Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Harry answered the door later that evening to find Ron, face wind and sunburned, his hair carefully combed to be presentable, wearing his best slacks and shirt. A large pink box was in his hands. "Hey Harry." He smiled.



"Come on in, Ron. Lookin' sharp there… trying to steal my husband?" he teased.



Ron blushed at the comment. "As if I could…! I gotta look sharp to fit in around here…" he said, strolling in. "Let me just go drop this off in the kitchen…"



"Grab me a beer while you're in there, would ya…?"



"Sure, not a problem..." Ron said as he moved into the kitchen. Draco looked over at him and smiled, busy putting a pan into the oven. "Oh, hey there Ferret." Ron greeted, easily reverting to the nicknames they had called each other in school; now the names had become more of a token of the friendship that had developed over the years. "I brought cheesecake for afters…"



"Oh? Sounds lovely, Weasel." Draco smirked back at him.



"So did you get signed by the Cannons…? Blaise commented his coach was considering it…"



Ron flushed, happy and proud. "Just got the news today, signed the papers this afternoon… I'm starting this coming season. Got in just in time for practice…"



"They're getting a good player. Maybe they can win with both you and Blaise on the team…" Draco said encouragingly.



"Come on now, they haven't done so bad…! They made the semi-finals last year…" Ron smirked, opening the sides of the pink box to lift the cheesecake out. The confection was easily three inches high and had layer upon layer of white chocolate and cheesecake all swirled together. "There… think this'll do…?" he grinned at Draco.



Draco looked at it and sighed. "Ohhh… that looks sinful…" he said longingly.



Ron laughed, turning to set it aside and the toppings he had bought there beside it. "You know, Dray, I never thought I'd be the one to tell you this… hell, I was sure I'd be the one YOU told this… maybe you should cut back a bit on the sweets, mate. You're getting a bit thick about the middle…"



"That's not fat, Ron." Harry smirked, leaning on the doorway to the kitchen.



Ron looked at him, then back at Draco. "It's not…?" he asked, and then realization dawned on his face. "You mean..? Really…? Finally…?" his eyes lit up and he looked delighted.



Draco smiled. "You're going to finally be an uncle."



"Hah!" He crowed. "I TOLD Hermione it would happen if you just gave it time, you didn't need all that muggle claptrap…! I KNEW it would happen!!" he said, impulsively moving to Draco and hugging him tight. He instantly flushed and let go. "Oh… oh, sorry, there, got a bit carried away…"



"I forgive you; this once…" Draco smirked at him. "We're rather excited ourselves… so how is Rosie? Why didn't you bring her tonight?"



"Hermione's out of town at another of those mad convention things… she ought to be back in three or four more days. She's supposed to call tonight. While she's gone, Rosie's staying with mum… after all, I had tryouts today and I'm in and out so much poor Rosie, she's not old enough to be on her own yet…. Mum's absolutely thrilled to have her." Ron grinned.



"She could have stayed with us; we would have loved to have her." Draco said as they moved into the living room.



"Rosie's been absolutely enthralled lately with cleaning and cooking magic. Mum's been teaching her for the past three months or so and says she's like a natural…" Ron laughed softly.



"That's a good thing… I know your wife can clean, but I've seen how you live when you're on your own." Draco smirked, moving to have a seat.

"Oh, do us all a favor and shut it, Ferret." Ron mock-growled. "I promise to bring her next time… at least you don't pick on me when she's around."



Harry sat down, his arm about Draco. "That'll be brilliant, because by then she'll have someone to play with..."



Ron smirked. "Really, now…? Come on, Harry, I'm not that thick. That baby of yours isn't even here yet and even when it gets here, it'll be much too little for Rosie to play with…"



"Well, Ron; there's more good news. We have a little Angel coming to live with us."



"What?" Draco looked at Harry, eyes wide. "Angel's ours…?! Oh Harry!" He laughed, hugging Harry tight.



"An Angel…? You finally got an adoption…?" Ron asked.



"One that Lucius can do nothing about. She's five years old, and as sweet as her name implies…"



"Brilliant..!" Ron grinned. "Absolutely brilliant…! I think this has got to be the best night I've had in a while… Merlin, you two needed all this so much… she is one really lucky little girl…"



"We have to go shopping and get a room ready for her; I must have mother over to help…!" Draco said, excited.



"Of course, love. Anything you wish." Harry chuckled.



"Hey, you can count on me for anything I can do to pitch in…" Ron grinned, returning to the kitchen. He pulled out a beer for himself and Harry, and poured a tall glass of iced mango juice for Draco. He was so happy to hear his mate was finally getting what he needed to have and deserved, for so many years… Harry was going to have a real family…



"You know, Harry, mother will insist we take one of the house elves now; she's been after us for years to have one…"



"Perhaps it will be a good idea now, with the baby coming…"



Ron strolled back in, handing his friends their drinks. "So, when will you have your Angel here? Rosie is going to be absolutely thrilled; Angel will be a little younger but someone to play with will be fantastic for her…"



"Snape said I could bring her home by the weekend."



Ron's smile was even more joyous. "She's got to be one of the luckiest girls in all of England to have you two for parents… I know Rosie adores you both…"



Draco sipped his tea; he'd not expected Ron to get it and had been pleasantly surprised. "So Ron; how's it been going for you and Hermione…? Any plans on giving Rosie a brother?"



The auburn-haired man sighed, his smile fading. "You know, I… I'd love to, but… hell, we hardly see each other. She's always busy at the clinic it seems. She used to skive off work sometimes when I'd come home from a trip, but lately… when I get home; I swear she works late every night. I guess I talk a lot about Quidditch, but… she only wants to talk about the clinic. And I can't talk about that because none of it makes a bit of sense to me…" he shrugged. "She was really upset that you two gave up; she was sure they could help you have a baby."



"I just couldn't go on…" Draco said softly. "Not after losing Andie… I just couldn't."



"I understand; I doubt I'd have kept going either." Ron murmured softly, looking a bit troubled. He hadn't sat down yet, and was scuffing his toe on the carpet, eyes on the off-colors it was making in the pattern. It was clear that he had something he wanted to talk about but didn't know how to breach the subject. "Can't blame you at all…"



Harry knew his friend would work himself into a dither if he didn't help him get the subject started. After giving him a chance and seeing it wasn't going to happen, Harry cleared his throat. "Ron; you said you needed to talk about something when you called me earlier." He reminded, giving Ron an opening.



"Huh…? Oh, yes… I will… just…" he glanced at Draco, unsure.



Harry half-chuckled at his oldest friend's hesitance to speak in front of Malfoy. "You know you can talk to me about anything in front of Dray, Ron… I tell him everything anyway…"



Ron sighed and cracked open his beer, taking a deep drink. "Yeah… It's just… hell, Harry. Something weird is going on; something… and Hermione… she's involved but… I dunno…" he said cryptically, moving to take a seat in the chair.



"What do you mean, Ron?" Harry asked, leaning forward. "Do you think she's seeing someone?"



"No, no, nothing like that… Merlin… At least I don't think it's that simple." Ron ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "It's… well… you know I wasn't making crap worth of money in the minors…. And with 'Monie's work at the clinic we were barely scraping by…"



"I know; I've told you time and again that I'd help you, Ron. You only need to ask…"



"That's just it, Harry. I don't need to ask. Everything is all taken care of…"



"What do you mean?" Draco asked, sipping his tea.



Ron sighed softly. "Well… eight months ago I come home from a fortnight on the road and Hermione has one of those fancy muggle cars parked in the driveway. One of the really pricey ones; I don't know what it's called, but… its the kind that the top folds down and it tells you where to go and turn… the bloody thing talks; it's really freaky I'm telling you…" he took a drink again, and looked at

his shoes. "I asked her about it and she said it was a bonus from work and that she earned it…"



"A car as a bonus? From a medical clinic…?" Harry frowned.



"I dunno anything 'bout it, really… She's been there ten years, you know, and… well, its… I mean it doesn't make any sense that she should get something like that just now. And… well, she's been getting other stuff too." He said softly.



"Other things…?" Draco prompted



"I never noticed before, I don't know how long things have been showing up but… Clothes, and jewelry, and stuff that we couldn't get before are turning up in the house… After the car, I started looking… and I've found things that have kind of vanished since… rings and things that I didn't buy for her and that I used to see her staring at in store windows… I mean, bloody hell, she always told me not to worry about the finances and stuff, and I've never really known how we're doing; she always handled all that stuff. She told me not to worry about it, that the budgets were her job to attend to…"



Harry frowned softly in thought. "This really doesn't sound good, Ron…"



"I know, but… but that's not the worst of it. You see, my house payment is due at the end of every month… I knew the house payment was due today, and Hermione was gone, so I figured I'd do us all a favor and make sure the payment was made on time. I went down to Gringott's this morning to pay the bill…" Ron's hands shook slightly as he pressed on, peeling the label off the bottle.



"Yes…? And…?" Harry prompted.



"There is no mortgage." Ron whispered.



"… No mortgage…?" Draco asked.



"Paid. In full, over two years ago." He said softly, looking at them with worried, haunted eyes. "I… I don't know what the hell she's doing, and… I have no idea what to do about it… I really need your help this time Harry… hell… I think I could even pay your fee right now…"



Harry nodded. "I'll help, mate, you know I will. I think I may need to talk to Damitri about this; he's senior at the practice and has more experience. But I really don't want to hear another word about any fee."



"Thanks, Harry… I wish to Merlin I didn't have to do this; I hate to dump this all on you, but… I just… I'm at my wit's end. I don't know what to do…" He murmured softly. "Hermione is all I have, her and Rosie… all these things… the money, the house… even the team doesn't mean a thing to me if I lose my family… If 'Monie is doing something illegal, I… I'll lose it all…"



Harry reached out, putting his hand over his friend's. "Ron; you're not alone." He said firmly, showing his support for his friend and giving his hand a firm squeeze. "If Hermione is doing something, it has to be stopped. You have to be strong for Rosie; she'll need you now more than ever…"



"I'm not enough for Rosie… I know I can't do it all by myself… What'll I do, Harry…? Rosie is much too young to be left home alone…" he turned his hand to hold his friend's, glad of the support, trying to keep his own hand from trembling. "I suppose, I… I'll just go work at the Ministry with Dad… I'll… I'll

just quit the league…"



"Don't you dare…!" Draco said immediately and Ron looked at him in surprise, not expecting much support from the blonde. "You do that, Weasel, and you're a much greater Prat than I ever thought possible…! You've worked too hard for this chance and you've finally made it…! You will NOT give that up! I am more than capable of watching her while you're off; I would love to."



Ron found his voice again. "But Draco, you'll have your hands full with your own baby; it wouldn't be fair to you…"



"And you, Ronald Weasley, are Harry's best mate. And your brother is married to MY best mate. Like it or not, we're stuck with each other; we're family now. You're always spouting off about how family sticks together and support each other… Well, you need your family now, and we'll do what we need to do to support you. So what's the big deal…?" Draco replied.



"But it… it could be for weeks at a time… are you certain…?" Ron looked up at Draco, tears of relief in his eyes. "It's more than I could have asked… I mean, I didn't expect…"



"You're family, Ron." Harry repeated. "But you're getting way ahead of yourself. We don't know for sure Hermione is doing anything wrong at all. Nothing has happened yet; you've nothing to fear and nothing to fret over…"



"That's right." Draco said firmly, rising. "Now come on and eat. I made your favorite, Ron. And there's more than plenty for even YOU to eat…"



Ron wiped at his eyes with a trembling hand. "Yeah, I… its just… it's been eating at me all day, I…" he took a deep breath and sighed, taking a few moments to compose himself again. "I gotta admit, I am hungry… and it does smell beyond fantastic…" he said, rising as well.



"Of course it does; it's your mum's recipe. She copied her book for me." Draco grinned.



"Smart man you married there, Harry; mum's cooking is fantastic…" Ron smiled, trying to act as if he hadn't been worried out of his mind all day. Draco moved to the kitchen as Harry and Ron sat at the counter.



"You want to crash here tonight, Ron? You know you're welcome to…" Harry asked, looking at his friend with some worry. He could see the redhead was still shaken though he was trying to hide it.



"Yeah, I… I think that's a good idea…" he agreed, polishing off the beer. "I get in that house and… well, my imagination runs wild with what could be going on… I don't want Rosie to get involved in any of it; I would much rather she not even know there's anything wrong at all…" he started, then rose with a frown. "Hey, what're you doing, Draco…? You shouldn't be lifting things in your condition…!" he said, hurrying over to prevent Draco from taking the pan out of the oven.



"You Gryffindors…!" Draco teased. "Always rushing to the rescue…" he commented as Ron took the pan out of the oven for him.



"You love it, Ferret, or you wouldn't have married one of us." Ron shot back.



"Go on, sit down. You cooked it, I can serve it…"



"My, my…" Draco smiled. "I can see that Molly managed to beat some manners into at least one of you…" he teased as he strolled to the table.





"She had to… it didn't work to try to teach George and Fred anything, the reprobates…" he chuckled as he served up the meal. He served Draco first, giving him a double portion of the meal. Draco looked with a bit of surprise at the amount of food his plate; he'd never taken that much food at a single meal…! He then looked quizzically at Ron who shrugged. "You need to eat well. Gotta take care of that little cake in your cauldron…"



"I'm all right, Ron. Nothing to worry about…" Draco chuckled.



"I'm gonna be sure you eat well while I'm here, the baby needs every bit of nourishment you can give him. And the baby needs you to be strong too." He said firmly.



Draco smirked at him. "Were you this bad when Hermione was carrying Rose…?"



"Oh, much, worse." Ron smirked. "Besides, I fully intend to teach that baby how to play Quidditch… with you two as parents he ought to be an awesome seeker…"



Draco grinned and began to eat. "Charlie and Blaise came by the other day…"



Harry said. "Blaise is excited to have you on the team…"



Ron smiled softly. "Charlie is really a lucky guy to have caught Blaise…" he said reminiscently. "I really ought to drop by and see them…"



Draco eyed the redhead, remembering what Harry had said the other day about Ron's crush on Blaise back in school and wondering if he still had those feelings for his best mate. Very interesting… "When's the last time you saw Blaise, Ron…? It's been a while, hasn't it?"



"Yes; quite a while… I was in the minor leagues, and he was in the major… our paths don't cross very often. It's been… bloody hell. A year…? Two…? It's hard to be sure…." He frowned as he sat down to eat as well, his portion nearly as large as Draco's. "Charlie came to my last game even if Blaise couldn't make it; he said that Blaise was doing fine…"



"Blaise is the same sexy guy he always was, being what he is… You know, I think male Veela only get sexier as they get older." Harry chuckled softly. "He let his hair grow a bit and he has this wicked tattoo on his back. Charlie told me he has another one, but he hasn't shown us where THAT one is…"



Ron sighed, lowered his eyes, and applied himself to his meal. "Blaise has always been a great guy… I'm glad he's happy with Charlie." He said softly. A blush was barely visible under his sunburned cheeks as his mind dwelled on just where the hidden tattoo could be…



"Another beer, Ron…?" Harry asked, rising and moving to the fridge.



"Yeah… thanks, mate." He smiled at him. "Just one more… Can't afford to be drunk…"



"Oh? You got practice tomorrow?"



"Something much more important. Tomorrow I'm Rosie's daddy and that's all. I promised Rosie a trip to the museum and she loves it… damn place nearly puts me to sleep and if I'm hung over its torture…" he said with a smirk.



"Rosie will love that… I always did… kind of you not to go with a hangover…" Draco smirked.



"I'll have practice daily starting in two days… Till then, since 'Monie is out of town, I'm Rosie's Daddy first and foremost; everything else has to take a backseat…" he said firmly.



"Everything will work out, Ron. You know I'll get to the bottom of this, and I'll make sure that everything is taken care of, okay…?" Harry said.



"Yeah, Okay… I believe in you, Harry; you've always been a hell of a guy. I just want to protect Rosie…" he said, taking another drink. "I don't want her to be hurt by whatever is going on…"



"I understand, Ron." Harry nodded as he finished his supper. "Baby, your cooking gets better every day…" he smiled, kissing Draco.



Ron hadn't eaten very much but he supported the statement. "Yeah… it was really good…" he pushed away from the table as he rose to his feet. "Let me get you both some cheesecake…" he suggested as he cleared the plates away to give them a moment which they took advantage of, kissing a long moment. The redhead set the dishes in the sink and fetched out plates for cheesecake, cut the slices and served it up with a drizzling of sauce and fresh berries on top. By the time he turned they were sitting close but they were done kissing for the moment. "Here we are; best damned cheesecake I've found in the whole city." He grinned as he served it up.



Draco took his plate. "Thank you." He smiled at him. Ron watched, bemused as Draco took a bite. His eyes closed in pure pleasure as he savored the taste.



"Um… that is so-o-o good…" Draco moaned softly.



"You look like you're having sex, Ferret." Ron teased. "Stop that…"



Harry laughed. "And how would you know what he looks like when he's having sex, Ron?" He teased.



Ron flushed and served Harry as he scolded with a laugh. "Oh, shut up Harry!" He took his seat and helped himself to a bite of his own of the creamy confection on his plate.



"Maybe he wants to find out." Draco smirked teasingly.



"No, you two can keep that behind closed doors!" he chuckled, blushing clearly behind his sunburn. "I swear; such an exhibitionist… Gotta have an audience for everything…!"



"It's Harry's fault, really…" Draco said, going back to his cheesecake.



"Really, now…?" Ron grinned teasingly at his friend.



Harry simply grinned with mock innocence.



"Well, spill it…!" Ron urged.



"Spill what?" He asked innocently.



"C'mon, mate. I told you about 'Monie and me at the Quidditch pitch… spill it already…!" he grinned, eating his cheesecake.



"Well the first time Draco and I were together was under a weeping cherry in Covington Park… every year on our anniversary we go back there…"



"You have sex with Draco every year in the middle of a muggle park…?" Ron laughed. "Ever been caught?"



"Our tree has strong anti-muggle and warding charms…" Harry grinned.



"True. But a few teenagers think it's haunted…" Draco laughed.



"That's handy to keep 'em away; worked for the Shrieking Shack. Why not your tree? I wonder what they call your tree…?" Ron smirked.



"I don't know." Harry chuckled, placing his empty plate in the sink.



"Cut me another slice, love…" Draco asked, holding out his plate.



"An extra helping for the baby, eh…?" Ron said, rising also. "Give him extra raspberries, Harry."



Harry smiled as he spooned the berries on. "Anything for you, Dray." Ron moved to the sink and pushed up his sleeves, beginning to do the dishes.



Draco watched him a moment, then laughed softly. "You know, Harry… perhaps we should just keep the Weasel… wouldn't have to trouble mother for a house elf if he does this much work every day…." Draco teased.



Ron smirked at him over his shoulder. "Keep it up, Ferret, and there will be no more cheesecake for you!"