The Curse

Chapter Three


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Harry didn’t know how long he was sitting on his bedroom floor staring at Malfoy, but he knew it must have been quite a while because his arse was growing numb. Harry winced. Arse was not the word he wanted to think about just now. It brought a certain image into his head. Mainly a pale one covered in blood. He screwed his eyes shut as if that would erase the picture.

It didn’t work.

Harry took in a deep, cleansing breath. He needed to think about his future and what would happen … afterwards.

What would everyone think? Would they think he was now gay? Would people treat him differently? How did the Wizarding world view homosexuals? Was it any different from the Muggle world? To Harry, it didn’t matter if one was a homosexual or not. In truth, he never really gave it much thought. It was only a shock to him that Malfoy was one. He didn’t seem the type.

“Potter, stop staring at me.”

Startled, Harry blinked twice in rapid succession, and then shifted his gaze to the floor. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He heard Malfoy shifting on the bed, apparently so he could sit up.

“I take it Granger explained everything.”

Harry closed his eyes and nodded. “Yes,” he whispered.

Malfoy sighed. “Then you understand you have a choice?”

Harry’s head snapped up angrily. He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing Malfoy to cringe “Choice? What choice? A choice whether or not to let you die?”

“I’m not going to die, Potter,” Malfoy replied calmly.

“Rubbish! She told me that if I don’t… you know…” Harry motioned between the two of them, “…that the curse will cause you so much pain that you’ll eventually die!”

“I won't die,” Malfoy insisted. “It will just feel like it.”

“And will the pain ever go away?” Harry asked snidely.

Malfoy glanced at the furthest wall. “No,” he said quietly, barely moving his lips.

“Then I don’t have a choice, do I?” Harry challenged.

Malfoy’s mouth twisted wryly and he muttered, “Fucking Gryffindors.”

“Oh, and what would you do if you were in my situation? Run away?” Harry asked coldly.

Malfoy looked back at Harry, glaring at him with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think you want me to answer that.”

Harry’s lips pressed into a dangerously thin line as he clenched his jaw. Malfoy was right. Harry didn’t want to hear his answer. Instead, he kept silent and let the silence lengthen between them until it became unbearable.

“Look, Malfoy. I’ve already made my decision,” he stated flatly.

“How very noble of you,” Malfoy drawled sarcastically.

“Shut up, you piece of shit!” Harry yelled. “You think you'd be a little more grateful!”

“Grateful?” Malfoy snapped, raising his voice slightly.

“Yes, grateful! Weren't you the one begging me to finish the curse an hour ago?”

“I did not beg!” Malfoy maintained heatedly.

“The hell you didn’t!” Harry shot back.

“Well, I was out of my mind then!”

“Of course you were! But that still doesn’t change anything!”

Malfoy lifted an eyebrow and said tightly, “You do realise that things will change.”

Harry lowered his eyes to the floor, and bunched his hands into fists. “I know that,” he said in a bitter tone.

“And have you thought about that?”

“Of course, I have,” Harry retorted sharply.

There was another long pause of silence. Malfoy sighed dejectedly.

“Look, Potter. You don’t have to -- ”

“Yes, I do, so just shut up already!” Harry spat angrily.

Malfoy bared his teeth in annoyance. “What I was going to say was that you don’t have to be a part of - ”

Harry jumped to his feet. “Don’t you even think about finishing that sentence, Malfoy! I will be a part of her life, and you can't stop me!” Harry screamed.

Malfoy lifted both brows in amusement, and slowly shook his head from side to side. “Merlin help her.”

Harry opened his mouth, ready to continue the argument, but stopped short when he saw that Malfoy had a smirk on his face. Did Malfoy just make a joke?

Harry studied him intently. “You mean, you're not surprised?” he asked suspiciously.

Malfoy shrugged indifferently. “No. I figured you’d try.”

Harry was speechless. Malfoy had already surmised that Harry would demand to be in their daughter’s life, and he wasn’t going to fight him? How bizarre.

Malfoy stared at him for a few moments, then said, “Potter, there's something I need to discuss with you.”

Harry raised an eyebrow in silent question.

“As I said earlier, things will change and there will be certain things that will…” Malfoy paused to take a deep breath, “…happen.” He looked at Harry seriously. “I’m not talking about a physical change, but rather our environment.”

Harry frowned and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“My father, Potter.”

Harry’s eyes widened with understanding.

“He will make life… difficult,” Malfoy said softly.

“How?”

“By being constantly around.”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

Malfoy smirked. “Oh, yes. You laugh now. Let’s see how funny it is after nine months.”

Harry stopped laughing and looked at him solemnly. “Malfoy, won't he be angry that the one he had…” He paused briefly to emphasise, “…chosen isn’t the father?”

“It won't matter by then. He’ll think that the Malfoy heritage will now be preserved.”

“What will happen when he learns that it won't be a male?”

An evil grin crossed Malfoy's face. “I can't wait to see his expression.”

They shared a smile between them, and then Harry glanced away uncomfortably. Silence lingered for a moment before Malfoy cleared his throat to get his attention.

“Potter, are you worried about what your friends will think?”

“No,” Harry said quickly. He turned his head away, and then glanced sideways at him. “Although, I’m not sure how Ginny will react.”

“The Weaslette? I’m surprised you two aren’t married by now. I thought for certain she’d want kids straightaway – knowing how her family is and all.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, Malfoy, but I’m the one who wanted children,” he snapped.

“And now here’s your chance,” Malfoy said, half-smirking.

“Oh, shut it, Malfoy!” Harry shot back, annoyed. It sounded too much like what he thought Hermione was going to say, except Malfoy’s remark had been more like a smug taunt, and he hated it.

“So, Potter,” Malfoy began uneasily. “Why aren’t the two of you married yet?”

“None of your damned business!” Harry barked.

Malfoy looked at Harry levelly. “Well, considering that I don’t want to get Bat Bogey Hexed when she finds out what's going on, I think I have a right to know where the two of you stand.”

Harry gritted his teeth because he knew Malfoy had a good point. It wouldn’t be fair to him to be left in the dark. Especially if he was going to be in Harry's life as his… Suddenly, Harry frowned. Now that he had thought about it, he didn’t know how Malfoy was going to be referred to. His partner?

Harry shook his head mentally. He’d have to worry about that later. Right now, he reluctantly agreed with Malfoy that he did deserve to know about Harry and Ginny’s situation. But how was he going to phrase it?

Taking a deep breath to stay calm, Harry said, “We decided to… wait a while before getting married.”

Malfoy looked at him curiously. “Why?”

Ginny's words echoed in Harry’s mind.

“I want to do things before settling down.”

No, Harry couldn’t tell him about that.

“Ginny joined the Cannons as a Beater,” Harry said matter-of-factly.

“Ah,” Malfoy said, nodding.

“What does that mean? ‘Ah’,” Harry asked defensively.

“It just means that it makes sense,” Malfoy answered with a half-shrug.

Harry scowled, even though he knew that his expression was probably giving away his displeasure of her leaving. And he was right, judging by the look on Malfoy’s face.

“Potter, just because she’ll be gone for a while doesn’t mean the two of you are broken up for good,” he said quietly.

“How would you know?” Harry snapped.

Malfoy pinched his brows together and frowned. “So,” he began slowly. “The two of you did break up?”

“No, we did not!” Harry said at once.

“Then I don’t understand the problem,” Malfoy said cautiously.

“There is no problem!”

Malfoy studied Harry’s face, still not convinced. Finally, “You didn’t want her to go,” he said decisively.

“Of course I didn’t want her to go!” Harry shot back. Suddenly, his eyes opened at his own proclamation. He didn’t mean to let that slip out. Never mind the fact that he didn’t want to admit it to himself. Harry panicked. “What I meant was that I was looking forward to just having a normal life. And I wanted Ginny to be a part of it,” he added quickly.

Malfoy nodded with understanding. “And how does she feel about waiting?”

Harry's eyes darkened with fury. Without thinking, he screamed, “She says that she wants to DO things before settling down, all right?”

The small room became deadly quiet save the heavy breathing coming in and out of Harry's flaring nostrils. The uncomfortable silence stretched between them for several minutes; Harry's eyes angrily locked with Malfoy's. Finally, Malfoy turned away and stared at the far wall.

“I didn’t…” Malfoy started, but his voice trailed off.

After a slight hesitation, Harry snapped, “Just forget it. It doesn’t matter to me any more.”

“Well, obviously it does,” Malfoy insisted, now looking directly at Harry.

“I don’t want to talk about it, so just drop it, Malfoy,” he retorted heatedly.

Malfoy slowly nodded and calmly said, “Fair enough.”

They stared at each another for a while, then abruptly, Harry walked over to the wall and leaned against it, diverting his gaze. As he stood there in silence, Harry thought back to something else that Ginny had said.

“…if something happens while I’m gone, I’ll understand…”

Harry tried to not think of the implications behind her words, but truthfully, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was any.

Did she say that to him just because she didn’t want him to feel guilty if something did happen while she was gone? Or… was there another reason? It couldn’t be that she wasn’t happy with Harry or their relationship, but yet it did seem odd that she didn’t appear to be as upset about leaving as Harry was. Could it be possible that she was no longer in love with Harry, and this was her way of telling him?

Mentally, Harry shook his head. Ginny did love him. She had even said so. Numerous times. Harry suddenly frowned as he considered the notion that Ginny might have been referring to a friendship love as opposed to actually being in love.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed in disgust. He hated that he had even considered that to be her reason. But worse still would be if it turned out to be the truth. He didn’t want to lose his best friend. It would simply crush him. Then Harry thought of the Weasleys. What would they say? How would they react if they were to break up for good? Would they be as disappointed as Harry would be? Would they still consider him to be a part of the family? Of course they would. Harry knew that he would always be considered part of their family. No matter what happened.

Harry suddenly thought of the current situation with Malfoy. Would they accept his decision to… join with Malfoy? He wondered idly what their reaction would be.

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Malfoy, who was uncomfortably looking down at his lap. Harry knew it wasn’t going to be easy to let go of all the years of unfriendly bantering between them, but he also knew that they would have to try. At least for the sake of their daughter.

Harry looked down at the ground, trying to hide his reddened cheeks. Here he was thinking about their daughter, and she hadn’t even been conceived yet. He began toeing the floor nervously, realising what the two of them had to do.

Harry decided it was time to break the uncomfortable silence. He cleared his throat to gain Malfoy's attention, and said awkwardly, “Well, I guess we should now… you know.” He waved a hand between the two of them to make his point.

Harry swallowed hard and stole a quick glance at Malfoy. It was strange, but he thought he could see a small smile tugging at Malfoy's lips. Harry lowered his head and wiped his sweaty palms on the sides of his trousers.

“I’m just not sure how to… you know,” he whispered, feeling completely embarrassed by his confession.

Harry peered up through his fringe. This time Malfoy was smirking in amusement.

“What?” Harry said automatically.

A mischievous look came into Malfoy's eyes. “I think you’ll be able to figure it out.”

Harry gulped, and shifted on his feet. “I just… I just don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly.

Suddenly, Malfoy threw his head back and roared with laughter.

“What's so fucking funny?” Harry yelled over Malfoy's loud voice.

“You!” Malfoy choked out. “Potter, I’m hardly a virgin.”

“Oh,” Harry said automatically, and then it dawned on him what that implied. “OH!”

Malfoy laughed again.

“Shut up!” Harry said, voice rising again.

Harry went back over to the wall, and slid down to the floor, waiting for Malfoy to stop. He crossed his arms tightly to his chest as if that would protect him. When Malfoy’s laughter died down, it was replaced it with a full grin.

“You know, Potter, if you’re going to be a part of my daughter’s life, then you better get a sense of humour.”

“What do you mean ‘if’?” Harry said defensively.

“Merlin's blood, Potter! Lighten up! I was only joking,” Malfoy quipped, smiling.

Harry sneered and looked away. “I don’t like to be made fun of,” he growled. “Especially by you.”

Through his peripheral vision, he saw Malfoy roll his eyes. “Right. I’ll keep that in mind,” Draco said with a hint of sarcasm. There was a small pause, then Malfoy said, “Look, we’ve never been friends--”

“There’s the understatement of the year,” Harry cut in.

Ignoring Harry, he continued, “But we need to try and get along. At least for the sake of our daughter,” he finished, echoing Harry’s earlier thoughts.

Harry looked at him sceptically. “This doesn’t sound like you,” he said, frowning.

“Oh? My voice has changed?” Malfoy drawled, slightly amused.

“You bloody know well what I meant,” Harry retorted in annoyance.

Malfoy sighed loudly. “When circumstances call for it, I do know how to be diplomatic.”

Harry snorted in disbelief, and Malfoy raised an eyebrow. Harry quickly averted his eyes, and concentrated on looking indifferent. The last thing he wanted to do was to get into a political discussion. He had enough of that with the Ministry.

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