The Journey Cycle: pt 3: Australia *pt 3 complete*

This chappie is very sad - hanky warnings ahead

Also, this is where the 'contro' warning kicks in - enjoy, The Squig xx

12

Ginny had prepared a superb lasagne with home-made apple pie for pud. The talk was desultory to begin with but became more pointed and specific as Ron and Oliver quizzed the bondees on the nature of the bond. When, after some heated mental debate between the newlyweds, they finally admitted to the two that they were telepaths, Oliver gasped in amazement, “So, will you complete the bond?”, he enquired archly.

There was more heated inner debate between Harry and Severus as the other four watched the expressions change, the use of hands although the voices weren’t used. They watched as Severus slumped and Harry straightened his back. Ginny and Hermione exchanged meaningful glances, nodding almost imperceptibly.

“We are already in the process of doing so”, was Severus’ laconic reply.

Oliver’s face was a sight to behold. His eyes nearly fell out of his head while his lower jaw threatened to unhinge. His voice was a mere squeak as he finally managed, “Okay, so which one of you is....?”, only to be cut off by Harry raising his hand, “Both, actually”, he said calmly.

The balding man paled visibly and would have fallen but for the fact he was already seated, he settled for falling forward onto crossed arms atop the table instead, “Bloody hellfire”, was his only comment. Ron, as usual, was thoroughly confused so Harry had to inform him as gently as he could.

“PREGNANT?”, Ron bellowed, to a wince from everyone else. “Perhaps you missed someone in Wales with that broadcast, Mr Weasley”, Severus intoned drily. In an instant Oliver cut in, “Nah, New South Wales at the most. Even our Ron’s gob isn’t that big”, to titters.

“Pregnant?”, his tone was much quieter, though the puzzled note was still playing. Harry nodded slowly, “We didn’t know about the consequences until recently and by then it was a bit of a case of ‘locked stable door, bolted horse’. We’ve read up a bit more since then”.

Ron kept flicking his eyes back and forth between Severus and Harry until Harry called him on it. Ron shrugged, “Who would have thought it? I wonder why this didn’t manifest while you were partnered with others? Isn’t the pull towards your potential bondee supposed to be irresistible?”

Hermione giggled, “With these two stubborn mules? And anyway, you were in love with others, weren’t you?” She narrowed her eyes, “Though that could be a reason you were all four attracted to .....sharing...as you did. So the minute you made a real symbolic attachment to each other at long last then the rest of it sort of kicked in.....well, that’s my theory anyway”.

Severus gave this some thought, “That sounds reasonable. I will finally admit to you all that I had an attraction to Harry that pre-dates his relationship with Draco”. Ginny rolled her eyes, “Yes, we knew. Even when we were still at school you always watched out for him, over and above the rest of us, despite us all being best friends. We did what we could of course, but I remember seeing you carrying Harry the night of the battle. I’ve never seen you look so fierce before, or so protective, the way you held Harry, I dunno, I’ve always felt it should be the two of you, that’s why I stitched the square of the four of you the way I did on the quilt”.

This was news to Ron whose eyes widened somewhat, but the others all seemed to nod or otherwise take this in stride so he did too, although he had seen a lot of Harry during the four years of Draco’s absence and there was no doubt in his own mind that Harry had thought little of the potions master and had concentrated his energies on becoming a Master Auror and on missing his gorgeous blond. Ron grinned inside as he recalled:

The first time he saw Harry after Draco had returned.

He was in Diagon Alley. He had a day off from work and had decided to do some shopping. The day was mild and sunny but a sudden cloud had brought a minor squall and had driven him indoors.

To the Leaky Cauldron. The place was filling up with patrons for the lunch hour. He decided on some stodge, ordered at the bar, picked up his pint and looked around for a table at which to park himself. He spotted the messy head bent over a pint in the darkest corner and beamed over. “Yo, Harry. Good to see you. Anyone sittin’ here?” Harry lifted his head and shook his head dreamily as Ron sank down opposite him.

Harry looked completely exhausted. His eyes were drooping, his lashes fighting gravity to fall over soot-smudged under-eyes, hiding the evidence of lack of sleep but he was grinning from ear to ear as his head rose, “He’s back”, were the only words he said before his head sank back to the table cradled in a folded arm.

Ron had lifted Harry’s head then and looked deep into his friend’s eyes, “You really love him, don’t you?”, he had whispered, and Harry had nodded, a huge grin spreading on his face, “He loves me too, Ron. He’ll be here in a bit. He’s just getting new robes measured but I can’t stand to be with him when he’s buying clothes....”. Ron had laughed at this, “Know just what you mean, mate, the girls are a terror when they’re clothes shopping, dunno why my girlfriends drag me along actually”, his amour at the time had been Parvati. She was one of many and his mother had despaired of him ever settling down until his true orientation had finally surfaced and he had made his Ollie his life-mate. He grinned at this memory but refused to let it side-track him.

He remembered watching Harry straighten before him, looking at a point over his shoulder. The sudden mega-watt beam and the slight wave that attracted his lover’s attention, then Draco and Harry were all over each other in a passionate reunion although this time, they had been separated a mere hour. Ron recalled gazing at them dreamily and wondering at the rush that seeing the two of them together gave him.

No, the passion Severus may have felt at that time had been entirely one-way, Ron decided. He knew Harry at least as well as the man he married and he grinned inwardly at this new knowledge. He’d guessed at the ‘sharing’ some years later as his ‘gaydar’ had woken up, but he had witnessed Harry’s devotion to Draco right to the end and the reciprocation. Draco growing, from a saddo snob into a really rather fine person, one that Ron had liked anyway.

For sure, the four may have enjoyed their ‘playing’, but, Ron was sure, that Harry was totally into his ‘Dragon’.

‘Dream on, Severus’, he found himself thinking, although when he looked back at this moment, he realised it was because he was in shock that he thought this way. Pregnant? His best male mate was fucking pregnant, and seemed to be alright about it. He spared a look for Harry’s spouse and saw the uncertainty flit across the chiselled features. He snickered inside, Harry sure had a thing for angular-faced blokes. He idly recalled Harry’s first few forays into his sexuality at school.

Long before Malfoy, still in third year. Ron and Hermione had suspected a Slytherin and had followed their friend out onto the long wooden passage, remaining hidden at the castle end until, espying Remus Lupin take the boy into his arms and kiss him, they both slunk off, bemused.

Ron idly presumed that now the two had a bond, that Severus would probably know by now that his dead lover had taken his husband’s virginity. Perhaps. Perhaps not. He let his memory wander again. To a flushed Harry, grinning that he had finally had a shag from Sirius Black, “God, I nearly had to rape the guy”, he had sniggered before falling back onto his fifth form bed in the dorm.

Once Harry was ‘out’, he was OUT. He didn’t mess about, he had a war to fight after all. Once he had figured out where his orientation lay, he did just that. Lay. Girls as well as boys, to keep testing his limits, as he had explained to a confused Ron and Hermione. But the day he first kissed Draco Malfoy, it all stopped. And, after the first six heady months drenched in sex, stopped for four long years as he waited for his man to return to him, which Draco did as promised. And then it was a mixture of yucky and wonderful to watch. The light in Harry’s eyes, the ready smile, the chewed bottom lip, the bashful laugh, made him look the shy virginal type even while he was anything but.

Ron came back to the rest of the room to hear Hermione say that she also thought it would end up being Harry and Severus. He had to speak up, “I didn’t. Harry, you really loved that guy and he loved you”, he blurted. Harry smiled softly at him even as his eyes filled, “You’re right, Ron. I really thought me and Drae were for life, after he had done his familial thing. But we weren’t. He died. And I fell in love with my Sev and this bond activated and here we are, both expecting, apparently the only wizards to have done so for several hundred years. Bloody typical. I can’t just be the ruddy boy-who-lived. I have to be the boy-who-reproduced as well, but still, I’ve always wanted a family and now I’m about to have one”.

There was silence for a moment until Oliver ventured to ask, “So, Severus, how does it feel to be pregnant?” Instead of the glower he expected, he got a smile, “Actually quite peaceful for now, since you ask, but I am afraid I cannot do any interrogations or anything that may affect the child I carry, surely you can understand....”

The brown-haired man beamed, “Of course. We’ll have to keep you two well out of the firing line this time. Has there been any increase in your magic apart from the telepathy?” Harry shook his head, “From what we have read, I surmise that the increase will take place after the births of our children. Once they are clear of us then we can start to explore the implications of the bond completing, but we cannot do this until they are born as the magic could hurt them”.

It went without saying that this new wrinkle in the life of Harry Potter had to be kept completely under wraps but as the four were all blood-bonded to him from years past then this would have to not be a problem. Ron finally ventured, “So what about Lestrange?”, and let it hang between them all.

Harry smiled benignly, “We send Jed in after him. He’s more likely to spill to a Mason than he is to a magical, though of course we haven’t asked Jed yet, but he’s here in two days time so we’ll ask then”. Ron and Ollie glanced at each other, obviously reluctant to let someone of whom they knew very little to take a leading role. They both deeply regretted that Severus was not to be the interrogator but neither could blame the man in the condition he was in.....

Severus subtly ruffled across their minds without them noticing, his wand up his sleeve, the tip hidden in his palm, then sent the results, {They are not happy that I am not to be the interrogator, that an untrained barely magical is to be sent in instead. But I agree with you. I think Jed may be able to extract more information}. He felt the grin as it was transmitted from his lover and it lit up his insides, {See, there’s always more than one answer to a problem}. Harry ‘heard’ Severus’ internal sigh, {Let us hope so, love, let us hope so}.

They were interrupted by Ron, “I love watching you two ‘talk’”. Harry and his husband turned to him, “But you cannot hear us”, Harry protested. Hermione laughed, “Yes, but we can see you and your faces are a lot more expressive when you talk telepathically. Maybe that’s something you both need to work on, sending and receiving without anyone else being privy”. Oliver joined in, “Aye, then you could be sittin’ all po-faced, before the Minister, in one of his interminable meetings, and sending each other all sorts of naughty thoughts. I always dreamed that if I could be granted a magical ability that I did not have then it would have been telepathy, plus someone to be telepathic with, of course, otherwise there’s no point. It’s not like Legilimency is it?”, he asked of the bondees. Harry shook his head, “Nope, we can only ‘read’ what the other willingly ‘send’s. We can see memories, well Severus sees them but I seem to be having a problem ‘downloading’ his memory ‘sends’, but I suspect that’s just a teething problem”.

Hermione leaned up on an elbow, “You know, I ‘read’ your pregnancies but it would behoove you both to get checked out by a medic while we’re in the magical zone. For a start, you could do with knowing how far along you are. There are certain indicators but they’re not cast in stone and vary from wom…, er, pregnancy to pregnancy, like the sore nipples, or morning sickness, or the first time you feel the kick, but some don’t feel all the symptoms. I didn’t have any sickness with Esme, just the other two for example, so a check-up would be a good idea”.

Harry smiled at her motherly concern and saw the sense in her words, “We will then, although, won’t it create a bit of an outcry, two strange pregnant blokes turning up at a wizarding hospital from out of nowhere?. We’d have to tell them who we really were for instance”. Hermione rolled her eyes, “Idiot, have you never heard of doctor-patient confidentiality?. You wear glamours until you get behind closed doors and away from unwanted eyes and from then on, the doctor has to protect your secrets, even muggle doctors swear the Oath”.

Severus snorted, “Hmm, don’t fancy some damned stranger poking about, but I’ll agree that you have a point, not to mention the possibilities of disaster no doubt inherent in the male of the species getting pregnant”. Harry nudged him, laughing, “We got those gut pains when we first got to New Zealand, didn’t we? It wasn’t much, just a couple of days of the shits and cramps”, he explained to the others, “But that must have been our bodies changing and we thought it was due to the change in timezones or water or something and paid it no mind, after all the travel stuff I’ve read elsewhere said those symptoms are pretty frequent for long-distance travellers so we ignored it, swallowed a potion or two and were as right as rain”.

Sniggering, Ginny flicked her hair back over a shoulder, “Doesn’t sound too disastrous so far. The book says that as bondees you should have very little trouble, certainly no more than the average pregnancy....”, but was cut off by Severus’ raised hand, “Please, Ginny, spare me the details of the swollen ankles and the random food cravings at 3 am, the revolting morning or even all day sickness, well, you’re a mother so you should know”, he finished on a mumble that made them all chuckle.

The ladies glanced at each other rolling their eyes, Severus was going to be a diva was he? Poor Harry! They sniggered between themselves a moment before Ginny resumed, her tone teasing, “So, have you thought about names and so on?” Harry nodded, “Yes, plain and unfussy, with no reference either to Latin or weirdness and no family names either”. The others all exchanged looks and shrugged. Fine. Perhaps it was time to change the subject again.

They swished and flicked the remains of dinner away before drifting into the lounge with drinks and out onto the large terrace beyond through impressive French windows. They disposed themselves into the various loungers in couples and sat quietly watching the sea and the birds in the garden, sharing private moments with partners before the conversation struck up again.

“So, you two, tell us more about Germany. Did you find Frau Drescher? What else happened over there?” Harry leaned up on one elbow to face his friends. Ron lay behind Ollie, with a lazy arm thrown around his lover’s waist, “Pretty lousy, actually. We didn’t find out much at all, though we’re still at a loss as to anything on Drescher’s whereabouts”.

Harry took a deep breath, “I think there’s every possibility that she’s already dead, guys. After all, de Santos has wiped out all those nearest to Graciela so far, and taking out the teacher who was preparing her to fight him makes her an obvious target. He even took out the Gunderssons. The whole remaining family. This one is more ruthless than Voldemort and is leaving nothing to chance. I sort of fear he may come after me at some point”.

Hermione was chewing the inside of a cheek in a manner wholly familiar to Harry. She sat up, swinging her legs down and planting her feet on the floor. She bunched her fists in her lap. The backrub that Ginny started to give her stopped her shoulders from bunching, “I wondered when you’d figure that out”, she mumbled. “It was the other main reason that I wanted to keep you out of this, especially once the others started to die. I fucking panicked when I heard about the Gunderssons”.

Oliver continued their tale, “That advice you gave me, Severus, about changing my cover? Turned out to be bang on. I only ran into a friend of the Malfoys about two days after I read your e-mail and she well knew that Draco was dead, so, I thank you for that timely advice. Though we went under Slytherinesque disguises, we still didn’t find out much. It seems like there’s a different protocol at work here, not just magic”.

Harry grinned, “There is! Do you not recall all the talk of the Masons? This is the other thing of which you speak. If you had told me, I could have directed you to a couple of websites. Sev and I boned up on the various handshakes before we went to that meeting just in case anyone tried to suss us out. This new faction are hiding inside this organisation. Their Head Office, so to speak, is in Spain, and de Santos is the head of that, although I think he wields more power than that. How come he’s leading such powerful magicals when he is, after all, we think, a squib?”

Ollie shrugged, “I’ve no idea, and you know Ron and I are not great readers, so what are your thoughts? You’ve plainly been doing the research”. Hermione smiled then, “Well, we know about the Masonic connection now, and the fact that the magicals on the run have all managed to end up in the Knights of Malta, a more mystical branch than the main masonic fraternities. Who knows? Perhaps they showed a few higher-ups a bit of real magic, but given what you heard, Harry, of the disgust that some of the ‘brothers’ have towards supposed magicals, that seems unlikely, especially in this part of the world at least, which makes me think that Lestrange probably uses very little magic out here but knows of the fact that other Death-Eater types are hitching their wagon to de Santos’ racialist star. They can use these people to gain some sort of foothold through the racist angle then as more and more join and learn of the secretive little sub-fraternity of escaped Death-Eaters then they can emerge en bloc one day, destroy the squib that has led them and take over a very powerful organisation that is very established and entrenched at all the upper levels of society, the law, the judiciary, high ranking medics, politicians, businessmen, oligarchs, bloody hell, the sky’s the limit for these guys”.

There were resigned sighs all round at the enormity of the picture she painted. She continued, “These Masons have a core of mysticism running through their lore and rituals, dating back to the days of alchemy and wizardry and witchcraft that religion quashed and drove underground. It is my contention that many of the semi-magicals, well, men, anyway, are drawn to organisations such as this. Not your crystal-kissers, nor your haunted house fanatics, but the ones who believe that study and ritual will eventually reveal the secrets of the universe to you, the great truths behind everything, the study of mages and philosophers everywhere, in our world and this one. The two are sometimes more allied than we think, mouldering away in our little separate enclaves in our Unplottable corners. But this is a way for the Dark to truly master us all, through those for whom the Dark Arts is a given. I mean, have you actually read some of their rituals?”

Harry shrugged, “Well, I witnessed them inducting a bloke into Jed’s level and it all seemed fairly harmless. It was very symbolic, you know, aligning the body with the compass points and all that, and the guy was stripped before he was robed, but there wasn’t anything as gross as, for example, a Death-Eater initiation”. Severus spoke up at this point. “Harry is correct. I listened in to the whole thing at a remote location and even the incantations, although promising death and mayhem to anyone who betrayed the secrets of the Order, were fairly innocuous; albeit binding. They were mainly concerned with fealty and loyalty, the sort of oaths one would imagine knights the world over being made to swear, but there was no blood-letting or anything truly magically binding”.

Hermione shrugged, “It all sounds pretty magical to me, you mentioned they used symbols as well, Harry? Are these usual, do you think? Or has the effect of magicals in the higher ranks played a role?” Harry shrugged, “Hard to say, really. I doubt very much that the Masons would have all their secrets on display on the Web for any Tom, Dick or, indeed, Harry, to read. But, yes, they did use symbols. Let me see: there was the setsquare by this hand and the dividers by this one then the Maltese Cross at the head and the pillars at the parted feet. I think they stand for the original Temple or something”.

A silence ensued, briefly, into which Hermione dropped, “We need a timeline. How long has all this been going on? What are they really trying to achieve? And how soon? Will there be all out war? And how do we stop these bastards? This has the potential to be far bigger than the wizarding world can handle on it’s own”, she finished on a resigned sigh.

Ron injected, “Aye, and has this anything to do with magic at all? Or is it an attempt by a latter-day whassisname? Hitler? To establish some sort of world order? Merlin! This is a lot trickier than bloody Voldemort”. Severus arched a brow, “There would seem to be some sort of domination delusion at work here, given the spread of the persons and groups to whom they have parasitically attached themselves to. One would presume that this has been fomenting for several years at least, although we don’t know for how long they have been entrenched within the Masonic ranks. Harry and I have tried to identify the possible rank of Lestrange by the pin Harry saw in his tie but despite our best efforts, we have so far failed to do so. Hermione, you are right, we need a timeline. Perhaps, Ron and Oliver, you would care to elaborate on the conference call that you had with the Australian Minister. If indeed there is a Magical Ministry here, albeit an adjunct to the British branch, maybe it might serve us better to try to talk to someone for whom Magical law actually means something”.

Harry snickered, “Hmmm, I suppose I could march in there and demand to have an audience with the Minister if all else fails, but they might be more like the Spanish, willing, but largely ignorant or powerless without proofs. After all, we don’t know how connected the muggle and magical Ministries are, do we? Lestrange may not have even come to the attention of other magicals if he’s been living as a muggle for years, and, given the rural backwater that he was policing, and our lack of knowledge of the place ourselves, he may not even know that such a place is five-at-the-most apparation hops away. Just a thought”.

Severus squeezed Harry gently then purred, “A good one, too. Let us assume, that, as the Masonic chaps are a small group, very like ourselves, in fact: then go on from there to presume that they keep in better contact with each other; witness the call between ‘Gerhardt’ in Germany and ‘Rick’ in New Zealand. From our Internet researches, Harry and I gleaned information on several international conferences, so one must conclude that information is more readily passed from blocs of Masons to others a darn sight faster than we wizards communicate amongst ourselves. With me so far?” Everyone nodded, wondering quite where he was going with this.

“So, then, Gerhardt, informing Rick may actually have been only the second or third intimation that these fellows have that they are being infiltrated, and the unrest that they are starting to feel on the matter. Hardly the attitude of those already committed to de Santos’ cause. On this side of the world anyway. Heaven knows how far it has spread though in Europe and Britain. Still. On the plus side, it seems to be not worldwide, nor does it appear that the Germans are totally under the sway of the Spanish faction. For instance, Rick and Gerhardt were discussing a way to ‘use’ the magic users that they suspected of being hidden in their ranks and it didn’t sound as if they were going to be offered tea and sherbet lemons. However, I fear that the muggles have no idea of how to actually deal with an enraged posse of former Death-Eaters and their ilk. A depressing thought”, he lay back against the arm of the lounger.

Harry butted in, “Ah, yes, but Rick declared their lodge at that level ‘clean’, didn’t he.? I heard him myself”. Hermione sighed and drew everyone’s attention, “All very well, Harry, but you didn’t see everything, did you? Did anyone actually think to check Rick’s arm? Or, come to that, the arm of the other bloke that was checking? Weren’t those two from off the ‘top table’? The leaders?”

Harry hadn’t thought of this, “Bloody hell. You’re right. I never did see those two roll up their sleeves, although they could well have done and I just didn’t see. I was under a table after all. Also, his conversation wasn’t very knowing, was it? If he had any idea what he was dealing with, then surely he wouldn’t have been so glib about harnessing the magic for the Mason’s own use?”

Ginny frowned, “That’s okay as far as it goes, but if this Rick is a Death-Eater, then surely he would do all he could to minimise the threat posed by magicals, and if my memory serves me well, there was more talk of deposing de Santos than there was of ousting magicals, in fact the tone was of ‘harvesting’ rather than dismissal”.

This shut them all up for a while. They seemed to be talking in circles from this point on. Hermione sighed and opined, “Well, I suppose there’s nothing for it but to wait for Jed and Sammy to arrive. You realise we’ll have to tell them everything, including the fact that they may be in grave danger. After all, we don’t know exactly who slaughtered the Gunderssons’ yet, and, although we think we know they’re working for de Santos, we have no proof”. They left it at that for the night.

Harry could feel Severus’ tiredness through the bond and excused them both, wishing their friends goodnight as they swayed off, their arms around each other. The mood on parting was a tad glum, but they had all needed this conference before the others arrived that weekend. Tonight was Wednesday and they were due to arrive on the Friday night. The next two days were to be busy indeed.

****

Their morning loving was slow and half-asleep until, laughing, Harry moved off his husband and fell into a sated heap at his side. Severus turned slightly, his heavy arms held open and Harry moved into them to be wrapped up in warm musk and damp skin, chest hair prickling his face. He kissed all the skin near enough to without moving and the arms tightened around him. Harry felt the low chuckle through his lips and smiled against skin.

Severus reached for Harry’s chin and lifted him further up, near enough to kiss, Harry’s arm wrapping around him, his other trapped between them, stroking whatever his hand could reach. They came up for air smiling against each other’s lips, rubbing noses together and being altogether romantic and soft with each other, talking with kisses instead of words, either spoken or transmitted.

They simply lay together in the peace of the early morning soaking each other up, stroking, kissing and gazing into each other’s eyes, sighing when the feeling threatened to explode from them. Their love was strong that day and Harry thought back to that day at the rally when they had not emerged for the whole day. The thought was growing that he would love to spend another such day with the love of his life, but they had guests and eventually the intense almost hypnotism was broken between them and they untangled to begin the day.

{You take the first shower}, Harry mind-murmured lazily. Severus shook his head, {Lazy bugger}, his mind purred, before kissing Harry’s damp hair and rolling over to rise. Harry grabbed him around the waist to plant a last kiss in the middle of his husband’s back before Severus stood and wended his way to the bathroom.

Harry glanced down at the wrinkled sheet where Severus had lain and what he saw made him gasp and reach for his glasses, shoving them haphazardly onto his face. It was even clearer now. A patch of wet red on the rumpled white. {Sev}, Harry mindcalled. His husband turned at the doorway, {Hang on a minute, I need to piss}. Harry shook his head violently, {No. love, hold on a moment, there’s red on the sheet. You’re bleeding}.

Severus rushed back to the bed to peer at the patch, blotchy, red and still fresh. He turned this way and that, {Have I cut myself? I feel no pain anywhere} and turned back at the sharp {No} from Harry who was paling visibly, {We need to get you to a hospital, Sev, you’re bleeding.....rectally. Oh, shit, it could be the baby, Sev, we need to move fast here}.

The older man froze to the spot as Harry was galvanised into action. He flung on clothes and Apparated away with a whispered, “Back in a sec”, and landed in the bigger house whose occupants were still silent. Harry sped up to the girls’ bathroom and rummaged in their toilet bags for a sanitary pad before apparating straight back to Severus. He cleaned his beloved with soap and water to get the worst off before Severus dressed, the pad affixed into his boxers and without further ado, Harry once again pictured the spot before the site map that they had seen on their last visit and in two shakes they were both there.

Shaking badly they both staggered into the hospital whereupon Harry levitated Severus onto his back and up the many floors to the obstetrics unit, they held hands all the way up in the lift. Harry had the presence of mind to glamorise them before the lift doors opened onto the fifth floor where two medi-nurses came running towards them as they saw Severus emerge from the lift on his back.

Harry barked out their basic facts, the tightness in his voice betraying his anxiety. Severus squeezed his hand. “Bonded wizards. British travellers. We have insurance. We’re both pregnant and my husband here is bleeding as of a few minutes ago, we think”. Harry had expected the nurses to gape in amazement or something, so their reaction took him by surprise, “Come this way, sir, are you already patients of Dr Mbolekwa’s?” Harry was baffled somewhat as he led Severus into the cubicle indicated by one of the nurses and lifted him onto the bed.

The other nurse twitched the curtain around them and exited, “I’ll summon her, this is her speciality, make him comfortable, Nurse, I’ll be right back”. The nurse, the badge on his uniform reading ‘Nathan Sommersby’ helped to disrobe his patient along with the husband and laid Severus back in the pillows. He summoned a chart and began to request details.

They gave their names as Septimus Prince and James Evans, married citizens of Great Britain and travellers. Harry gave them a potted history, provided their blood groups etc. The nurse took the vital signs by passing his wand over his patient a few times, writing the results carefully on the chart. As he was finishing, the curtain rattled on it’s rail to reveal the other nurse with a sleep-rumpled doctor in her wake.

A low, mellifluous tone purred out, “How long’ve you been bleeding, lad?” and Severus looked up into the face of the largest, blackest woman he had ever seen. Her name-badge was roughly spelled to her overall and read ‘Dr Nikewe Mbolekwa’. She advanced on him and he couldn’t help flinching. He had never abided women poking around him but this time he tried not to move as she advanced towards him.

She held out a hand and he shook it unable to tear his eyes from hers. This woman was extremely powerful and he felt the pull like iron to a magnet. Instead of her whipping out her wand as he’d expected, she reached in and lifted his now strawberry blond hair from his brow, “First, I want to move the two of you to a private room so you can lift those glamours you wear. I cannot treat those I do not know”. In seconds they were in another room and the buzz of the emergency unit had silenced.

“We’re on the eigth floor now in my specialised unit”, she took in the puzzled looks and smiled, “Fear not, I haven’t abducted you or anything but your case is one of my specialities. You see, I have been researching now for many years into same-sex bonded couples, male and female, as I am a half of one such. I will dowse you first,” she inclined her head at Severus, “Then I would like to examine you”, she turned to Harry, who nodded numbly at her intense stare when it blazed full-on into his eyes.

They were both on a larger bed than usual in a hospital, this was a double and Harry looked around him. Nikewe chuckled as she charged her wand, “I work with couples here so all the beds are larger. You are bonded, not ill, and I try to medicalise the situation as little as possible, but in your case, when medical treatment is sought then it is on hand”. They both gazed around at the chalk-blue decor that the sun bounced off, the bright crisp cotton bedding in pastel colours, the framed prints on the walls.

“Now, gentlemen, if you would lower your glamours. In here, we abide by all the medical oaths. I cannot work with the complete unknown and I’m afraid that in a situation like this, I cannot not know whom I treat. I’m sure you understand”.

Severus frowned at the legalese but sighed, “Lift it then, love. Let her see me”. Harry leaned over his lover, “If she knows you then she knows me too”. He added mentally, {And she does seem to know more than those books about our situation}. They shared a look and Harry withdrew his wand, lifting the charms from them both.

The doctor gasped, “Merlin’s beard! Harry Potter and Severus Snape. Bloody hell!!! The wizarding world has been wondering about your whereabouts for years. You appear briefly then vanish again and now you’re here. Don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me. Now, Mister Snape, if I could just....”, she grasped the casting end of her wand between her palms and agitated it between them, charging her hands. “I dowse by hand, it’s less intense that way and can harm not even the sickliest baby. Please lie back and try to relax. I need to read you and the less anxiety and emotional static, the better”.

At her instruction, Severus lay back, cradled in Harry’s arms. Harry said, “Would you like me to move? Will my magic get in the way?” She smiled, “No. I am used to treating couples and quickly learned to distinguish one magic from another. In fact I’d rather you stay with your husband”. Harry tightened his grip as she began the dowse.

As she worked, her hands kept bouncing away from his body, “Bloody hell, guys, your magic is so strong, I’ve never encountered the like before”, she whispered as she worked, the sweat starting on her brow. She kept a completely professional demeanour throughout the examination although she was delighted to be working on such as these two. She was exhausted when she had finished and her eyes were flat as she lifted her head and faced her patients.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Snape”. The sadness rolled off her in waves. Severus held her gaze, “That’s Potter-Snape, please. I’m a married man”. She blinked and cast her eyes between them both. “I’m sorry, Mr Potter-Snape, but you have miscarried your child”.

There was silence in the room for a short while, the three exchanging looks until Severus turned to Harry, his eyes round and terrified, “Harry. What did I do wrong? Oh no, oh, dear gods....please...no”, and clutched at the front of Harry’s shirt, burying his head in Harry’s chest as he was held tight in numb grief.

She observed them as dispassionately as she could but she had to ask them some searching questions and the time was right. She also needed to examine Harry. If her researches were correct, then Harry was just about to undergo the same pain and loss.

“Gentlemen”, she urged quietly, “I imagine that from your ages, you didn’t know each other well when you were younger?” Severus lifted his head, his eyes red, “That’s ridiculous. I have known Harry since he was eleven. At my count, that’s thirty three years or thereabouts and we have known each other very well since I was in my late thirties and Harry in his late teens”.

She frowned at this, “And yet, from what I read of you, the bond only activated very recently?” Harry nodded, pressing his cheek into his shocked husband’s hair, “Yes, we had other partners for a long time before Severus and I got together”. This mystified her more and more, “So you were all friends or something?” Severus sighed, “Since Harry’s seventh year in school, and yes, I was a teacher there, we became friends rather than enemies. When Harry and his previous partner had got back together, we renewed our..., ahem, acquaintanceship and all became great friends. What has this to do with me losing a child? I fear I must have done something wrong”, he screwed up his face and buried it in Harry’s chest again. He wanted to cry so much but the tears wouldn’t come. His eyes felt sand-dry.

“I would like to dowse you too, Harry, if I may”, she stated, taking a deep breath. Harry puzzled at this. “What is it you fear from dowsing me?”, he asked shrewdly. She gazed back at him. “I fear that as your bond was so recently made that neither of you is ready to carry a child yet and both of you became pregnant unexpectedly. I fear, Harry, that you are about to lose your child in the same way Severus just has”.

“No”, Harry murmured, “I’ve always wanted a child. Preferably two. I cannot lose this one”. She cast a sympathetic gaze over them both. “I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but, I am probably the foremost authority living on these matters and it very lucky that of all the places in the world you could be, you washed up at my door”. For some reason, neither seemed to doubt this, just nodding instead.

She continued, “I take it that you have read both Donaldson and Minchin?” They both nodded. She carried on, “Well, in their day, it wasn’t uncommon for parents, of whichever gender, to miscarry several times before they had a successful birth. The next great challenge for parents in that day and age was to get their child beyond the five year mark, so any troubles that may have afflicted a child in the womb went unquestioned as so many were lost anyway. With me so far?”

Harry and Severus shared a look and touched foreheads, gently kissed chastely before facing the doctor again. “Well, the researches I have conducted fall under the aegis of all I know about obstetrics both magical and muggle at the beginning of the twenty first century. What neither Donaldson or Minchin warned about was that the newly formed male womb is not capable of carrying a foetus to term until it has been in place for at least a year. This is why, Harry, I fear that you may not be able to carry to term either at this point, but let me examine you first”.

Harry’s face creased and Severus’ heart went out to him. Harry had wanted this more than he had. In truth, he was more than a little relieved to be free again of the possibility of childbirth. He snaked his arms around his beloved and squeezed to show his tacit support, {Let her examine you too, love. Maybe she will give us her support in the future}.

Their eyes bored into each other and Harry nodded slightly, releasing his hold around Severus and turning onto his back, one hand still clutched by his husband. She re-charged her wand and did the direct reading of Harry and had to hold her wand a good few inches away from the wizard’s body. Merlin! She had never read magic like this before and was awed. She had heard the ‘legends’ or, in her opinion, urban myths that surrounded this figure, Harry Potter, and now, here she was, examining him, and her dowsing ability was running at the fullest stretch she had ever put it to, and agreeing secretly with any story she had ever heard concerning his power: it just washed off him in waves.

She waved her wand in complicated gestures over his belly and an image appeared in mid-air. Flicking her wand, another appeared beside it. She pointed to the second, “This is a healthy womb with a two-week foetus inside. See how it grips tight, those cells clutching onto the womb wall”. Then she pointed to the first picture. “This, Harry, is your womb. Witness, the child is barely hanging on and is already suffering from shortage of oxygen from being suspended like that. To put it simply, neither of you is ready to bear a child yet. You need to wait”. She paused, her eyes on Harry whose green eyes teared at the enormity of what she had said.

He turned to her, “You are saying that my child is doomed?” She nodded, her eyes filling. “Minchin is so wrong for this day and age, maybe two hundred years ago”, she sighed before facing Severus again, who had turned to see the hologram of his beloved’s pregnancy. Harry whispered, “Is there anything I can do to save her?” Her tears flowed, fuck it, she was human, she shook her head, “No. You wanted this, didn’t you?” Harry nodded, numb.

“You can still have it. Both of you. According to the research I have conducted, and I currently have three bonded same-sex couples that I am working with, the only doctor in the world who would work with these bonds, I find that the bond needs to be in place for a while before conception should be attempted as the bits and pieces need a while to grow properly. Oh, and the crap in Minchin that says you only get three years to do this? Utter bollocks! You have at least five, not counting the year you need to grow into”.

They both took her words on board seriously. Harry raised his eyes to hers, “What would you recommend?”, he whispered. She cocked her head to the side, regarding him solemnly. She reached into her robes and withdrew a phial, laying it on the bedside table.

“I have no idea when you will miscarry, only that you will. Neither of you are strong enough inside to do so yet. The way I see it, you have two options: you can either wait until the inevitable happens; whether tomorrow or in two weeks time......”, her voice slowed, “Or you drop ten drops of this on your tongue and it will all be over by morning”, she tapped the phial she had placed. “I’ll leave you boys for a while to think about everything. If you need me then I am here at your disposal. I want to keep you here, Severus, anyway, in case of complications, so I’ll see you in the morning”. She turned, then looked back, “If you need anything, food etcetera, then call for ‘Neddy’, he is my private house-elf”, before disapparating.

****

Harry shrank away from the purple liquid in the plain glass vessel. Severus sent all the love and support he could through their link but was only getting static from Harry’s end. Harry had wanted this family thing far more than he had, if he were honest, although a portion of him grieved for the little mite he had already named Richard or Hannah. This was going to be far harder on Harry.

Harry leaned back into the strong arms, his face contorted by weeping, {I dunno what to do. I’ve seen the evidence and I know what I must do, but can I? Shit!!! Can I kill my own kid?}. Severus rained kisses onto Harry’s scalp, burrowing through the thick hair. {Harry, is it more a case of mercy killing, love? Where you kill a knot of cells now....before they turn into a Hannah or a Richard?}.

Harry’s face creased into tears, {Shit, that’s what you had called yours?} Severus nodded ruefully, {But I have lost him or her, through no fault of my own, so it would seem, although I was worried that either the rampant sex or the magic usage while we were in the desert had done something to harm him/her, I am reassured that this is not the case. I’m sorry lover, I know not how to advise you in your current predicament}. Harry burrowed deeper, {I need to call ‘Mione. Get her here. I need to talk to her first}. He thought fleetingly that his beloved may sneer but Severus was in agreement, {Indeed, she is a mine of information and good advice. I would like to speak to her also. Ginny too. Did she not suffer from miscarriages? I believe between pregnancy one and two?}.

The younger man grasped Severus’ face in his palms, {Sorry, love, sorry this has happened to you. Sorry we can’t be ......I dunno....just ordinary. I know you didn’t really want to carry a child......This must be a relief to you.....but what am I to do? I cannot kill my own child. Sev, help me.....my heart is breaking. What must I do?}

Severus held Harry tight whilst going through his jacket pockets, finding and withdrawing his phone. He found Hermione’s number easily and dialled. She answered on the third ring. He handed the phone to Harry, “She’s there. Talk to her. We cannot take this alone any more. We need help”. Harry nodded and took the phone.

“’Mione? We need to see you. It’s urgent. It’s Harry, by the way. Sev’s lost the baby and I will too, apparently. Please come. We need you”. Hermione gasped at this appeal. “Harry! Where are you?” “I’m in the hospital in the magical section of Perth. Sev was ill this morning and we came here and he’s lost the baby and I’m gonna do the same...”, his voice tailed off into sobs.

He was brought round by a distraught Hermione yelling into his ear, “Harry!!! Tell me how to get there! I’ll Apparate then and be there in no time”. Harry sniffed and instructed her to bring her girlfriend if she’d come and Hermione immediately knew why Ginny was needed, recalling the agony the girl had gone through when she had miscarried, not to mention the violence she had faced at the hands of her childrens’ father.

She snapped to and turned to an eager and attentive Ginny who just nodded. “Tell me what you know of the entrance way and we’ll call out the name of the place and hopefully end up in the right place without splinching”. Harry tried to describe it, “Well, the signs are brown with cream lettering, pointing in two directions........”, before a bludger of a vision fleeted across the back of Hermione’s eyes, nearly causing her to fall on her arse. She could see what Harry was describing.

“Whoa, Harry. Try and send me that image again. I ‘saw’ the signs and the map thing to the left with a red trail or line around it”. Harry was astonished. Had he really sent this to his friend? He didn’t stop to think about it now, just sent a stronger and more sustained memory of the spot to her to give her somewhere to apparate to and she was with them in seconds. “Fucking hell, Harry, I saw it all. I saw the sign and the map and everything”. She rushed to him and hugged him along with Ginny who hung back a bit.

She stepped away and went to sit with Severus, taking his hand, “No-one can ever say what it’s like to lose a child that you never knew but another such. Did you give him or her a name?” Severus smiled slightly and told her. She nodded wisely, “Never give another child those names, will you?” Severus’ eyes filled and flowed, “No, never. I’m not sure if I really wanted it in the first place”, he blurted out.

Ginny gripped both of his hands as he unwound himself from Harry, “Idiot! ‘It’ was never an ‘it’ to you. You had already given him or her a name. Grieve for them. It sodding hurts. My two were Godric or Rowena, the foetus was too young to determine gender, and the second was Charles after my big bro though I don’t want to say why, although he was grown big enough to determine his gender before I lost him, but I still went on to have two more and now I’m a granny”. She shook his hands in hers slightly before enveloping him in a sweet scented hug, “Gods, I’m sorry, Severus”, she whispered into his hair before releasing him again to arms length.

They turned to see Harry weeping and Hermione talking to him sternly, a familiar frown fixed to her brow. Harry looked bereft and Severus broke from Ginny’s kindly grip to investigate. {Harry?} He flung his arms around his distraught husband. Harry sniffled and turned to Severus, his breath catching as he sobbed, {She agrees with me.....I thought she might try to stop me.....I dunno.....I’m not strong enough to let him or her grow any more before....you know....dying anyway. This is so horrible. I have to kill my own child}.

Severus could do no more than throw his arms around Harry, his sorrow was endless just then, {How can I help? What can I do? I still love you and always will, Harry, whatever you decide to do. Let’s wait a while and do this properly. I’m more broken up than I thought I would be at this loss. I’ll carry one for us when the time is right, so long as you carry the rest}. They smiled wanly at each other then kissed desperately. As they pulled away, Harry was fumbling for the glass phial on the bedside table behind him. Looking deep into Severus’ swimming eyes, he bit off the cap and measured the ten drops onto his tongue. {Now is not the right time, is it?}, his ‘send’ was sad. Severus held him tight, {No. Not yet, but it will be, my Harry. I promise you that. You shall have the family that you have always wanted}. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, releasing two fat tears as the potion slid down his throat and the abortifacient got to work.



Hmm, bit 'contro'. that, wouldn't you say?

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