Unlikely Beginnings

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Chapter Twenty Two

When Harry woke, he knew he was definitely not in his own bed. It didn\'t
feel like it physically, and the air of the entire room was different. He
opened his eyes slowly, frowning as he looked up to see the domed ceiling of
the infirmary. \"Shit,\" he said as he pushed himself up abruptly, and
immediately wished he hadn\'t. Grabbing a hand to his stomach as a lurch of
pain shot through him. No, not pain. He was hungry.

It was dark in the room, so he supposed it must be quite a while later now
than it had been when... He thought about the last thing he remembered, and
he could only suppose he\'d collapsed. Snape had been about to explain to him
what he should be doing, but he didn\'t get far, Harry recalled. Harry
groaned, putting his head in his hands, propped up on his knees as he sat in
the bed.

He willed the small headache away and he swung his legs over the side of the
bed, pushing aside the covers. He reached for his glasses on the side table,
and put them back on. \"God damnit,\" he swore quietly, then sighed to
himself. This just had to happen to him, didn\'t it? When he\'d finally been
having a life filled with mundane, trivial things, another fucking thing had
to happen to him. If it wasn\'t some insane adventure or mystery, it was a
personal crisis.

Stepping down off the bed, he realized he was still in his own clothes, not
the standard hospital pajamas. Thank Merlin for that, Harry thought. He made
to walk as fast as he could out of the room so as not to draw Madam
Pomfrey\'s attention, but was stopped quickly. His eyes blurred and he
grasped blindly for the bed he\'d just vacated. He held firm until his vision
cleared and then he bolted for the door.

When he was safely two corridors away, he slowed and kept on his way back to
Gryffindor Tower. It would have been moderately better if Snape had been the
only person to confront him today, but Ron and Hermione had made this a
horrible day, and he\'d certainly not forget it any time soon. He supposed he
could have simply told them that it wasn\'t their damn business, but he
couldn\'t bring himself to do it. He\'d never had anyone to tell things to in
his life; Dudley didn\'t ever care, but when he\'d met Ron, he\'d made a friend
for life.

Harry felt like he could share things with the other boy, and, over the
years, Hermione as well. He didn\'t feel right not to tell them the truth
when they asked. Technically, he remembered, he had lied once or twice to
them, but he was rightly justified if this was the way they were going to
react when they found out where he\'d really been. Maybe he should just lock
his trunk from now on and spend all day in the other side of the castle away
from them but for when he couldn\'t help it.

No, he couldn\'t do that. They *were* his friends, and he loved them for it.
Over all, they\'d made his life ten times more enjoyable than it had been
before he\'d met either of them, or came to Hogwarts. That didn\'t change the
fact that Ron had completely screamed at him, though, and then acted like a
spoiled child who didn\'t get extra cake, and then complained when he
couldn\'t finish it when he was given more. He asked (well, Hermione more
correctly inquired), so Harry had told him. If he didn\'t want to hear it, he
shouldn\'t have asked.

He\'d already passed the sleeping Fat Lady, having to tap on her picture to
wake her up before he could pass. She was snoring again before the door even
shut behind him, and Harry was on his way up the stairs to his dorm. It was
filled with a dull light from the moon and he looked out at it as he crossed
the room to his bed. The full moon was almost over.

Harry pulled open the curtain on his bed and sat down, taking off his shoes.
He pulled his shirt off next and shivered at the cooling air in the room.
Harry stood and took a moment to right his comforter over his bed. The house
elves hadn\'t made beds today, it seemed. Wait - they had, but Ron had quite
rudely mussed it up again when he\'d rifled through his things for the map.
Harry\'s eyes widened as he stepped out of his trousers: thank Morgana that
neither of his friends had decided to crash his and Draco\'s little party
using his invisibility cloak.

Though they would have had to know who... crap. They *would* have known who
was in the room, but then they still wouldn\'t have known to say it. Even
through the thick door, they\'d still have been able to listen, perhaps
hearing only muffled conversation, but still. Harry sat down on his bed
again, not bothering to dig out his pajamas, opting just for sleeping in his
boxers tonight. Pulling his blankets over himself, he closed his eyes,
reveling in the blossoming warmth all around him. He opened his eyes as he
adjusted his pillow, and looked out his open curtain. He spared a moment to
glare at Ron\'s bed before reaching out to grab his curtain, swishing it shut
aggressively.

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When Harry woke up the next morning he was still a bit tired, but he had to
get up anyway. Best to wake up as much as he could before Potions; he didn\'t
want Snape to make fun of him for falling asleep in his cauldron. He
wondered if Snape would look at him any differently? Perhaps with disgust,
because it was sort of disgusting how the teacher had found out. Harry sat
up in his bed, swinging his legs down between the curtains before he pulled
them open.

He was about to give a great sigh and stretch his arms over his head as he
yawned, but Harry was stopped in his tracks. Ron had opened his curtains at
the same time, and now they sat, trying not to stare at each other, but not
seeming to be able to manage anything other thaat. at. Ron looked away and
stood up first, rolling his eyes as he walked to the end of his bed to where
his trunk lay. Harry stood, and picked up his glasses from the table beside
his bed as he did.

Ron, still without a word, pulled the shirt he slept in over his head and
tossed it on his still open trunk before walking out of the room. Harry felt
a chill run up his body and he remembered he\'d only slept in his boxers. He
usually didn\'t do that, rather to have the tails of his pajama shirt cover
any evidence of arousing dreams than to have himself displayed to the rest
of his room mates. Harry turned around and checked himself as he reached for
his trousers.

It\'d been a few nights since he\'d remembered any of his dreams, but they
weren\'t hard to picture in his head. They were all about Draco. Harry sighed
as he slipped a t-shirt over his head. How was he going to talk to Draco,
now? He doubted the Slytherin would want to talk to him after the way he\'d
stomped out the room and slammed the door after himself. He had heard Draco
swear, and hurried his pace as he\'d gone down the hall. It was possible that
Draco stilled cared, right? If he even cared at all to begin with, that was.

Harry let that yawn out now before he turned and went out the door, down to
the boys\' lavatory. He wasn\'t quite watching where he was going until he
almost bumped into someone. He looked up and saw that it was Ron. They tried
to shift to the side, though they both picked the same side. Then, they both
moved, again, to the same side. Ron scowled and set his hands on Harry\'s
shoulders, pushing him back to the other side while he stayed at the
opposite. He turned his body and side stepped around his friend, leaving
Harry to feel a bit awkward standing in the hallway.

He shook his head, finishing his trek to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Ron
had a bit of time to think over what all he\'d heard the night before. He\'d
spent at least an hour laying in bed trying to fathom how Harry could even
touch Malfoy in a way that wasn\'t aggressive. Though that line of thought
led to some interesting mental images of Malfoy being tied down and beaten -
for his own pleasure. Ron had shuddered and rolled over, trying to go to
sleep. He had to concede that he wasn\'t happy about the situation, but he
vowed to at least be civil towards his friend. It was Harry\'s life, after
all. It wasn\'t Ron\'s fault if he screwed it up, and it certainly didn\'t mean
he had to agree with Harry\'s choices.

By the time Ron finished getting ready for the day, tying his tie around his
neck and then pulling his sweater on over top of it, Harry came back into
the room. They both grabbed their robes and bags and headed downstairs.
Hermione was already in the common room, and she watched as Harry came out
of the stairwell. He noticed her eyes were definitely not focused on him
when she smiled faintly. Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Ron smile
back at her.

At least those two are okay, he thought, as he walked towards the portrait
door. He wasn\'t annoyed with Hermione, really; more with Ron and how he
reacted. He supposed he expected it, and he shouldn\'t dwell on it too long,
but he didn\'t feel up to another confrontation with either of them again.
Even with all that happened yesterday, he still couldn\'t believe what Snape
had told him. He was starting to constantly feel tired, and he hadn\'t really
been in the mood to eat, though his now growling stomach belied that
thought. He didn\'t feel nauseous, but food just hadn\'t appealed to him much.
So, some of what he\'d felt made sense now.

He stopped at the door, waiting for his frie Thi This was the first day in a
while that they\'d actually be going down to breakfast together, and they all
happened to be upset with each other; or maybe just him. Even though he
wasn\'t really up for the usual chatter of his friends, he got the feeling
they would be a bit subdued today. They were still his friends and he needed
their support right now, so, with a little sigh to himself, he paused at the
door and looked back to them.

Hermione had picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, turning
towards the door. Sheok hok her head to herself, hoping that the three of
them would overcome this slight rift. She hated it even more when Ron and
Harry fought. It was a bit disconcerting that they hardly acted like
anything was wrong, since they both kept quiet about it, but she could
always feel the difference.

Ron followed behind Hermione, though catching up to her side, and they
slowed as they got to the door. Harry pushed it open and held it open for
them to walk through and ahead of him. Hermione then wondered if the three
of them would even walk together or go their separate ways to the Great
Hall. Ron kept walking, not stopping to look at Harry, or thank him for
holding the portrait. Hermione frowned and thanked Harry herself, though she
noted that he stayed behind them.

As she took a few more rapid steps to catch up with Ron, she wondered
vaguely if Harry would take off in the other direction to go find Malfoy.
She hadn\'t been blind, and she did notice that Harry didn\'t particularly
look happy about what had went on in his secret excursion before Ron had got
his knickers in a twist. And, knowing that, she didn\'t think Harry would do
that; he\'d just go straight to the hall, in his mopey sort of way he was
when something too heavy hand perched on his shoulders.

Hermione nudged Ron lightly in the ribs, though it was hard to do without
jabbing him a little harder than was her intention, because they were still
walking down the hall; she got his attention, though. \"What?\" Ron asked, a
curious look on his face as he rubbed his side.

She turned to look at Ron and nodded her head back towards Harry, who was,
indeed, trudging along a ways behind them, looking sad. \"You guys need to
put this behind you and move on. Harry knows what he\'s doing and we should
support him,\" she whispered to Ron, hoping Harry didn\'t hear her. The last
thing they needed was to be talking about this behind each other\'s backs
again, but she didn\'t want to start too serious of a discussion this early
in the morning. Even if they were on the outs with each other right now,
Hermione knew they\'d band together to duct tape her mouth shut if she even
tried.

Ron pursed his lips in thought, trying not to say something he\'d regret. It
was hard, but he came up with something neutral. \"We\'ll see,\" he said,
turning the corner and starting down the stairs. \"I still don\'t like who
he\'s shagging, and not only that, he could very well be knocked up for all
we know.\" He made a face at that, clearly not thinking that was too
pleasant; which it wasn\'t, but still.

\"We don\'t know that for sure, Ron,\" she reminded him. \"Wouldn\'t he be
showing the symptoms by now?\" Hermione questioned, starting to slow down so
that Harry wasn\'t so much behind them. He probably knew they were talking
about him, but, oh, well. Ron, however, didn\'t seem to care who over heard
them, even if it was Harry, or Snape, for all he was being cautious.

Ron slowed unconsciously to stay by Hermione\'s side. He almost wanted to
grab her hand to moderate her pace, wondering why she had dropped back.
Though he didn\'t think he\'d let go if he did that. He did know that he
walked a bit faster than her because of his longer legs, but he could walk
slower for her. \"That\'s a good point,\" he admitted after a moment, \"but we
don\'t know how long the two of them have been going at it, and you heard
what Harry said!\"

\"Yes,\" Hermione started, shushing him with a look. \"They weren\'t using
protection. They could have been using a contraceptive sper por potion, but,
yes, I remember what Harry said.\" Harry wasn\'t too far behind them now, and
they were almost to the Hall. \"He hadn\'t even known that wizards could get
pregnant, and I doubt Malfoy would have let him in on that piece of
information.\"

\"Yeah, him being the twat that he is,\" Ron said, tone misleading but with
annoyance still clear in his voice, as he did enjoy insulting Malfoy,
despite the current situation between him and his best friend. Harry caught
up with the two of them, and the three of them catching up collectively to
the group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws filing through the open doors to the
Great Hall.

Their conversation halted for the time being, as they headed towards their
house table, to their usual spots. Harry eyed his friends from behind as
they walked before him. It was kind of hard to think they weren\'t talking
about him. He was used to it, though, being a kind of celebrity. But, argh,
don\'t remind him of that. He had a hard enough time with his life without
all that other stuff to drag him down.

Other than their quiet almost whispered conversation as they walked down the
halls, it was silent. Harry paid more attention to his grumbling stomach,
and he was grateful it was breakfast, since he just wanted to get something
to eat before he keeled over. Even with everything else, he was happy his
previously absent appetite had returned. Taking their seats at the
Gryffindor table, Harry could feel himself start to salivate over all the
wonderful smells that were to come.

He had a hard time not closing his eyes and licking his lips, just imagining
all the delicious foods that were ready to pop up onto their table. \"Good
morning to you all,\" Dumbledore began, scanning the tables vaguely with his
eyes. Harry opened his eyes, surprised that he hadn\'t even realized that he
had, but he was still tired, too. \"In light of certain unforeseen events,
Potions classes will be cancelled this week, or until further notice as
Professor Snape has gone on an errand that could not be rescheduled. During
regular Potions classes, you may either retire to your dormitory\'s until the
next class begins, or study in the library.\"

The old wizard nodded to the Hall in general, and seated himself in his
chair at the center of the staff table at the head of the room. When
Dumbledore had situated himself, the food appeared on the tables, and Harry
wondered if the Headmaster had some sort of button up there under the table
to tell the house elves when to send breakfast up. Many students turned to
their neighbors to gossip about why Snape had left, though more were
concerned with what they\'d do in their newly instated free time, while
others took the time to do little victory dances in their seats, trying in
vain to refrain themselves from shouts of joy.

Harry sighed to himself, partly in favor of no Potions classes, and partly
for the food laid out in front of him. Oh, and it was even better than he
was imagining. Reaching for his favorite, he pulled the bowl of porridge
towards his plates, gripping his spoon like it might disappear from his very
sight if he didn\'t begin to eat very soon. He really hadn\'t been looking
forward to sitting in the dungeons for two hours, facing the man who knew
more about him than he did himself. Of course, he didn\'t know exactly what
he\'d do with his free period, and was almost wishing they did have Potions,
so he wouldn\'t have to actively seek out Draco wherever he might wanoff off
to in the castle with two hours of free time.

He supposed the other boy would just go back to the dungeons and do
something there. He didn\'t often see Draco out on the lawns, or hear anyone
talk about how crappy he played at Quidditch practice. To be honest, he
really didn\'t know what Draco did with his time, and that didn\'t comfort
Harry at all. It made him want to find out. But, back to the present; he
still wasn\'t feeling a hundred percent, and wasn\'t sure if he\'d get up in
time for class if he were to go back to the dorms for a nap.

Out of the corner of his eye, the only part of himself that wasn\'t focused
on food, he noticed Neville watching him while he chewed on a piece of
toast. Harry stopped, swallowed and asked, \"What?\" Not defensively, just
wondering what he\'d done to attract the other boy\'s attention.

Neville smiled at him and swallowed his own mouthful. \"I\'m just happy to see
you eating is all,\" he said. \"I was beginning to worry about you; this past
week you hadn\'t eaten much that I saw, and I thought you might have been
ill. I didn\'t want to pry, so I didn\'t say anything.\" That was so
typically... Neville. Most people underestimated the boy, but he was really
intuitive sometimes, not to mention observant.

Harry smiled back, glad to know someone cared about him without nagging
about it. Neville resumed eating when he did, and Harry decided after a
minute that he\'d successfully dislodged his room mate\'s curiosity. He sat up
straight, stretching his back and faintly heard a little crack in it as he
used the movement to look up and across the Ravenclaw table to see if he
could spot Draco on the other side of it. He couldn\'t see him anywhere at
the Slytherin table, so he turned his attention back to his food.

It was still a bit early, and Draco might not have made it to the Hall yet.
It really was a long way from the dungeons after you factor in all the
twisting halls and everything in the lower floor, despite it being only one
floor away from the Great Hall. He looked once more, trying to spot the
blonde, and when he looked back to his own table, he saw Ron look away
quickly. He supposed he didn\'t have to hide the fact from his friends that
he was looking foaco aco anymore.

Stupid Draco, Harry thought. How could he not know about this? He felt like
walking up to the blond when he found him, and kicking him in the balls for
being such an idiot. Harry tried to push those thoughts out of his head so
he could enjoy his breakfast in peace. He hoped to at least drown his
problems in the various liquid or partially liquid substances that littered
the surface of the table.

After breakfast, everyone started to go their separate ways; some to the
library and some to their dorms. A few went outside just to sit around and
talk or play games, taking advantage of the weather before it began to snow,
until their next classes began. Harry got up with the other Gryffindors from
his year and made his way out of the Hall. He\'d calmed down a bit and had
made up his mind. He had to tell Draco, sooner than later.

He didn\'t see the other boy in the crowd of shuffling students as they made
for the door, but after he got into the hallway and they dispersed in
different directions, Harry caught sight of a shock of light blond hair
amidst the dark. He turned to see if Hermione and Ron were waiting for him,
and they sort of got the idea from the look he supposed was on his face.
Hermione nodded to him and grabbed Ron by the elbow and started to go the
other way.

A few other people asked him what he was doing going the other way, the way
in opposition to the halls back to Gryffindor Tower, but he shrugged them
off with the excuse of going for a walk around the castle before heading
back to get his books for the class he had after Potions. He began to head
after Draco, though he had to rethink the situation. He was in a hall filled
with Ravenclaws, a few Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. Barely a Gryffindor in
sight, but there were a few. How was he supposed to get Draco\'s attention
and pull him off to the side to talk in this crowd?

Harry sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked down the
hall, trying to look like he was simply wandering around on a stroll to
waste the time away. A couple passing students that recognized him gave him
odd looks, but he ignored them. He was slowly coming closer to where Draco
was walking with his friends. Harry couldn\'t hear the other boy\'s voice over
the others\' echoing around the hall, but he still kept up, though not too
close as to be suspicious.

He kept his eyes on Draco, and was both glad and worried that the students
in the hall were slowly dispersing, leaving not as much cover for him as
there previously was. He was suddenly rethinking his decision to tag along
behind a group of Slytherins, most of which hated him. He swallowed, and
slowed a bit to gain a bit more distance between them again. He almost
stopped entirely when laughter bubbled up from the group, and Draco turned
his head to say something, most likely derogatory, to Crabbe, but Harry was
surprised when Draco turned his head further around looking behind himself
for Merlin knows why.

Draco\'s frown at the stupid joke Crabbe told completely dropped of his face
when he saw something that he really didn\'t think he should be seeing in the
corner of his eye. He turned his head back more, to look behind himself, and
his eyes widened almost imperceptively when he saw Harry. But Harry noticed,
and he almost expected Draco to turn around, bringing his whole group with
him, and start a fight with Harry.

Harry almost held his breath a mia minute or two as he watched the blond
begin talking about something he couldn\'t hear. Harry was about ready to
give up and turn around when he saw Draco break off from the rest of the
Slytherins. They didn\'t seem to follow him, and Harry frowned, wondering
where Draco was going. Should he keep following, or was Draco trying to get
away from him? If he was, it really didn\'t seem like it. If he wanted Harry
to bugger off, he would have stayed with the rest of his classmates, not
wander off to the loo by himself.

When Harry caught up and turned down the same corridor that Draco had, he
didn\'t see anyone else down it at all. Draco listened to the second set of
footsteps predictably follow after his own. \"Wait,\" he heard behind him,
feeling a hand on his shoulder, gently turning him around to face the other
boy. Harry closed his eyes as he swallowed, still a bit tired from all the
revelations of the day before, and he wondered if he was really up to this.

\"What, Harry? Come to slam another door in my face?\" he asked sarcastically,
making for the lavatory that, indeed, was down this hall. Draco made to turn
back around, not wanting to have this conversation. He was having a hard
time getting Harry out of his head, and seeing him around school wasn\'t
helping. Even if they only had two classes together, it seemed like a lot,
combined with Draco\'s seemingly new habit of watching for Harry wherever he
went. He\'d stayed well out of sight in the Great Hall, knowing that one of
them would try to look for the other.

\"It\'s important,\" Harry pleaded, following Draco, and taking a few quick
steps so that he was beside the Slytherin as they walked down the hall. They
turned around another corner and stopped, there was no one else around, and
Draco crossed his arms as he waited expectantly for Harry to tell him what
was so important. He didn\'t expect this to take long, so they had no need to
find a secluded room to spend some time having a conversation in. It seemed
that even if they shagged each other every five minutes, they still couldn\'t
have a conversation without it turning into a row.

\"I\'m pregnant.\"

Draco didn\'t move at all, and still held the irritated expression on his
face, though it seemed confusion was starting to break through. He simply
stared back at the other boy, face starting to go blank, and Harry watched
as Draco\'s lips tried to form various positions, as if he was trying to say
something. All that ended up coming out was a weak, \"puh..\" that was barely
audible, though sounding suspiciously like a scoff to Harry. Draco didn\'t
say anything else after that, and he uncrossed his arms and walked away,
leaving Harry to stand there in silence, watching him leave.

And that\'s what Harry did; all he could do at the moment. He watched Draco
walk down the corridor, though without the usual, assured stride. Harry
stepped back until he felt the cold stone of the wall against his back, he
could feel it even through his robes. He\'d just walked away, like he didn\'t
care at all. Like he was disgusted with me, Harry added in his head. He
slowly slid down the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest as he slouched
down against it. He wrapped his arms around his legs and set his chin on his
knee, staring blankly at the cracks in the floor as he wondered what he had
done to deserve such a horrible life.

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