A Fork in the Road

Disclaimer: I don\'t own anything Harry Potter besides all MY made up characters and my amazing plot!



WARNING: This story contains INCEST...you have been warned...



A/N: Happy Reading!!



Chapter 24: Cravings and Pains



Avery felt her feet hit the solid floor of her own living room, but before anything could cross her mind, she heard her father’s voice.



“Why did you disobey me?” He was facing away from her and speaking sternly.



“I knew that you would get angry if you knew that I was going to break it off with him!” She felt herself exclaim. “I knew that you would be overprotective and—”



“I’M OVERPROTECTIVE BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, AVERY!” Harry yelled. Avery was shocked at her father’s tone.



“Don’t you dare yell at me, Harry…” She frowned.



“Well, god dammit, Avery…he fucking slapped you! How do you expect me to react? I knew that he would hurt you in some way if he found out, and I was trying to fucking prevent that. Look, just because we’re lovers now, doesn’t change the fact that you’re my daughter. You need to obey me.”



Avery knew this but didn’t want to admit it.



“Well, I told him it was you…” she said meekly. Harry turned to face her.



“You’re lucky that I can do Legilimency. I already took his memory from when you told him you couldn’t be together. He won’t remember why, so you’ll have to lie and explain something to him later.”



Avery smiled, loving that her father was so talented.



“I’m sorry that I lied to you,” Avery said looking down at her feet, feeling genuinely guilty. She heard two feet approaching her, and saw her father’s feet standing in front of her own. She felt two hands touch her cheeks and bring her face up to see her father’s. His eyes were extremely green and his face was serious.



When he kissed her, she felt all the troubles of the day wasting away behind her. His lips slid over hers easily and softly. She opened her mouth wider to accept his, and as soon as she felt herself getting slightly dizzy from the passion, her father pulled away. Avery was disappointed but her father’s smile reassured her that she would get more kisses later.



“I didn’t mean to yell at you, Avery… I just…I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt,” Harry whispered, kissing her hand. “I love you, baby girl…” She felt his lips lingering on the upside of her hand and smiled. She snuggled close to him, and pulled his ear close.



“And I love you, daddy…”



--



The next two months had flown right before Avery’s eyes and soon she found herself safely enclosed in the walls of Hogwarts, once again. It was hard for her to believe that she was in her final year at school. She had begged Harry to let her stay at home until the baby arrived, but Harry protested. He claimed that getting behind at Hogwarts was one of the worst things that could ever happen to her, and had told her it was vital to not miss a minute of it. He insisted that she sleep in a special bed in the hospital wing so that when she went into labor, she would address Headmistress McGonagall, who would then inform Harry immediately.



The summer break with Harry had been short-lived but amazing nonetheless. She had made love, cuddled, played, and shared moments with her father that she had only ever dreamed of before. Her father had worked mostly, but had spent his time off with her, pampering her and making extra trips to the stores and muggle fast-food places to get midnight cravings for her. She missed him already, but knew that once she finished this year she would spend the rest of her life with him, and she couldn’t wait for that.



Avery was already a couple weeks into the school-year, and had already faced one distinguishingly difficult N.E.W.T entry exam, and school stress was not the only issue Avery had to conquer now that she was a seventh year. Avery found herself fussing over her now gigantic stomach because it was causing so many difficulties. She had a personalized desk for each of her classes so that she would fit, the pain in her back was growing to be almost unbearable, and her cravings were becoming much more often. She felt bad having to call a house-elf every couple of hours to bring her some snacks, but she couldn’t help herself.



On a rainy Thursday evening, Avery was sitting up with Maria working on some assignment called “Why I Would Make a Good Auror,” and getting more distracted by the minute with a desire for some lemon cakes. She had barely written a paragraph when she looked up to see that Maria was already starting her second page.



“Maria, this is outrageous. I can’t even focus because I’m so hungry! I’ve barely written four lines and you’ve already got a whole page done!”



“You just ate, Av! Merlin, if you keep this snacking business up, the baby’s going to be too big to push out!”



Avery clucked her tongue on her upper mouth and furrowed her brows at Maria, who had snapped her fingers so that Avery’s now somewhat personal house-elf, Liggy, would come to bring her something to eat.



“Liggy brings you some lemon cakes and a glass of milk, Miss” the tiny elf said holding up a platter and a glass that was ¾ full. Avery took it graciously, put them on the table, patted the house elf and thanked her. Liggy disappeared with a snap of her fingers, and Avery turned to grab one of the three yellow lemon cakes that were sitting in front of her and took a huge bite.



“Would you mind if I had one?” Maria chortled. Avery could feel the crumbs running down her chin, but she didn’t care.



“Shur..go ‘head…I on’t cur,” she mumbled through a stuffed mouth. Maria laughed and once Avery swallowed, she did as well. The girls stayed up and finished what they could of their essays and then decided it was best if they went to bed. It was nearly eleven and Avery had been pretty good about getting to bed before midnight every night in order to get proper rest for herself and the baby.



She made it up to her dormitory in the hospital wing with Maria supporting her up the stairs. She hugged Maria, said goodnight, and walked into her tiny room that composed of a bed, a small bathroom, and a little area to eat if desired. Avery lit a few candles and undressed. She grabbed her large pink maternity shirt that Harry had bought for her. It had little teddy bears on it and fell just past Avery’s knees. She sat down carefully and lay on her side, then brought each of her legs up onto the bed and under the covers. She adjusted herself so that she was comfortable with a pillow in between her knees, then turned to the light of the candles and blew lightly and watched the light fade from the room, as the candle smoke filled her nostrils before falling fast asleep.



It was the middle of the night and Avery had turned onto her back, with the sheets and blankets covering only her right leg. Her left foot was hanging off the edge of the bed, her arms were spread out, and she was perspiring. There was sweat on her forehead, and her breathing had become rigid. She awoke and felt that her mouth had become rather dry. She reached over to the side-table to help herself sit up, and reached for a glass of water she had on the night-stand, but when she moved, a sharp pain in her lower left back left her in agony.



“OW!” She yelped. She retreated her hand and sat straight again. The pain ceased and she inhaled a few breaths before trying to reach for the glass again, but she had barely moved an inch when the pain shot through again, this time in the middle of her lower back.



“OH, MERLIN!” She nursed her lower back with her hands, trying to make the pain go away, but it kept coming, more rapidly. Oh God, she thought, maybe something’s wrong She grabbed onto the side table, the pain continually coursing through her back. She cringed as she slowly stood and made her way to the nurse’s office. She flipped on the light-switch and called for Poppy.



“Madam Pomfrey…I’m having some back pain,” Avery said aloud, holding onto the doorframe with her left hand, and rubbing her lower back with her right. The little nurse awoke sleepily and reached for a pair of glasses, getting out of bed rather quickly for an elderly witch.



“Lay down, here, dear and let me check to make sure everything’s alright,” Poppy said, assisting Avery into the bed. Avery lay down and as soon as she did, the pain ceased.



“Oh, that feels much better…maybe my back was in a bad position while I was sleeping or something?” Avery said watching Madam Pomfrey scuttle momentarily around the room grabbing a few bottles and her wand.



“Nevertheless, I need to make sure you’re alright.”



Avery lay still as the nurse examined her, rubbing her stomach all the while, when all of a sudden, Avery felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.



“OW! MERLIN!” Avery gasped. Poppy readjusted her glasses in the middle of examining the young witch and looked up quickly.



“What hurts dear?”



“My stomach…I just felt a sharp pain down in my abdomen…” Avery sighed heavily. The elderly witch repositioned her wand on Avery’s body. It took Poppy only five minutes to clarify the circumstances.



“Well, am I alright?” Avery asked, still breathing rather hard and holding her hands in place on her belly.



“Miss Potter,” the nurse smiled, “I believe your water has just broken.”





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A/N: :)