Could You Love Me?

Author: TheSiner
Title: Could you love me?
Genre: Angst, Romance, Drama and some attempted humour :)
Pairings: Harry/Lucius; Draco/?; Severus/?(mentioned)
Word Count: ~ 140,000
Summary: HP/LM, slash, mpreg. Lucius forces Harry to marry him. Things get bad and then they get better. This is a story about two different people from different worlds trying to make it work. Complete.
Rating: For some sex, but there’s not that much of it.
Disclaimer: These characters are not my own and belong to J.K. Rowling and affiliates. I am not making any money.
Warnings: slash, mpreg - a boy having a baby, OOC (kind of), non-canon, not betaedited, dubious consent, A/U – it is the same old Wizarding world though. And there is angst and emotional suffering.
Setting:– after Harry’s fifth year. Lucius doesn’t get caught at the Ministry.
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A/N: Excuse me for lateness, please; I had a very bad case of real life interrupting my writing plus Internet problems. But here it is.


THE FOURTH PART – WHAT NOW

19. Life goes on

It took Lucius some time, but after repeatedly assuring the distraught for boy that he would be able to stay in the Manor as long as he wished, Harry had finally calmed down.

Lucius didn’t understand it. He would have thought that Harry would be eager to get free and get away from him. Not that the man wasn’t relieved to find out that he had been wrong.

That much was obvious, since the boy was still lying curled up in his lap.
“Harry,” Lucius gently took hold of his chin and tipped it up to look into the brilliant green eyes.
He gently placed a finger beneath the boy’s chin and titled his face to look at him

“Are you feeling better?”
The boy nodded. It appeared that the tears really had dried up.

“Good. You should clean up and get dressed. There is something I want to show you.”

Harry obediently climbed off Lucius’ lap and disappeared in the bathroom to wash the tear tracks off his face and let Chirpy to dress him. The boy had discovered that it was faster and easier than to try arguing with the little pest.

He had also stopped worrying that the elf would try to inflict some dreadful clothing on him.
Harry had thought that the Malfoy elf would try to put him into stiff, formal robes all the time. However, that had not happened. Clothes that Chirpy brought him every morning were quite normal even by the muggle standards. Of course, there were no jeans or sportswear and everything still looked quite smart, but there was nothing too strange about the clothes.

Harry usually had to wear some black, dark green, blue or even very dark red simple trousers and a shirt or sweater and a pair of nice looking shoes. The clothes appeared to be very fine and expensive and some were made of materials Harry had never touched before. Well, he couldn’t claim to know anything at all about nice clothes, since the boy had never had any, but those were apparently high-quality.

One of his sweaters had been almost feather light. Harry hardly felt that he was wearing something and he had to check if he was still clothed all the time. Only when Chirpy tried to make him wear a tie, he became adamant. And when she offered a bow-tie instead Harry glared. That was Harry vs house elf – one:one. And Harry was not going to change before dinner every time!

Harry had started to suspect that his new garments were not Draco’s cast-offs at all. They fit too well. He remembered the day, when Lucius’ employees, or whoever they had been, had come to measure him for the wedding robes. Harry was almost sure that Lucius had used the measurements and bought other clothes for him.

At first, the boy was surprised that also Lucius didn’t wear formal clothes at home, but preferred slacks and a shirt or sweater instead. Then he had gotten used to it. Harry had to admit, that the wizard looked handsome in clothes that were more casual. It sounded silly, even only in his head, but the robes did nothing for people who had nice bodies.

Harry felt his cheeks heat up, when he walked into the library where Lucius was standing by the fireplace. It was a good thing, that the man was not a Legilimens and could not read his thoughts that were somewhat… indecent, maybe?

Lucius motioned him towards the fireplace and offered him some floo-powdered from the pot standing on the mantelpiece. Harry hesitated, suddenly feeling a bit nervous, but Lucius noticed his distress.

“Harry, we are not leaving. You are not leaving. We are just going out and returning later, I promise. I have a surprise for you. It will be a surprise of the good kind.”

Not very subtle, but one had to be blunt with those Gryffindors occasionally.

Lucius went ahead. Harry’s instructions were to count to five and then call out Alicante Tank and step into the fireplace.

***

When Harry stumbled out of the fireplace Lucius was there to catch him. Strong arms steadied the boy before he could fall. When Harry once again was standing on his feet, he had a chance to look around.

The fireplace itself surprised him. It was like nothing he had seen before. Quite contrary – this one looked like a grotto and was a really large cavity, probably a part of some even larger cave. However, it was a fireplace, because there were magical flames burning everywhere and other wizards and witches were stepping out of the flames right next to them.

“Come here, it is not polite, to block the floo,” Lucius took hold of Harry’s arm and motioned him towards the exit. Light of a different colour was coming from that direction.

They walked next to the other wizards and entered a spacious cave, which was not only a cave. It appeared to be a hall crowded with wizards of all ages – there were families with children, young couples, teenagers and even some very old wizards and witches.

The hall was very well lit. There were plenty of plants hanging from the arched ceiling and the floor was covered with mosaic made of small colourful stones, creating exotic patterns and pictures of some kind of creatures…

Then Harry noticed a large sign above the archway in front of which the wizarding people had formed a queue. WELCOME TO THE MUSEUM OF WATER CREATURES!

Harry almost jumped up with sudden excitement. Lucius had brought him to a wizarding aquarium!

***

The entering fee was five galleons, but Harry thought that he would have agreed to pay ten times more to see the museum!

The place was amazing! Brilliant! So cool! Harry was quite sure that he did not close his mouth for long during the excursion.

Many aquariums and tanks were placed in the walls of cave systems and they were filled with all kinds of creatures that lived in the water.

There were fishes in all imaginable sizes and colours. Some of them were glowing, changing colour; others were singing and sprouting horns in front of their eyes and doing things Harry would never imagine any fish was capable of doing.

Harry saw a real, alive hippocampus - a Mere-horse, with the head and forequarters of a horse and the hindquarters and tail of a giant fish.

Then there was Vito the witty octopus. If one asked him a question the answer appeared floating in the water, written with blue sparkling letters and of course they were smart or witty… more or less.
Two teenage boys were pestering Vito when Lucius and Harry approached and the questions they asked were… well… Apparently, the witty octopus did not had enough wit to know that he shouldn’t answer indecent question asked by thirteen year olds. Harry was relieved, when their mothers chased them away, because the boy had started worrying, that his red ears will never regain their natural colour.

There were some misunderstandings though. Harry was shocked when he saw the exposition dedicated to merepople. From the Care of magical creatures, Harry knew that there was more than one kind of humanlike beings that lived underwater. The ones that he had met during The Triwizard Tournament had been the unpleasant kind, the ones that resembled drowned-people with their greyish skin and dull eyes and were rumoured to like raw meet and not to care about its origins.

Those however were the kind of mermaids that inhabited the warmer parts of the world. Two beautiful women were swimming in a spacious tank their green and blue hair floating around them. And of course, they had tails, covered with shiny scales. The creatures were gorgeous.

But that was not why Harry was so taken aback.

“Is something wrong?” Lucius inquired noticing his expression. So far the trip had been a great success.

“Of course!” Harry exclaimed. “How… How can they keep those… those mermaids in a tank! It is cruel!”

Lucius did not quite understand what was wrong with the fact that the creatures were in the tank and he said that much.

Harry however held a different opinion. For once, he felt a bit of a kinship with Hermione. ”But it is just like slavery! It is cruel! To keeping them there. Like animals!”

Oh, that… Lucius smiled, looking somewhat amused. Harry was beautiful with his cheeks flushed in indignation.

“I don’t see anything funny about it!”

“Harry…” Lucius soothed. “They are not slaves. The mermaids are working here.”

The boy was confused: “Working? What do you mean?”

“They are getting paid,” Lucius explained.

“Oh… but are you sure?”

“Yes, I am. Very sure. Actually the first time I brought Draco here I had to get the director of the aquarium to assure my son of that,” the man would never forget that day.

“Was he also worried that they kept mermaids captive?”

Lucius looked terribly amused, at least for Lucius: “Oh, no. Draco wanted me to buy one for him, he did not believe that they were not for sale; my son was convinced that I was only making excuses. He was only six.”

Harry frowned. And then laughed, it was a small laugh, but nevertheless. Lucius was satisfied to be responsible for causing that reaction.

Harry could almost see little Draco stamping his foot and refusing to move until daddy bought him a pet mermaid.

Harry looked at the older man. The memory was obviously dear to him.
Lucius seemed to be having hard time keeping his cold facade. It was evidently hard for the head of the Malfoy family to relax. He had started to notice that even if Lucius appeared cold as icicle, he had emotions. If one watched closely, it was impossible not to notice.

There was a hint of amusement in Lucius’ eyes or he compressed his lips tighter than usually to prevent them from curling into a broad smile.

However, Harry marvelled at the wizard’s ability not to lose his composure. Especially when they were watching the mime-fishes. At first, Harry thought that the glass tank was reflecting his and Lucius’s faces, but then he noticed that his face had... it had a little fish’s body, tale and fins. And Also Lucius’s face…

Harry burst out laughing again. Oh, Merlin, fishes were mimicking them, their faces! That was hilarious! Lucius Malfoy’s head on the small fish’s body.

***

When both men stepped into the small restaurant Harry had almost forgotten what had happened in the morning.
Lucius was feeling quite smug. His plan was working. The man was very pleased that their outing had distracted his little husband, taking his mind off the less pleasant issues.

They sat down and a dark-haired, darkly tanned waiter greeted them in some foreign language that Harry did not recognize and offered them the menus. Not that Harry had not realised that they were not in Britain anymore, he had. However, the boy had little experience with foreigners or travelling and certainly could not recognise any languages. He did not want to ask Lucius, where exactly Alicante was. Harry was already feeling a bit foolish that he could not hide his excitement.

The waiter whose name was Pablo (according to the nametag) flashed them a smile that appeared almost dazzlingly white in contrast of the guy’s dark skin. The waiter had chocolate brown eyes that seemed strangely intense when they looked at Harry and almost made the boy feel a bit uncomfortable. When Lucius pointed out that they were not local, the young man switched to quite decent English, offering to bring them drinks and recommending the days specials.

Harry asked Lucius to order for him too, because even after Pablo had changed the menu into English with a tap of his wand, it didn’t make any sense to Harry anyway..

Lucius obliged, but not before explaining what some of the titles meant. They had stakes Al Carbon, some salad, shared a plate of miniature seafood delinquencies, Lucius was having wine, but Harry virgin mohito. The food was strange, but absolutely delicious. The boy was starting to associate Lucius Malfoy with nice food and vice versa. Of course, all kind of food he had been allowed to eat had seemed nice to Harry, after living with the Dursleys, but he had started to realise that there was more to eating than quenching ones hunger.

Then Lucius finally explained that they were in Spain. The museum was located in Alicante – a city near the Mediterranean Sea somewhere in wizarding Spain and had been built a couple of hundred years ago. Naturally, it was the only one of the kind.

After the main course, Harry excused himself from the table to visit the gentlemen’s room.

When the boy returned, Lucius noticed that he started fidgeting in his seat and was playing with his dessert, not actually eating it.

“Is something wrong, Harry? Would you like to have something else?” He gestured at the ice-cream. “It is not a problem.”

“No, no, it’s alright, really!” The young wizard protested, but he still looked uneasy. Lucius didn’t say anything, but kept looking at his husband expectantly. That strategy was effective, of course.

“I am not sure… you see…” The boy pulled a strip of parchment out of his pocket and handed it his husband.

Lucius inspected the parchment. It looked like someone’s floo-address somwhere in Alicante.

“The waiter gave it to me,” Harry blurted out nervously. “What did he want?” The boy asked sounding genuinely confused.

Lucius frowned and pointed his wand at theparchment, saying Revelo. His eyes narrowed: “Are you sure, that you want to know?” Everything became perfectly clear to him, but seeing that Harry was apparently clueless, Lucius was not sure if the boy would want to know.

“Of course!” Harry sounded affronted. “I mean… I… I am younger and there are things I don’t know, but…,” the boy sounded insecure, like he was not sure if the other man was going to like what he said and being afraid that he would be punished. “I don’t want to be patronized. I… I don’t like it, when people try to keep me in the dark.”

Lucius understood perfectly and he could accept that: “Harry, I will not patronize you if you don’t want that.”
This was what Harry had started to like about Lucius, he always offered him what the boy wanted. He treated Gryffindor differently. Albus Dumbledore would have just smiled apologetically; Hermione would have tried to make him feel guilty for trying to set his own rules, Ron would say that he is being testy… Lucius just accepted his opinion.

“Also,” Lucius continued. “I am very pleased when you are being honest with me and telling me everything. I am not going to berate you for that.”

Harry realized that he really liked Lucius’ approach.… Something in Lucius just did not let Harry to shrug him off or give some vague answer. Maybe the fact that the man had been very reasonable about a lot of things? (at least recently)

“And about the note…” Lucius began and handed Harry the parchment.

There was no address now, but…

“If you get tired of the money-bags, you know where to floo me Angel.”

Harry’s eyes bulged: “What does this mean?” Why was that man asking him over? “What does he want?”

“Obviously you,” Lucius stated keeping his face blank watching his companion’s reaction.

“What! How? why…?” Lucius was both amused and pleased that the boy looked offended and disgusted. At least he had no reason to worry that Harry would prefer company of some younger wizard. That he found very pleasing.

“Harry, do you know what we look like?”

The boy shook his head, not understanding what the older man was implying.

“We are obviously not a father and a son. Our disparity in age is significant enough, so most people would assume that there is no reason for us to be friends. I am obviously taking you out, I am a foreigner and I am wearing a wedding band. Most people would think that you are my indecently young boy-lover and I am cheating on my wife with you. That is also a good reason for me to take you abroad where no one recognizes us. Besides, I am apparently wealthy, so possibly keeping you. Calling you ‘angel’ our waiter is implying exactly that.”

What Lucius did not mention, was that it was also obvious that they both came from different class.

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” the boy stammered blushing furiously.

“There is no need to apologize for something that is not your fault,”

“But…maybe I was doing something…or…”

Lucius wanted to make a statement that if he were trying to flirt with the waiter Harry would had been thrown over his shoulder and carried home before he could say ‘Adios’. However, it was obviously unnecessary. The young man was almost painfully innocent. It was charming, really. Harry would not have noticed if anyone was making advances, not to mention flirting with someone himself.

“Definitely not. You did nothing wrong. Don’t worry about it.”

***

Later that evening Harry was lying in his bed, in his room, in hishouse…his house? Hishusband’s house, pregnant with his baby. He even had his house elf, which was somewhat nice (yeah, yeah…) and came whenever he needed something or just wanted company… Harry decided that he could get used to this and that he had had such a wonderful day.

Even that part where Lucius asked the waiter to give them two more mohitos, but make sure that Harry got it virgin, because his (pause )pregnant (pause) husband was not allowed any alcoholic drinks.

Harry had to admit that it was fun to see the waiter go pale and shaky and fret in front of them. Then Lucius went further and returned the guy the piece of parchment, with the address, saying, that he had probably lost it.

The waiter had looked as if he was going to get a heart stroke. Well, since during the whole conversation Lucius had looked like a shark ready to tear into its prey, Harry could not blame poor Pablo.

The day had not been spoiled even when Lucius had pointed out that Harry had to face his friends sooner or later. The boy sighed. He had known that already. Finally, they both agreed that the next Saturday, a day before Halloween would be the best time to meet Ron and Hermione, since that was also a Hogsmeade weekend.

The first thing Harry did when he came home was finding his wedding band and putting it on his finger. After what had happened... He did not want people to think that he was... a rent boy or something like that. He had not even taken a good look at his wedding ring before, just taken it off and hidden it in his bag, when he had been fleeing.

It was a simple gold band. Nothing special about it. Only what it represented was something special. What had happened today had convinced the boy that he preferred people knowing that he was married to a man to having them think that he was sleeping with Lucius for money.

Harry yawned. He was sooo tired. And this was a good kind of tiredness.

***
Harry was enjoying peace and comfort. He did not feel locked or trapped in the Manor anymore. He had started to walk around and enjoy everything it had to offer. Besides Lucius was always there. He was there in the mornings, when they had breakfast together and they shared dinner as well. They often had walks together or Lucius joined Harry by the pool which the boy had instantly fallen in love with. The man had also taken him out for dinner once more. That would not have been anything special, if the restaurant had not been in Venice. Harry couldn’t describe how much he had liked Venice.

the library and the winter garden were also Harry’s favourite places. The boy had started studying in the library, because Lucius spent his time there looking through piles of parchment and writing letters. When Harry had any questions, the older wizard gladly answered them. Lucius even showed Harry all the spells the boy needed to know.

When the older wizard had first suggested that his husband should practice magic Harry had been worried about using underage magic. He hadn’t wanted to give the Ministry a reason to snap his wand.

“Nonsense,” Lucius snorted. “You are married now. That means, you are also emancipated and ‘the Trace’ has been taken off your wand. You can use it as much as you want. I don’t even have to contact the Ministry and demand them to cancel it because you will be home schooled, the way I did with Draco, before he went to Hogwarts.”

Lucius’ expression was disdainful.

“I have never approved of the Ministry politics anyway. No wizard, no matter how young, should be prohibited to use his wand. Just because some parents are incapable of controlling their children or are afraid of their magic…” that was obviously aimed at the muggles whose children turned out to be magical.

Harry had never thought of it that way. He had noticed that Lucius’ held very different and somewhat fascinating opinions on some matters. He obviously showed little consideration for those who were incapable of taking care of themselves.

When Lucius went out to meet his business partners and other important people, Harry usually moved to the winter garden. The winter garden reminded la arge green house, except it had a spherical ceiling. There grew a lot of flowers, citric plants, some small trees and clambering plants. Especially Harry loved the small fountain in the middle of garden and he had already made friends with statue of a nymph who was standing in the fountain and was found of gossiping.

20. Halloween


‘Pigeon’s Milk’ was located in a well-kept old building next to Dervish & Banges. Ron and Hermione had never been in there, because they had not had any reason to go into the restaurant where they could afford to buy… well, maybe a glass of pumpkin juice.

So they were feeling a little bit uneasy – like little children in a place were all the other people were morose adults who looked like they were only waiting for the both Gryffindors to do something wrong, to berate them or throw them out.

They were also surprised when the waiter, who looked incredibly arrogant and superior didn’t led them in the hall, but upstairs, where he knocked on the door, held it open and motioned them in.

“Ron! Hermione!” Harry exclaimed when his friends stepped inside.

“Harry!” Both ran to their friend and hugged him tightly.

After franticly hugging each other and shouting greetings they finally settled down at the table.

Menus popped up. Hermione murmured something about abusing poor creatures aka house elves and Ron rolled his eyes. Harry grinned – nothing much had changed.

“Whoa,” Ron whistled. “Listen, mate… there are no prices on this, but sounds kind of steep.”

“Sorry, Ron,” Harry apologized. “It’s just… I am not sure if can walk into ‘Three Broomsticks’ without being assaulted. And don’t worry about the bill, I got it covered.”

Ron frowned: “I don’t want to use his money!”

“Then think about it as mine money,” Harry rose his eyebrows at Ron pointedly.

Ron was going to make more objections, but he was silenced by Hermione: “Shut up, Ronald, and pick something! We have more important matters to discuss than your pride.”

Ron screwed up his face, but did not say anything more and ordered more food than even he could consume. Apparently in spite. Hermione and Harry did not pay him any attention; they were used to ‘Ronproud The Weasley’.

“How have you been all this time, Harry?” Hermione asked with fatality and sympathy in her voice.

“Fine,” Harry answered without any enthusiasm, attacking his mashed potatoes. Hermione frowned at her friends improved appetite. Harry had never been one to eat when he was nervous and he apparently was.

“Fine? That’s all? I am sorry, but I don’t believe you,” the girl stated sternly.

“Mate, you are living with that, that… you can’t be fine!” Ron was even more direct.

Harry stopped eating and took a gulp of pumpkin juice. “You are right. It was hard at first, but now it is not that bad anymore and I don’t really want to talk about it. I mean the hard part.”

He had thought that maybe he could tell about running away and some of that, but now… he didn’t want to. That was not true anymore. Things were different between him and Lucius now and the past was the past. It still hurt. However, it hurt also Lucius. Harry could feel that sometimes when man looked at him. That was between both of them and he wanted to keep things like that. It made everything less complicated.

Harry could not actually forget everything, but he couldn’t think about Lucius he was getting to know as the same Lucius who...

“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed. “If he is hurting you, you must tell us!” Honestly, Harry was such a boy sometimes. Problems didn’t disappear, just because one pretended they didn’t exist.

“He is not hurting me,” the raven-haired boy said gently, but with conviction. “Actually he is being quite nice. He takes care of everything.”

“You can’t want us to believe that!” Ron looked worried. “If he has you under imperius or…”

“Don’t be silly, Ron,” Harry chided. “You know that I can throw off imperius.”

“I am getting really worried now, Harry,” Hermione added.

“Don’t you believe me?” Harry asked challenging them; he on the other hand was getting annoyed – why did they not trust him?

“Of course we do, but… I don’t know… it’s just doesn’t sound possible,” the bushy haired girl was trying to be logical as usually. “He didn’t let you owl us or visit! And he is a Malfoy. What are we supposed to think?”

“People can be different as they appear when you find out more about them. And when I was not writing to you… it had nothing to do with Lucius,” Harry averted his eyes. He didn’t want to see his friends’ reaction.

“Lucius?” Ron almost squeaked hearing his friend use Malfoy’s first name

“Why! Why would you want to ignore us on your free will?” Hermione was astonished.

“Hermione… Ron… I… all you need to know is that it was not because of Lucius. At least not directly. And it is not because I didn’t want to see you,” the boy hoped he sounded reasonable.

“Not directly?” Hermione as usually picked up on the nuances. Then she sighed. “Harry, please tell us what is happening here. You are holding back something important from us. And don’t even try denying it. You are not making much sense.”

“Yes, mate, we are your friends and we want to help you, we are on your side, no matter what,” Ron added. The loyalty made Harry suddenly feel very warm.

Harry sighed and hid face in his hands, he was getting tired of this. Trying to hide the truth from his friends had been a bad idea.

“Fine,”

Eventually everyone was going to find out. It would be better if he told them himself. However, it was almost painfully hard.

“Something has happened,” the boy began. “I… I don’t know how to tell you, but I guess I have to, because you will find out anyway sooner or later. It’s just a bit shocking. For me myself it is.”

Both Ron and Hermione looked truly worried now. their expressions were almost funny. “Don’t get so… well, no one has died, you know. I… I am… that doesn’t happen to boys usually, but I,” he closed eyes and drew a deep breath. “I am pregnant.”

They sat in silence for a while. Harry was afraid to open his eyes.

“Oh, Harry,”

Then suddenly the boy felt arms around him.

“I will kill that bastard!” Harry finally opened his eyes and saw that Ron’s face was redder than his hair and his fists were clenched.

“And make my child an orphan?” Harry laughed out mirthlessly.

“Mate it’s not funny,” Ron winced. “He did, he…” the red haired Gryffindor couldn’t finish the question.

“Harry, is he forcing you to do something you don’t want to?” Hermione asked glaring at other boy, signalling him to shut up, before he said something insensitive.

Harry’s smile dropped, oh, Hermione had managed to sound very… neutral, but it didn’t change the fact that he knew perfectly well, what she had meant: “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“But, Harry!” Hermione exclaimed. “You can’t say that! If he is hurting you we need to know, we will help you!”

“Listen,” Harry began tiredly. “Things are as they are. There is some stuff I don’t want to discuss, at least not with you and not now. I just want my friends’ support. If you can’t accept it as it is…” the boy looked at the door.

“No, Harry, of course we can!” Hermione shot Ron a significant loo over Harry’s shoulder. “Of course we can Harry. We will be there for you. Everything’s all right.”

“Of course, Harry. You are our best friend and will be,” Ron added warily.

Harry smiled. He was relieved and didn’t notice the looks his friends were exchanging between them.

***

Harry was satisfied. His friends had congratulated him, after they had seen that the boy was not exactly unhappy about the pregnancy. He had been able to admit honestly that he was really starting to accept the idea.

He had answered their questions about the baby and then they had switched to other topics. Mostly about the Hogwarts, the new DADA professor, house points and such. Both other Gryffindors had not tried to prove what a bad person Lucius was anymore.

***

“Oh, Merlin,” exhaled Ron as soon as he and Hermione had left ‘Pigeon’s Milk’.

“Yes,” the girl agreed to whatever redhead had meant by that.

The way Harry was acting and what he had told them – it was all quite troubling.

***

“Good morning,” a familiar voice greeted Harry as soon as he opened his eyes.

“Hi,” the young man managed to answer drowsily and smiled at Lucius so warmly as if the man was the most desirable person who could be sitting at his bedside.

Lucius suddenly felt such warmth and light-headedness that the corners of his mouth threatened to turn up into a silly grin, before he caught himself and regained control over his expression. Like some drooling fool, honestly! The man scolded himself.

However, Harry was too sleepy and comfortable to notice his older husband’s inner battle. Then boy’s smile faltered. It was October 31... Halloween.

The dark-haired boy got that funny feeling in his stomach. Probably it was the baby, whom Harry sometimes simply felt there... but maybe, just maybe it was some kind of premonition. This was the anniversary of his parents’ death and that always made him feel uneasy. Things happened on Halloween.

Harry shrugged off the strange feeling and decided not to turn into Trelawney. He energetically threw off the duvet and stretched lifting hands over his head. The action made Harry’s pyjama top ride up showing his still mostly flat stomach. There was just a tiny, little bump.

Lucius did not fail to notice, how appealing his husband’s body was. He just couldn’t wait for the boy to start showing for real. Harry was very slender, so the man assumed that he would not have to wait for long.

Harry however noticed his husband’s scrutiny and gazed at him nervously in return. Lucius suddenly felt as if he had to apologize about something.

“You are showing,” the blond wizard noted.

“Mm…yeah…” Harry cast down his eyes.

“You have nothing to ashamed for, Harry. What is happening to you, it is…it is a gift, you should be proud,” Lucius looked in the pregnant boy’s eyes emphatically.

Harry compressed his lips in strained expression and sighed: “It is not that I am not happy about having a baby… But it is still… weird. I am a guy after all”

“I understand. It must be hard for you as a wizard. Nevertheless, it is a gift and rare and very remarkable. You should not call your pregnancy weird. Your child is one of the most marvellous manifestations of magic,” Lucius scolded. He had to make a point. He was no going to watch Harry tormenting himself with his muggle way of thinking.

However, the effect was quite the contrary. It did ruffle Harry’s feathers. Lucius Malfoy dared to tell him that the baby was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to the boy and a marvellous gift after what he did? How dared he to tell him that…after… Sometimes Harry was not sure if he could forgive his husband everything what had happened between them…

However…

Lucius had taken care of him better than anybody in his life had. The wizard was obviously trying hard to… make things right? Besides most of it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Of course, it was possible only because Lucius Malfoy was arrogant, selfish, narrow-minded son of a…

However, could Harry really blame the man for it? Well, he probably could, but Lucius had been raised to be the way he was. If Harry were in his place, he would probably had turned out even worse. Lucius had recognized his mistakes admitted them and was trying to make amends and he was succeeding.

Harry had gotten used to the Manor, used to his peaceful life there and used to Lucius and his caring. It was getting better and better. No one pursued him, no one was giving him vague orders to make him do something, no one was prying in his life or expecting him to be someone he was not and could not be. He needed this. He still could not forget all the horror he had gone through facing Voldemort.

Maybe he was being weak or a coward, but Harry really needed some time with himself and some peace. Besides now with a baby on the way… he needed all of the rest and comfort he could get. That would be impossible at Hogwarts. Harry had felt a lot of pressure before he defeated Voldemort; he dreaded to think what it would be like now.

Yes… the baby. At first, it had been just an unpleasant fact. He was pregnant. Alright then . he hadn’t believed it. Hadn’t comprehended. Maybe it had been a good thing, because he hadn’t also been able to panic.

Now Harry had accepted what was happening. He saw his baby growing the thickening of skin on his middle was becoming a bump on his abdomen. It was a real baby, his baby. Harry had thought about his mother. He wondered what she had felt while she had been expecting him. His mother who had sacrificed her life to let her son live. She must have loved Harry more than everything.

Harry had to love his baby the same way. He owed that much to his mother.

Lucius was a completely different case though. It was hard to think about the man as of the father of his child. Harry accepted that the little one would be a part of himself, but it was strange to see the baby also as a part of the blond man sitting in front of him. But it was real. Lucius was the father of his child.

The baby was also the result of that night. Harry didn’t know what to make of it anymore. Everything what had happened seemed a strange dream now. It had not been all that bad; Harry had to admit that some things had felt really good… Sometimes Harry thought about Lucius touching him and blushed furiously. He hoped that the older wizard was not a Legilimens after all.

Harry snapped out of his musing and decided that Lucius had a point and he would not be ashamed for his baby. He would love him and be a proud parent and he would not be alone after all. Harry turned his head to the side pretending to ruffle his pillow to hide a small grin that bloomed over his lips.

***
21. Blackmail

Lucius was sitting in his usual chair in the library, when the flames turned green in the fireplace and a head appeared within it. The head belonged to Arthur Weasley. It was not exactly a surprise, because the man had owled him a day before and asked Lucius to open the floo for him. Otherwise, the conversation hadn’t been happening. Malfoys didn’t keep their floo open for everyone.

“Mr. Malfoy,” Weasley greeted.

“Mr. Weasley, what brings you over here?” Lucius inquired not really showing that he was not very glad to see this particular wizard. Not yet.

“Business, Mr. Malfoy, business,” Arthur looked at the other man pointedly.

Lucius almost snorted: “I can’t imagine any business I could have in common with you.”

“Really,” Mr. Weasley raised an eyebrow. “It is a good thing that I can then; I am here to talk about Harry.”

“Ah, you mean Harry Potter -Malfoy? My husband,” to see Arthur’s eye twitch was satisfying, immature, but satisfying nonetheless. “Then say what you have to say and leave. I am quite busy right now.”

“I don’t doubt that, Mr. Malfoy,” the man made wry face. “It is quite simple – you will allow Harry to continue his studies at Hogwarts, or…” Arthur looked at the other wizard pointedly.

Lucius couldn’t believe his ears. Arthur Weasley? In his library? Making demands? The man was a nobody without any money and stature.

“Or what? Are you threatening me? That is not very wise Weasley, I can assure you,” he stressed the warning with a vicious sneer.

Arthur was not going to let the arrogant prick to intimidate him. This attempt only proved that he was doing the right thing: “Think what you want, Malfoy, but in case Harry doesn’t come to Hogwarts we will discuss this with the Wizengamot.”

“Discuss exactly what? Do you think you will be able to achieve anything there? Maybe to become Harry’s guardian instead of me? You are more foolish than I thought then. Until today, I doubted that it was possible.”
Lucius was the embodiment of pure, cold arrogance. He had to hide his nervousness somehow. What was Weasley playing at? Did he know something he should not? He was way too cocky and that was making Lucius nervous.

And to threaten him with Wizengamot/ Harry would never want his private life discussed in the Wizengamot as far as Lucius knew.

“I don’t know if I will manage to prove anything,” The red-headed wizard went on. “However, after they will learn that Harry was not living in the Manor for more than two months without you informing anyone you will be questioned under veritaserum, about the nature of your relationship with your husband…”

“Of course. But don’t you think, we should ask the boy what he wants?” Lucius was getting angry now. He knew exactly what was happening and was not sure if he could control the situation anymore. But Weasley had no idea what he was doing!

“Oh, I am quite sure, that you have made sure that Harry doesn’t know what he wants anymore,” Arthur’s expression showed how distasteful he found the whole situation.

“You are wrong and you are making a mistake Weasley,” this was madness. Now, when they finally started to accept each other, this sanctimonious well-doer had to come and ruin everything.

“I don’t think so. It was you, who made a mistake and we Gryffindors also can explore one’s mistakes, not just Slytherins.”

“Harry is comfortable and he likes the Manor, he would not want to return to Hogwarts. Do you want me to throw him out?” Lucius was angry, oh, so angry, but he was holding back as well as he could.

“Like I would ever believe anything you say, Malfoy,” Arthur snorted. “I think that I have made myself cleat. Goodbye.”

Lucius sank back into his chair. He knew there was nothing he could say to make Weasley change his mind. They hated each other too much. But, Damn! This was so unexpected. He could not go to the Wizengamot. That would be harmful in many ways. To his family, to himself and to Harry. Things would not look good.

Harry was shy, vulnerable and too honest. He would break down if someone started to ask questions about his private life… and there was the baby… no… it could only end badly. Lucius had no choice, as much as he hated it. Weasley would pay for this! Sooner or later in one way or other. However right now there was nothing he could do about the situation.

***

It was hard, but Lucius explained everything that had happened to his young husband. He explained the consequences of the possible trial as disastrous. Not that the man was lying. It would be a terrible affair and his opinion was that Harry should do what Weasley asked.

He also explained that the Weasleys were apparently convinced that Lucius was manipulating Harry; so they would not listen to any objections coming even from the boy himself.

Harry was listening to everything his husband had to tell him, his expression solemn and shocked. It made sense. Of course, they would not listen and wouldn’t ask Harry what he wanted. They rarely had before. Even after he had killed Voldemort they had still treated him as a child. They had never listened when Harry had tried to warn them about things.

He was feeling betrayed. It seemed that Remus had told them, despite the fact that Harry had written a letter and especially asked the man not to reveal his secrets.

He would have to return to Hogwarts. Harry didn’t want that. He was pregnant! He didn’t want other students staring at him, as if he was… a freak. Talking behind his back. Besides… he liked the Manor. He liked… he liked how Lucius made him feel.

Lucius treated him as an adult, with respect. Tried to understand him. He never nagged if Harry didn’t want to talk about something. Lucius made him feel safe. He was taking care of Harry. He was gentle, patient and attentive. Harry had never felt so cared for in his whole life…

And now he had to leave, because someone was making decisions for him again. But he really had to. Harry couldn’t allow Arthur Wesley to go to the Wizengamot. If they forced them to speak about everything, their lives would be ruined. Lucius was right, he had to go.

The older man had assured him that it wouldn’t be so bad, that it was only Hogwarts and Harry had liked it before…But still…

Arthur Weasley was sure that he was helping. Harry knew that the man meant well. How could Harry convince Mister Weasley that he was wrong? The boy was trying very hard not to feel too resentful. He hated being forced into something.

He had extracted a promise from Lucius that the man wouldn’t do anything to harm the Weasleys. Lucius had looked very discontent with that. However, Harry had pointed out that they were his friends and that they wanted what was better for him; even if they were hurting him this time… and maybe everything would be sorted out soon…

The Halloween fest in Malfoy Manor was not a cheerful affair.

22. Harry’s return

Harry was standing by the fireplace in the Malfoy library.

He felt as if he was attending his own funeral or something like that. He knew that it was stupid, he should not be feeling that miserable. However, Harry did. Could be the pregnancy. According to What To Expect When You are Expecting, he was an emotional time bomb, ready to explode every moment due to his wild hormones. At the moment however he was feeling defeated and not even close to exploding in any sense.

His luggage had been packed and shrunk amounting to several trunks. He had had only one when he had moved into the Manor… Chirpy had explained that the trunks contained his clothes, robes, toiletry, medicine, books… Ok, apparently everything he used while he was living in the Mansion was now considered his belongings. It was easier to comply than to try to reason with the creature though.

Harry’s eyes panged with the sting of tears. He was so weak! He did not want to weep here in front of Lucius, but he just could not help it! Harry cast his eyes down.

“Shh,” a gentle large arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled Harry close to Lucius’ chest. Harry buried his tear stained face in the soft robe, which smelled musky and manly and had sort of calming effect on the distraught boy.

“You will be fine, Chirpy is going with you. She will take care of you,” Lucius soothed gently rubbing his young husband’s back in circles.

“Chirpy?” Harry asked through his sobs. “I didn’t know that the students could have house elves.”

“They can’t. But you will,” Lucius announced.

Harry did not ask any further questions. If Lucius said that he would have a house elf, he would. Harry knew that.

Lucius sighed: “It is time to go.”

“No,” the boy whined.

“I am sorry. You know that I don’t like it more than you, but…” the blond wizard’s voice trailed off. Harry knew all the ‘buts’ already, as they had discussed them more than once.

There was not much choice. If only Lucius’ young husband hadn’t been so adamant about not hurting the Weasleys… Lucius wanted to hurt someone right now very much… if Harry had wanted to return to the school, Lucius would have been the one to arrange it himself. However, it was not so.

Lucius unwillingly freed Harry from his grip and grabbed some floo-powder from the pot on the mantelpiece and they both steeped in the fireplace shouting Hogwarts: the Headmaster’s office.

***
Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall were already waiting in the Headmaster’s office when Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoy stepped out of the fireplace, Lucius steadying the boy, who as often looked like he was going to fall out of the floo.

“Harry, my boy, it’s nice to see you,” Albus Dumbledore greeted jovially. “Mr. Malfoy,” a lot colder.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy,” McGonagall nodded.

Lucius returned the greetings. Harry however just nodded refusing to meet their eyes. He did not feel like smiling or saying anything at all. Instead, the boy clung to his husband’s arm not noticing the looks he was receiving from both of his professors.

Lucius however noticed, but did not pay them any mind. He was not going to push his husband away just because those fools didn’t think it was possible that Harry needed him and didn’t hate him!

“I assume you are aware of the reasons for my husband resuming his studies at Hogwarts, headmaster?” Lucius inquired, his face an expressionless, cold mask.

“Oh, I read today’s ‘Prophet’ Lucius. I assume Harry had had enough time to adjust to his new situation and wanted to be with his friends again…” The older man replied smiling.

Lucius had an urge to roll his eyes, but Malfoys didn’t roll eyes, so instead he scowled: “Suddenly you have started to believe everything ‘The Prophet’ writes? At your age? I meant the real reason, of course.” Did the old man think that he was fooling someone by pretending to be oblivious of the actions of his underlings?

However, he decided to drop the subject.

“As you wish Headmaster. We have to discuss some matters of practical nature right now. We have decided to concede,” too much was at stake after all. “However there will be conditions. I assume separate quarters will be provided considering that Harry is bonded?”

“It is possible, but I assumed that Mr. Potter will want to return to his friends?” McGonagall stated watching the couple with some trepidation.

“Your assumption was wrong,” Lucius retorted.

“Harry?” The head of the Gryffindor approached the younger wizard expecting his support.

“Yes,” the boy whispered. “I want a separate room.”

McGonagall frowned and pursed her lips; obviously convinced that Harry was under Lucius’ influence.

Nevertheless, the blond wizard went on satisfied with the small victory: “Besides my husband’s house elf will arrive later.”

“Mr. Malfoy, I understand that you want someone to watch your spouse,” Minerva began. Both of them understood what she was implying: the woman assumed that Lucius Malfoy was going to make the house elf spy on Harry. “However we don’t allow students to have special privileges, even Malfoys. Maybe you have forgotten, but we already had this conversation when your son entered Hogwarts…”

“I assure you, professor McGonagall,” Lucius interrupted the ranting witch. “That I know there are exceptions. For example, special medical needs. Or am I mistaken?”

“No, you are not mistaken, mister Malfoy, but Mr. Potter has no disability I am aware of. Of course, if he has contained some kind of illness during his stay with you, I would like to be made aware of it. Not that it would automatically be one of those exceptions you reminded me of,” the woman gave him a strained smile. She was not going to let Malfoy take the upper hand. It was a matter of principle.

Lucius tried not to look childishly smug only because he knew that he was going to win the argument. However, that was, what happened when a rabid Gryffindor encountered an ex-Slytherin. Besides Minerva McGonagall has once taught Lucius Transfiguration and had been forced to give him top marks despite the dislike she had felt towards him. The witch had always struggled to be fair.

He gave Harry’s shoulder a squeeze in hope that it would reassure him a bit. They had discussed this part. The school had to be made aware of the situation, but just because Harry understood, didn’t make it easier for him.

“No, my husband is not ill,” Lucius knew that he was abusing the title ‘husband’, but he liked the ring of it. “However, there is going to be an addition to the Malfoy-Potter family and I would prefer my husband to be watched really carefully, when I can’t do it myself.”

Harry was embarrassed. He had decided not to be ashamed of his pregnancy, but still…

Albus Dumbledore had that mad twinkle in his eye and was actually… unbelievable, the old bastard was grinning. It was so annoying, when nothing fazed the wizard.

However, Minerva McGonagall looked quite stricken. At least with her Lucius had succeeded.

“You mean…do you mean…?” The witch stuttered.

“That Harry is expecting? Yes, that is exactly what I mean. I hope you understand that my husband has special needs considering his condition. As a member of the Board of Directors, I know that male pregnancy s one of those exceptions you mentioned. Of course, I will ask you to keep this information to yourself for now,” Lucius was stroking Harry’s shoulder.

“Of course,” Minerva exhaled still shocked, but too proud to show it.

“I assume that I should congratulate you both then,” Albus Dumbledore was still grinning. The other occupants of the room were a bit disturbed by it.

Are you out of your mind, Albus? Thought McGonagall.

Is he serious? Thought Harry.

What is he playing at? Contemplated Lucius, narrowing his eyes.

“You have always been a very special boy, Harry,” the old man went on. “I am happy for you. Now, I think you should go. Minerva will show you to your new room. We are lucky that the Head Boy is a Ravenclaw this year.”

Harry looked up at Lucius. Silver met emerald. The older man tried to look encouraging, but was not sure if he was succeeding. Knowing himself, he might be looking simply cold and distant. The present company was not helping him to relax. Harry however looked a bit miserable and desperate and like he truly needed some assurance. Lucius decided to be bold. Surely a gryffindor would appreciate that.

He put both of his hands on Harry’s shoulders and leaned down gently pressing his lips against the boy’s forehead.

It was not a real kiss and a very brief too… Harry felt shivers travelling down his spine and his skin seemingly burned where it had been touched by Lucius’ lips.

“Go now,” the man whispered into Harry’s ear… The boy was still in a daze when he followed the head of his house out of the Headmaster’s office.

***

When Harry and McGonagall entered the Gryffindor tower, it was empty. Of course, it was late morning so everyone was sitting in their classes.

Harry’s new room was not far from his previous dorm, which he had shared with the other Gryffindor boys. Actually, it was in the same hall. He had never wondered, what The Head Boy’s room was like. Harry had never expected anyone to offer him the title. His grades were too average for that.
However, the room was small, but nice anyway. There was only one bed, one desk, one chair, and an armchair that looked very comfy and inviting. And a bathroom! His own bathroom was what really mattered.

McGonagall was standing by the door, apparently uncomfortable. Oh, she was acting strange around him and it was irritating the hell out of the boy. She asked if he was fine, if everything was fine. No, it is far from fine, Harry was tempted to answer.

Then she made the traditional - you can talk to me if… statement.

Harry was relieved when the woman was finally gone, leaving him alone.

He was even happier when Chirpy popped up with his luggage. His new room was nice, but it seemed a bit cold and nothing there was really Harry’s.

***
23. The First Day

***
Draco Malfoy was frowning. There had to be a reason why Severus Snape has called him into his office before Potions. However, he could not figure it out. He had not deflowered any chaste Gryffindor virgins recently or maybe he had… nah, that one had not been a virgin, the memory brought a satisfied smirk on his lips.

Unfortunately it didn’t stay there for long. Draco didn’t like surprises. Especially since the day, his father had decided to marry The-Boy-Who-Lived. That had been a nasty one.
But he was going to find out what ‘Sev’ wanted very soon.

“Draco,” Severus greeted his godson as cordially as ever. That meant the man looked as if he had just bitten into a lemon.

“Professor,” the blonde Slytherin smirked, he was not allowed to refer his godfather otherwise on the Hogwarts’ grounds.

“Sit down please,” the Potions master motioned at the small chair that was not very comfortable, as Draco knew it, to discourage students from sitting on it for too long and annoying his poor godfather with their teenage angst and all kind of ridiculous problems.

“You wanted to talk to me professor?” Draco sneered as only a proper Slytherin and Malfoy knew how.

“Yes. I assume you had noticed that Harry Potter had returned to Hogwarts grounds this morning?” The Potions Master stated without much preamble. It was not a question.

A snort was the only reply. Anyone who was not deaf and blind should have noticed. Nobody had seen Potter yet, but Hogwarts’ rumour mill was already working at its full blast.

Severus ignored Draco’s undignified behaviour: “Mister Potter-Malfoy will be joining his classmates tomorrow. You will be paired with him in my class. I want you to look after him. With that, I mean that there will be no exploding cauldrons, no touching poisonous plants, no getting poisoned by any dangerous substances – nothing of that nature. Do you understand me?”

Draco was stunned. He could not believe it: “What! Are you… I hate the prat! He could set himself on fire and I would not spit on him! You can’t be serious!”

“Language Draco! And I am serious. Deadly serious. That is an order and will not be discussed. If a hair will fall from Mr. Potter’s head during my class, you will be held responsible. You will answer not only to me, but to your father as well, when he will find out,” Snape’s voice was stern.

“You can’t mean it Sev,” the boy moaned. “As if Potter needs babysitting. He killed The Dark Lord! What about Granger and Weasel? They don’t leave his side. Most of the school is already doting on Potter just because he offedHim. Is that not enough? You want to turn me into his faithful body guard?” Upset was not the word strong enough to describe what Draco was feeling.

“Just? Just killed Him? Think before you open your mouth Draco! I am not going to entrust Potter to Granger and Weasley. His safety is going to be your responsibility if you like it or not. And watch over the other little snakes, I know that my house is keen on dropping all kinds of extra ingredients into Potter’s cauldron. Under current circumstances, I cannot have any of that. Is it clear? I have my reasons, Draco. I assure you. And they are not your business right now. You will obey me for once.”

“Or else?” Draco raised an eyebrow teasing cockily, trying to hide his ire.

“You will find out. I assure you,” there was something in Snape’s voice that made it clear that he would not allow the younger wizard to challenge him.

Draco gulped. He was slytherin enough to understand when objections would not change anything. It was clear that the matter was not discussable.

But why was Sev suddenly pampering Potter? Besides using Draco to do that. It was unfair.

Severus Snape hated Potter. Everyone knew that! However now he was making his favourite student and godson suffer, because of the damned Gryffindork.

Draco’s anger flared up. Potter was going to pay for this! Draco would make the little shit pay one way or another. And he will find out what was behind all of it.

***

Harry had spent most of his first morning back at Hogwarts unpacking – he wanted to do it without magic and by himself, because he needed something to do. The Boy who lived was trying to prepare for the uproar his reappearance was going to cause. Harry had been away from The Wizarding World for some time. He had no idea how ‘popular’ he was at the moment. However, his Slytherin part was not naïve enough to believe that The-Boy-Who-Killed-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Married-The-Man-Who-Was-A deatheater-A spy-and A Malfoy, had been forgotten.

At about three o’clock, someone knocked on Harry’s door. He rose from his soft, burgundy red velvet armchair and opened the door.

“Hi, guys,” Harry greeted. There was Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George.

“Harry!!!” Other Gryffindors exclaimed and started hugging and kissing the boy and almost knocked him off his feet.

“Harry, everyone is waiting for you! All the Gryffindors are in the common room! They want to see you!” Ginny exclaimed.

Harry winced. He was not sure that he wanted to see everyone.

Then the boy sighed.

“Don’t be like that, mate!” Ron chided. “You are our hero. Everyone loves you!”

Right. As if, he really wanted to be loved by everyone. But Ron just didn’t get it sometimes.

“Want to switch places?” Harry offered.

The read-head just rolled his eyes.

The dark haired Gryffindor sighed. He couldn’t avoid all of his schoolmates forever…or maybe…, no, he couldn’t. Harry took a deep breath and followed his friends down the stairs.

***

It was just as terrible as Harry had expected. All the Gryffindor’s cheered, wanted to kiss him or shake his hand and finally he was lifted on their shoulders despite Hermione’s yelling to put Harry down right this moment or else…

There was all Gryffindor House and also some Rawenclaws and Huffelpuffs.

It turned almost in a party. Chocolate frogs and butterbear was passed around and Harry was having hard time refusing to drink it all the time. Hermione helped a lot. The Gryffindor Know-It-All whispered in her famous friend’s ear that she had already done some research on pregnancies… Harry smiled; he had not expected anything less.

His head started to pound already after a half of an hour. All the attention! Colin Creevey was taking numerous pictures of him and his friends, some of the students were asking for autographs and obviously trying to get to him as close as possible. Besides several people were doing and saying really strange things – almost flirting. Didn’t they see the ring on his finger!? Honestly!

***

Harry was exhausted when he finally got back to his room. He dropped on his large bed, actually larger than in other dorms, Hermione and Ron flopped down on their stomachs next to him.

“How are you, Harry?” Hermione inquired tentatively.

“Tire-e-ed,” the boy yawned.

“That is not what I meant…” the girl looked at him pointedly.

“I am alright, Herm,” Harry answered kind of ignoring the hidden meaning. He knew what or rather whom she was asking about.

“Are you sure, mate?” Ron joined the interrogation.

“Yes, I am,” the boy was curt, starting to feel a bit irritated.

“Harry, how comes he let you leave?”

“Why don’t you ask Ron,” Harry shot back.

The redhead frowned: “What are you on about? Why me?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know!” Harry exclaimed crossly.

“Of course I don’t know!” Ron sounded offended. “Why would I know what Lucius Malfoy is thinking?”

“Your father is blackmailing Lucius,” Harry glared at Ron. Well it was probably not Ron’s fault and it was not fair to take it out on him, but in his current state of tiredness and grumpiness, the boy couldn’t care less.

“Wow! Really? I did not know the old man had it in him! But that’s just great!” The redhead cheered.

Harry instantly sat up on the bed; he was furious: “Great? You say it’s great? What is so great about that? He is blackmailing me as well! He promised to go to the Wizengamot and make our private life public if I didn’t come to Hogwarts! Sorry, but I don’t see anything so great about that!”

“But you got out of there…” Ron could not understand.

“I didn’t want to get out of there! If I had wanted that, I would have left long before! Actually, we went out with Lucius a lot of times! I was not a prisoner there. Maybe I didn’t want to be forced to come to Hogwarts! I was perfectly aright where I was.” Harry was shouting. “But no one asked me what I wanted! It is just… not fair!”

“Harry…” Hermione tried to calm her friend. She personally believed that what had happened was for better.

“Don’t Harry me! I am not a child. Maybe I did not want to leave. Maybe I liked it there.”

“How could you possibly…” Ron looked stunned.

“Leave,” Harry ordered sternly.

“What?” Both other gryffindors were confused.

“Leave. Now. I don’t want to talk anymore. You just don’t understand. You are upsetting me it is not good for the baby. You should know that Hermione. I am not in the mood… I need some rest… see you tomorrow, we’ll talk then,” Harry simply tired now.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks. They really didn’t understand, but decided to leave Harry for now. It would be no use to push when he was like this.

***
Ron was grumpy, because Harry had treated them like that, but Hermione explained that those probably were hormones that were making their friend moody. It was proved that pregnant men were even more influenced by the unusual predicament since it was very hard for male body to sustain a child.

”Hermione, do you think Malfoy did something to Harry?” Ron asked when they were back in the Gryffindor common room.

“I don’t know,” the girl shot back. “I can’t know everything, Ronald. Maybe he did or maybe…” Harry liked the man? Or thought that he liked him? Maybe it was some kind of Stockholm syndrome. Relationship between Harry and Lucius Malfoy could not be healthy.
She couldn’t actually finish the sentence. It was too… strange and… hard to accept. But if she listened to Harry… Hermione was always trying to be reasonable and…

“He what?” Ron luckily hadn’t caught on.

“We’ll see, Ron. We’ll see,” Hermione sighed and returned to her book.

***
the next morning Harry let Chirpy to dress him as usually. He had gotten used to how some things were easier when you had a personal house elf. The boy took his potions and then went down to common room where his friends and some other Gryffindors were already waiting. They were all waiting for him obviously. The boy groaned inwardly – he didn’t needed escorts or some kind of court, but that was exactly how it felt and looked like.

Harry was feeling really stupid when he entered The Great Hall with not only Ron and Hermione, but more than ten other cheerful and proud Gryffindors trailing behind him. However, he could not just tell them to bugger off.

The shy boy flushed crimson. He could feel that everyone was looking in his direction and whispering. Harry knew that his school robes hid his body well, even the pregnancy, but he actually felt more naked than ever.

Harry was almost having a break down when he finally dropped on the seat between Ron and Hermione. Damn! He hated this. He couldn’t not to remember the peaceful breakfast at the Manor, with Lucius…

“Harry…” Hermione poked her friend. “The breakfast?”

“Oh, of course,” he started getting extremely grumpy again.

As soon as Harry touched his fork, his plate disappeared. What the…he didn’t managed to say anything aloud when his plate reappeared with different kinds of food on it.

“Whoa! Mate, what was that?” Seamus Finnegan who was sitting n other side of the Gryffindor table, exclaimed.

“Must be my house elf, Chirpy,” Harry sighed. “I guess she doesn’t approve of Hogwarts’ food.”

“Oh, and I thought personal house elves were not allowed at Hogwarts?” Dean smirked. “But of course our Harry is a person of rank now. Special treatment for heroes obviously. ”

“Harry!” Squeaked Hermione. “You are supporting enslavement of the poor creatures?”

Other Gryffindors were just looking at the hero of the Wizarding world with unveiled curiosity. Waiting to see his reaction

“I need a house elf,” Harry tried to explain, but it didn’t sound right. He kind of couldn’t reveal why he needed one, could he? “Listen, I am allowed to have her and I do. And that is none of your business why,” the boy lost his temper.

“Easy, mate,” Ron frowned. “That’s fine. And you Hermione,” the redhead turned to the girl who obviously was going to say something. “You should know that Harry needs a house elf,” he whispered looking at her significantly.

That closed Hermione’s mouth and killed the thought that this was the right time for her S.P.E.W. speech.

However, by the end of the day, everyone was gossiping about the privileges Harry Potter was getting.

Stares and whispers followed the dark-haired Gryffindor all day long. Harry did his best to ignore them, but it was close to impossible.

Harry’s classes went as usually. Some teachers assumed that it was their duty to greet him with a little speech and express their gratitude to The-Boy-Who-Defeated-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but within the boundaries of decency.

However Defence Against Dark Arts was different…

TBC

Glossary
Angel – can mean a young homosexual companion. The waiter is implying that Lucius is keeping Harry or paying him.
Hippocampus - a Mere-horse, with the head and forequarters of a horse and the hindquarters and tail of a giant fish (from HP Lexicon).
Time table
A week before Halloween – they visit the aquarium
30. October – Meeting Ron and Hermione
Halloween - blackmail
1st November – Returning to Hogwarts


Review Responses: Thank you all!

rayvenfire2007: Thank you!

Yunasgrace: I am trying to be sensible and not to have them falling in love just like that. I guess the stories with moody Harry you mentioned happen when the author can’t decide what their Harry is going to be like. One might interpret the characters in different ways, but there has to be some consistency. And Severus the smart-ass will be back.

Extraho: Glad you liked the story.

Sophia Max 2008: Well, we, who live in so-called Western part of the world sometimes forget that there are people who don’t only have electricity, but also practice customs we think belong to times long gone.

L.S. : Well, I am a sucker for Harry Potter trivia.

Werewolf Mistress: Thanks, that means a lot.

KIKI : Sorry, not sure what you mean.

Rokkis: I admit, I was having a bit of fun with those self-help books. About a kiss – well, I like to take my time and the first time I was posting this (the old version) some people thought that the kiss was too soon anyway!