The Right Choice

A/N I was going to wait until thursday to post this chapter as I am currently camping in Dorset but I decided that I had only just or used to pist every Tuesday so I should really try to do it a couple of times. Enjoy!

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Harry looked down at Draco's beaten form. He moved the body slightly, in order to clasp his arms under Draco's to lift him up off the floor. Harry managed to pick him up easily, amazed at how much weight Draco seemed to have lost in the two years since they had been together. He remembered the strong muscles his lover had used to hold him up as he took him against the wall. From the looks of it they had now disappeared, replaced by a lean body which could only be described as skinny. He put him down on the bed and pulled a chair over to sit with him. He held on to Draco's hand and let tears fall from his eyes. He had cried so much over the past two days he didn't even know what he was crying about anymore. Draco had always been the strong one, in both body and spirit, he remembered all those times Draco had held him when it all became too much, when the training had taxed his body too much, when the weight of the world became too much to bare, he had gone to Draco and he had just held him with no judgements or accusations, just being there for him.

Draco began to stir and Harry ran his hand down his face, trying to wake him slowly. He knew that they had little time before Voldemort would be back for an answer and he couldn't do this alone.

"Time to wake up, Draco. Please you need to wake up." Draco stirred again and slowly opened one of his eyes.

"Harry? What happened?" Draco started to lick his dry lips and Harry retrieved a glass of water from the bedside cabinet.

"You were beaten. I don't know what else, I wasn't there but you were bought here and passed out. How are you feeling?"

"Like I lust jumped off a cliff and hit every rock on the way down. What happened whilst I was out? What did he do?" Harry looked away, needing a moment to gather himself before he told Draco.

"He knew everything, about us, about what I said before, everything. He gave me a choice either I let you die or he... he takes... he wants us to have a baby and give it to him to raise as his heir." Harry looked away again unable to take the emotion. Saying it out loud made the situation more real, more unbreakable. Draco took a deep breath, not sure what to make of the new development.

"What... what are you going to do?" His voice was unsteady at first but he steadied himself enough to complete the sentence without breaking down. He had never felt so emotional before, unable to control himself against the onslaught. He wouldn't blame Harry for giving him up, in fact there was very little he would blame Harry for right now.

"I don't know. I don't want you to die but to give up a child to him... I don't know if I can do it?"

"I understand." He wanted to scream but he couldn't, he couldn't even feel angry. He tried to move, to touch Harry's face but pain racked his body, he cried out and he flopped his arm back down. Harry was instantly up when he cried out and began fussing over him.

"You shouldn't try to move, even with good healing it will take a little while for you to heal and it looks like you have been missing some meals." Draco chuckled.

"Yes dear." Harry gave him a playful yet painful swat to his arm. "Well I suppose it is your turn to call me a sucker. I mean, I believed I could get my plan to work and we would be out of here in no time. He probably had this planned all along." Harry fell silent and looked at the floor again. He didn't have to tell Draco, he could just make this all Voldemort's fault, that he was planning and scheming their demise from the start. "Harry? Are you ok?" Harry shook his head, he couldn't do it.

"He told me... He told me that if I had said yes earlier, if I had forgiven you right away he would have let us go. This is my punishment. My punishment for not believing in you, for not believing that we could be together. He even quoted what I said to you about bartering my children. He knew exactly what the worst thing I could imagine was and he bought it to life." Harry fell apart, sobs wracked his body and he felt the full brunt of his own guilt. He held tighter on to Draco's hand and felt his hand squeezed in return. Draco waited for Harry's sobs to subside slightly before beginning to talk.

"Harry, listen to me. This isn't something he would have thought up on the spot. There is some reason he wants our baby that goes beyond the two of us. It is just a coincidence that he could do this to you. Did he say anything about why?" Harry sniffed a little and wiped down his eyes.

"Just that he wanted a Malfoy child. He said you father would do if you weren't willing but he seemed intent on your family. He didn't even seem to care that it wasn't his own child." Draco was silent for a moment whilst he thought.

"I really don't know why he would want a Malfoy so much but he has enough female slaves that don't get contraceptive charms to be pretty sure that he can't father children. I mean he has done enough to himself using magic that any one thing could have caused him to be sterile. Not something he would want banded about." Draco gave a short stilted laugh. Harry joined for a second before Draco started coughing. Harry got up, checked Draco over again and gave him some more water. He settled back down again looking slightly weaker. "What are you going to do?" Harry thought for a moment, staring downwards.

"I don't really have much of a choice. If we don't do this we will both be dead and he hinted that there was worse he could do before he let us die. I don't think I could do that. I already made the decision which caused this I can't do it again." Draco rubbed his hand slightly.

"How long do we have before he comes back?"

"I don't know, he said he would give us time to decide but seeing as he was spying before it is probably safe to say he is again. Are you going to do this?" Harry looked up into Draco's eyes and saw something akin to relief.

"Thank you for not assuming I would be ok. I thought you might think that I would do anything to escape this place." Draco paused for a moment and looked into Harry's deep eyes. "You are right, though, there is no choice. What he would do to us isn't worth thinking about, he would just find another way to get what he wants. That is what he always does. I really wonder what it is that he actually wants." Harry climbed up onto the bed and rested his head near Draco's shoulder, gently placing his arms over Draco's still body. Neither of them slept, they just laid there and waited.