A Predicament

A/N: Here's chapter 9, It's a little short, but lots of emotion. and for those of you who have a problem with Severus and Draco's use of Italian in this story, I am sorry it bothers you, but there is a reason for it, and it will come out in the next few chapters.
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Chapter 9: June 9, 2006 1:53 am

Ginny had not been a very forgiving person in life, in death she was even less so. She stared at Harry, tears dropping softly from her crystalline eyes, so like her daughter’s. “Why, Harry? I only ever asked you for one thing, and you broke your promise. Was this the first time? I tried so hard to be everything you asked me to be, why was it never enough for you?

Harry reached out to her, but no matter how he tried, she was always just beyond his fingertips, “Ginny, please don’t cry. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you.”

She looked at him, “Stop this, Harry. Stop it right now. I’ll forgive you this one time, but you have to end it now,” she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and leaned in to him, brushing her lips against his, “I love you so much, Harry. Please, just keep this one promise you made me, and eventually we’ll be together again.” she rested her head against his shoulder and he was finally able to wrap his arms around her again.

He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, nodding his head he whispered, “I’ll end it, I’m so sorry.”

She smiled up at him, beaming in pleasure, and kissed him again.

When he woke up, Harry could still feel the lingering tingle of her last kiss. He lay awake for several minutes, reveling in the warmth and intimacy of being tangled up with Severus and Draco. He sighed and started trying to crawl out from the nest of limbs and warm flesh.

Harry had almost succeeded in removing himself when Severus stirred, throwing his arm back over Harry, pulling him closer, and whispering in his ear, “Where do you think you’re going, Potter?”

Harry squeaked in surprise, and took a deep breath when he heard Severus’ voice, “Merlin you startled me! I just need to go to the restroom, Severus.”

Severus nodded and kissed the back of Harry’s neck, “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he released Harry and rolled away so Harry could crawl out of the bed.

Harry scampered out of the room and, closing the door softly, leaned against it for a moment. He had woken up, feeling out of place, and wanted nothing more than to check on the twins and crawl back into his own bed.

Harry opened the door to the children’s room gently and peeked his head into the room. Luke was sleeping soundly, but Lydia was tossing and turning, weeping silently in the throes of a nightmare. Harry went over to her an gently shook her awake.

She opened her eyes, still crying, and whispered, “Daddy?”

Harry bent down and stroked the hair away from her sweaty face, “Yes, Angel, it’s daddy.”

She raised her arms, a silent, pitiful entreaty, and Harry smiled gently and picked her up, blanket and all and carried her over to the rocking chair. He cradled her against him and rocked her, softly singing “As The World Falls Down” from “Labyrinth”, and stroking her hair. She sighed softly and drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Harry continued rocking her for a long time, knowing that he should put her back to bed and leave, but he couldn’t. It would be a convenient excuse if he just stayed there for the rest of the night. He could tell Severus and Draco that he had just fallen asleep comforting the child. They would believe that. It took him quite a long time to convince himself that it would work, and even longer to fall asleep as Ginny’s tearful face and pained words kept swirling through his mind.

When Harry woke again it was light outside, Luke and Lydia were both gone from the room and when he looked around he saw Severus leaning staring down at him.

Severus was as imposing as he’d ever been when Harry was his student. He was leaning against the wall behind the rocking chair, arms crossed over his chest and he looked to be contemplating Harry’s punishment.

Harry licked his lips nervously and looked around the room, “What’s wrong, Severus?”

Severus sneered, “I don’t particularly care to be lied to, nor to be abandoned in the middle of the night.”

Harry sighed and slumped his shoulders, “I didn’t do either of those things,” he could feel the lie in his own voice, and hoped desperately that the older man wouldn’t notice, “Lydia was having a nightmare, I fell asleep trying to comfort her.”

Severus’ eyes narrowed and his lip curled in disgust, “You’re lying to me, Potter. At least have the balls to admit you were scared and seized upon a convenient excuse not to return to us last night. We won’t think less of you for it, I’d think a far sight more of you than I do now, seeing you hide behind your children.”

Harry clenched his jaw, how dare Severus call him a liar, even if he was being untruthful, the older man had no way of knowing that, “What gives you the right to call me a coward? You have no way of knowing whether or not I fell asleep with my child or not.”

Severus snorted in disgust and swept out of the room, tossing one last comment over his shoulder as he left, “I watched you for two hours before you finally fell asleep, Potter.”

Harry groaned and slumped in the chair in defeat. Of course he had been watched. What would it have hurt for him to just admit that he’d gotten scared, but no, stubborn Gryffindor pride had forced him to stick to the lie. He rubbed one hand over his face and stood. He needed to figure out what the twins were up to.

He went downstairs and found Luke and Liddy in the parlor playing school, waving their little toy wands about with shouts of “Abbacadaba!” and “Poof!” and “Zing!”. Harry smiled sadly shuffled to the kitchen, afraid that Severus would be there. He opened the door and found Draco making tea.

Harry smiled in relief and walked to the refrigerator, “Good morning, Draco.”

Draco shot him a hurt look and walked away, shaking his head sadly. Harry scowled and ran after him. When he caught up to the blonde they were at the door to the basement lab.

Harry caught Draco’s shoulder and brought them face to face, “What’s wrong, Draco?”

Draco sighed and looked away, “Don’t act like nothing’s happened.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just ran away last night.”

Harry shook his head, “No, I didn’t, Liddy had a nightmare and I--”

Draco caught Harry’s shoulders and whirled him around, slamming the smaller man into the wall. Harry’s eyes widened as he saw the look of pure fury on Draco’s face, “Don’t lie to me, Harry! I gave you something last night that I have never willingly given anyone else. I let you and Severus share me, and waking up this morning with out you there I felt like a whore for the first time in my life. Voldemort tried to make me the Death Eater’s whore when I was at his mercy, but I never felt like one until this morning. And now you’re trying to feed me some bullshit about getting called away? Save it. I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to talk to you, and if you touch me again I will hex off whatever body part you lay on me. Is that clear?”

Harry nodded, and Draco released him with a look of pain and disgust. Harry spoke softly as Draco started down the stairs, “I dreamed about Ginny last night, Draco. She told me I was betraying her.”

Draco stopped on the second step. He took a deep breath and turned around, going back to the dark haired man. Harry slid down the wall and Draco crouched in front of him, “What we did last night scared you that much?”

“No!” Harry shook his head and looked at Draco, “No, I loved what we did. When I fell asleep I felt more at peace than I had since before Voldemort was resurrected twelve years ago. I’m just so confused Draco. Last night was one of the best nights of my life, but then that dream. It felt so real, I could still feel her lips against mine when I woke up. I never wanted to hurt you, or Severus, I just don’t know what to do anymore. I only seem capable of hurting the people I care about.”

Draco sighed and caught Harry’s chin in his hand, “Harry, stop it. You blame yourself far too much for things. Yes, you hurt Severus and I by bailing on us last night, but it hurt more that you lied about it. You need to decide what you want. We both want you, in our lives and in our hearts. We’ll give you everything we have, but only if you’re willing to meet us halfway,” Draco leaned in and pressed his lips gently to Harry’s, ”Think about what I’ve said, and decide what you really want. If you don’t want us, then say so, and we’ll leave you alone about it. I’ll explain the dream to Sev, but you still owe us both a rather large apology,” Draco stood and walked down the stairs.

Harry’s mind was reeling, and he continued to sit where he was for several more minutes. Finally he took a deep breath and went into the kitchen, there were cereal bowls in the sink and a half full pot of coffee. Everyone had been fed and the adults caffeinated, so Harry poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down to think.

He didn’t want to hurt either man, nor did he want to betray his wife’s memory, but he couldn’t have it both ways. He wanted to be happy, and he knew that he would be with Severus and Draco, but what would the Weasleys think? Would they want him to be happy, even if it meant living and loving two men, two former Death Eaters? How would his relationship affect the twins as they were growing up?

Harry desperately needed to talk to Hermione, she’d always been able to help him sort out his thoughts and emotions. Harry smiled and darted up the stairs to find his cell phone on his nightstand. He punched the speed dial for her cell and waited anxiously as it rang.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” she asked in lieu of a greeting.

“I really need to talk to you Hermione, it isn’t life and death, but it is kind of important. Is there anyway you can come by today?” Harry asked, desperation evident in his voice.

“Yes. Actually my last two appointments for the morning cancelled, I could be there in ten minutes if you want me to.”

“That would be great Hermione, you’re the best.”

She laughed on the other end of the phone, “You and Ron always say that when I’m about to save you a lot of trouble.”

Harry grinned, “We couldn’t live without you, and you know it, we never would have survived First Year if it weren’t for you. You’re an angel.”

She laughed again, “Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Bye.”

“Bye, “ he said and snapped the phone shut. He darted back down the stairs to put on some tea.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Harry sprinted to let Hermione in. She grinned and hugged him close, “Long time no see.”

He laughed, “Yeah, seems like I never see you when I’m free to roam the world, but I see you everyday when I’m supposed to be holed up for a few years with a convicted Death Eater.”

She laughed, “So what’s going on, Harry?” she asked as he led her to the kitchen.

He poured a cup of tea for each of them and brought milk, sugar, and lemon to the table. He was silent as they both fixed their tea and sighed, “I slept with Severus and Draco last night.”

Her eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped open, “Both? Both of them? Wow…” she drained her tea and poured another. She scowled in confusion, “So, what’s the problem, was it not good?”

Harry chuckled, leave it to Hermione to focus on the most basic aspect of it, “No, it was fucking amazing, but afterwards, I had a dream about Ginny. She told me I was betraying her memory…” Harry trailed off, staring at his tea for a long time, “I just don’t know what to do, Hermione. They’re offering me everything, but I’m afraid that if I take them up on the offer, I’ll fuck things up. Royally.”

She scowled and rubbed her temples, “Fuck things up for whom exactly?”

He continued staring at his tea, “For them, for the twins.”

“How? I’m not even sure that’s possible. An association with you will only benefit Severus and Draco socially, in no way will it hinder them. Not that I think that has any bearing on their decision to pursue you. And as for the twins. I don’t think that growing up in a loving household, with three happy parents will scar them in any way.”

“But, what about when they go to school? Don’t you think they’ll be ridiculed about having two fathers who are former Death Eaters? Or even just about having three fathers? What will Molly and Arthur think? And what about Ron, he would freak if he even knew we were having this conversation.”

“First of all, Harry, breathe,” she said, laying a comforting hand over one of his, “Secondly, Molly and Arthur want you to be happy, no Arthur won’t be thrilled to have a Malfoy at Christmas dinner the first year or three, but he’ll come to realize that Draco is not his father, and Molly will crush any objections with an iron fist. They love you and will welcome anyone into the family that truly makes you happy, as will the rest of the clan. As for Ron, well, eventually he’ll get over himself and realize that they make you happy, just try to keep Draco’s insults at bay for awhile, and you’ll be golden.”

Harry nodded, “But what about the twins?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Harry, the twins are going to be talked about the entire time they are at Hogwarts, simply because they’re your children, and everything about them is going to come under scrutiny. You may as well give them a strong, loving, happy foundation to stand on. And anyway, having Draco and Severus in their lives could prove highly beneficial for their academic careers.”

Harry tilted his head, “How so?”

Hermione scowled at him, “Well, having a world class Potions Master for a step-father isn’t going to hurt their chances in Potions, and Draco had the second highest grades in our class every year. I highly doubt having two such highly intelligent and powerful wizards in their lives is going to hurt them. Plus they are both very good at defending themselves, you couldn’t ask for two better people to help you care for and protect your children.”

Harry sighed, “You’re right. I guess I just needed to hear you say it.”

She grinned and finished her tea, “Now, if I have succeeded in removing your head from your arse for you, I would like to see the twins before I go, and possibly Severus and Draco? I didn’t get to say hello yesterday.”

Harry nodded and then his memory struck, “How is Molly doing?”

Hermione smiled, “She’s doing really well. It looks like it was a fairly minor stroke, and the healers were able to correct almost all the nerve damage. She should be able to go home within the week, but she won’t be up to taking care of the twins for a while yet.”

Harry smiled in relief, “That’s ok, Severus and Draco seem to be getting on well with them, hopefully I won’t need to send them back at all.”

“That’s good,” she said, rising from the table, “Now, where are they.”

“Parlor, the door just across the hall. I’ll go see if Severus and Draco can come up.”

She smiled, “Take your time, I don’t need to be anywhere for a few hours yet.”

He sighed and started down the stairs.
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A/N: I promise to have the next chapter up by the end of the weekend (possibly sooner)