Loopholes

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Black Padfoot: No, I haven´t- I know I probably should, but I´m too impatient to wait whenever I´ve got a new story/chapter ready. ;D



After a few more days, Draco didn´t feel as wobbly on his legs anymore; he heeded the Healer´s advice and avoided any physical exertion, but at least he was allowed to be up within the house if he didn´t overdo it.

He noticed that that was impossible anyhow, since he began to feel dizzy when he walked around too much: he had truly underestimated the strain that the changes were putting his body under, and kept being astonished about the amount of sleep he obviously needed; he constantly found himself napping or dozing.

He had just begun reading a book about baby care on the sofa when the floo announced an impending arrival; a moment later, Ron Weasley stumbled out of the fireplace, carrying Hugo on his hip.

Draco smiled and slowly swung his legs down: “Hello,” he said; at the sight of him, Hugo began to struggle: “Down, Daddy!” he squealed.

Once Ron had put him down, he immediately toddled off towards Draco, his stuffed dog in tow, throwing himself into the blond man´s arms: “Careful, little one,” Draco laughed, hugging the small boy close.

Ron sat down in the chair opposite of them: “How are you?” he asked, pointblankly nodding towards Draco´s belly.

Draco carefully hid his amusement at this; it had taken a lot of time and effort for Ron to accept Harry´s relationship with the blond, and even longer to manage to forget their former animosities and act friendly towards Draco.
They were still treading around each other as if walking on eggs; it was easier with Hermione and/or Harry present. That Ron was paying him a spontaneous visit on his own certainly was an achievement, thus Draco didn´t want to mess up.

“Fine,” he replied. “If still a little sore, and not allowed to do much but lying around.”

“Dwaco ill?” Hugo, who had been playing with the buttons of Draco´s shirt, now asked, staring at the blond man with an almost solemn expression.

Draco stroked over the back of the child´s head: “No, I am not ill,” he said fondly. “I just wasn´t feeling so well for a few days.”

Hugo nodded and touched Draco´s face with one little hand, as if seeking to reassure them: “Hugo make Dwaco better,” he promised, petting the blond man´s cheek.

Draco looked at Ron: “If this isn´t subtle propaganda,” he said quietly, while a warm, fuzzy feeling spread in his belly: he had noticed that Hugo didn´t call him “Daddy” any longer, but that didn´t matter- if everything went well, Harry and he would soon have their own little boy or girl.


Ron actually smiled at this, gazing at his son fondly. Draco turned his attention back to Hugo: “Shall we go and make some tea, Hugo?”

“Hugo make tea,” the little red-head squealed and wriggled off Draco´s lap, leaving the stuffed dog with him.

The blond man made to get up as well, but Ron was faster: “Stay put, mate, I´ll do it,” he offered and followed the small boy into the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Draco looked after them, then he put a marker into his book and laid it aside.

Ron thought he had rarely seen Malfoy so content, though that seemed the wrong word: he had rarely seen him so... fulfilled. He looked like he had won the lottery but was waiting for the appropriate time to actually tell somebody.
While Ron helped Hugo measuring the right amount of tea, he resisted the urge to pull his little boy into his arms; he had never expected children to be such a marvel, yet he thanked Merlin for Rose and Hugo every day.

He could see why Harry and Draco wanted to have one of their own, and it had greatly surprised him to hear that Malfoy had actually volunteered to go through the whole painful and demanding process; despite all his earlier efforts, that had been the day when Ron had truly begun to accept and respect Draco.

When they came back into the sitting room, Draco was stroking the stuffed dog, a far-away look on his face; only when Hugo propelled himself onto the sofa next to him did he snap out of it, laughing about the little boy´s antics.

When Harry came home from work that evening, he found Draco napping on the sofa; he awoke as Harry tenderly stroked a few wisps of hair out of his face and bent down to kiss Draco on the forehead.

“Hmm...” Still very sleepy, Draco blinked up at him before his face broke into a smile: “Hey you,” he murmured. Harry felt a rush of affection so strongly that it felt like falling in love with Draco all over again.

He unceremoniously if gingerly climbed over his love and laid down behind him, wrapping him in his arms; Draco nestled against him, his body a source of warmth.
Harry gently brushed the blond´s neck with his lips: “You okay?”

“Yeah... Ron and Hugo came around for a visit.”

Harry smiled into Draco´s neck: “They did?”

“Hm... and the look on Ron´s face was almost relaxed.”

The smile turned into a quiet laugh: “He´s trying very hard.”

“I know... Hugo´s adorable, don´t you think?”

“Yes, he is.” Harry nuzzled his nose against his love´s soft skin: “Have a bath with me later on?”

“That´d be lovely,” Draco almost purred. “If it involves a massage.”

“Conditions, Malfoy?”

“Conditions, Potter.”

A gentle hand was caressing him, stroking through his hair and applying soft pressure to his scalp; it felt so good he could have purred. As he was slowly waking up, something else registered in his still sleepy mind: the smell of coffee.

Blinking his eyes open, he let let the light wash over him before turning onto his back to face his lover; Draco smiled at him affectionately as he did so, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on Harry´s lips: “Good morning, handsome,” he murmured, nudging Harry´s mouth with his before straigthening up again. “I made breakfast.”

Harry sighed contentedly: “Breakfast in bed?” he asked, reaching out for his glasses. Draco nodded, summoning a tray over to hover a few inches above the mattress. Harry smiled when he noticed the flower: a single stem with delicate white petals which Draco had put into a small glass.


They were nearing the end of the fourteen days; Draco had shown remarkable patience and had indeed followed the Healer´s advice, resting a lot and allowing his body to adjust.
The more he felt like his old self, however, the less he wanted to wait; he felt up to facing the next step, and he was confident that everything had gone well.


After breakfast, Harry pushed the tray aside and pulled Draco close; the blond contentedly snuggled up with him, caressing the dark-haired wizard´s shoulder with the backs of his fingers.

“You´re happy,” Harry stated, smiling into the other´s hair.

Draco smiled as well: “I am,” he murmured. “I feel good, and I can´t wait to see Healer McCartney again.”

“McCarthy.”

“Whatever.” They chuckled.

Harry gently rubbed his hand over Draco´s back in lazy circles: “So... if he gives us the green light...”

“Yes?”

“Will that mean we´re going to spend every free moment in bed?”

“I hope so.”

“Miss it?”

“Terribly.”

“Me, too...”

Harry subdued a grin as he continued rubbing Draco´s back, slowly allowing his hand to wander further down: “Care for a little foretaste?”

“Hm...” Draco´s voice was down to a purr as Harry´s hands explored his body, massaging and teasing the blond as he went.

Soon Draco was panting, and his little mewls of pleasure only edged Harry on; without further ado, he slipped underneath the blanket and began kissing Draco´s inner thighs, gently pecking the soft skin and at times grazing it with his teeth ever so softly.

The blond buried his hands in Harry´s unruly hair, hardly realizing what he was doing because of the sensations the other´s ministrations sent through his body. He shuddered as Harry took his member in his mouth, and closed his eyes: Merlin, how he had missed this indeed.

A few days later, Draco was lying on a hospital examination table again. Healer McCarthy had run all sorts of tests, had asked him a lot of questions and was currently studying the translucent screen once more: “Congratulations,” he finally said. “All is well. You´re ready for insemination.”

Draco and Harry exchanged a look while the blond man sat up, blushing a little. It still sounded terribly clinical.

The Healer smiled: “If you will please accompany me to my office, I´ll explain the exact process to you.”

Similarly to the first time he had counseled them, he showed them a chart which made both of them blush even more, since it showed the reformed male anatomy in great detail.

“The artificial birth canal leads to the newly formed uterus and ovaries,” McCarthy said. “That´s why the sperm has to be inserted into it.”

Harry tried not to squirm, yet he couldn´t help shifting his weight from one side to the other: “Er... how... do we do that?”

At this, Draco turned deep red and obviously tried not to burst out laughing, while the Healer smiled leniently, hiding his amusement a little better: “Well... it´s very similar to heterosexual intercourse.”

“Oh,” Harry blushed but shot Draco a sullen glance. The blond unsuccessfully tried to take on a compunctious expression, causing his lover to forgive him in an instant; Draco looked too adorable like this in Harry´s eyes, and he suddenly longed to be near him.


When they got home an hour later, they were in each other´s arms even before the Portkey had stopped glowing, losing themselves in a deep and passionate kiss.

“I love you,” Draco whispered when they finally broke apart, breathless and flushed.

“I love you, too” Harry´s voice was husky, “and I want you so much... I need to undress you now...”

A pleasant shiver went down Draco´s spine as he gave himself over to the gentle yet strong hands that were peeling his robes away.

Later that night, neither of them found any sleep, even though they had exhausted themselves. Penetration had been a little awkward at first, and neither of them could help but laugh at how strange it was, like having sex for the first time again, but they had gotten used to this unusual feeling rather quickly.

Harry nestled against Draco comfortably, gently stroking the blond´s arm: “You okay?” he whispered. He knew that the other was awake as well, he could tell from the way he was breathing.

“Yes,” Draco murmured, pressing a gentle kiss on Harry´s temple, “satisfied.”

“How was it?” Harry was curious.

Draco shrugged: “Different, but not bad,” he said. “I could get used to it. For a while.”

They both laughed quietly.

“Harry,” Draco spoke again after a minutes, “I just want you to know... you know that this isn´t only about the baby, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well... we´re still having sex because we want to, not only because we´re trying to... well, reproduce?”

Harry grinned even though Draco couldn´t see it: “You´ve read too many books, they´ve rubbed off on you.”

Turning serious again, he supported himself on one elbow so he could look at the other: “Of course it is about us,” he said. “You have no idea how much I want you every day, regardless of anything else.”

He reached up and tenderly caressed Draco´s ear, stroking the strands of fine hair back behind it.

The other´s gaze was almost solemn: “I hope we can keep it this way,” he said softly. “What if it takes a long time, you might get tired of... you know... doing it like this.”

Harry eyed him for a moment and then slowly tipped his index finger against his forehead: “Are you nuts?” he said mockingly if still very affectionately.

Draco sighed contentedly and snuggled closer to him: “Just thought I´d check...”

“Check /my arse/.”

“Exactly.”

Both of them chuckled while they were burrowing deeper into the blankets, enjoying the other´s warm body and the sense of being safe and secure.

Harry had been truthful; he couldn´t imagine of ever tiring of Draco´s body, and he didn´t. On the contrary to Draco´s initial apprehension, their sex rather seemed to become even more intense, the bodily expression of how they worshipped each other. His fear that it would serve mainly as a means to create a child didn´t prove true.

There were also times during which they abstained, content to be going without for a while, and altogether Draco felt a comforting calmness settle within him, which affirmed that they had made the right decision.

One morning, Draco´s stomach unexpectedly gave a violent twist at the smell of his toothpaste, and the nausea he suddenly felt prevented him from brushing his teeth altogether. The same happened the morning after that; additionally, he felt immensely tired and could have slept all day. At first he thought he might have caught some bug, but when he woke up after a nap in the afternoon, his head felt clear and he didn´t feel ill at all, simply tired.

Hope welled up in him, and he scrambled out of bed to find one of the pregnancy tests Healer McCarthy had given him.


When Harry came home, Draco was lying on the bed. At first Harry thought his lover was asleep, yet when he bent down to place a gentle kiss on his brow, Draco turned towards him, an unreadable expression on his face.

Harry crawled onto the bed next to him: “Hey you,” he murmured, nudging the tip of his nose against Draco´s. The blond man reached for Harry´s hand; he half expected that Draco wanted to pull him close, but Draco simply took it and slowly guided it underneath his shirt, so that it came to lie on the blond´s belly.

Draco winced almost imperceptibly, as the hand was a little cold, but a smile spread on his face nevertheless as he sought Harry´s gaze now.

The dark-haired man took a moment to comprehend, then he gasped, and a moment later, his hand began stroking the belly in gentle circles.

“Hello baby,” he whispered, awe evident in his voice, before he leaned forward and captured his lover´s mouth in a gentle kiss.


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The End
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Hope you enjoyed it! As this story´s rather short, there´s going to be a -longer- sequel dealing with the actual pregnancy.


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