Could You Love Me?

Author: TheSiner
Title: Could you love me?
Genre: Angst, Romance, Drama and some attempted humour :)
Pairings: Harry/Lucius; Draco/?; Severus/?(mentioned)
Word Count: ~ 155,000
Summary: HP/LM, slash, mpreg. Lucius forces Harry to marry him. Things get bad and then they get better. This is a story about two different people from different worlds trying to make it work. Complete.
Rating: For some sex, but there’s not that much of it.
Disclaimer: These characters are not my own and belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliates. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: slash, mpreg - a boy having a baby, OOC (kind of), non-canon, not betaedited, dubious consent, A/U – it is the same old Wizarding world though. And there is angst and emotional suffering.
Setting:– after Harry’s fifth year. Lucius doesn’t get caught at the Ministry.

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TVELFTH PART – Returning Harry


50. Sacrifices

“Harry…”

The boy was dreaming. In the dream he was warm and happy, he could hear laughter. It was a child, laughing…

“Harry…”

There was it again the voice. A very familiar voice, calling his name.

“Harry, you have to wake up. Open your eyes, Harry…”

Oh, right, he was sleeping, wasn’t he? But he had to wake up, he had to.

The boy put all of his willpower into prying his eyes open. This better be good, or else. These days he slept like a log. Moreover, looked as one too, considering that he was about six months and two weeks pregnant. The teenager was not happy when his sleep was disturbed for no reason.

Harry blinked furiously to clear his vision and almost jumped up when his eyes focused on the person who was standing next to his bed.

”Lucius!” Harry called out. “Oh, God, Lucius, you are here! You found me!” He was about to pounce at the man.

“Shh, Harry,” the blonde wizard stepped back with a pained expression on his face. “Don’t touch me. You cannot. I am not corporeal, I am sorry, but I am not really here.”

“What?” Harry blanched.

“I don’t have time to explain, think of me as a vision or a ghost, if you wish…”

Harry paled: “Lucius, you are not…”

“I am perfectly alive and healthy, Harry. This is just a way I could find, to contact you. Are you alright, is the baby alright?” The man’s tone was urgent.

“Yes, Lucius, we are fine, physically, Oh, Merlin, Lucius, I want home, it’s not terrible, they are not hurting me or anything, but…”

“Shh, I know. But we don’t really have much time, I am not sure how long this is going to last, so you have to tell me everything you know, alright? So I can come and get you out, do you understand? I wish we could… but I am sorry, I need information, Harry. Tell me everything you can think of. Every detail might matter.”

The boy nodded. He wanted to touch the man so desperately, to fling himself into his husband’s arms. But Lucius was right. He started relaying to the man everything he knew about the community. He told the wizard about the founder, the Fidelius, about people whom he had met. Everything he could think of.

“Good, Harry, you have to be strong, I am doing everything I can, to find you,” Lucius encouraged. He was relieved to see that the boy was more or less all right. He had feared… well, it could have been worse.

Harry nodded, tears shining in his eyes: “I miss you so much… how are you, how is everyone?”

Lucius smiled warmly, one of those smiles that were reserved for his son and young husband only. Harry was still Harry, the selfless Gryffindor, worrying about everyone.

“We are perfectly fine; the only one you have to worry about is yourself, my love…”

Harry’s breath caught. ‘My love’? Lucius called him ‘love’. Oh, no, he could not stop the waterworks now.

“Please, Harry, you have to calm down,” Lucius tried to soothe the sobbing boy. He was also quite distraught, but had to stay strong, for Harry. “You know I won’t rest until you will be back where you belong, in my arms. Do you trust me?”

Harry nodded sniffing.

“Good. Then take care of you both and wait. Look at me Harry,” he urged.

When the boy lifted his head and Lucius could look into the gorgeous, emerald green orbs, he managed to smile at the boy: “You are beautiful, Harry.”

Maybe it was a silly thing to say, but… “I wish I could touch you, kiss you, hold you…” The man lifted both of his hands as if wanting to take boy’s face between his palms.

“Lucius!” Harry exclaimed in astonishment. “Your… your finger… what happened?”

Lucius Malfoy’s left hand was missing a finger; it looked as if his little finger had been cut off.

The older wizard almost cursed himself for his carelessness, Harry wasn’t supposed to know. At least not, right now. The boy didn’t need more to worry about.

“It’s nothing, Harry. It doesn’t concern you,” Lucius tried.

“Of course it does! What happened?”

“Harry, it’s alright…”

“No. Of course it isn’t! If I will not know, I will worry more, please, don’t lie to me, Lucius…what happened? I have to know…” Harry insisted, but the image of his husband was already fading.

“Take care of yourself, Harry, stay strong! I will come for you…”

“Lucius! Lucius!” The boy shouted, but he was alone in the room.


***

Lucius slumped back in the wingback chair, exhausted.

Strong hands immediately took hold of his head, fingers pried open his mouth and potion was poured down his throat.

“We shouldn’t have let him to do this…” Draco murmured.

Severus glowered at his Godson. A bit late for that, wasn’t it? He hated when people were indecisive like that. But Draco was still just a child who was worried for his father. Severus decided to give him some slack.

Lucius groaned. He was coming to.

Draco hurried to offer his father a glass of water. Lucius drank eagerly.

“Are you feeling alright?” The boy asked with worry.

“M’ fine…”

“Give him a minute, Draco,” Severus scolded. Lucius was a stubborn idiot, but he was going to be fine. Obviously, since he had managed to return to his body.

Draco fidgeted as if wanting to do something and Severus glared at the boy, who apparently got the message and sat down on the chair that was the closest to his father’s, looking a bit ashamed. A Malfoy was not supposed to fidget and fuss or display any other kind of undignified behaviour. Nevertheless – Malfoys were human too.

Still, there were better and more effective ways to show one cared.

“He’s alright,” Lucius finally croaked out as he opened eyes and tried to sit up straighter in his chair.

‘I told you so,’ was already on Severus’ tongue, but he kept it to himself. Lucius had not listened to any of the reasonable arguments. He had to see that Potter was alive and well with his own eyes. The Potions Master could understand. If it had been his partner and child… no matter how much the man wanted to deny it, he had to admit, that he might have done the same.

And gladly paid the price, he thought, eyes stopping at Lucius’ crippled hand.

The spell that had been performed tonight had cost.

Severus had to admit that the choice of the spell had been unexpected. A Malfoy, voluntarily marring his perfect body? Unheard of.
Severus wouldn’t have thought twice, if those had been his spouse and child, he was not a good looking man and a missing finger wouldn’t have spoiled his nonexistent beauty.

However, Malfoys were made of different dough, weren’t they?

It was disconcerting, truly, that Potter commanded such devotion from someone like Lucius. But, well… none of his business.

“So, what did you find out?” Snape decided to turn to a subject that didn’t make him as uncomfortable as Lucius’ feelings.

“Harry is more or less fine, at least physically. We were right; of course, it was Rasputin who took him. He is being kept in some kind of village in Russia, which we were also already suspecting; they call themselves ‘The Community’. Harry compares the place to Hogsmeade. It’s under Fidelis Charm, unfortunately.”

“A hidden Wizarding village, like Hogsmeade?” Snape looked impressed. “That means they need to support themselves somehow. They need food, clothes. It means crafts, trade, deliveries,” he mused.

Lucius hmmed: “Yes. It turned out that the piece of parchment that Draco found in Rasputin’s office is quite unique. It is still being analysed, but from what Harry told me, we can assume that the parchment had been made there. It is also possible that whoever makes it is a member of said ‘Community’ and is selling it to someone. I have already sent one of my men to Petersburg, to their Wizarding district to see if it’s possible to find where Rasputin bought the parchment.”

The Potions Master nodded. They were grasping at straws, because they just didn’t have so many leads.

“Oh!” Draco exclaimed enthusiastically. “And if we catch whoever is making the parchment, then we can force them to take us to Harry!”

Lucius nodded.

“Don’t get your hopes too high, Draco,” Severus cautioned. “It’s not going to be that easy.”

“I know!” The teenage wizard snapped. “But it’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

“Mind your tone, Draco,” Lucius warned his son. He was not happy with the boy at the moment, but hadn’t had a chance to express his displeasure. This was the first time they spent more than a couple of minutes in the same room, since Harry’s disappearance. Lucius had only called Draco home from Hogwarts to help him perform the spell that had allowed him to reach his husband.

“Sorry, father, I meant no disrespect,” Draco bowed. The boy obviously knew that he had already displeased his father and it wouldn’t do to challenge the man even more. But it seemed to Lucius that now could be as good time as any to confront Draco about his conduct.

“Yes, ‘disrespect’ is a fitting world, to describe your behaviour, don’t you agree?” Lucius glared at his heir.

Draco was smart enough to keep his mouth shut; he knew that whatever he would say would be turned against him. He tried to look appropriately ashamed though.

“I have been very lenient with you, Draco. You don’t remember your grandfather, do you? Of course not. Believe me; you are lucky that you do not. If he was alive, the date of your marriage to a proper girl would have been set already. I have allowed you much more freedom than I was allowed myself. Of course, maybe it was my mistake not to warn you against consorting with any Weasleys. Was it my mistake that I believed that my son would have enough common sense to understand what was and what wasn’t appropriate?”

Severus wanted to roll his eyes. Malfoys and their flair for dramatics…

“But father…” Draco tried to say something.

“No excuses, Draco!” Lucius ground out. “I am really not interested in details. I am really disappointed in you.”

If until now the Malfoy heir’s regret had been a bit of an act, then after those words the young wizard’s shoulders slumped and it became obvious that he was truly contrite: “I am sorry father.”

“As you should be. And the timing couldn’t have been worse. I really have no time to deal with this right now. If I had, your lover would have faced me in a wizard’s duel already,”

At that Draco’s eyes widened in fear.

“So, Draco,” Lucius drawled in more even tone. ”I hope you know what you have to do. I would advise you to solve the problem before I have time to focus on it. You have tonight to think about it and your obligations as well. You are returning to Hogwarts tomorrow morning.”

“Yes father,” the teenager bowed formally and left his father’s study looking pale and indrawn. Severus almost felt sorry for the boy. He was not exactly heartless and young love could be hard on teenagers, it didn’t matter real or imagined.

“A good bluff,” Severus noted.

“What bluff?” Lucius returned testily. He was tired.

“The wizard’s duel, implying that you might kill Weasley, if they didn’t break it off,” Severus inclined his head questioningly.

“What makes you think that it was just bluff?” Lucius stood up and went to his table; he had to write down everything he had found out from Harry to share it with ‘The Order of Phoenix’ and his own men.

“Now, Lucius, I hope you realise that if you touched a red hair without a really good reason, you would be in serious trouble with your dear husband. And he wouldn’t see the boy fucking your son as a good reason. Most likely Potter would offer them his blessings,” Severus smirked. He was enjoying this immensely.

Lucius made a face: “There will be no need for any duels, as soon as Draco will get rid of that low-life.” The man returned to scribbling on the parchment with confidence that the problem had been solved.

The Potions Master snorted, but didn’t say anything more. This was not good time to aggravate his friend further. Under other circumstances, he would have teased Lucius about this mercilessly for months. But Draco’s love-life was really not their biggest problem at the moment.


51. Disturbances

“Maxim,” Vera had dragged her brother back to their house. “We need to talk.”

“Can’t it wait?” The wizard sounded impatient and a bit edgy. “Harry is at the common house and…”

“There are enough people at the common house to look over Garry!” Vera’s voice was a bit louder than she had wanted it to be.

But Maxim was a bit overbearing when it came to Harry Potter. The boy had finally calmed down enough to leave the house and meet the other members of the community. He was wearing a magic absorbing bracelet, didn’t have a wand and was sixth and half months pregnant which made him running away almost impossible, but her brother still didn’t let the boy out of his sight. Vera find it annoying.

“I want to talk to you about him, Max,” the young woman announced in a much calmer tone.

“Yes, I’m listening,” a crease of worry instantly appeared on man’s forehead.

Vera sighed. It was not going to be an easy conversation: “Max, Garry has been here for two weeks.”

The man just nodded solemnly.

“He doesn’t like it here. At all, Max. Actually, he hates it,” Vera saw that her brother was ready to object, but was not going to let him. “Yes, I know what you are going to say, about denial and everything. And you are the one with degree in psychology here, I know that too. But I have seen people who are in denial, like Charlotte last year, when she seemed happy to be here at first, but then suddenly broke down and begged us to take her back. I remember. But, well, I think Harry is different. You know that they all change their minds if they are just in denial, but Harry isn’t going to, that’s pretty obvious!”

“Harry is very young and confused and he has been abused systemically and cleverly…”

“Alright, alright! I know what you think. But what if Harry never accepts the fact that he has been abused, which I actually don’t agree with, because he knows very well, what wrongs has been done to him? What then? Are you going to keep him here against his will for the rest of his life, if his thoughts don’t change?”

“It will change, he will learn…”

“And who is going to teach him? You?” The usually soft-spoken woman sounded unusually sharp and bitter.

“What do you mean by that?” Maxim was taken aback by her sister’s tone.

“You think it’s not obvious? The way you look at him?” Vera raised an eyebrow.

Maxim looked like he was not sure what to say to that.

Vera sighed again: “Listen, brother, I understand, I do. He is a very beautiful boy and very special, even if we mostly get to see his bad side, I can still sense that. But, Max, you have to be honest to yourself and to Garry, you have to admit, that you might not have been entirely objective, when you took Garry here.”

“Harry has right to start a new life, Vera,” Maxim stated in perfect confidence. “His problem is that he is holding on his past, on his obligations, Harry is too honourable to do as he wishes.”

“He has a past, there is nothing you can do about it and if he wanted to start a new life, it wouldn’t be your place to decide what kind of life it should be!” Vera argued. After talking to Harry, getting to know the young man, she had really started to doubt that his place was in the Community.

“Harry is very young and doesn’t know what would be best for him. All the responsibilities have been just thrust upon him. I am going to correct that, so he will be able to start anew, to clean the slate…”

“How interesting,” Vera sounded sceptical. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“Well,” Maxim smiled contently. “You know Piere and Tilda, don’t you? They can’t have their own children, so I thought…”

“No…” the witch shook her head refusing to believe what she was hearing.

“Forced pregnancy is a form of violence as well. To be forced to birth a child is maybe even worse than being forced into a marriage…”

“No,” the young witch looked absolutely horrified. “Don’t dare to start preaching to me! You suggested that Piere and Tilda, do what exactly!”

“That they take on Harry’s child, they have been together for five years, they are very reliable, they would be good parents and Harry would be free to live his own life,” Maxim stated almost proudly.

“Oh, Dear God! Max! Are you out of your mind? You can’t tell Harry such a thing!”

“Verushka, Harry is too honourable, he would never admit anything like that, but the poor boy is too young to have children and the baby is what ties him to Malfoy, he mentioned once that he was sorry that he couldn’t finish the school with others because of it…”

“But none of it means that he doesn’t love or doesn’t want the child! That’s life, Max! It is the way a lot of little ones come into this world, not many people plan them, they just happen. You have to stop Piere and Tilda, before they mention anything to Garry. He will never accept it; he will hate all of us even more than he already does!”

“I am afraid that they might be already talking to him at the moment. You see, I wanted to observe, but then you dragged me here…”

Vera wasn’t listening to her brother anymore, he was already out of the house, running towards their common house, which was like a club where all the members of the community could go to meet each other, talk, play games or do whatever else they liked. There was also a nice garden around it. Harry had taken immediate liking to it.

Soon Vera got a proof that she had been right. As she came closer to the building, the witch could hear shouting… No, it was not good at all.


***

Draco had just finished lunch and left The Great Hall and was strolling down the hall with his chin lifted even higher than usually, to demonstrate to everyone that everything was perfectly all right.

Then suddenly he was jerked sideways and would have fallen down on his butt if there hadn’t been a strong body in his way. A very familiar strong body, in fact.

“By Morgana’s petticoat! You almost scared the soul out of me!”

“Oh, did I?” The Dragon Tamer sounded amused.

“Yes, you did and what are you doing here anyway?” The blonde grumbled unconsciously leaning back into his lover’s strong chest.

“You have to ask?” Charlie asked pointedly and produced a piece of parchment that Draco instantly recognised at the one he had owled just this morning. Then the red-head turned the younger wizard around so they were facing each other, chest against chest and could look each other into eyes. “Care to explain this?”

Draco took a deep breath. He didn’t care to explain, not at all. He realised that maybe ending relationship by an owl was bad form, but, well, he had been afraid to face the Dragon Tamer and had thought that… well, yeah, Draco realised that whatever he had thought had been foolish.

“Dear, Charlie, ” the red-head had opened the note and was reading it aloud. “I am sorry, but we can’t see each other anymore. D.M. How do you want me to take this?”

Draco chewed on his lower lip nervously.

“I am waiting, Draco,”

“Listen!” Draco burst out. “Father knows everything! And he’s not happy, really not happy…”

Charlie simply smiled amusedly: “I know, my little Dragon. I was there.” He looked very unimpressed.

In his frustration, Draco grabbed The Dragon Tamer by the collar of his shirt, he wanted to shake some sense into the older wizard: “You are a Weasley! Malfoys hate Weasleys and vice versa!”

“Don’t you think that family feud is getting a bit old…”

“Not to my father!” Draco exclaimed. “He will kill you!”

Then Charlie started laughing and Draco saw red. “You think it’s funny!” He punched the man’s shoulder, not that the red-head even felt it. “You think it’s bloody funny? He will! Don’t you know who my father was?”

Charlie stopped laughing and his expression turned very soft: “You worry about me. That’s so sweet, little one.” He emphasized words with a kiss on the tip of the blonde’s nose. “But, Draco, I seriously doubt that your Dad will kill me.”

Draco wasn’t placated: “He would challenge you to a Wizard’s duel.”

“Really?” Charlie looked intrigued. “You don’t really think much of me, if you think I couldn’t hold my own against your father.”

“Oh, and you are too confident. Even if he didn’t kill you, he could make you wish you were dead!”

“Draco,” Charlie said sternly. “I asked you, if you wanted this. I warned you that once I will have you, I won’t let you go. You are mine, little Dragon.” While the man kept talking, his lips were already nipping on Draco’s neck.

“And when my father curses your balls off?” The blonde scoffed.

“You worry about your studies and Quidditch, I will worry about your father, when the time comes,” Charlie proceeded nibbling on Draco’s ear. “I have ridden a Hungarian Horntail, I can face your father.”

“But…” Draco tried to say something, to force the redhead see sense.

“Oh, yes, I agree that your butt needs my attention,”

The blonde yelped as a hand started kneading one of his buttocks: “You are crazy…, just crazy, Dragon Tamer.”

“I am crazy for you,”

“Mmm, I feel that. But what will your family say about us?” Draco inquired.

“Well, Dad will be concerned and ask me if I know what I am doing. Mum will shout at me and demand me to break up with you and then she won’t speak to me for a couple of weeks, probably. Bill, he will take it in stride. The twins will think it’s awfully funny. Ron, well, Ron will shout at me also and at you too, but he will get over it in a couple of weeks as well. I think he takes after Mum in that way… Well, Ginny… she will probably keep an eye on you for some time, try to figure out if you are good enough for me.”

Draco snorted at that.

“Then there is Percy… honestly, I don’t understand him at all, so I don’t know what his reaction would be. And Harry…”

“Wait a minute?” Draco interrupted. “Harry?”

“Well, he is kind of a family, isn’t he?”

“Hm… I guess,” the blonde accepted grudgingly. Harry was a Malfoy now, but probably it was not fair to suddenly feel so possessive of him.

Charlie looked at Draco as if he knew perfectly well, what the blonde had been thinking: “Well, I suppose Harry will be very happy for us,” Charlie said, sliding his hand up and down Draco’s thigh.

“Probably,” the teenager murmured, thinking about Gryffindor sentimentality. Oh, Potter probably wouldn’t mind if they all became one big, happy family… well, but it was not like he and The Dragon Tamer were getting… “Hey, you are talking like we were getting married or something,” he blurted.

“No. Not yet. You have to finish school first,” Charlie announced in full seriousness.

“Wha…” Draco was trying to exclaim when he was unceremoniously shut up by his lover’s lips.


52. Preparations

“Garry, please, you have to calm down,” Vera begged the dark-haired youth who was using one of the tables in the main room of the Common House as the shield between himself and everyone else. The magic-absorbing bracelet around boy’s wrist was glowing.

“I don’t have to do anything!” Harry shouted. “Stay away from me, you won’t take my baby!”

“Garry,please… it is all a misunderstanding. They didn’t mean it like that,”

“Those people, there,” the young wizard pointed finger at the couple in accusation. “They said that they will gladly take my baby away from me!”

“No, Garry, they will never do that against your will!” Vera tried to explain starting to get a bit frustrated and staring to understand the boy – it was really not a good feeling when no one listened to you.

“And why would I believe that?” Harry sounded sceptical. “You don’t care much for what I want here.”

“Garry it was all a misunderstanding! Tilda and Piere were just offering in case you didn’t want to raise a child, you are so young and victims of rape sometimes…”

“What rape? What fucking, rape? I am sick of you all!” He was one step from letting his magic free rein… but, no, he couldn’t, the magic could harm his little Lucas.

In her desperation, Vera turned towards the witch that had stated all of this: “Tilda, tell Harry that you are not going to take his baby away against his will.”

“No, no, of course not!” The woman protested vehemently. “It’s just that… well, we thought… Maxim told us that…”

“What did he tell you now!” Harry really did not want to hear the answer. “What is he going to do to me next? Hasn’t he ruined my life enough already?”

“Harry I’m sorry,” Vera pleaded. “I won’t let Max to do anything to you. Come, let’s go home and talk calmly.”

Harry looked at her with noticeable doubt, but he was suddenly feeling very tired from all the emotions and didn’t have it in him, to continue the fight.

“Please, Harry, let’s go, I won’t let anyone harm you, you should know that,” Vera repeated.

Harry finally nodded and took her hand. He somewhat trusted the young woman, he knew that she was a good person, even if she refused to understand him.

“Holy shit!” One of the wizards that had witnessed the scene exclaimed as soon as the door had closed behind Harry and Vera Rasputina.

“Yeah,” another agreed. “The boy almost blew off the magic absorbing bracelet!”

“I always wondered, what was with Brits and the Boy-Who-Lived, no I guess I understand. It’s obvious that the kid is unique,” the first one was in awe.

“I am going to hex Maxim’s arse off!” Tilda exclaimed. “He really let us think that the boy didn’t want to raise the baby! How could he!”

“You know,” one of the witches, who was standing near joined the conversation. “I think Maxim is not being very reasonable about this Harry Potter.”

“What do you mean, Jenny?”

“Yeah, do you know something?”

The witch sighed: “I am not sure, but… Jeez, I respect Maxim very much, you know. He has rescued many children from abusive homes, I know… But I am starting to doubt his judgment. I think he just wants for Potter to stay here… for personal reasons.”

“No…”

“Oh, come on, you can’t deny that Potter is very good looking!”

“But it doesn’t automatically mean that…”

“No, it doesn’t, but Max is being kind of obvious about it! And it’s also obvious that the boy hates it here. I know that some people need time to get used to everything, to start believing that no one will get them here, but come on, Potter has been here for more than two weeks and is still insisting that he has been kidnapped!” Jenny threw her arms in the air.

“But he’s been married to some old guy against his will and forced to get pregnant,” one of the wizards made a face.

“Ha!” Jenny, snorted. “I am British, I get the newspaper every day. You know that ‘the old guy’ is no older than forty, one of the richest men in the country and drop dead gorgeous? Just tell me, whom I have to kill to get forced to marry someone like that!”

“But pregnancy…”

“I read about it,” Jenny shook her head. “’The Prophet’ wrote that it can’t be forced. Not with a spell or a potion or a ritual. They say it’s like a freak accident, The-Boy-Who-Lived is just very unique, a lot of magic and all that. Besides, don’t be such a man! Some people want to get pregnant and enjoy the experience and it’s obvious that Potter cares for his child a lot. Even if he’s a bloke.”

“You know, I think Maxim should let the boy do as he wishes and return him to Britain, before he gets us all in some kind of trouble.”

Many grunts of agreement followed the word ‘trouble’. Many of them were hiding here and The-Boy-Who-Lived was just too notorious. They would have accepted him despite that, if the boy really needed help, but so far, Harry had denied it with passion. Some members of the community were starting to doubt if keeping him there was a good decision.

***

Harry had been gone for three weeks. Some days Lucius was feeling that even with his and Dumbledore’s combined influence they were getting nowhere. Patience was not one of his virtues. Luckily Severus Snape was always there to tell his best friend off as if he was one of his student’s and to keep him from doing anything foolish.

And it was not exactly true, they were getting somewhere, they just weren’t moving fast enough for Lucius tastes. One of his men had found the shop that sold exactly the same kind of parchment Rasputin had used and the shopkeeper had been intimidated into allowing members of ‘the Order’ into his shop. They had found out that the witch, who delivered the shop-owner parchment and some other merchandise, didn’t come regularly, so they had to keep constant watch on the shop if they wanted to catch her.

They had to wait.

Lucius hated waiting.

Besides the press had started to insinuate that there was a chance that Harry had left, because he had wanted to leave. In other words – he had run away. It was all veiled and only implied, but the subtext was so clear than as soon as Lucius had the time, heads were going to roll.

The fireplace flared up.

“Lord Malfoy!” it was Cragbone, one of his men. “They have caught the witch.”

“Alright, don’t interfere, follow them to, you know where,” Cragbone nodded. Lucius took out his pocket watch, opened it and turned one of the numerous hands three times to the left and tapped it with his wand. The signal was sent to people in his employ. They would know where to come.

Then he ordered one of the house-elves to get his cloak and he was ready to be on his way.

He tossed some floo powder into the fireplace and called out the name of the destination.

It was an abandoned warehouse, he had bought the moment Lucius had realised that the trail led to Russia, to have a base there. According to agreement, the members of the Order who had been trying to catch the paper maker were supposed to take her there.
Of course, Lucius’ men were watching the members of Dumbledore’s Order to make sure that they didn’t trick him somehow. The fact, that he hadn’t been alerted about the capture immediately, proved that his suspicions weren’t unfounded. Some of ‘the old crowd’ refused to accept that Harry was more one of his responsibilities than one of theirs.

The blond wizard elegantly stepped out of the fireplace, it reminded him of Harry, how he had to catch him every time the boy stumbled out of the floo network. Soon, very soon he was going to have both of them back.

When he stepped into the room, Lucius came face to face with several of Dumbledore’s people, who apparently were not happy to see him. It was amusing in a way.

“Malfoy,” growled Alastor Moody. The ex-Auror was sitting on a wooden box without bothering to transfigure it into something decent and his magical eye was spinning like mad in it’s socket. As far as Lucius knew, it was scanning him for dark magic. Lucius wanted to snort, as if he would carry any family heirlooms around in his pockets.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen, ladies,” Lucius greeted with more grace and manners than any of them were ever going to have. “I was informed that there had been a development in the case of my missing husband. So, where is she?”

“Detained,” Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped forward. “As soon as the Headmaster is here…”

That moment the warehouse door opened and Cragbone, Goyle, Crabbe and three other wizards marched in.

“Lord Malfoy,” Cragbone greeted with a polite nod.

“Who told you to bring along yer thugs, Malfoy?” Mad Eye growled.

“I can invite whom I wish. This is my property,” Lucius and the retired Auror went way back. His father and Moody had been schoolmates and naturally far from friends.

“Had I known it was going to be a Death Eater convention I would have prepared befittingly,” the ex-Auror muttered, but didn’t go for his wand for everyone’s relief.

The fireplace flared up again as Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall arrived.

Lucius couldn’t completely ignore Moody’s remark, but this was not the right time to take on Moody, it would be counterproductive. “Yes, speaking about Death Eaters. Has anyone alerted Severus?” Someone chuckled and some of the ice melted. In no way, Lucius wanted to go out of his way to be amiable

“He is probably coming with Albus,” Remus Lupin supplied.

“No doubt, Snape will be there, look at Tonks’ hair,” one of the Weasley boys (the one who hopefully hadn’t shared bed with Draco) pointed out and those who were in the hearing distance chuckled again.

Lucius turned his head to see his son’s cousin at the table in the corner of the room. He was not getting the joke.
It looked like the witch was trying to make tea. The young woman’s hair was bright green. But Lucius still didn’t see the connection.

“Don’t tell me, Tonks is still having hots for Snape,” a young wizard, whom Lucius recognised as one of the Diggle’s sons chortled stepping out of the fireplace. “I mean, come on! He’s the only one who is calling her Nymphadora! Tonks hates that and it’s Snape…” then the boy noticed Lucius standing right there and his cheeks coloured red in embarrassment.

Lucius gave the witch another look. Now she was casting reparo on several cups, which had apparently fallen off the table and broken. And while doing that the green-haired witch managed to push two more off the table with her elbow.

Lucius had very hard time keeping a straight face. The little menace was interested in Severus? Oh, it was just too good. Severus was going to hear from him about it, Lucius smirked.

Suddenly Albus Dumbledore appeared seemingly out of thin air, it had always annoyed Lucius that the old man could apparate without making a sound and he could not. Almost simultaneously, Severus arrived through the fireplace.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” the Headmaster greeted and Snape just grumbled something under his breath.

“Albus,” Shacklebolt greeted and started his report. “The subject is a young witch in her late twenties, refuses to tell her name, not Russian. Most likely makes parchment or at least delivers it. We are almost certain that she is one from the Community. We have locked her in there,” he gestured towards one of the doors and then almost everyone turned towards the Headmaster as if waiting for him to make the decision.

Lucius mentally rolled his eyes: “Do you have veritaserum Severus?”

The Potions Master nodded.

“Then, what are we waiting on?”

“Wait a minute!” Arthur Weasley exclaimed indignantly. “We can’t use the truth serum on someone who hasn’t agreed to take it! It’s against the law!”

“Everyone, who is not ready to do what is necessary, is free to leave,” Lucius announced nonchalantly, trying to convey with his expression, what exactly his opinion of Arthur Weasley was.

“Listen there, sonny,” Mad Eye piped up. “We have no need for your Death Eater tactics here…”

“I would think she would prefer my to some of yours anytime. How is life in retirement treating you?” The jibe would be obvious to those who knew what it was about. However, this was the first time Lucius admitted that he had something to do with the fact that the Auror had been ‘offered’ to retire.
Not many knew that the reason had been the same thing Moody had just blamed Lucius for. His methods. Mad Eye had a low tolerance for families, which were suspected to be Dark and he had gone too far more than once.
Like raided the Malfoy Manor while Lucius had been away and terrified little Draco, who had luckily been too young to remember it later. Nevertheless, after that incident Lucius had started gathering the evidence against the overzealous Auror. It had taken some time, but in the end he had gotten the old berk fired.

“Why, you...!” The wand was in Moddy’s hand.

“Gentlemen! Please!” Dumbledore came to stand between both wizards.

Lucius was completely calm, he knew that the Headmaster would keep his dog on a leash. It was safe to bite the ex-Auror at the moment.

“I am not going to waste time on pointless discussions. We will feed her veritaserum, hear everything she has to say and then obliviate her,” he looked at Severus and it was obvious that the man agreed.

“You will not, Malfoy, Alastor is right,” Shacklebolt joined. “We should take her back to the Ministry…”

“Don’t be an idiot!” Snape snapped, his patience wearing thin. “This is not about whose wand is longer! And we don’t have time to loose on formalities. Potter could be giving birth right now and surely you do see how that would complicate things, don’t you?”

Shacklebolt, looking overcome by self-righteous anger, apparently wanted to respond, but Snape didn’t let him: “Stop being such a hypocrite, Kingsley! This is nothing more than you do, when you are chasing Dark Wizards, of course it’s not your wife and brat…”

“How dare you to imply…” Kingsley exclaimed.

“Hey, hey, guys, hold your hippogriffs!” It was surprisingly Bill Weasley, who stood between the quarrelling parties. “Rules are good, but different rules are good in different situations…”

“Been hangin’ around goblins too much sonny,” Mad Eye interrupted. “Sounds like something one of their kind would say.”

The oldest Weasley son shrugged sheepishly: “We have to get Harry back and the Truth serum will not hurt the girl. I think it would be better for her than being dragged to the Ministry even. I agree with Mr. Malfoy, if someone has any problems with this, they can leave.” Bill shot his father an apologetic look, but honestly, he really thought that this was not the time to fight Malfoy on general principle.

The curse-breaker had never gone to a school or otherwise been in contact with any Malfoy, so he really did not understand the family feud and it seemed a bit ridiculous to him.

In the end, everyone grudgingly agreed. They did not have much choice.


***

The questioning unfortunately didn’t give them the results everyone had been hoping for.

“So, she can’t tell us, where that village is, right?” Someone vocalised the problem.

“No, she can’t, Maria is not the Secret Keeper,” Dumbledore confirmed scratching his head under the pointed hat thoughtfully. “However she could reveal us the coordinates of the forest where Maria usually apparatus when she returns home. It is very likely that the forest is near the area, which is protected by Fidelius.”

“And…?”

“There is a difference between a house and an area that is protected by Fidelius Charm. A house is practically inaccessible, since its very walls are secret. However with an area it’s different… I think this is not the time to delve too deeply into magi-physics, but air and earth are constantly shifting and they don’t provide as much protection than walls, they are affected differently by the charm. That means, it is possible to stumble upon it.”

It was obvious that some still didn’t understood.

“While Miss Maria couldn’t tell us where exactly the village is, she could tell us approximate location and if we were in the area, we might accidentally come upon the area we were looking for,” the Headmaster kept explaining without demonstrating the faintest signs of impatience.

“Unless there are wards,” Severus added.

“Yes, that is another aspect to consider. See, Miss Maria was carrying this with her,” the Headmaster took a small, golden key out of his pocket. “I think this is what allows Miss Marria cross the wards.”

“Can we duplicate it?” Shacklebolt asked.

“No,” Dumbledore shook his head.

“That means, we can’t let her go and follow, because if we return her the key, we loose our only mean to get inside,” Lucius concluded.

“Correct,” Snape agreed. “Our only choice is to scout the area and hope that someone will stumble upon the wards.”

The Headmaster nodded: “Yes. We will pair up and each pair will search a certain area. I am warning you, that when one of you will, so to say, stumble upon the wards, he or she might be stunned or otherwise incapacitated. But I doubt that the unfortunate will be seriously harmed.”

“And curb your Gryffindorish tendencies,” Snape sneered at the most present. “Under no circumstances try to approach or free the incapacitated person on your own. First alert the others.”

“Thank you, Severus,” Shacklebolt said dryly.

It was decided that they would apparate as soon as it would get dark. That meant they had two more hours to go over their plan, decide on the pairs and eat, which was important as well, since they had a long night ahead.

Lucius was feeling positively on edge. More than before Death Eater raids during the First War. But then… it had been all a big game for him then, but now, too much was at stake. Not only one, but two members of his family. He could not even feel properly amused, when Albus Dumbledore somehow managed to pair up Severus and Nymphadora Tonks.

If Lucius thought about it, Nymphadora and Severus wasn’t such a bad idea. After all he had been trying to talk Severus into finding a witch and having an heir since they had been in their twenties. Of course, the girl’s father was a muggle, but there was her Black blood and rare gift of Metamorphmagi – nothing one could sneer at. Besides, at this point, Lucius would have been happy for his friend if he found someone for himself at all, no matte if it was a witch, a wizard or a goat.

He cast tempus. Sunset in ten minutes. It was time to go and to get Harry back.

53. In the Dark

“Garry, Garry, come on, wake up,” Vera urged softly.

“Mmm… what?” Harry opened his eyes, still feeling a bit dazed from sleep.

“Wake up, Garry,” the young woman prompted. “We must go. I am getting you out of here.”

“What!” That wiped all the traces of sleep out of Harry’s eyes.

“I will get you out of here, Garry. Help you to return home. I believe you; I believe that it will be better for you.” She explained urgently while helping the boy into the robe he had been wearing when he had arrived. Harry was relieved that it still fit him.

“Why?” Harry whispered the question.

“Because it is the right thing to do, Harry. We all here wish you well. Just some of us are… misguided in their efforts…”

After the scene earlier that day, Vera had once again talked to her brother. Well, actually they had fought and Maxim’s words had scared her. ‘It is all because of Malfoy’s child! It is holding Harry back; it is a tie to his past, don’t you see? Because of Malfoy’s offspring Harry can’t be true to himself, he is too kind to admit that he doesn’t want it. You will see; as soon as the child will be out of the way, Harry will get better, he will get better, you will see… ’

Vera was afraid to think of what Maxim meant by ‘out of the way’. She had not been able to sleep, struggling with her conflicted feelings. Max was her beloved brother. He had been the one, who had saved her after their mother had remarried to a wizard who had turned out to be a terrible man with bad temper. Vera had been ten years old and Maxim had been only twenty and had just completed his studies. He had risked a lot and he had hid her.

And that was exactly why Vera couldn’t let her brother continue this. What Max was doing was wrong and nothing good cold come out of it. She didn’t really believe that maxim would do something awful, she still believed in him… but it was better to be safe than sorry, right? Vera didn’t want Maxim getting in to trouble. And she wanted Harry to be safe at home, that way all of them would be safer as well.

“How are you getting me out?” Harry looked eager to go. That made Vera a bit sad, since they had tried to do him good.

“Here, put this in your pocket,” Vera pressed a small silver key in boy’s palm. “That will let you pass the wards. I have no means of transporting you after that, since you can’t apparate or fly a broom and I don’t have access to portkeys. We will have to send an owl to someone who could come and pick you up,” the young woman lifted the canvas bag she was carrying. Something was moving inside it. The owl.

“To Lucius,”

“To whomever you wish,” Vera nodded. She handed Harry a piece of parchment and dictated him coordinates, so the boy could write them in his own hand. She pocketed the note and tried to give Harry a reassuring smile.

“Ah,” Vera suddenly remembered. “Take this,” she handed Harry his wand. “Alright, let’s go, just try to be quiet,” Vera took the boy’s hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly and they started sneaking out of the house.

The boy kept begging his baby to be calm for once and not start kicking his bladder, because this would be a very bad time for a bathroom break. The wooden house was eerily silent. The floor creaked as he stepped on a loose board and it seemingly echoed through the whole house. They both froze and stood very still for a moment. Nothing happened and they continued moving towards the door.

When Vera and Harry were outside, they relaxed a bit. She led them past the houses, across the yards, the witch had decided that it would be better not to go directly through the village, but keep to the outskirts.

The night was suspiciously quiet. Harry wasn’t sure if it was because something wasn’t right, or because everything was sleeping. But his overactive imagination, thought it was the first.

It was even worse for Vera, since the girl has never done anything like this before. Nervousness was tugging at her insides and she had a feeling like any moment now someone would jump at them out of the dark.

“Let’s go there,” Vera whispered. The village was surrounded by woods on one side and a river on other; they had to get to the bridge. “When we will cross the river, we will be outside the wards.”

No one was guarding the bridge, since supposedly were all free and everyone was allowed to come and go as they wished. Vera glanced around once more, before leaving the cover of trees, but since she couldn’t see anything suspicious, the young woman pulled Harry along.

Just as the boy had put his foot on the bridge… Footsteps! Or something. But someone was coming! God! Harry’s looked at Vera in alarm. Merlin! They were caught! He did the only logical thing – pulled out his wand. He wasn’t going back without a fight! Harry didn’t need to hide behind anybody.

It must have looked a bit ridiculous as he took the duelling stance, in his condition. A whale warrior… but he was ready. Vera looked a bit unsure, what if it was Maxim, coming? She could not fight her brother, even if Max was wrong, besides she was not exactly good at that kind of spells…

But the decision was taken away from her. The witch almost collapsed on the wooden bridge, she was that relieved.

“Sharik, you stupid dog!” Vera laughed out looking at the wolf-halfbreed who was waggling his tail and looking pleadingly at them. “No, Sharik go home. You can’t follow us. Go!” The dog looked a bit reluctant, but finally turned around and trotted back into the dark.

Harry and Vera looked at each other and shared smiles of relief, then without a word they continued walking.

Vera let the owl go as soon as they had crossed the river and they were outside the wards.

“But we will not wait here; we don’t want someone stumbling upon us. The meeting point is about five minutes walk in that direction,” she pointed out.

The trees on the other side of the river were scarce, mostly some birch trees with their pale bodies gleaming eerily in the moonlight, but the grove seemed to go on forever. The grass was very long, coarse and thick and Harry’s feet got entangled in it. The boy had trouble with walking, because of his poor balance and almost tripped a couple of times.

When Vera finally announced: “We are here.” Harry was breathing quite heavily.

He leaned against the enormous rock, which they had stopped by, trying to reach his back to rub it. This had been the longest distance Harry had walked in weeks, so he hadn’t noticed, how hard walking had become. Especially on his back.

“Are you alright?” Vera asked worriedly.

“Yeah, fine, just tired, and the little monster is acting up a bit,” the boy replied, wiping sweat off his forehead with his palm. Then he looked into Vera’s eyes. “Thank you, for everything,” Harry smiled at her softly.
His gratitude was so true, so honest, so generous… there was something about the young wizard, Vera couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it felt so good, to be thus acknowledged by Harry Potter. Somehow, the boy drew people to himself without even trying or wanting.

Was that the trap her brother had fallen into? Vera did not think, she was smart enough to figure it out.

Both runaways were jostled out of their thoughts by a loud crack that probably seemed to be even louder than it actually was, because it was so silent around.

“VERA!” Maxim Rasputin was standing right in front of them. For once, his imperturbable façade had crumbled and Harry got to see, what the man looked like, when he was angry. He’d rather remained ignorant.

“Vera! Harry! What do you think you are doing!” The wizard billowed, his face flushed with anger, but it was obvious that he was no interested in the answer.

The witch just stood there petrified; it was the first time her brother had ever turned his wand on her.

“How could you?” Rasputin’s tone was reflecting his shock and disappointment.

“You were the last person I expected to do something like this. How could you betray me like this?”

Enough was enough; Vera’s grip on her own wand tightened: “Betray? You are talking about betrayal? It is you who is betraying yourself, your own principles! You have no right to accuse me of treachery! And you have no right to Garry! He must return home! Please, be reasonable, Max.”

“He will have a better home here!” Maxim exclaimed stubbornly.

“Allow me to disagree,” a voice cold as ice and sharp as a dragger cut into the heated argument.

“Lucius!” Harry cried out, his eyes prickling with tears of relief. Merlin, but he was so relieved. The boy had been ready to take on Rasputin himself, but also worried for his baby.

Maxim Rasputin instantly spun around to face the newcomer. Lucius was alone.

“Malfoy,” the former Professor bit out. “So we meet, finally. I can’t say it’s a pleasure though.”

“The feeling is mutual,” the blonde wizard retorted, and whipped out his wand from its sheath in the cane with the serpentine grip.

“Max! Please, let’s go! Harry has to return home!” Vera pleaded. Desperation was apparent in her voice. Harry couldn’t blame her; Even Trelawney could have been able to predict, where this was going.

“Expelliarmus! ” Lucius was the first to shoot a spell at the other wizard; this was not a formal duel and one didn’t bow and ask if the opponent was ready, if he had a good head on his shoulders.

Rasputin dodged and answered with: “Stupefy!”

Harry’s breath caught; it was obvious that the both men meant it and Rasputin had been a decent Defence Professor… if something happened to Lucius…

“Protego! ” Lucius countered and instantly fired a silent spell back at Rasputin. it was a silent ‘Duro’, because a birch tree behind the ex-proffesor turned into stone as Rasputin ducked once again and answered with Incarcerous!.

However the thick ropes didn’t reach their target, but burst into flames.

“Diffindo!” A severing charm.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Harry and Vera could only watch both wizards traded spells, which were becoming more and more dangerous.

“Confringo!”

Harry knew that spell! It could kill one as easily as Avada Kedavra! The only difference – the death by exploding would be messier.
They were not trying to simply incapacitate or disarm one another, they were trying to seriously hurt or kill. The boy could not stand the thought of loosing Lucius and did not want someone to die because of him. He had to stop it!

However, the Harry couldn’t simply throw himself between them; he had to think of the baby first. The duel was so intense that Harry didn’t dare to stun one of them, it would probably make sure that the spell the other was casting that moment would hit the target and most likely kill one of the wizards.

Vera could be no help, that was obvious, she was too petrified herself. Shit! It was bad and getting worse!

Suddenly there was an audible crack, which probably would have gone unnoticed by the both men if the two people who had just apparated into the clearing hadn’t arrived entangled and proceeded to fall over and if one of them hadn’t been Nymphadora Tonks and the other Severus Snape who was protesting very loudly.

Lucius paid no mind to anything besides the duel, he knew better. But the commutation distracted Rasputin for a second and it was enough. Lucius’ curse hit the target.

“Garrotte!”

The wizard’s hands instantly reached for his neck. Harry didn’t know the curse, but it was obvious that it was strangling Rasputin.

“No!” Vera cried out.

Lucius turned his wand towards the witch.

“Don’t!” Harry stepped in front of her. “She was helping me!”

Then his eyes stopped on the ex-Defence Professor, who was writhing on the ground, struggling for his breath.

“Release him!” Harry exclaimed.

Lucius shook his head starting to move towards his young husband.

“No!” Harry stepped back. If he didn’t do anything soon, Rasputin would die of strangulation!

Harry lifted his wand at Lucius and firedthe spell: “Incarcerous!”

Lucius toppled over, bound by thick ropes.

Harry had no time to even spare his shocked husband a glance and say that he was sorry.

Harry pointed his wand at Rasputin: “Finite Incantatem! Incarcerous!”

The he turned towards Lucius: “Whatever he has done, he doesn’t deserve to die! I don’t want him to die because of me… Promise you will not kill him Lucius!”

“Harry! Release me right now!” The blonde objected trying to struggle with the thick ropes, he wanted to get rid of the bastard once and for all. He was furious.

Snape had finally gotten untangled from the walking, green-haired disaster: “Lucius! Potter! Quit this nonsense!”

“Please! Lucius!” Harry had gone to Lucius and was kneeling next to him. “Please… he can’t die because of me… you must understand! If you will kill him now, I will feel guilty!”

“Harry…” Lucius wanted to say something, but, Merlin, there was no way for him to refuse anything to those amazing, brilliant green eyes, which he had been missing so much. He nodded.

The ropes fell as Harry flung his arms around his husband’s neck and tears of joy and relief sprang to his eyes.

“God, Lucius… you came,” he sobbed.

“Shh, it’s alright, I am here, you are safe,” Lucius voice was uncharacteristically soft, he pulled the shorter man as close to him as possible. He realised that he never wanted to let go, if it was possible. “There’s no reason to cry now.”

“Shut up!” The boy scowled. “I have right to cry as much as I want, if I wish, after everything.”

“Of course you do. I didn’t mean it like that,” Lucius almost cooed, carding his fingers through Harry’s dishevelled hair. “Whatever you want.”

Whatever you want… surprisingly the boy found those words really reassuring, because he knew that Lucius meant them and could make them become true. Lucius was not like Rasputin, who offered, what was good for him or Dumbledore, with his Greater good. They could all go to hell.

Lucius didn’t have such qualms. He wanted Harry and was ready to pay whatever price. He was ready to give Harry whatever he wanted, not what Lucius thought he needed or what he thought was good for him. It felt very reassuring.

Meantime Snape and Tonks had hauled Rasputin to his feet and the rest of the Order and Lucius’ men had arrived as well. They were standing there awkwardly not sure what to do, since they had missed all the action.

“Harry, my boy,” Albus Dumbledore approached the couple. “Are you feeling alright?”

“ ‘m, fine,” Harry mumbled from where his face was buried in the crook of Lucius’ neck, hidden by the man’s long, silver-blond hair. He was warm, comfortable and tired and did not want to let go.

“It’s very late, Harry is tired,” Lucius stated, looking past his husband’s shoulder, once again perfectly composed. “We shall portkey to the Manor. Visitors might be accepted tomorrow if we will feel up to it.”

“How thoughtful of you, Lucius,” Albus smiled kindly. “But I thought Harry might want to return to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey’s assistance might be required…” he wanted to give the poor boy some choice, because it was possible that time away could have changed his mind concerning Lucius.

If the Headmaster was being honest with himself, then he still found it slightly disturbing that his favourite student, his Golden Boy had taken to Lucius Malfoy of all the people. Of course, he would never admit it, but, yes, it turned out, that even in his old age life managed to surprise him. Yes, he had seen the marriage as a good chance to curb Lucius’ inclinations towards dark… but, couldn’t help feeling guilty for not doing more to help Harry escape the unwanted marriage.

“No, go home,” the boy mumbled, half asleep in his husband’s strong arms.

The members of Order, who were watching the scene, felt positively sour, seeing the triumphant smirk that on their former enemy’s face, but Albus shook his head and all the objections were stifled.

“Wait a minute!” Harry pulled out of Lucius’ arms and turned towards Vera Rasputina, who was standing next to her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I am sorry, Vera, I’m very sorry,” he said sincerely.

“It was not your fault, Garry,” the witch shook her head. It was hard for her to admit this, but it was true. Maxim had done a very bad thing – he had broken a child’s trust.

“But…”

“No. No, Harry, don’t even think it. Max caused this himself. Go home, Garry, I wish you and Lucas good luck,” a ghost of smile flitted across her face. “Maybe you could write me…”

Harry nodded.

“Be well, Vera,” he said and stepped back into Lucius arms. He was finally going home.

TBC

A/N: Sorry no time for review responses. Love you all anyway!

Glossary
Fidelius Charm - an immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it." (HP Lexicon)

Duro - "duro" L. to harden, solidify. Turns the target object to stone.
Incarcerous - "incarceratus" L., past participle of "incarcerare", from in- + carcer prison. Sends thick ropes out of thin air to wrap around someone or something.
Diffindo - "Severing Charm" Spell that cuts something open.
Petrificus Totalus - "Full Body Bind", "Body-Bind Curse.
Confringo - Blasting Curse. Causes the target to explode.
Garrotte – an iron collar, instrument for execution by strangulation.

Unanswered questions
The first time Harry names the baby ‘Lucas’, he does it subconsciously and doesn’t really realise that he had named his child.

Persons
Sharik - a popular Russian dog’s name. If I am not mistaken translates as ‘ball’ or ‘baloon’ or something like that.

Time table
The beginning of chapter (beginning of march) – two weeks after Harry’s kidnapping. Lucius contacts him.
One week later (more or less) – Harry is a bit over seven months pregnant as he returns home; he’s been gone for about three weeks.