Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

"Angel!!" Draco gasped, starting to run toward the water. He had to help; he had to do something…! His hand slipped inside his robes, grasping at his wand.

Angel surfaced for only a moment, struggling briefly, and then slipped quietly under the water once more. Harry threw down the basket and his coat as he surged past Draco. Harry had no hesitance at all; the child must be saved. His shoes fell off his feet as he ran and selflessly dove into the freezing waters after the girl. Several muggles began to move over, hearing the commotion. Maddeningly, none of them moved to assist; they all seemed to be petrified as they watched.

Draco rushed to the bank, feeling panic rising. "Somebody help him!" He demanded, outraged at their lack of assistance. He raked his eyes accusingly over the onlookers but his attention was drawn back immediately to the water as Harry surfaced several yards downstream a moment then went back under, struggling to get to the child. Draco ran down to keep up with him and the surging current.

Before Harry surfaced again, one of the boys playing ball leapt in to help. He looked around frantically, unsure of where they were and Draco began to fear that he might have lost his love when Harry surfaced again, the limp and frail little body held firmly in one arm. The boy cried out and swam toward him and together the two struggled to get to the bank. The onlookers, Draco included, hurried along to keep pace.

Harry and the teenager found plenty of willing hands ready to pull them up onto the shore and up onto solid ground. He laid Angel down carefully, looking at her with great concern. He'd never taken any classes on First Aid; he had no idea what to do…

"Call an ambulance Milly…! She ain't breathing…!" The boy gasped, shivering and sinking to his knees, arms wrapped tightly about himself. A girl of fourteen had a cell phone in her hands and she nodded quickly, her face reflecting fear and panic and horror as she spoke with the emergency operator and in a shaking and high-pitched tone, told them what had happened.

The muggles now began to crowd around them; Harry found himself wrapped in an old wool blanket. Another one was draped over the sodden girl who lay pale and unmoving. A young woman pushed her way to the front, insisting that they bloody well better let her through, because she was trained in CPR. She took control of the situation without hesitation, much to Harry's great relief. She immediately began giving Angel small puffs of breath to get oxygen back into her body, one breath for every fifteen depressions of the girl's heart, counting loudly as the crowd looked on in horror and some in fascination.

Draco wrapped his arms about Harry, tears on his cheeks as he watched the woman work. "Come on Angel… come on…" he whispered over and over. Harry, shivering increasing as the cold of the water seemed to sink into his very bones. He held tightly to Draco, watching as nothing seemed to help. She just wasn't breathing… and it seemed like forever before the wail of a siren was finally heard
approaching the scene. Both police cars and medics pulled up; the crowd moved back to allow the
stretcher and the emergency workers through with their bags and medical equipment. Several police officers spread out asking the people there about the child and who she was.

"Her name is Angel…" Draco whispered.

"Should've stayed where I told you, little brat…" Harry heard a young male voice mutter. He looked up sharply to try to spot who had spoken but no one was talking anymore.

"Come on Angel… come on, baby…" the paramedic muttered, working on the girl. Suddenly she began to choke, coughing up water. The crowd gave a cheer and the child was laid on her side to allow her to cough up the remainder of the water. "We need to take her, right now." The paramedics lifted the girl onto the stretcher.

"Where..?" Draco asked.

"Are you her father?" An officer asked, eyeing him and Harry.

"No, but…"

The officer immediately ignored him, and looked at Harry who was shivering. "You better go too; they need to check you out. I'll have several questions for you at the hospital."

"Of course, sir…" Harry was still shivering as he got to unsteady feet, trying not to lean on Draco. The paramedics stepped forward to assist both Harry as well as the young teen who had bravely followed Harry into the water over to the ambulance.

"Harry…?" Draco started, his eyes frightened; he did not want to be separated.

The ambulance driver smiled reassuringly. "There's not enough room for you back there; you can ride in front." The medic said. "Don't worry; we'll take good care of him. He's a hero…"

"Can't I ride with him…?" Draco asked in a small voice.

"He's my legal partner…" Harry said to them.

"Not much room in back…" the paramedic considered.

"Hey, you know I'd love to ride up front… I've always wanted to." The teen spoke up immediately, much to Draco's relief. "He can have my spot…" he told the driver, then looked at the blonde wizard. "I know how it is; I've got a boyfriend too." He grinned at them and winked as he slipped out of the back of
the ambulance. The medic laughed and agreed with the seating arrangement.

"Thanks." Harry grinned at the boy as Draco slipped into the cramped back compartment of the ambulance as well. Someone handed in Harry's jacket and even their picnic basket just before the doors were slammed shut. They pulled away quickly, sirens blazing, headed for the hospital.

Draco sat cuddled next to Harry, whispering a warming charm on the blanket. "Are you okay, Harry…?" he asked softly. "I was so worried… I didn't dare do anything to help you…"

"I'm all right… sorry I worried you; I wasn't thinking, lover… I just saw her go in and I had to do something, I had to help her…" he said, stroking Draco's hair soothingly.

"I'm glad you did." Draco murmured as he watched the female medic in the back with them tend to the little girl who lay on the gurney. Angel looked so tiny, her pale face shocking white against the sodden black curls of her hair. "Will she be okay…?" Draco asked in a voice slightly tremulous. "Oh Merlin, please let her be okay…"

The medic glanced at him. "We'll do all we can… the only good thing about that river is that it was so very cold; that actually is to her advantage…"

"It is…?" Draco asked, confused.

"Cold slows the body's functions… keeps it from needing air, helps the body to survive much longer without it. She has some water in her lungs, but she's doing fairly well…" she said reassuringly as the ambulance bounced, arriving in the hospital parking lot. A police car pulled in behind them.

The girl was hurriedly unloaded first, her gurney popped to its wheels and rushed past the automatic sliding doors of the hospital's emergency room entrance. Two hospital attendants moved out with wheelchairs and as Harry and the teenager got carefully out of the vehicle, finding their limbs refusing to cooperate as they were trembling with cold. The attendants would have nothing other than both of them sitting in the wheelchairs to be wheeled inside.

Draco clung to Harry's hand nervously looking around as they were taken directly into a room. Harry was given a hospital gown to wear so he could shuck off his wet clothing. He gratefully changed out of his cold wet clothing and into the gown, but still made a look of distaste. "Ugh… I like being dry, but these gowns… I hate them. Always open on the back…"

"Reminds you of the clinic…?" Draco smiled, but he was very worried. Harry's skin was red all over from the cold…

Harry chuckled softly. "Yes… why do they all have to open like this on the back? Makes no sense to me…"

Draco grinned softly at him. "I like it… it shows your sexy bum, love…" he commented as Harry sat on the table.

"We'll find something more suitable for you when the baby comes…" Harry said, tugging at the back to cover his backside self-consciously.

"I will most certainly not be having our son in a muggle hospital, love." Draco whispered teasingly to him, standing close beside him and slipping an arm about him.

"True…" Harry said, kissing him tenderly.

They were waiting only about ten minutes when a nurse came in to take Harry's vitals and get a sketchy medical history for the doctor, who entered just as she was checking his temperature and blood pressure. Draco watched them work on Harry, bemused; he could do the same things with a simple wave of his wand… they had to use at least five contraptions to get the same results. He much preferred
to be a wizard…

Harry answered their questions, and then smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine, really… absolutely frozen, but fine. How is Angel…?"

"Angel…? Oh, the girl…" The doctor smiled. "She's resting comfortably. You saved her life, young man. Another few moments under that water and she surely would have been beyond our ability to save her…"

"Can we see her?" Draco asked.

"I'll see what I can do." The doctor assured.

"I think the cops need to speak with you… I'll fetch you some spare scrubs, too. I know these hospital gowns are horrible to wear if you're going to be walking around anywhere at all…" the nurse added as the doctor moved out first.

"Thank you." Harry smiled with great relief.

"Anytime…" she winked at him and moved out as well. She returned in only a couple of minutes with a set of hospital scrubs. The pattern was a bewildering collage of neon representations of cat faces. "Sorry about the colors; I hope these will do, sir. Once you've dressed, the police would like to speak with you…"

"These will be fine, thank you." Harry smiled at her.

After she left he changed quickly, finding the scrubs garishly comical but actually rather comfortable. "Ah, much better…" he sighed.

Draco laughed. "Well, it will do for now."

Harry gave him a soft, lingering kiss in the privacy of the room, and then they moved out to find the police to speak with. He didn't have to look very far; the nurse's station was only a few steps away and two police officers were standing there at the desk, one leaning on it and clearly flirting with a pink-cheeked nurse. "You needed to speak with me…?" Harry asked the first officer as they approached.

"Oh, yes… I'm Officer Patterson, and I just have a few questions… your name…?" he said, producing a notepad and pen from his pocket.

"Harry Potter."

"Mr. Potter, can you tell me what happened today in the park…?"

"Yes, of course. My partner and I were enjoying an outing in the park… we were on our way home when we spotted the little girl playing with a dog. The riverbank gave way and she fell in…"

"Did you see anyone with her?"

Draco chose to speak up now. "No… I spoke to her a few moments earlier in the day; she told me her name was Angel. When I asked her about her parents she said her mum was dead… and she was with some boy…" he frowned, trying to recall precisely. "Dan…? No, not Dan… David. But I never saw him."

"No one has come to claim her yet; we're trying to contact her relatives, but that seems unnecessary since you are here, sir..." He began; he'd made the same connection Draco had unconsciously done as he studied Harry.

"No, I'm not her relative; I have no siblings and no children…" Harry replied. "Not yet, anyway. I'm expecting one soon. We're on the adoption lists but so far nothing… why would you ask…?"

"That little girl is the spitting image of you, sir…" he frowned, looking at him critically now. "I would have sworn she was in your immediate family…"

"We would be blessed if she were…" Draco sighed.

"Excuse me, Officer Patterson…?" A nurse moved up to them. "Olivia Masterson with Social Services is here. She needs to speak with you; it seems that little Angel is one of her foster kids…"

"Oh, all right… thank you, sir, for your service to the community." He smiled at Harry, then moved away.

"Foster kids…?" Draco turned to his husband. "Harry, what did he mean by foster kid…?"

"A foster child, lover, is a child who has no parents, or their parents are in prison or unable to care for them for some reason; and they are living with another family who is paid to take care of her…" Harry explained.

"Harry…" Draco began. "Harry, do you think her parents are magical…? Perhaps we could be her new family…"

Harry smiled softly. "We'll see, Dray… first, let's see what we can find out about Angel. She may not be available for adoption, love."

"But she's so beautiful Harry… it would be amazing if we could be the ones to give her a forever home, the poor thing…"

Harry pulled Draco into his arms. "We will see, love…" he whispered, not wanting to get his hopes up. "Come on; let's see how she's doing…" Draco nodded and followed Harry to see if they could find out about the girl. The hospital was fairly busy but everyone was close-mouthed about the situation, telling them that they could only divulge information about the child to family.

The two finally spotted Officer Patterson down one of the hallways. He was standing beside one of the rooms with a window, speaking in quiet tones to a dark-skinned woman in a burgundy business suit. Her hair was reddish-brown, caught up in a smart and professional-looking bun at the nape of her neck. They moved down the hall toward the pair, and Harry spoke up before they were close enough to eavesdrop on whatever private conversation the two were having.

"Excuse me…" he started and the two looked at him; the woman looked irritated but the officer curious. Harry directed his next question to the woman. "Sorry to interrupt, but are you the person in charge of little Angel…?"

The woman eyed him, frowning slightly. "I am Ms. Masterson, her case manager, yes." She answered, glancing into the window to the room. Angel lay in the bed, sheets pulled up, and face pale against her dark hair and she appeared to be sleeping.

"How is she? May we see her…? What is going to happen to her? It seems to me the family she was with was extremely neglectful…" Harry asked in a worried tone.

"Excuse me, sir, but I cannot discuss her case with you." Ms. Masterson interrupted quickly before he could go on. "She is a ward of the state. Although we do appreciate your efforts to save her life, that action does not give you rights to delve into private details, sir. Her case is confidential."

"I understand." Harry assured. "Can you at least tell me if she is up for adoption? If she is I would appreciate it if you could at least give me a number to call; I assure you that we that we will be in to apply for her custody…"

She frowned at him. "Have you even begun the process for an adoption or is this some spur-of-the-moment thing?"

He smiled softly at her; he understood her reticence. After all; he'd only met the child this afternoon… "We've been approved for adoption. We've been on the waiting list for two years to get an infant. Angel isn't an infant, but she really does need a family that will love her and care what happens to her…"

"My Harry is a detective." Draco smiled. "You can check the records; we've been waiting a long time…"

She eyed them a moment, then produced a card and a pen from an inside pocket of her blazer. "Here's my card… Angel's case has been a rather troublesome one…" she said, writing a number down on the back. "This number is a direct line to my office, and the reference number for Angel's case if you can't get me right away…" she said, handing Harry the card. "There was no abuse, but the neglect that this accident reflects has spurred an investigation into the appropriateness of her current foster parents for fostering any further children. I understand at this point the doctors are projecting that she'll be
here at the hospital for at least a couple of days…"

Harry smiled warmly at the woman, who seemed to be accepting of their seriousness regarding the child. "Thank you; I assure you I'll be in touch first thing in the morning to set up an appointment…"
Draco smiled softly. The events of the day seemed to be far less ominous now and he felt his good mood returning to him. "Come along, Harry… We need to get you home and cleaned up…"

"Yes… a nice hot shower sounds heavenly…" he agreed, moving back down the hall with him toward the nurse's station and the exit. Harry's attention was called by one of the nurses to attend to the paperwork to get him discharged before they could leave. He moved over to proceed to fill out what they needed.

Draco glanced around at all the equipment, as foreign to him as a cat with four heads. None of it was anything at all that he was familiar with; he'd much rather visit St. Mungo's than this place. Certainly St. Mungo's was a weird place to go, but it felt of healing and cleanliness… this place felt of misery and smelled strange, the odors of antiseptics and disinfectant nearly overpowering. He hesitated, seeing a familiar dark-haired wizard gliding up the hallway with a clipboard in his hand. He left Harry at the desk signing the paperwork, moving to intercept him. "Uncle Sev…?" he murmured softly.

Severus looked up from his clipboard, first surprised, and then quickly his expression turned to a scowl. "Draco…?"

Draco wasn't fazed by his godfather's scowl; he'd often seen him with that same expression on his face when he was attending Hogwarts. "Uncle Sev, what are you doing here…?" he asked.

He snorted as if the question itself was impertinent. "I work here, Draco. I have every right and reason to be here. So why in the world are YOU here…? And why in Merlin's name is Harry dressed as an intern…? Tell me he's not on staff here…"

"No… Harry saved a little girl's life today." Draco countered proudly. "She fell into the icy river and he couldn't let her drown…"

"Still can't resist being a hero…" Severus drawled, eyes lowering to his chart.

"Victim aged five, female, submerged in an icy river… and all in a muggle park. You couldn't use magic." Severus mused thoughtfully. It could have been a mess to clean up if Draco had given in to his impulse and used his wand. "I was just on my way to adjust her medication…"

"Take care of her… I think she's a very special little girl…" Draco smiled.

Harry, done with his signing and paperwork, saw them and moved over to join them. He was as surprised as Draco was to see the potions master here in a muggle hospital. "Sev…? You work here…?"

"Indeed. I specialize in pharmaceutical analysis and treatments." He answered coolly.

Draco smiled fondly at his godfather. "I'm certain she'll be just fine and recover quickly with you tending to her."

"I do all I can for all of my patients, Draco." He drawled with a hint of impatience to his tone.

"Severus, can you and Remus come over for supper tomorrow…?" Harry asked.

"I shall see if Remus has plans." He answered in the same cool tone, promising nothing. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do…"

"Goodnight, Uncle…" Draco smiled. Severus moved on his way without deigning to respond.

Harry put his arm about Draco. "Ready to go home, Draco…?"

"More than ready… I can't stand the smell of this place…" he complained. Harry laughed softly as he led Draco away.