Pet

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NINE
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Harry could no longer hold back a soft whimper of pain; his knuckles were white, handfuls of the bedding clutched in his fists. The Malfoy family mediwizard, Dr. Eeylops, inserted two thick fingers into his rectum and pushed down on his tender abdomen. Harry, his knees pushed open wide and his feet in conjured stirrups, arched off the bed.

“I imagine that was a little tender, Child.” The elderly mediwizard repositioned his fingers and kneaded Harry’s abdomen gently. His fingers ghosted over the basilisk tattoo, his brown eyes filled with sympathetic understanding.

Beside them, Lucius, Severus and the St. Mungo’s Potion Master argued heatedly. Severus was holding a dusty tome in his hands and the St. Mungo’s specialist was trying to pacify Lucius. Narcissa’s laughter occasionally drifted in from another room.

Harry could only make out a few words from the wizards’ argument; Dr. Eeylops seemed to be trying his best to keep him distracted, telling him silly stories about his brother’s owl emporium. Once he completed his internal examination, he continued to poke and prod. His wand performed diagnostic spells and his Quick Quote Quill scratched the parchment on a bedside table. If the mediwizard was speaking to the quill, Harry could not hear it.

“You can get dressed now, Child.” The mediwizard removed the stirrups with a casual flick of his wand. “I believe I’ll be seeing quite a lot of you in the next few months.”

The old wizard cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the arguing wizards. “Gentlemen, I have completed my examination. You have analyzed the poison?”

The two Potion Masters nodded curtly. Severus spoke, “It was not a poison. We tested it three times, independently and collectively…There is no margin of error…It was a variant of Materna.”

“Fortunately, it is professional grade…it could have proved fatal had Lady Malfoy brewed it herself…must have cost a fortune on the Black Market…no reputable Potion Master would have permitted unmonitored application.” The St. Mungo’s Potion Master turned to Harry, who was fastening his robes. “When did you first ingest the herbal tea?”

Harry looked to his master for permission to speak.

“Answer their questions, Pet,” Lucius snapped.

“A fortnight ago…Lady Malfoy invited me to tea.”

“The Materna potion is quite bitter. You didn’t notice that the tea tasted strange?”

“Given a choice, I would never drink most herbal teas. I don’t like the way most taste. I found the tea to be extremely unpleasant, but I drank it out of politeness.”

“A Muggle reaction,” the Potion Master muttered under his breath. “Didn’t you suspect it might be tainted?”

Harry shook his head. “Lady Malfoy always drank from the same teapot. If she would poison me, she would poison herself.”

“Unless she used an antidote,” Lucius growled.

“No antidote would have been necessary…The Materna potion, especially this variation of it, is harmless to females. There is no need to alter their anatomy.”

“Alter? Sir?” Harry’s voice cracked.

“You have been experiencing pain in your lower abdomen?” Harry nodded. “I imagine that it has been quite uncomfortable…continued ingestion of the Materna potion re-arranged your internal organs…”

“Re-what?”

“You have grown a fully functional uterus.”

“I…but…I” Harry’s mind spun and the realization clicked. “Artificial insemination…surrogate motherhood…she wanted someone to carry her baby…but why go through all of this? She could have just hired a witch.”

“How do you know about surrogacy and artificial insemination?” the family doctor asked.

“M-muggles have used the technique for years…the uterus…can you remove it?”

Lucius lashed out, unable to control his anger. He ripped Harry from his position of the bed, his fingers digging painfully into the slender shoulders. “They can’t remove it because it is in use…and abortion is illegal under Wizarding law.”

“How can it be in use? The fetus would have to be surgically implanted…Lady Malfoy never stuck anything in me…”

“Lord Malfoy,” Dr. Eeylops patted Lucius’ hand trying to get it to release Harry’s shoulders. “Calm yourself.”

“I am perfectly calm…Doctor. If Narcissa did not complete her…her…what is in my pet to abort?”

“Lady Malfoy could not implant her eggs into your concubine, because he is already carrying a child.”

Harry and Lucius stared at the old man as if he were senile. “Apparently this variation of the Materna potion is used for two male parents and caused Harry to produce fertile eggs. My guess is that this was not the potion she wished to administer…the child is not Lady Malfoy’s child…it is yours and Mr. Potter’s.”

In the silence of the room, Harry’s shocked whisper carried, “I’m pregnant?”

“Yes, Child.”

“Mine…not hers?” Harry grimaced as Lucius’ fingers continued to dig into his shoulders.

“Abomination!” Lucius was livid. “Didn’t you learn anything at all in Hogwarts? Have you so little self-preservation skills? Don’t you care what happens to your life?”

“What life?” Harry snapped back, his mouth ahead of his common sense. “What life am I supposed to preserve? Everyone I ever loved is dead and all I have to look forward to is spreading my legs and sucking your…”

Lucius backhanded him, sending him crashing against the four-poster.

“Am I to have a child by a whore too ignorant to recognize potion when he tastes it?”

Harry was furious, punishment be dammed. “You’re right…I’m just your ignorant, half-blooded, Muggle-raised whore! But as far as not recognizing potion when I tasted it…I was raised on fry ups and tinned vegetables…my palate is not refined to your haute cuisine…Half of what you’ve fed me tastes like something I would have weeded from Aunt Petunia’s flower beds.

“You and your Malfoy arrogance…you brought this all on yourself…I’m just a pet, a whore, a thing…I could no more refuse to drink what your wife gave me than I could refuse your cock.”

Hairy reeled with another slap to his face. The three other wizards looked on in the same fascination one viewed a train wreck. Narcissa’s laughter tinkled like crystal. Harry ducked a second swing from the white blond wizard and shot out the open doorway.

Lucius straightened his robes and fought to regain his composure. In the silence of the room, Dr. Eeylops spoke.

“Ah, yes…hormones…he’ll be all over the map I’m afraid…Lord Malfoy, I’ll return in a week to check on my patient…Good day, gentlemen.”

The elderly wizard nodded once and disapparated.

~*~*~*~
Harry collapsed at the edge of the Malfoy forest, out of breath and a stitch in his side. His bare feet were wet and bruised from the rough terrain. He wrapped his arms around his knees tucking his bare feet beneath the hem of his robe. It was frigid in the early-April twilight, but he was in too much shock to acknowledge it.

Sobs wracked his thin body and he buried his bruised face into the folds of his sleeve. It was dangerous to be at the forest’s edge at night even with a wand, but Harry did not care. Maybe a wolf or a feral dog would end his pathetic existence. A shiver went down his spine when he heard the rustle of leaves behind him. He lifted his head, listening as the quiet, careful steps of a large animal approached.

A familiar whinny greeted him. Blix nudged his shoulder gently with her head. Harry wrapped his arms around her neck; her skeletal frame was surprisingly warm against him. He held her, seeking the comfort of her affection as he tried to compose himself.

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