The Most Difficult Of All Our Tasks
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Snape
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
27
Views:
26,810
Reviews:
76
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Snape
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
27
Views:
26,810
Reviews:
76
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Sowing A Seed
-- Thank you to my reviewers: Jicky (thanks for the detailed feedback), AislinnNicole, Ode to Gringotts, Morgaine Malfoy (sorry, no ass whooping yet), DarkMiko6, MoonlightSilver, Catysmom, and Crazyangel.
-- Another chapter peeps. I hope you enjoy. SP
Chapter the eleventh – Sowing a Seed
“He’s up to something.”
“How do you know?”
“He’s always up to something!”
“You’re just pissed cos he doesn’t like you anymore.”
“Not so, look at what I’ve gained.”
A giggle “What should we do?”
“About?”
A sigh. “About HIM, of course!”
“Something. Something devious and twisted.”
“Oh, just another normal day for you then?”
“Hey!” A pause. “I think I need to speak to my godfather.”
***
“Owwww!” Harry moaned, clutching his stomach and rolling onto his side.
Lucius was beside him in moments, his own dressing forgotten. “Harry? What’s wrong?” He held the other whilst the boy shuddered with pain.
“Lucius,” the dark haired man said, very quietly, as if unsure of what response he would get, “I think I’m pregnant again.”
The blond pulled back from the man in his arms, shocked and surprised. “Truly?”
Harry groaned but managed to push himself into a seated position on their bed. “I’m not sure. My stomach has only hurt like this once before. And that was when I got pregnant with Mycroft.” He turned a puzzled gaze up to the other, “But I thought you said you’d been Protecting me?”
Lucius nuzzled close to the boy. “Mostly I have.” He began. “I confess I forgot last night. The sight of you was so enticing. However, I’m not sorry that this has happened. I want a child with you, Harry, a child that reflects our bond with one another.”
Harry felt a stabbing pain in his belly. “Oh fuck!” he sobbed, “It didn’t hurt this much last time.”
The older man slid smoothly off the bed and finished dressing. “It’s time we considered Committing.” He said calmly, adjusting the collar on his robe.
“Committing?” Harry was confused. He hurt, he felt sick, and now he was lost as well.
“Yes,” Lucius replied, “I will not allow a son of mine to be born a bastard. I will register with the Ministry today and ask for a date for our Bonding to take place.”
Harry couldn’t hold back any longer. He dashed from the bed and was sick onto the pristine white tiles in the en suite bathroom.
“Does it matter so much?” Harry asked after he had finished emptying his stomach, had washed his face and had dropped inelegantly to the floor, the cool tiles exactly what his hot body needed.
Lucius looked down at the other, an expression close to disgust on his face. “Yes it does matter. Sooner or later the news of who you really are will break, and I don’t want to imagine how the wizarding world will react to their ‘Saviour’, their ‘Chosen One’ allowing two different men to use his body and impregnate him without Committing to at least one of them. I am trying, as always, to protect you from your own ignorance of the world you live in.”
“I don’t care about what everyone says. I’m used to being called horrible names. I really don’t think we should go through with this.”
The Slytherin knelt elegantly onto the white tiles, avoiding the deposits Harry had left on the ground, his cloak carefully lifted away so that it wasn’t creased under his legs. “What you want right now isn’t really important; you’re emotional, hormonal, unsure of yourself. It’s natural to hurt someone who has tried so hard to help you. But have you considered, Harry, what will happen if the Wizarding World rejects you?”
“I can live alone. I don’t need you to watch over me. I’ve got money, plenty of it.”
Lucius shook his head. “If you are rejected, your possessions will be confiscated, your wand destroyed, and the Magical World will be forever closed to you. You will not be able to see the entrances to Our world, you will be unable to visit Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Grimmauld Place. None of these will be available to you. You will be a Muggle. And the child inside you will die.”
“WHAT?!” As Malfoy had been reciting his list of the punishment awaiting Harry should he be censured by other wizards, the boy’s body had slowly curled in on itself, until he was in a foetal position, silent tears making silver lines on his face. This last piece of news had made him shoot to his feet and glare down at the older man.
“They’d MURDER my child?” He hissed.
Lucius stood too, calmly brushing any traces of dust from his knees. “If you are cut off from the Wizarding World, the magic of others, which you are leeching in minute amounts every second, will be cut off. The magic of those around you is the only thing sustaining that baby’s life. With that rent from you, the child would die, and possibly you with it.”
“They can’t do that!” Harry cried, fists clenched, the few bottles on the sink beginning to rattle ominously.
Lucius grabbed his partner’s arms. “Harry, they won’t do any of it if you are respectably Bound to another before this child is born.”
Harry continued to shake, his fury leaking out of him in magical bursts to shatter the ceramic surrounding him. He ignored the water that drenched him from head to toe; ignored the white tiles that had splintered under his feet, piercing his skin; ignored everything except his sheer rage at a world that could do those things to him and to his helpless, innocent child.
“Harry? HARRY!” Lucius shouted over the wind that had mystically sprung up and which was whirling around the irate man. “You’ll hurt the baby! Stop this!”
Abruptly, as if his strings had been cut, Harry crumpled.
The room became quiet.
Lucius stood still, unsure of how to best approach the other without injuring himself. A series of ‘pops’ made him turn.
“Clean up this mess,” he ordered and turned away, not seeing his house elves’ frightened nods.
***
Jack sat up in bed, a piece of hot buttered toast in one hand, and the Daily Prophet in the other.
“Oh shit!” she cried and shook the man lying next to her.
“Whas goin’ on?” the other slurred before ducking his head back under the sheet.
“Wake up you lazy lump!” she complained before shaking him again.
“Harry’s getting married!”
“Shit!” Her boyfriend woke up swiftly and snatched the paper from her. “Lucius Malfoy announces his intention to Commit to Henry James Greene, father of his child.” What?”
Jack looked thoughtful. “That man is a bastard,” she commented. “I bet he got Harry pregnant deliberately, and has forced him into this.”
The man beside her was still staring at the paper. “I wonder if Potter’s ex has seen this.” He mused.
***
Harry lay on the bed he shared with Lucius and tried to stave off the feeling of absolute helplessness and depression. His stomach was killing him, far worse that it had been whilst he had been carrying Croft; he was constantly close to tears and the vast number of well wishers just made him want to curl up and hide. Four days had passed since the announcement in the Prophet, and those four days had been spent fielding questions and comments from reporters, customers and any one else who felt they had some sort of right to comment. The one person whom Harry had expected some response from, but hadn’t received, had been Jack.
“Oy! Harry!” A face poked out of the fireplace and whispered urgently at him.
“Jack?” Harry was incredulous. He thought that all of the fireplaces in the Manor were warded and had restricted access.
“I need to talk to you, in private. Where’s Malfoy?”
Harry felt tears filling his eyes. He was horrified at himself; he had always been so strong and self sufficient, and now, seeing a friendly face was almost enough to make him weep.
“Harry?” she prompted.
“He’s at the Ministry, trying to sort out the ceremony, and get an ‘expediated response’, whatever that is.”
Jack abruptly fell through into the room. She stood up, dusting soot from herself and looked about the room. “Not bad. You might want to put some clothes on, you’ve got a visitor.”
He frowned at her. “I didn’t ask you to come through,” he grumbled.
“Not me, you moron,” she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him, “someone else. And I really think you’ll want some clothes on.”
Harry sighed. He knew this wasn’t worth him arguing about. Jack clearly had something planned and he was just going to have to go along with it until he could wriggle free.
He vanished into the bathroom and emerged a short while later showered and dressed. He looked expectantly at her.
“Good.” She said and knelt down by the fire, muttered a spell and stuck her head back into the flames.
Harry stared at her on her hands and knees and resisted the temptation to kick her, or to run away.
“Right,” she said, again standing and dusting her knees. “He’s on his way.”
“Who?” the other began, knowing she wouldn’t answer.
“Harry.” A tall, pale, dark-haired man had stepped into the room and had said Harry’s name so calmly that the pregnant man felt relaxed, for a moment anyway.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He snarled, glowering at Severus Snape.
“I have never been more serious in my life,” Snape said walking steadily towards the other. He dropped to his knees and held up a black ring box. “Harry James Potter, will you marry me?”
-- Liking? Confused? Wondering how it's gonna turn out? Any questions? You know what to do, please! I really don't wanna beg.
-- No one know where Mycroft's name comes from?
-- I've gone back and formatted all the previous chapters so thoughts are in italics. Hopefully that will make some things clearer.
-- Tomorrow I'm back at work (boo) so updates will be a bit slower then. The story is 26 chapters in total, so we're nearly half way there - I so want to tease you with what's coming next!
-- I'll do you a deal: get up to a 1000 hits and I'll post two chapters. Fair? SP
-- Another chapter peeps. I hope you enjoy. SP
Chapter the eleventh – Sowing a Seed
“He’s up to something.”
“How do you know?”
“He’s always up to something!”
“You’re just pissed cos he doesn’t like you anymore.”
“Not so, look at what I’ve gained.”
A giggle “What should we do?”
“About?”
A sigh. “About HIM, of course!”
“Something. Something devious and twisted.”
“Oh, just another normal day for you then?”
“Hey!” A pause. “I think I need to speak to my godfather.”
***
“Owwww!” Harry moaned, clutching his stomach and rolling onto his side.
Lucius was beside him in moments, his own dressing forgotten. “Harry? What’s wrong?” He held the other whilst the boy shuddered with pain.
“Lucius,” the dark haired man said, very quietly, as if unsure of what response he would get, “I think I’m pregnant again.”
The blond pulled back from the man in his arms, shocked and surprised. “Truly?”
Harry groaned but managed to push himself into a seated position on their bed. “I’m not sure. My stomach has only hurt like this once before. And that was when I got pregnant with Mycroft.” He turned a puzzled gaze up to the other, “But I thought you said you’d been Protecting me?”
Lucius nuzzled close to the boy. “Mostly I have.” He began. “I confess I forgot last night. The sight of you was so enticing. However, I’m not sorry that this has happened. I want a child with you, Harry, a child that reflects our bond with one another.”
Harry felt a stabbing pain in his belly. “Oh fuck!” he sobbed, “It didn’t hurt this much last time.”
The older man slid smoothly off the bed and finished dressing. “It’s time we considered Committing.” He said calmly, adjusting the collar on his robe.
“Committing?” Harry was confused. He hurt, he felt sick, and now he was lost as well.
“Yes,” Lucius replied, “I will not allow a son of mine to be born a bastard. I will register with the Ministry today and ask for a date for our Bonding to take place.”
Harry couldn’t hold back any longer. He dashed from the bed and was sick onto the pristine white tiles in the en suite bathroom.
“Does it matter so much?” Harry asked after he had finished emptying his stomach, had washed his face and had dropped inelegantly to the floor, the cool tiles exactly what his hot body needed.
Lucius looked down at the other, an expression close to disgust on his face. “Yes it does matter. Sooner or later the news of who you really are will break, and I don’t want to imagine how the wizarding world will react to their ‘Saviour’, their ‘Chosen One’ allowing two different men to use his body and impregnate him without Committing to at least one of them. I am trying, as always, to protect you from your own ignorance of the world you live in.”
“I don’t care about what everyone says. I’m used to being called horrible names. I really don’t think we should go through with this.”
The Slytherin knelt elegantly onto the white tiles, avoiding the deposits Harry had left on the ground, his cloak carefully lifted away so that it wasn’t creased under his legs. “What you want right now isn’t really important; you’re emotional, hormonal, unsure of yourself. It’s natural to hurt someone who has tried so hard to help you. But have you considered, Harry, what will happen if the Wizarding World rejects you?”
“I can live alone. I don’t need you to watch over me. I’ve got money, plenty of it.”
Lucius shook his head. “If you are rejected, your possessions will be confiscated, your wand destroyed, and the Magical World will be forever closed to you. You will not be able to see the entrances to Our world, you will be unable to visit Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Grimmauld Place. None of these will be available to you. You will be a Muggle. And the child inside you will die.”
“WHAT?!” As Malfoy had been reciting his list of the punishment awaiting Harry should he be censured by other wizards, the boy’s body had slowly curled in on itself, until he was in a foetal position, silent tears making silver lines on his face. This last piece of news had made him shoot to his feet and glare down at the older man.
“They’d MURDER my child?” He hissed.
Lucius stood too, calmly brushing any traces of dust from his knees. “If you are cut off from the Wizarding World, the magic of others, which you are leeching in minute amounts every second, will be cut off. The magic of those around you is the only thing sustaining that baby’s life. With that rent from you, the child would die, and possibly you with it.”
“They can’t do that!” Harry cried, fists clenched, the few bottles on the sink beginning to rattle ominously.
Lucius grabbed his partner’s arms. “Harry, they won’t do any of it if you are respectably Bound to another before this child is born.”
Harry continued to shake, his fury leaking out of him in magical bursts to shatter the ceramic surrounding him. He ignored the water that drenched him from head to toe; ignored the white tiles that had splintered under his feet, piercing his skin; ignored everything except his sheer rage at a world that could do those things to him and to his helpless, innocent child.
“Harry? HARRY!” Lucius shouted over the wind that had mystically sprung up and which was whirling around the irate man. “You’ll hurt the baby! Stop this!”
Abruptly, as if his strings had been cut, Harry crumpled.
The room became quiet.
Lucius stood still, unsure of how to best approach the other without injuring himself. A series of ‘pops’ made him turn.
“Clean up this mess,” he ordered and turned away, not seeing his house elves’ frightened nods.
***
Jack sat up in bed, a piece of hot buttered toast in one hand, and the Daily Prophet in the other.
“Oh shit!” she cried and shook the man lying next to her.
“Whas goin’ on?” the other slurred before ducking his head back under the sheet.
“Wake up you lazy lump!” she complained before shaking him again.
“Harry’s getting married!”
“Shit!” Her boyfriend woke up swiftly and snatched the paper from her. “Lucius Malfoy announces his intention to Commit to Henry James Greene, father of his child.” What?”
Jack looked thoughtful. “That man is a bastard,” she commented. “I bet he got Harry pregnant deliberately, and has forced him into this.”
The man beside her was still staring at the paper. “I wonder if Potter’s ex has seen this.” He mused.
***
Harry lay on the bed he shared with Lucius and tried to stave off the feeling of absolute helplessness and depression. His stomach was killing him, far worse that it had been whilst he had been carrying Croft; he was constantly close to tears and the vast number of well wishers just made him want to curl up and hide. Four days had passed since the announcement in the Prophet, and those four days had been spent fielding questions and comments from reporters, customers and any one else who felt they had some sort of right to comment. The one person whom Harry had expected some response from, but hadn’t received, had been Jack.
“Oy! Harry!” A face poked out of the fireplace and whispered urgently at him.
“Jack?” Harry was incredulous. He thought that all of the fireplaces in the Manor were warded and had restricted access.
“I need to talk to you, in private. Where’s Malfoy?”
Harry felt tears filling his eyes. He was horrified at himself; he had always been so strong and self sufficient, and now, seeing a friendly face was almost enough to make him weep.
“Harry?” she prompted.
“He’s at the Ministry, trying to sort out the ceremony, and get an ‘expediated response’, whatever that is.”
Jack abruptly fell through into the room. She stood up, dusting soot from herself and looked about the room. “Not bad. You might want to put some clothes on, you’ve got a visitor.”
He frowned at her. “I didn’t ask you to come through,” he grumbled.
“Not me, you moron,” she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him, “someone else. And I really think you’ll want some clothes on.”
Harry sighed. He knew this wasn’t worth him arguing about. Jack clearly had something planned and he was just going to have to go along with it until he could wriggle free.
He vanished into the bathroom and emerged a short while later showered and dressed. He looked expectantly at her.
“Good.” She said and knelt down by the fire, muttered a spell and stuck her head back into the flames.
Harry stared at her on her hands and knees and resisted the temptation to kick her, or to run away.
“Right,” she said, again standing and dusting her knees. “He’s on his way.”
“Who?” the other began, knowing she wouldn’t answer.
“Harry.” A tall, pale, dark-haired man had stepped into the room and had said Harry’s name so calmly that the pregnant man felt relaxed, for a moment anyway.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He snarled, glowering at Severus Snape.
“I have never been more serious in my life,” Snape said walking steadily towards the other. He dropped to his knees and held up a black ring box. “Harry James Potter, will you marry me?”
-- Liking? Confused? Wondering how it's gonna turn out? Any questions? You know what to do, please! I really don't wanna beg.
-- No one know where Mycroft's name comes from?
-- I've gone back and formatted all the previous chapters so thoughts are in italics. Hopefully that will make some things clearer.
-- Tomorrow I'm back at work (boo) so updates will be a bit slower then. The story is 26 chapters in total, so we're nearly half way there - I so want to tease you with what's coming next!
-- I'll do you a deal: get up to a 1000 hits and I'll post two chapters. Fair? SP