's quarters, seeing as they still had time before their next lesson.
"See, I told you it would be fine," Draco told him once the painting closed behind them.
Harry rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch. "Yes, yes, you were right."
Draco smirked and joined him on the couch. "We didn't even have to bribe her."
"What a relief," Harry deadpanned. He turned around so he could look at Draco. "You do realize we still have to tell our family, right?"
The blond grimaced and absently started to caress Sapphire when she jumped on his lap with a sharp 'meow'. "I know," he sighed.
"Who do you think we should tell first?" Harry bit his lip.
"I reckon it's best if we tell Black and Lupin about it first – they are the ones we can immediately talk to," Draco replied and then pursed his lips. "Although I'm not sure whether I'm going to survive that talk or not, because I'm fairly certain your godfather will kill me for knocking up his godson."
"Sirius is not going to kill you," Harry reassured him, but relented when he saw the incredulous look on Draco's face. "Alright, he won't be happy with it, probably, but he's not going to kill you. I think."
"Harry, don't take this the wrong way, but I think I prefer being locked up in a room with an annoyed Voldemort, than having to tell your godfather that you're pregnant," Draco said solemnly. "At least with Voldemort I think I have a chance at survival."
Harry rolled his eyes and moved closer to the blond. "Now you're overreacting," he admonished him. "Sirius is more reasonable than you give him credit for."
"You're his godson. I'm not only the one who made you go through that pain thanks to my ancestor's charm, but I also knocked you up. If I ever was in his good grace, I think I just lost that by getting you pregnant before we even have graduated," Draco replied darkly and put an arm around Harry's shoulders, drawing him tightly against his side.
The dark haired boy sighed and put his head on the blond's shoulder. "Sirius might get … upset at first, but I think he'll accept it eventually," he muttered, but his voice was too weak to sound convincing.
To be honest, he was scared shitless at the thought of informing his godfather about the pregnancy. He was fairly certain Remus would accept the news without making too much fuss about it, but Sirius had made quite clear that he didn't expect a baby in the near future. He was probably still living in the delusion that he and Draco were just at the stage of holding hands and sharing innocent kisses – how Sirius could stubbornly believe in that illusion was something Harry didn't understand at all.
How would his godfather react to the news that Harry was pregnant? Somehow he had problems picturing him happy about it. Especially after his reaction when they told them about the charm.
Tension gathered like a ball in his stomach; how on earth would they tell Sirius about the baby without the man getting furious about it? Or worse: disappointed? Harry thought he could handle anger, but he didn't think he would be able to cope with Sirius' disappointment at the news of his pregnancy. He didn't want to disappoint his godfather. But he didn't want to give up his baby either.
They needed to find a way to soften the news to Sirius, so that the man wouldn't get in a fit of anger. But how would they do that? He wished he could ask someone of the adults advice about this. Instead of creating boring, dry books about goblin wars, they should write books with advice on how to tell your family you were pregnant. That advice would be a lot more useful than knowing which goblin angered which wizard and vice versa.
Suddenly an idea sprung up in his mind and he blinked. Asking someone advice usually implied that that person had experience with a certain situation. He needed to find someone who had experienced a pregnancy and maybe would be able to tell him how he could inform his family about it. The list of people he knew who had been pregnant before was very small and the list of people who would be willing to talk to him about it was consisted of only one person: Narcissa. Draco's mother.
"Harry?"
"Maybe we could ask your mother to help us telling Sirius and Remus about the baby," Harry sat up and twisted his body so that he could look at Draco properly.
"My mother?" Draco repeated surprised.
"Yeah; obviously she has had experience with pregnancy, so she could tell us how we could best inform Sirius and Remus about it," Harry explained; liking the idea more and more the more he thought about it.
Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "So mother would be the first person to know about the baby."
"Yeah; does that bother you?" Harry asked uncertainly. All this time they had been worrying about how they would tell Sirius and Remus about this, but Lucius and Narcissa had to be informed about it as well, considering they would be the grandparents of it. How would they react towards the news? After spending time with Draco's parents, he knew they weren't the cold, ruthless people they presented themselves as in public, but would their warm attitude towards Harry still stand after the news of the baby?
"No, it doesn't. I suspect telling my parents will be easier than telling Black," Draco replied dryly. "Although I think it's better to speak to them about it face to face, instead of informing them about the baby through a letter."
"I wasn't going to send a letter – I don't fancy getting it intercepted," Harry shook his head. "Is the manor connected to the Floo?"
"Yes, but it's very restricted."
"Does it have a connection to Hogwarts?"
Draco frowned and was quiet for a few minutes. "I think we're connected to Severus' office, but I'm not sure."
"Well, we can ask him if he'll let us use the Floo," Harry said, feeling oddly relieved that he wouldn't have to tell Sirius about the baby immediately. Funny how it would be easier to tell his boyfriend's parents that he was pregnant than his own godparents. Wasn't it usually the other way around?
"What if Severus wants to know why we need the Floo?" Draco raised an eyebrow and his arms reached out to pull the other boy back to him.
"Say it's private and we tell him about it later?" Harry suggested weakly.
Grey eyes rolled. "You have such well thought out plans," he muttered sarcastically.
Harry scowled at him. "You know a better way to contact your mother?"
"Not without possibly alerting someone else," Draco admitted after a short moment of hesitation.
"That's what I thought," Harry mumbled. "When are we going to contact your mother?"
"Tonight is not possible because we have Astronomy, but we can try to contact her tomorrow after dinner," Draco replied. "What do you think?"
"I guess it's better to tell her as soon as possible," Harry murmured with a sigh.
"It will be alright; I promise," Draco whispered in his ear and Harry nodded, careful to not bump his head against Draco's chin.
He would try his best to believe in Draco's reassurance that everything would be alright, but he doubt he'd be able to completely believe in it until the whole telling the family part was over.
He'd like to believe that informing their family would go smoothly, but the leaden ball of nerves in his stomach told him otherwise.
"Are you sure Snape won't mind us disturbing him now?" Harry asked softly, his voice barely reaching above whispering level.
They were right in front of Severus' quarters now. After dinner had ended, they had waited for an hour in the Slytherin common room - Harry catching up with Blaise, Daphne and Millicent – before they had made their way through the dungeon hallways.
Draco didn't know when his godfather usually returned to his rooms after dinner, but figured an hour would have given him enough time.
"He won't mind. It's Friday, so it's not like we disturb him during his correcting of homework," Draco muttered, squeezing the smaller hand in his own reassuringly.
"Yeah, but he might get annoyed if we disturb him during his free evening," Harry muttered and he looked pale.
"He won't." Before Harry could even think about turning back – and Draco could see he was contemplating the thought from the way his green eyes were shooting furtive glances at the entrance way a couple of feet away that would lead them out of the dungeons – Draco raised his hand and knocked two times on the door.
His godfather opened the door almost immediately and raised an eyebrow when he saw the two boys standing in front of him.
"To what do I owe this late pleasure of your company?" Severus asked dryly and stepped aside to let them enter.
"Is your Floo connected to Malfoy manor, sir?" Harry asked politely.
"Yes; why?" Severus threw them a suspicious glance.
"We need to contact mother to tell her something," Draco replied calmly; keeping his face blank when dark eyes studied him.
"What is so important that you need to tell her through the Floo connection instead of a letter or during the holidays?" Severus inquired and gestured them further in the quarters, leading them to his small living room.
"It's …" Harry hesitated, then continued rather stiffly, "We can't tell you about it yet – we want to talk to Narcissa about it first."
Draco winced inwardly; that kind of approach was not a good way to get Severus to do them a favour. Instead of trying to placate him, his lover had basically told him he preferred his mother over his godfather. He wondered if Harry was even aware of the implication in his answer.
Severus narrowed his eyes and the suspicious look returned. "Do the mutt and the wolf know about this?"
"Not yet," Draco said, taking over the conversation quickly after hearing Harry huff in annoyance. It wouldn't help their cause at all if Harry snapped at Severus now. He snatched Harry's hand again and squeezed in it comfortingly.
He suspected his lover was still a bit irritated at having been forced to throw up his dinner a while ago when he had suddenly felt nauseous. It seemed that morning sickness had finally piped up, although the term lied about the first part. Draco hoped that the morning sickness would pass soon, because otherwise he feared that quite a few people would find themselves at the wrong end of Harry's wand if they kept taunting him in the hallways, like they continued to do since the beginning of the school year.
"We're planning on talking to them about this … thing after we have talked to mother," Draco explained and shifted his foot a bit.
"You do know that using a teacher's Floo access to visit one's home is against the rules?" Severus remarked and calmly sat down in his chair, picking up the potions magazine that was waiting for him on the small table in front of him.
"We know, but this is kind of an emergency, sir," Draco replied, wondering if his feeling about Severus' decision was correct.
"We won't be away for a whole evening. We're back in two hours or so," Harry added; his tone betraying a slight hint of impatience.
"If I discover that your reason wasn't sufficient enough to be declared an emergency, I will make sure you regret it. Are we clear?" Severus said harshly and the two boys instantly nodded; both knowing that the older man wasn't bluffing.
"The Floo Powder can be found in the green jar," Severus instructed and his eyes slid over the page where a bubbling midnight blue potion was displayed on. "If you're not back in three hours, I'll personally come to get you. Make sure I don't have to." His dark stare made shivers run over Draco's spine and he hastily turned around, leading Harry to the fireplace.
He calculated the width of the fireplace and nodded satisfied; the fireplace was big enough for them to pass through at the same time. Even after all this time Harry was still clumsy when it came to Flooing and he wanted to avoid him stumbling and risking the chance of falling if he let him through alone.
"Come on," Draco muttered and pulled Harry next to him in the fireplace.
Green eyes stared at him bemused. "Wait, we're going through at the same time? Is that even possible?" he asked sceptically.
"How do you think parents Floo with young children?" Draco retorted rhetorically and then threw the green powder down, stating clearly, "Malfoy Manor!"
The fire turned green and flames burst out around them; wrapping their tendrils around the two boys and took them away. They passed several fireplaces; some showing living rooms, some showing kitchens, others foyers and they even saw what looked like a luxurious bedroom before they finally landed in the fireplace of Malfoy manor.
Harry still managed to stumble a bit when he exited the fireplace, but Draco caught his arm, preventing him from meeting the floor with his face.
A house elf with large, floppy ears and big, brown eyes squeaked startled when the fire spit them out and instantly straightened its back.
"Master Draco Malfoy, sir. Was can Linky do?" the house elf asked in a high, squeaky voice.
"Harry and I need to talk to mother. Is she home?" Draco asked, brushing the soot of his robes and Harry did the same to his.
"Yes, Mistress Narcissa Malfoy is home – Linky will get Mistress," Linky bowed and then added nervously, "Master Draco Malfoy and Master Harry Potter are to wait in the guest room. Linky will send Hally with tea." Linky disappeared with a quiet pop.
"Come," Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him softly along, leading him out of the foyer and through a big hallway. They passed four closed doors and entered one near a big window that gave a view of a part of the garden, showing five trees of which the leaves had started to turn red and yellow.
The room contained a soft yellow couch with a chair in the same colour. A rug in a white colour covered the floor entirely and light green drapes were drawn over the large windows, though the waning moon managed to shine weakly through the fabric. The walls were a very pale blue and a small fire was burning in the – for Malfoy standards – small fireplace.
A tea pot with a pattern of blue flowers printed on it was already put on the small, round table between the couch and the armchair. The silver plate contained, aside from the steaming tea pot, three cups in the same pattern; a small bowl filled with sugar cubes and a creamer.
The two boys took a seat on the couch and sat closely next to each other.
Harry took a deep breath and released it slowly.
"It's going to be okay," Draco murmured, recognizing the exhale as a way Harry used to try to calm down.
Harry laughed a bit shrilly and the blond winced. "That's easy for you to say," he muttered darkly. "I don't even dare to imagine how this conversation will play out."
"It was your idea to inform my mother first," Draco reminded him.
"I know that," Harry scowled. "That doesn't make it any easier."
Draco's hand reached out and gripped Harry's chin, pulling his face up and towards him. "Of all the people we need to tell about this, I can assure you that my mother will be the easiest to talk to," he smiled faintly. "Honestly, I think we need to be more afraid of your godfather than of anyone else." He grimaced.
"Don't remind me," Harry mumbled and pulled his head back when the door opened to reveal Narcissa, clad in a dark purple gown that reached her ankles.
She raised an eyebrow and crossed the room, taking a seat in the armchair. She crossed her legs and folded her hands together. "Draco, Harry; what a surprise," she murmured in greeting. "I have a feeling it isn't just for a social call that you're here," she continued lightly.
"Not exactly, no," Draco admitted. "We actually came here because we need your help."
"Oh?"
"Have you read Lupin's letter about our heritage?"
She nodded. "Yes; it was sent to us a while ago. It was very interesting," she replied, flicking her wand briefly in the direction of the teapot, which immediately started pouring out tea that vaguely smelled like rose. "Even your father had no idea that one of his ancestors developed a charm like that." She gestured them to take their cup of tea, which they did. "Are you here to discuss the letter?"
"Yes, in a way," Draco nodded and then hesitated. How does one tell his mother that he knocked up his lover before they even had graduated from school? Before they even were married? Having a baby out of wedlock was something that was frowned upon in the Pureblood circles and the Malfoy family had always been very strict about this particular thing. He could remember his father mentioning once that fifty years ago, a Malfoy heir was casted out of the family, because he had gotten a girl pregnant before they were married. The fact that she had been a Halfblood probably had been a reason as well.
And now Draco was in the same situation.
"Draco, what's wrong?" his mother asked, her eyes lightening up with concern.
"Narcissa, we came here to tell you that," Harry hesitated and then seemed to decide that just blurting it out was the perfect solution. "that I'm pregnant. We didn't know about the charm before I got my heritage and by the time we were told, it was … too late." He winced, his eyes shifting down towards his lap, while his cheeks coloured in shame.
Draco gripped his hand tightly, wordlessly showing his support. He would have tried to bring the news more gently, instead of being blunt about it like Harry had just been, but there was no going back now.
"I see," she answered calmly and studied them coolly.
"I know this isn't very convenient now, but we have decided to keep the baby," Draco took over, forcing himself to stay calm.
"You are certain about that?" Narcissa asked idly and took a sip of her tea.
"Yes, we're certain," Harry replied; his whole body was tense. He looked ready to strike like a panther at the first sign that something was amiss. "We're not giving this baby up either."
She sighed and looked at them with a weird look in her eyes. "I wished you'd at least waited until you were graduated before having children," she murmured and placed her cup down on the table.
"It's not like we decided to have children now; it just happened," Draco muttered defensively and then raised his voice when his mother looked at him with reprimanding eyes. "Are you … angry?"
"Angry?" she repeated and tapped with a finger against her lips. "No, I'm not angry. A bit disappointed that you got Harry pregnant at your age, yes, because we raised you with values, but not angry."
Draco flinched and decided that he'd rather faced her anger than her disappointment. For some reason her disappointment stung him more and made him feel like he was a small child again awaiting his scolding.
"You two do realize that it won't be easy." She gazed at them thoughtfully.
"We realize that, yes," Harry answered softly and swallowed; his eyes seemed bigger against the pale pallor of his face. "We didn't decide this on a whim."
"If you are certain about your decision, what help do you need?" she asked; her eyes lightened up a bit and Draco wondered whether that was a good sign or not.
"We," Harry glanced at him and took a deep breath. "We don't know how to tell Remus and Sirius about the baby. I was wondering whether you knew how to tell them about it." He fidgeted a bit, shifting from one side to another on the couch before Draco stopped him by placing a hand on his thigh.
"You didn't tell them yet?" his mother asked incredulously.
Draco shook his head. "No, we don't exactly know how to tell them," he admitted begrudgingly. That and there was that little fact that sometimes his cousin scared the hell out of him – and that was when he hadn't done anything wrong. What would he do once he got to hear that Draco had knocked up his godson? Somehow he doubted the man would stay as calm as his mother now.
His mother sighed and shook her head. "Darling, I'd had thought you would know who to approach first about this," she said, sounding as if she was scolding him.
"Who to approach first?" Harry repeated; a frown starting to form on his forehead.
Her eyes flicked towards the dark haired boy. "Yes; out of the two of them, Remus is the most approachable."
"You mean that we should talk to Lupin first?" Draco asked slowly; mulling over the idea quietly in his head.
Mother inclined her head, giving him a tight smile. "Yes, inform him first about it and then you can inform my cousin."
So Lupin would be acting as some kind of barrier when the time came to inform Black. Draco could see the appeal in that. It was obvious that Lupin was the calm one of both men and he suspected he had more chance to survive that particular talk than he had when they informed Black first.
"I was wondering if … if you could talk to Sirius about the baby?" Harry asked nervously and he bit his lower lip.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I need to talk to my cousin about it?"
"Because," Harry glanced at him and Draco nodded, encouraging him to go on. "I figured you would know how to tell Sirius about the baby," he mumbled, his eyes sliding downwards, finding the floor very fascinating apparently.
"Harry, you and Sirius are closer than him and I. I don't think your godfather would appreciate it if he heard such important news from me and not from you directly," she replied in a neutral voice. "Why don't you want to talk to him?"
Harry sighed and looked at her rather sullenly. "Because I'm afraid he'll get mad at us and he'll try to hex Draco," he admitted petulantly and with red cheeks.
"I don't think he's able to be mad at you, Harry," Mother replied soothingly and a faint smile appeared on her face. "And I doubt he'd hex Draco; he knows that you love each other."
"Mother, Harry's godfather believes that we're still in the stage of holding hands and the threatening look he sent me when he and Lupin told us about Harry's inheritance, told me quite clearly that he wouldn't be pleased if we announce Harry is pregnant in the next five years or so," Draco deadpanned and thought to himself that if Black had a say in it, he and Harry probably wouldn't have taken the final step until they were forty or so. "I'm pretty certain he won't appreciate the news of Harry's pregnancy now. And I'm almost completely certain that I wouldn't leave that conversation unharmed." He couldn't hold back the shudder that went through his body at the thought of all the curses Black undoubtedly knew and he had to swallow. Telling him Harry was expecting his child wouldn't go over well at all.
"Oh," Mother blinked surprised, as if she hadn't expected her cousin to act so violent towards any mention of the couple taking it further than holding hands. Then she shook her head. "Be that as it may, Sirius wouldn't want to antagonize Harry by hurting you. He would however be displeased if he had to hear from me that Harry's pregnant. So boys, you'll have to tell him about it. I can't help you with that."
Harry sighed and looked at her pleadingly. "Can you at least be there if we tell him? As some sort of back up?" he asked hopefully.
Draco had to admit he liked that thought – with his mother nearby during the conversation, Black would hopefully be deterred from acting violent towards him. And well, they would need her support. He thought he and Harry could handle Lupin on their own, but with Black he'd prefer to have some support nearby.
His mother studied them thoughtfully for a moment and he could feel how tense Harry was. Hell, he was pretty tense as well.
"Fine; if you give me the hour and the date, I'll be there when you inform Sirius about the baby," she gave in and threw them a warning look. "Don't wait too long however."
"We won't," Draco assured her and gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you, mother."
"Yes, thank you, Narcissa," Harry smiled at her weakly, but he seemed relieved.
So they would talk to Lupin first and hopefully have him act as some sort of mediator when they talked to Black. And if they warned her on time, his mother would even be willingly to come and give them some mental support.
Her promise reassured him that they would at least one person who would support them.
"Of course, Draco, before you and Harry inform his guardians about the news, you need to talk to your father about this first," his mother interrupted his thoughts.
He swallowed, suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous. "I have to tell him the news now?"
"Yes, he needs to know as well. Besides," she suddenly smirked. "your father would be very miffed if he got to hear the news of his grandchild as last."
Well, there was no point in avoiding that conversation. His mother was right; they were here already and his father had the right to know that he would be a grandfather over eight months.
"I reckon he is in his office?" he asked warily and pulled his hand off Harry's thigh.
"Yes; he is dealing with his correspondence, but I'm certain he'll make time for you," she replied confidently.
"Alright; I'll go inform him now," Draco responded and stood up, schooling his features in a calm mask.
"I'll go with you," Harry said quickly and wanted to rise off the couch.
"No, Harry, this is something that Draco needs to do on his own," his mother reprimanded Harry softly and then gave her son a stern glance. "Now go; you don't have much time left before you need to return to school before curfew."
"I'll be right back," Draco murmured to Harry and left after his lover nodded with a slight grimace on his face.
Praying his father would be in a good mood, he made his way to his father's office; feeling like he was walking towards his own doom.
AN2: So what did you think of this first part? Was it good? I hope so! Please leave a review behind with your thoughts!
Now, today I've started retaking some exams that I've failed. My exams are fairly spread out over a couple of weeks with my last exam being in the first week of September. As this is my last chance, I really need to pass them.
So I don't know if I'll be able to update in two weeks again. It could be that I still update in two weeks (which will of course be obvious), but if you don't find an update in two weeks, you know why that is.
Cuddles
Melissa
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