A Fork in the Road

Disclaimer: I own nothing friggen Harry Potter. No mulah off this fic either.



WARNING: This story contains MAJOR INCEST



A/N: Thank you to ALL my PRECIOUS reviewers! You make the world just that much brighter! Hope you like Harry\'s reaction! Anyway, please review and enjoy...







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Chapter Fifteen: Tears of Truth



Harry had received the owl from his daughter while he was busily working at the Ministry and had written her back saying that he would come see her that coming weekend. It would be a Hogsmeade weekend, and he had planned to meet with her in the Shrieking Shack, where not many people would be.



The weekend had rolled around sooner than expected, and Harry had apparated to the Shrieking Shack a few minutes early. He was pacing up and down anxiously waiting to hear the news his daughter would deliver. In her letter, she had confessed of feeling ‘angry and confused’ and Harry was hoping beyond hope that it wasn’t about their relationship. He didn’t want to lose his daughter. He had lost Ginny years ago, and having Avery admit to him that she didn’t want to continue their way of living would be just as heart-breaking. In the midst of his thought, Harry heard the door to the Shrieking Shack creak open.



“Hi daddy!” Avery grinned, jogging up to her father, and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Harry could feel that she wasn’t upset with him just by the greeting and was greatly relieved. He grasped her in return, and then released her to look at her dazzling face.



“How are you, beautiful?” Harry asked, taking off her coat for her and draping it over a nearby chair.



“Well, I’m not sure,” Avery replied taking off her hat and mittens and placing them in her coat sleeve.



“Let’s go upstairs to talk where we can sit down more comfortably,” Harry said, motioning to the stairs.



The steps creaked as Harry made his way up the wooden stairway and heard his daughter’s light footsteps behind him. They entered the room where Harry had first encountered his godfather, Sirius, and he shut the door after Avery had entered the room behind him.



“I think you should sit,” Avery spoke up, rubbing her hands together. Harry gave her a quizzical gaze.



“Is it that bad?” Harry inquired taking a seat on the bed that was full of dust-mites.



He watched his daughter stand in the middle of the room, staring at the floor. She ran both of her hands through her black locks before meeting his eyes.



“I—I just don’t even know where to begin,” she sighed. Harry gave her an encouraging smile.



“Baby—” Harry began but stopped talking as he watched his daughter’s face cringe. “What is it?” He asked, leaning forward slightly on his elbows. “You brought me down here, so you have to tell me what’s going on.”



Avery licked her lips quickly.



“It’s just…it’s really hard to say,” Avery said. Harry watched as her eyes became glossy.



“Av, I’m here, everything’s alright,” Harry reassured her in a gentle voice.



“No, everything’s not alright!” she said, the bitterness coming out in her tone.



“Well, why don’t you enlighten me then about what’s the matter with you?”



“Everything’s the matter, dad! You just have no idea!” She cried, shaking her head and looking up at the ceiling, tears now streaming down the side of her cheeks.



“Well, I’d have an idea if you would just tell me!” Harry exclaimed. Avery brought her focus back to Harry and she took a deep breath before speaking.



“Daddy, I’m pregnant.”



The words came slowly, like in a dream, but they crashed into Harry’s chest like a wave, uncontrolled and unforgiving. He felt as though his stomach were being clenched to fit the size of a walnut. His head was spinning like a merry-go-round, making him feel sick and unsteady. He swayed on the spot, listening to the echoing of a cursed melody in his ears. His breath was hoarse when he spoke.



“You can’t be.”



Avery shrugged slightly.



“How did you find out?” Harry asked, hardly able to breathe.



“Well, I fainted at the Valentine’s Day Dance and was rushed to the hospital wing. I woke up after a few hours and Poppy told me.”



Harry sat rigid on the bed. His mind seemed unfocused.



“Are you absolutely sure, Avery, because this is…it just can’t be true.”



“Well, it’s true, I mean…Madam Pomfrey examined me, so it must be true. Plus, I have all the symptoms. I’ve gained weight and I’ve been having morning sickness the last few days.”



Harry heaved a heavy sigh and ran his hand through his jet-black hair. He stood up and began pacing.



“I don’t even know…I have no idea what to think or say,” Harry said, the floors creaking beneath him.



“Well, it’s not your fault, I mean, we both had a part in it,” Avery said. Harry stopped pacing and looked at her.



“Not my fault?! Avery, have you completely lost it?! It’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me, this never would have happened!” Harry said, growing infuriated with himself.



“Well, it’s not like you did it on purpose,” Avery said trying to defend the situation, making it seem like an innocent mistake.



“Well, of course I didn’t do it on purpose, but don’t you get it?!” Harry asked, his voice growing louder. “I could go to Azkaban for life for committing such a crime!”



“It’s not a crime!” Avery retorted throwing her arms by her side. “It was a mistake!”



“Yeah, well, a pretty damn big mistake if you ask me! There are a thousand different spells I could’ve used to protect you from getting pregnant, but I was too fucking carried away to even think twice about it. GOD DAMMIT!” Harry yelled, kicking a nearside table.



“Calm down!” Avery exclaimed.



“No, Avery…don’t tell me to calm down because I just got my own fucking daughter pregnant! How SICK!”



“Oh, so now you think I’m disgusting?” Avery sneered, bitterly folding her arms across her chest.



“No, Avery. I’m the one that’s disgusting! I’ve fallen for my own daughter, and I’ve gotten her pregnant!”



“Wow, and I didn’t know this already,” Avery said angrily.



“Don’t get sarcastic with me now, girl. Think about this…I’m going to be that baby’s father AND grandfather. Is that sick and twisted enough for you?!” Harry growled.



“Well, you obviously didn’t think it was gross when you shagged me!” Avery exclaimed in a contemptuous voice.



Harry felt his face turn hot as he scowled at his daughter. “Don’t you ever speak to me with that sort of disrespect again, Avery Lillian. I still am your father and you will respect me.”



Avery didn’t speak and instead of sitting in silence, Harry spoke.



“What are you going to do, Avery?” Harry asked, his face softening. He watched as his daughter looked at him in the face, like a courageous warrior.



“I’m going to keep it if that’s what you mean,” she replied putting a hand on her stomach.



“Well, I wouldn’t have wanted you to do otherwise,” Harry said, feeling badly that he had yelled at his daughter.



“What am I going to tell people?” Avery asked. Harry thought for a moment, and then turned to her with a slight frown on his face.



“There’s only one thing you can do,” he said, feeling his heart sinking.



“What’s that?”



“You’ll have to sleep with someone else.”



“WHAT?!” She squealed. “NO! No, absolutely not. I will not betray you!” She exclaimed.



“Avery, what other choice do you have?” Harry asked sternly. “If anyone found out whose baby it really was, I would go to Azkaban for life and I would die there. Is that what you want? To never see me again and have me rot in that horrid place?”



He watched as fresh tears began spilling down his daughter’s face.



“No,” she whimpered. “But I just…how can I sleep with someone else? I can’t do it.”



“Av, it’s either that or me rotting away. You have no choice. We can’t be together. It’s impossible.”



Harry felt his own eyes become sodden as he watched his daughter weep. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.



“I don’t love anyone like I love you,” Avery blubbered, looking up into Harry’s eyes. She was so beautiful when she cried. He looked down on her as the tears rolled down his own cheeks.



“And nor do I,” Harry whispered, kissing her forehead. “But this is the way it has to be.”



Both stood holding the other tightly, wanting never to let go, and then Avery spoke.



“Who will I sleep with?” Avery asked looking up at Harry.



“Well, Riley’s extremely fond of you, isn’t he?” Harry asked, feeling the fury and jealousy rise within him.



“Oh, god…not him, daddy I can’t…not with him.”



“Well, are you just going to get with someone new then? Then the rumors will be that you’re a slut, and you don’t want to have a bad name. At least you dated Longbottom for a time. It wouldn’t be so awkward then.”



“Yeah, easy for you to say. But I absolutely can’t stand him! And it doesn’t help that we just got in a fight.”



“A fight? About what?”



“He was acting like a pompous bastard, thinking he knows me, and tried to tell me that I’m afraid of intimacy because I’m afraid I’m going to lose the love of my life, just like you lost mum,” Avery replied. “I was so angry when he said it, I almost cursed him. And I told him if he ever said something like that again, that I would curse his arse into next year.”



“Well, I’m sure he’ll forgive you. He likes you way too much,” Harry said still feeling extremely irate and envious.



“Dad, I can’t do it, I just can’t.”



“Well, you have to, darling. It’s the only way.”



“Why can’t we just run away somewhere and be together?” Avery asked with pleading eyes.



“Because we don’t live in a fantasy world, Avery. You know that.”



Harry watched as his daughter’s shoulders slumped in defeat.



“Fine. But just know…I’m doing it for you. And don’t ever forget how much I love you, and only you,” Avery whispered as the tears began again.



“I know,” Harry said in a husky voice. “And you know I love you more than the world and everything in it.” He tried to force a smile but then sighed.



“What’s the matter?” Avery asked.



“I’m just…extremely jealous.”



“You’re the one who told me I had to do it!”



“I know, I know…but…just the thought of someone else making love to you is just—”



“It won’t be making love, dad…it’ll just be sex. That’s all. It won’t mean anything to me. I’m doing it just so you won’t go to Azkaban. The only person I could ever make love to is you.”



Harry couldn’t help but smile at this.



“That goes for me, too.”



They both looked at each other and smiled.



“Well, I have to go then,” Avery said. “I guess I’m going to go find Riley and see what I can do to patch things up between us.”



“You’ll have to sleep with him quickly, otherwise you’ll already start showing,” Harry advised.



“I know,” Avery replied. “Well, I’ll write to you as soon as I can. You know I have N.E.W.T exams coming up, so I’m going to be busy, but I’ll write to you every chance I get.”



“Don’t worry about it; your studying is most important.”



Harry looked down into his daughter’s bright emerald eyes.



“I love you, Avery.”



“And I love you, dad.”



Harry leaned down and placed his lips on his daughter’s. The kiss held passion, grace, understanding, love, and acceptance. He knew his relationship with his daughter would have to come to a close and that the pregnancy would result in Avery moving on to newer and better things, but there was nothing and no one in the world that would keep Harry from loving her.





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A/N: Aww...Harry is effing cute! I love him. I swear, there\'s no better guy out there and he doesn\'t even exist! How typical is that in such a world that we live? (Sorry to all you straight ladies out there...he\'d seriously be the perfect guy! hehe) Anyway, I like this story a TON...well, obviously, it\'s my story, but you know what I mean. Avery and Harry are so damn perfect together...really. Well, please keep the great reviews coming! THANKS AGAIN!