Indago:Reborn

Chapter Twenty-two

Draco awoke in a much better mood than he had fallen asleep in. The reason for that was the warm heat of his husband tight against him and the black hair that lay on his chest. His arms tightened slightly around Harry, careful not to wake him just yet.

This was the way it was supposed to be. Harry, lying here in his arms, using him as a pillow. Not using Draco for sex and then not touching him afterwards. Draco frowned at that thought. Was that what had tweaked him so badly last night? The feeling that he had been used for sex? Draco sighed and realized he had to really stay away from those Hufflepuffs. Because, honestly, how can you be used for sex if you got off, right?

That line of thought was not making him feel any better so Draco decided that it wasn’t worth thinking about. He pulled Harry up on his chest a bit and kissed him softly on the forehead. Ah, perhaps his father was right that Harry had made him a bit less hard-edged. But Draco didn’t think it was all that bad, really. It made him use diplomacy before force and that seemed to be gaining him more affluence in the Ministry and private sectors. Allies that had no reason to hold his father in esteem. If Lucius wanted to try and shove Draco back into his pocket, he’d get one hell of a fight that was for sure.

“What are you grinning about this early in the morning?”

Draco looked down into blurry green eyes. “Just entertaining certain ideas about sequestering a possible problem,” Draco smirked.

“Gah, you must have been up for longer than I thought if you are using that many big words,” Harry grumbled and grabbed for his glasses off the nightstand. Draco watched him with a smile but Harry looked back with a face full of apprehension. “You’re not mad about last night?”

Draco pushed his earlier unsettling thoughts away. “No. Why should I be? A bit surprising for you, but I did give you your request.”

“Yeah,” Harry looked down at the sheets in his hand. “I guess I just wanted to try something a bit different.” Harry’s face turned red and he did not look at Draco. “And, um, about that other thing that, uh… Well, I don’t have a clue where that came from. I’ve never even thought about… you know… reversing.” Harry said the word as if he would get his mouth washed out for it by his evil bear of an aunt. “I, um, really wouldn’t want that. It’s… it’s just…”

“Not how we work,” Draco finished with an amused smirk on his face. “It’s not who were are, right?”

Harry grinned and heaved a relieved sigh. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“No worries, pet.” Draco leaned over and kissed Harry’s lips and then flung the sheets off as he got up. “What are your plans for the day?” he asked, making his way to the wardrobe.

Harry sat up against the headboard and brought the blanket up to his chest. “Well, I was thinking yesterday that I should start Maia on drinking from a bottle. I don’t mind giving her drink, but it sure makes it hard to have company over when you look like your frenching your baby all the time,” he said with a chuckle. Draco flashed a smirk over his shoulder and then pulled out his suit for the day. “And she’s already starting to eat soft foods all by herself and I only have to help her with the meats and such.” Harry sighed. “She’s not even a month old yet, and I already feel as if I’m hardly not needed anymore.”

“She’s moving faster in her development than we did,” Draco commiserated. “But it just shows the strength and ability of her heritage. Don’t worry, pet, she will still need us for a long time yet.”

Harry smiled. “Yeah, I know. It just felt really good to know that someone needed me on such a simple level.”

Draco stepped over to the bed and kissed the top of the wild black hair. “I need you, pet. We both do. Now, stop making me sound like a bleedin’ fool and come take a shower with me.”

“Harry! Oh, the skies above, you’re looking right well!”

Harry was engulfed in a bosomy hug and laughed. Molly Weasley pulled back and held him at arm’s length. “Now, let me see you proper and tell me how you are!”

“Mum, you just said he was looking well,” Ginny said with a laugh and eye roll as she squeezed through the doorway and into the house.

“A mum…”

“…to a mummy, you know.”

Harry looked up at the twins who were also pushing their way into the house. “Thanks, guys. No one has yet made that crack, and I just knew you would be the first,” he said sarcastically.

“We try to oblige,” the red heads said.

“Now, you have to tell me all about the wee one and then we have to take pictures for Ron and Arthur,” Mrs. Weasley instructed as she pulled Harry into the house. They all emptied into the sitting room where they found Ginny and the twins standing around the cradle. Mrs. Weasley stopped and put a hand on her chest, her eyes getting soft and misty.

“Oh, Harry,” she breathed. “Is that her? May I hold her?”

Harry smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

The others moved back as Mrs. Weasley moved toward the cradle. With a murmur to the baby, she scooped her up and held her close.

“Ah, look at her. Just a perfect little thing, isn’t she?” she asked no one in particular. Harry moved forward with a smile and watched, along with everyone else, the cooing and banter going back and forth between the two.

The next ten minutes filled the house even more as Hermione, Neville, Seamus and even Luna showed up for this welcoming party for the baby. Harry was glad he hadn’t known about their planned ambush, that way he could honestly say it was a surprise when Draco got home later. But he had a feeling that the guests had planned to show up and be gone while Draco was out.

“Here, Harry,” Seamus called out as a wrapped box came sailing at Harry. “This one’s from me. Open it.”

Harry laughed and tore it open. Inside was a book on fairy tales for muggles and a book of fairy history by an Irish witch.

“That’s so’s she can tell the difference between fact and fiction,” Seamus laughed.

Ably appeared and handed Harry his tea and then set out a tray of other assorted cups and nibbles.

“Hagrid wanted to come, but he had a foaling Lush Horse that was throwing quite a temper,” Neville murmured as he took a sip of tea.

“Oh, Harry knows all about that, don’t you, Harry?” George said knowingly. Everyone laughed good naturedly, even Harry himself.

“I’ll probably pop over to Hogwarts during the summer holidays before we leave to have a visit,” Harry said.

“We’re going to miss you, Harry,” Neville said quietly. All heads nodded and murmured their agreement.

“No, not any of that,” Hermione ordered. “We aren’t doing that until the Bon Voyage party. Right now, it is all about this little one here.” Hermione smiled down at the baby in her arms. Harry smiled and accepted yet another round of congratulations. He was having a lot of fun, but he still had to refrain from grabbing the baby out of people’s hands. He took another sip of his tea and grabbed a biscuit.

A half hour later and George and Fred were making everyone laugh at a story of one of their experiments gone wrong. They related that is was a miracle that their heads had shrunk down enough to get through the doorway today. Harry smirked and then moved closer to Neville who had stayed on the outskirts of the gathering.

“Oi, Neville,” he said quietly to the other man, causing him to fumble his saucer of sweets. “I got a new plant the other day and I thought you could tell me if I should leave it in the sunroom or plant it outside.”

“Oh, sure, Harry. I’d love to.” Neville set his saucer down and turned with a smile. Harry grinned back and led the way out of the room as the rest of the party carried on.

“I’m really happy for you, Harry. I hope one day I have a cute baby like yours,” Neville said with blush.

“Yeah.”

“And now you’re going off to North America. That’s got to be exciting.”

“Mm hmm,” Harry opened the door to the sunroom and let Neville precede him inside. Many of the shades were down on the windows and the overcast day struggled to brighten the murky interior. “It’s right over there,” Harry pointed towards a table as he shut the door.

Neville moved toward the potted greenery sitting on the tall planting table. “Oh, well, this is a simple house plant, Harry,” Neville said with a shy smile. “It wouldn’t do very well out in the ground. It’s a bit too delicate for that. But the pot you have it in is just big enough and you shouldn’t have to re-pot it for a few years yet. They’re a slow growing varie…ty!” Neville ended on a squeak as he turned to face Harry and found him right next to him.

“You’re such a smart fellow,” Harry murmured. “Very smart, but very gentle, aren’t you? And completely free, yeah?”

“Um, free, Harry? I don’t understand what you mean?” Neville’s voice was still a bit high as it betrayed his nervous confusion. Harry’s sharp eyes tracked every fidgety movement and the smirk never left his lips.

“Ah, well, maybe you’re not as smart as I thought,” he chuckled. “But you’ll be good and give me what I want, won’t you.” Harry made it a statement and moved even closer. Neville was pinned against the planting table.

“Harry, I don’t understand…” His words trailed off as Harry grabbed a fistful of his collar and pulled him close.

“You don’t have to understand,” Harry growled. “You just have to be a good boy and do as I say!” Harry used his hold on Neville’s clothes and dragged him face down onto the table. Neville struggled but Harry used his superior strength and held him in place. “Don’t make a sound,” he rasped in the other man’s ear.

“Harry?”

“H-Hermione!” Neville called out in panic.

Harry hissed in anger and pulled Neville back up into a standing position. Hermione came further into the gloomy room and finally found the pair of them when her eyes adjusted to the minimal light.

“You both just disappeared,” she said reproachfully. She stopped as she got a good look at Neville’s face. “Neville, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, Neville was just telling me about this plant I asked him about when our ghost popped in,” Harry said with a smile. He put his arm around Neville’s shoulders and squeezed when the other man tried shying away.

“Ghost?” Hermione frowned. “I didn’t know you had a ghost here.”

“Yeah.” Harry pursed his lips and said no more. Hermione looked at him with a confused frown.

“Well, I was just wondering if you would allow Molly to put the baby down for a nap. She’s a bit tired and all.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Harry waved a hand in dismissal. “Whatever.”

Hermione frowned harder. “Harry, I think your squeezing Neville a bit too hard.”

“Well, seeing as how you came here uninvited, I suppose you shouldn’t really butt your nose in,” Harry said with a sneer. “That is, unless, you have some sort of tie to him. I hadn’t heard you two were together.”

“Harry!” Hermione stomped closer. She peered closely into Harry’s eyes who stared just as hard back and seemed to be getting tenser with every moment. “Neville, why don’t you go make sure that the twins aren’t burning the house down.”

“Um, yeah, alright,” Neville stuttered. Harry clenched his arm a bit tighter around Neville and then let go. The other man stopped at the doorway and then deliberately left the door wide open as he left.

“What is wrong, Harry?”

“Why do you think anything is wrong?” Harry smirked and leaned his hip against the table and crossed his arms.

“You seem a bit angry or tense. And you had Neville frightened.”

“Doesn’t take much to make him afraid,” Harry said. “That’s a nice trait, actually,” he added thoughtfully.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed and her face scrunched in suspicion. “Are there too many people in the house? Are you nervous about the baby?”

Harry chuckled. “I don’t care what you lot do. I was just trying to have a nice time with Neville before you showed up.”

“Harry, you’re acting odd--”

“Oi, Hermione! Neville said you wanted to see us?” The two Weasley twins popped their heads in. Harry stared at Hermione and then walked away. Hermione slowly followed.

The house was quite when Draco let himself in. He went through the normal ritual with his coat and then went in search of Harry. It was the crying that had his attention almost immediately. It was such a strange sound and it actually took him a moment to realize that it had to be Maia. Draco quickly took the stairs, following the sound he had never heard. Maia had yet to cry and now it sounded as if her very life was in danger.

His daughter’s cries led him to her room and he pushed open the slightly ajar door to find Ably peeking through the bars at the baby.

“What are you doing?” Draco shouted as he rushed into the room. Ably fell off his perch on top of a large stuffed animal and onto the floor. He cringed, his hands covering his head.

“A-Ably was only trying to h-help the small mistress,” he wailed. Draco glared at the creature as he came to the crib and immediately reached for the baby. Her entire face was red and wet and her tiny hands were in fists. He held her close to his shoulder and rubbed her back soothing. The infant immediately grabbed onto his collar and nuzzled into his neck, seeking comfort. Her wails subsided into chest wrenching hiccupping. Draco turned on the house-elf.

“What the hell were you doing?” he hissed. “Where is Harry?”

“Master Harry left, sir. A-Ably was only trying to help the little mistress. Ably had some toast that Master Harry had fed her before. Ably would never hurt the baby!”

Draco glared at the cowering elf and tried to calm his racing heartbeat. He knew that the house-elf actually couldn’t hurt the baby; any of them for that matter. He was bound to the family to never cause harm. But it did little to ebb Draco’s fright-induced anger.

“Where did Master Harry go? How long ago did he leave?” Draco barked out.

The elf wrung his hands and pulled on the tip of his ear. “M-Master Harry said only that he was going out. Master Harry left an hour before tea time.”

“Tea time?” Draco shouted. The baby shuffled a bit but remained quiet at the raised voice. “You are telling me that he left nearly three hours ago?”

Ably seemed to fold in on himself. “Y-yes, Master Draco.”

Draco glared and barely contained himself from kicking the stupid creature. Three hours! “And the baby has not eaten since when?” he bit out through clenched teeth.

“Mrs. Weasley and many others were here this morning and through lunchtime. I do not know if Master Harry gave the tiny mistress any lunch. Mrs. Weasley laid the small mistress here while Ably was serving luncheon. When the tiny mistress started to cry, Ably tried to help her, but Ably didn’t want her to be frightened.”

“And Harry left with that lot?”

“No, Master Draco. Master Harry left after them. By himself.”

Draco grimaced and again wanted to kick something. “Give me the toast! And go make dinner. Soft foods!”

The house elf was only too happy to disappear. In the next ten minutes, Draco was sitting at the dining room table, patiently feeding his daughter. She greedily gulped down boiled vegetables, a water soaked dinner roll, and a small amount of custard. Draco growled as he saw how ravenous she was. When her eating had slowed down, he carried her into the sitting room and sat with her on his chest as she fell asleep. Then he carefully moved her back to her bed. He was just walking out of her room when he heard the front door open. He moved to the top of the stairs and watched as Harry quickly shut the door and blindly threw his coat over Draco’s briefcase on the hall bench. He then rushed to the stairs and, looking up, finally noticed Draco.

“Oh, you’re – you’re home. I was just going to check on--” Harry choked on his words as Draco nearly flew at him down the stairs. Draco’s fist was around Harry’s throat in the next minute and was being shoved hard into the wall.

“Where the fuck were you?” Draco snarled into Harry’s face. He knew he must be frightening to look at at that moment, but Draco couldn’t dredge up an ounce of concern over it.

“I… I was taking… a a …walk,” Harry gasped out. The back of his head was bashed into the wall as Draco growled.

“A walk?!” Draco used his grip on Harry’s throat to bash his head against the wall again and then threw him across the hall into the opposite wall. “A fucking walk while my child screamed in starvation?!”

Harry scrambled to get his back against the wall, but stayed down on the ground. His hands were up in a gesture of pleading as Draco closed in on him. “I’m sorry, Draco! I must have lost track of time!” Hands came down and wrenched him up to his knees by his hair. A silver-slashed face was shoved into his again.

“Lost. Track. Of. Time.” Harry winced as the fingers in his hair tightened cruelly. “That is not acceptable!” A closed fist backhanded Harry to the ground. He stayed down to the ground and trembled as he felt the dominant stand over him.

“I’m sorry, Draco! I’m sorry. I would never hurt her. I didn’t mean to leave her!” Tears flowed freely from his eyes. “I would never ever hurt her!” He then made a bid for forgiveness, quickly pulling himself up and grabbing onto Draco’s leg. But only a fist met him and he was thrown back onto the ground. He covered his head with his arms and cried, “I’m sorry! Please! I’m sorry! I’d rather die than hurt her!”

The sound of the hallway clock and Harry’s sobs were the only things heard for a long time. Draco stood over his husband, clenching his hands and fighting himself. He wanted to beat the sub more for leaving their young to hunger, for daring to leave their home without permission. But Draco held himself in check. Allowed the adrenaline fed by fear to abate and fade with his silver streaks and slitted pupils.

“Get up,” he said in a voice still roughened. “Now.”

Harry moved to his knees and then, wiping at his face, got to his feet. He kept his head down and stood quietly waiting.

“Where did you go?”

“I… I went for a walk. I didn’t go very far, just into town a ways. I think I just window-shopped a bit before just wandering,” Harry whispered, his trembling voice betraying his fear at giving the wrong answer.

“You think you window-shopped?”

“I don’t really remember the particulars. I was just wandering. I just needed to get out of the house.”

“Did you invite those people here?” Draco bit out.

“No, Draco. I swear I didn’t invite them. They just came to see the baby.” Harry picked his head up a bit then and dared to look at Draco’s chin. “Please, Draco. Please tell me she’s all right. I came home as soon… as soon as I could. Please tell me she’s okay,” he pleaded.

“You have no right to ask anything of me!” Draco shouted. Harry shrunk back and his hands came to his face in agony. Draco relented just a bit. “She is well. I fed her and now she’s sleeping.”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and fell down on his knees. “Thank you, Draco. Thank you.” He reached out to place a hand on Draco’s thigh but was pushed away. He stayed on his knees, sitting on his heels and waited. Draco wanted to hit him. Harry had no right to feel relief.

“I don’t want you near me or the baby,” Draco hissed. “I want you to go into the spare bedroom and stay there. Merlin help you if you take one fucking step out of there until I give you express permission. And we’ll see how you feel when you are deprived of a few meals.” Draco stepped back and shouted, “Now!”

Harry scrambled to his feet and moved quickly up the stairs. The sound of a door shutting and Draco sank onto the bottom step and put his head in his hands. What was happening?