Unforeseen Circumstances

Unforeseen Circumstances

Chapter 15

After making sure all the Slytherins that had participated in the Hogsmeade event were all right, Severus made his way slowly to Dumbledore’s office. He was going to wait in the headmaster’s office until Albus got back to reassure himself that they had nothing left to fear. He reached the gargoyle and gave the password, waiting impatiently as the staircase appeared. Climbing to the top of the stairs, Severus paused before going in. From the noises inside, Albus had already returned from the Ministry. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked in.

Albus looked up as Severus entered the room. “Ah, Severus, what may I do for you?” he asked brightly, leaning back in his chair.

“I want details, of course,” said Severus quietly. “I want to know that Voldemort is truly gone and won’t be back to hurt my son. I want to know that the remaining Death Eaters have been disabled and won’t be after Harry for revenge. I want to know if we are now safe.”

“I am so glad that you and Harry got past all of your differences. I’m even happier that your relationship has progressed to the point where you consider him as your son. He needs that more than anything, and so do you,” said Albus, smiling brightly. “Now when are you going to let me officiate your wedding with Draco? Of course, it really doesn’t matter because like Harry and Lucius, you two have already bonded on a magical and life level or your tattoo wouldn’t have changed.”

“I don’t know. Not until Harry wakes up for sure,” said Severus, looking suspiciously at Dumbledore. “How did you know about the tattoos? They only changed this morning, and they’ve been covered up ever since.”

Albus just smiled mysteriously. “In answer to your previous question, the Death Eaters are all in Azkaban under life sentences. Harry should be relatively safe from this point on. Now, you should get some rest because I know you’re exhausted. I’ll make the official announcement about Voldemort’s demise tomorrow.”

Severus nodded and walked towards the door. Pausing in the doorway, he turned back towards the headmaster. “Albus? Would you do the honour of officiating my and Draco’s wedding? We want to get married in two weeks.”

“I would be honoured to officiate your wedding, dear boy. And I believe that Harry will also be awake by then to attend,” said Albus, smiling even more brightly.

“Thank you, Albus,” said Severus, turning and walking out the door.

Severus walked slowly back to his quarters. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed in bed. He was asleep within minutes. Today had been an exhausting day.

*****

Draco awoke slowly, stretching slowly. He turned his head when he felt movement to his side and almost fell off the bed when he saw his father instead of Severus. Draco sat up slowly, moving cautiously to avoid waking Lucius, and climbed carefully from the bed. Seeing the peaceful and content look on his father’s face as he cradled Harry close to his body, Draco smiled and left the infirmary.

Draco entered Severus’ quarters quietly in case his lover was still sleeping and started towards their bedroom. He jumped, startled, when the bathroom door opened, and Severus emerged wearing only a towel around his hips. Draco just stared at his lover’s wet exposed flesh lustfully and groaned softly.

Severus hadn’t noticed Draco standing near the bedroom door until he heard the soft groan from that direction. His head jerked up, and he smiled when he saw the lust filled eyes traveling the length of his nearly naked body.

“Draco, when did you get here?” he asked innocently, hiding a smirk when Draco tried unsuccessfully to move his eyes towards Severus’ face. “Draco?” he prompted.

“Huh?” asked Draco, not really listening to the words Severus was speaking. “Did you say something?”

“I asked when you got here,” said Severus, moving closer to his blonde lover.

“Just a few minutes ago,” muttered Draco quickly.

“You didn’t want to stay with your father and Harry?” asked Severus curiously.

“Speaking of which. Why exactly did you put me in bed with them? Especially when you came down here to sleep,” asked Draco indignantly.

“Well, you fell asleep while we were visiting, and I didn’t want to wake you,” said Severus reasonably. “Besides, I still had to supervise the other students until Albus and Minerva returned. I also had a few things to discuss with Albus, so it was quite late when I finally got to sleep.”

“What did you need to discuss with the headmaster? You didn’t think the Dark Lord will be coming back, do you?” asked Draco worriedly. Then another thought crossed his mind. “Harry and the baby will be all right, won’t they? Poppy said he was in a healing coma. There isn’t something else causing the coma, is there?”

“Draco, calm down. No I don’t think the Dark Lord will ever return. Harry and the baby are just fine. Harry just exhausted his magical reserves with the blood magic to send Voldemort to the other dimension. He will be fine within a couple of weeks,” said Severus reassuringly. “I asked him to officiate at our wedding ceremony in two weeks.”

“Our wedding ceremony? In two weeks? What about Harry?” asked Draco, voice rising with each question.

“You did say yes to my proposal, didn’t you?” Draco nodded. “Harry should be out of his coma within two weeks, so that shouldn’t be a problem. You didn’t want to invite a lot of people, did you?” Draco shook his head. “If for some reason Harry isn’t out of the coma, then we can reschedule without upsetting too many people, but I really don’t think it will be a problem because we are talking about Harry. In fact, it really wouldn’t surprise me if Harry was already awake,” said Severus ruefully. “Are you upset that I set a date for our wedding?”

“No, I’m not upset. I’m just surprised that you want to get married so quickly. Everything has happened so quickly, hasn’t it?” asked Draco softly.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t change anything about it,” said Severus quietly.

“Neither would I,” said Draco, pulling Severus down for a long, passionate kiss.

*****

Lucius tightened his arms around his husband’s warm body, smiling sleepily. Then he remembered the events from the previous day. He leaned up, looking down on Harry’s sleeping face, and pressed a gentle kiss to those soft lips. He jumped in surprise when he felt the lips under his part in response.

“Harry?” he asked hopefully, gazing intently at the brunette.

“Hmm?” sounded Harry, lazily opening his eyes.

Lucius jumped off the bed and ran towards Poppy’s office. “Poppy! Poppy! Harry’s awake. Come quickly,” he shouted.

“Mr. Malfoy, calm down and quit yelling,” she said irritably. “Now what is the matter?”

“Harry’s awake,” he said once again.

Madame Pomfrey glanced towards Harry’s bed, saw those green eyes open and staring at them, and rushed to his bedside. “Harry, how do you feel?” she asked, running her wand over his bed to check his magical levels.

“I’m still tired, but otherwise fine,” said Harry groggily. “How long have I been in here?”

“Just since yesterday,” said Poppy quickly. “I thought you’d be in that coma longer, though. Your magical reserves were almost completely depleted. What was left was being used to keep the baby alive.”

“The baby is all right, isn’t it?” asked Harry frantically, crossing his arms across his abdomen protectively.

“The baby’s fine, and amazingly enough, you’re magical levels are almost completely normal. How you managed to refill your magical reservoir so quickly is beyond me, though,” said Poppy, staring at Harry in amazement.

“I told you it was the Harry Potter Factor,” said a voice from the doorway. They all turned towards the door and saw Severus and Draco standing there. “Only Harry would be able to deplete his magical reserves and refill them all in the space of twenty-four hours.”

“Hi, dad. Hi, Draco. I’m glad to see you both still alive,” said Harry brightly, holding his arms out in a hint for Severus to come hug him. Severus rolled his eyes, walked to the bed, and hugged the impertinent brat ensconced there.

“Hey, brat. It’s about time you woke up. You can’t laze about all day, you know,” said Severus teasingly.

“Aww, but dad, I’m still tired,” whined Harry playfully. “Just one more hour?” Severus shook his head. “Fifty minutes?” another shake “Thirty minutes?” one more shake “Ten minutes?” Severus added a glare with the last request. “You’re so mean to me,” said Harry, pouting and crossing his arms.

“You’re just now figuring this out?” asked Severus dryly.

“No, but it makes me feel better to point it out,” said Harry wryly. “So, any news?”

“Well, the Dark Lord has been destroyed, the Death Eaters have been apprehended, and Draco and I are getting married in two weeks,” said Severus, slyly slipping the news of his pending nuptials in at the end.

“Why two weeks?” asked Harry, arching an eyebrow and pointedly ignoring the rest of the news.

“Nice father that I am,” Harry snorted, “I wanted to make sure you were actually awake to attend. Since Poppy informed me that you would be in a coma for about two weeks, that is the date I requested for Dumbledore to officiate the ceremony. It is hardly my fault that you had to have a miraculous recovery and come out of your coma the very next day, now is it?” asked Severus drolly.

“Well, you know me, dad. I live to turn your world upside down,” said Harry teasingly. “Besides, you would be dreadfully bored without me around so there’s no point in whining about it.”

“I can honestly say that my life just wouldn’t be the same without Harry Potter,” said Severus dryly. “Now whether or not that’s a good thing, I still haven’t made a firm decision.”

Harry just stuck his tongue out at Severus, causing everyone in the room to laugh at their banter. He was really glad that Severus was so obviously happy now that he had Draco so firmly in his life. Harry also liked how Draco had adopted him as his little brother. With Harry’s background, having a loving family was the greatest gift he’d ever received.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize- Harry?” asked Remus, staring at Harry in amazement. “You’re-? How did-? When did-?”

“Come on, Lupin. Just spit it out already,” said Severus impatiently.

“When did you wake up, Harry? I thought Madame Pomfrey said you would be in a coma for about two weeks,” said Remus, collapsing in the chair beside the bed.

“This morning,” said Harry brightly.

“But, how?” asked Remus, still reeling in shock.

“Harry Potter Factor,” muttered Severus quietly.

“What?” asked Remus, once again confused.

“Ignore him, Moony. I don’t know how, but my magical levels are almost normal now,” said Harry before Severus could say anything else. “How are you doing in the aftermath of our momentous battle?”

“I’m fine, now. You scared me to death when you collapsed like that,” said Remus heatedly.

“I couldn’t help it,” whined Harry. “The baby needed the magic more than I did, so I slept well my magic was used for more important tasks.”

“Baby? When-?” asked Remus, once again struck incoherent.

“Good grief, Lupin. You just can’t remain coherent for more than two minutes at a time, can you?” asked Severus mockingly, ignoring the werewolf’s glare and accompanying growl.

“Well excuse me, Severus. This is the first I’ve heard of it. In fact, I distinctly remember Harry saying he wasn’t pregnant,” growled Remus impatiently.

“I said I didn’t think I was pregnant. Give me a break. I’m allowed to be mistaken occasionally,” said Harry indignantly. “Besides, you’re a werewolf. Shouldn’t you have been able to smell the changes caused by being pregnant?”

Remus paused a moment and stared at Harry in surprise. He took a deep breath, sifting through the different smells. After a moment, he finally noticed the subtle change in Harry’s scent and focused on that. He suddenly gasped and his eyes shot up to look into Harry’s green eyes. “You’re going to have a little girl, Harry.”

“Really? How can you tell?” asked Harry excitedly.

“Girls just smell different from boys, and that little pup inside of you is definitely a girl,” said Remus, smiling at Harry’s obvious enthusiasm.

“Do you hear that, Lucius? We’re going to have a daughter,” said Harry, caressing his still flat stomach with awe.

Lucius placed his hands on Harry’s stomach and followed the path Harry’s hands had just traced. He was no less awed than Harry was. “I bet she’ll be just as beautiful as you are, Harry,” said Lucius lovingly, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on Harry’s lips.

“And she’ll probably be a brat just like you, too,” said Severus teasingly.

“And she’ll turn your world upside down, and you’ll miss her like crazy when she’s not around,” said Harry, sticking out his tongue at Severus. “And she’ll wrap her big brother, Draco, around her little finger and be just as spoiled as that annoying prat.”

“Hey!” said Draco indignantly. “I’ll have her wrapped around my little finger.”

“Draco, dear? Who is giving birth to this child?” asked Harry.

“You are,” said Draco.

“And who did you adopt the day you found out about my relationship with your father?” he asked.

“You are,” said Draco, quickly realizing where this was going. “Okay, I get your point. You so obviously have me wrapped around your little finger so it’s just reasonable to assume that your daughter would have the same capabilities, right?”

“I knew you would figure it out. You are just too smart,” said Harry teasingly. “Of course, she could always call you grandpa. I mean, after all, Severus is my father, which makes him her grandfather, and you are marrying her grandfather, making you her step-grandpa.”

“Don’t you dare teach her that, Harry James Potter,” said Draco fiercely. “Just you wait, though. If Severus and I ever have children, you’ll be in the same position I’m in now.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now I just have to get everyone to agree to my choice of name,” said Harry.

“What name do you want?” asked Lucius curiously.

“Keely Dawn Malfoy,” said Harry matter-of-factly.

“Trust Harry to pick a name that translates into ‘Beautiful Sunrise Malfoy,’” said Draco wryly. “But I have to admit that I do like the name.”

“I do too,” said Remus and Severus in unison.

“Well, Lucius, you have the deciding vote. What do you think?” asked Harry.

“I think that you have picked the perfect name for our beautiful little girl. Now we just have to wait until she gets here,” said Lucius, smiling at the beaming grin Harry gifted him with.