Duet

*~*~*~*
The Timing Could Have Been Better

Albus Dumbledore’s eyes were twinkling as Severus Snape gave him a murderous glare. “Now, Severus.” The old man’s tone dripped in amusement. “You really need to compliment Mr. Longbottom on his potion making ability.”

“Albus…” the tall man growled.

Dumbledore ignored him and addressed the rest of the staff in his office. “Poppy has just confirmed it. We now have five pregnant house elves.”

“Five?” Severus buried his head in his hands.

“Out of fourteen house elves involved in the aftermath of Mr. Longbottom’s exploding cauldron, five of them are now pregnant. Poppy, I’ll need you to research house elf pregnancy so we can be prepared for any unforeseen complications, and Argus,” The sour faced caretaker looked up. “Please see if we have any cradles in storage.”

*~*~*~*
Minerva McGonagall caught Snape’s arm, as he was about to enter the Great Hall for dinner.

“Severus, wonderful news.” Snape paused. “Poppy has finished examining all the seventh year Slytherin and Gryffindor girls. No pregnancies.”

Snape let out a breath and a ghost of a smile flickered across his face. “Thank Merlin for that.”

*~*~*~*
At first the concept of Neville accidentally creating a fertility potion amused Harry, but now he wasn’t so sure. For the fourth morning in a row he had thrown up breakfast and he felt tired all the time. If he went to Madam Pomphrey and asked to take a pregnancy test she would either throw him out of the Infirmary or demand to know the name of his partner.

No one knew he had taken a lover; no one could know. It would be too dangerous if anyone found out about Lucius. Voldemort would kill them, the Death Eaters would kill them, hell, Sirius would probably help them do it. Harry’s head ached. He missed Lucius. He wanted Lucius to take him in his arms and tell him he was an idiot.

An idiot. Yes, that’s what he was. *Everyone* knew men couldn’t get pregnant. Harry had managed to reassure himself for several moments until another thought burst into his head. And *everyone* also knew that there was no such thing as magic, didn’t they?

There was only one thing to do, he finally decided. He would have to go to the library and find out. Two hours later Harry had his answer. Although uncommon, it was possible for male wizards to get pregnant; especially of one of them was a dark wizard.

“Fuck,” Harry thought.

*~*~*~*
Harry dropped into a chair in the deserted Gryffindor Common Room. He opened the medical books he had smuggled out of the Library. Running his hands through his already messy hair, he tried to concentrate on the words.

What were his options? According to two of the books, male pregnancies could not be aborted without the parent dying as well. If he miscarried, he would bleed to death. So, abortion in any form was not an option.

He pushed aside the books detailing how his body would change, how the baby would grow and options for delivery. Childbirth did not look pleasant.

“This can’t be happening to me,” he thought. “One more thing that’s special about the Boy Who Lived.”

Harry’s mind was racing; getting a girl pregnant would be traumatic enough, but he had managed to get himself pregnant. He knew Neville had accidentally created a fertility potion and he had ignored the warnings. Damn his Muggle upbringing; Muggle males did not get pregnant but, obviously, the same did not hold for male wizards. Why hadn’t Professor Snape warned the seventh year boys about the possibility of pregnancy or, had he too, assumed that only girls could get pregnant?

Harry slipped the books back into his bag and curled up in the chair. Hugging his knees to his chest he stared at the fire. If he was honest with himself, he wanted this baby. Alone for most of his life, he had always dreamed of a family. He would only be eighteen when it was born but wizards in general seemed to have children earlier than their Muggle counterparts.

Tomorrow was a Hogsmeade Weekend. Harry kept going through scenarios in his head on how to tell Lucius and how he thought the dark wizard might react.

His friends would all hate him when they found out he had been screwing a Death Eater. Merlin knew what Sirius would do. What would he do if Lucius didn’t want the baby; if Lucius didn’t want him anymore?

*~*~*~*
Harry stared out the window of Madam Griphook’s practice room. He had gotten very little sleep and was still fairly nauseous. The crackers just weren’t helping much and he couldn’t very well ask Madam Pomfrey for a morning sickness draught.

Lucius apparated into the practice room and discovered that Harry was staring out the window. This was odd; usually Harry would already be playing the piano but he hadn’t even set out the sheet music yet.

Harry faced him, his emerald green eyes held no sparkle. He had heavy black shadows beneath his eyes and his normally pale skin was tinged in green. Lucius gently stroked the side of his face.

“You look terrible. Are you ill?”

Harry smiled weakly. His well-rehearsed speech had disappeared from his head the moment Lucius appeared.

“Is something the matter, love?” Lucius asked, concern in his voice.

Harry closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

“Did you ever want to have more children?”

Lucius stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“Do you…Oh, Merlin, this isn’t coming out right.” Harry pulled away from the older wizard and began to pace the room.

“Stop that,” Lucius barked. “What are you nattering about?”

When Harry did not answer immediately, the dark wizard’s mind began to spin. Did Harry think he wanted to find a witch so he could have more children or did Harry want to have children? Or had Harry gotten a witch pregnant?

“Harry, did you knock up a witch?”

Harry stopped pacing and gave an odd laugh. “Well, not exactly…”

“Well, exactly what is it?” Lucius was getting a headache.

“Do you remember at Easter…the pink stuff in my hair?” Lucius slowly nodded. “Found out it was a fertility potion…”

Lucius did not respond, his Malfoy mask had swung into place. Harry withdrew his wand. Lucius stepped back in surprise. With his emerald eyes locked on the gray blue ones, Harry slowly waved the wand down his abdomen, whispering a charm he had found in the library. Lucius’ jaw dropped as he saw a small white sphere glow several inches from Harry’s lower abdomen.

“Did you ever want more children?” Harry whispered again.

Lucius lifted the serpent headed walking stick that Harry knew concealed his wand. Harry raised his arms in a defensive motion, expecting a blow, but Lucius ran the cane gently across his young lover’s abdomen and chanted a different spell. The room glowed pink.

“It appears,” The dark wizard purred as he gathered Harry into a strong hug. “That we will have a daughter.”

Lucius caressed Harry’s back, his mind racing. He almost didn’t catch the slight wizard’s whisper. “I am such an idiot. Are you angry with me?”

Lucius sat in the chair, pulling his lover onto his lap. He kissed him gently. “Angry? No. Shocked is a better word.”

The wizards were silent, each caught up in his own thoughts. The longer the silence held the more panic began to build in Harry’s mind; he began to calculate how many years he could support himself and the baby in the Muggle world with the money in his vault. It would have to be the Muggle world because the wizard world would hate him.

Finally Lucius began to speak. “While I am not adverse to another child, I had not expected to ever have one. Narcissa miscarried twice before Draco was born and several times afterward. When she miscarried again four years ago it was when they discovered the cancer.”

“Do you think you might want this baby?” Harry asked slowly. When the older wizard did not answer, a stray thought ran through Harry’s panicked mind and he blurted it out accidentally. “Is there a female derivative of Neville? Should I name her after him?”

Lucius fixed him with a stare worthy of the Potions Master. Harry shut up immediately, blushing that he had babbled like an idiot.

Kissing his temple, Lucius spoke. “This certainly complicates an already complicated situation. Do you have any idea what will happen if Voldemort finds out?”

“It doesn’t matter…Sirius will kill me first.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“No. I never told anyone about us. They wouldn’t understand. “Harry smiled weakly. “Hell, I don’t even understand.”

Lucius slid Harry off his lap and began to pace the room. He indicated the piano. “Play something. I need to think.”

Harry began to practice his short repertoire of seven pieces as well as his practice scales. After a long while, Lucius sat next to him and began to mirror Harry’s notes with his own. He gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Mine.”

Harry bit his lip. That possessive statement scared him today.

*~*~*~*
The morning sickness ended after the second month. Harry and Lucius continued their relationship via owls and music lessons. Lucius did extensive research on male pregnancy and insisted Harry quit his position as Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Ron exploded when Harry announced to the team that he was stepping down and giving the position to Dennis Creevey. The rest of the team, while unhappy, respected his decision to devote his time to studying for his N.E.W.T.S.

Ron always dreamed of a career after Hogwarts playing professional Quidditch and he had difficulty understanding how Harry could just throw the dream away. Harry, with Hermione, finally sat him down and explained that their N.E.W.T. scores would determine their future careers and that, for Harry, Quidditch was a past-time not a career choice.

After he calmed down, Ron decided that switching to Dennis halfway through the Quidditch season was actually a brilliant strategical move on Harry’s part. The other teams had all devised their game strategy to combat Harry’s tactics; Dennis would be a total unknown.

Studying for the year-end N.E.W.T.S. kept Harry’s mind off his pregnancy. As his waist began to thicken, Harry was grateful for the shapeless student robes. He woke up before any of his dorm mates and was already showered, dressed and reading in the Common Room when they came down for breakfast. Hermione was pleased that he was finally taking his studies seriously.

*~*~*~*
Lucius was worried. Lord Voldemort’s activity was increasing and killing Harry Potter seemed to consume the Dark Lord almost to the exclusion of other activities.

Severus was still operating as a spy; Lucius had known he was a spy for years, but valued his friend’s life over any information that may exchange hands. Anytime Voldemort expressed concern about Snape’s loyalties; he would always manage to diffuse it.

Voldemort was placing pressure on the Death Eaters who had children graduating from Hogwarts and Durmstrang. He had plans and needed the influx of fresh magic into his ranks. He wanted the children given the Dark Mark after their graduation.

Lucius was trying to figure out what to do about Draco. He knew his son had no allegiance to the dark lord and wished to remain neutral. Draco excelled in potions work and Lucius had made inquiries about apprenticeships or advanced training in the North American and Australian magical communities. Time was running out.

He had also received owls from the mothers of the graduating Hogwarts pureblood students wanting his help; many did not want their children bound to Voldemort but were afraid to go against their Death Eater husbands.

And his beloved Harry...

*~*~*~*
Two days before his first N.E.W.T. exam, Harry received a letter from Vernon Dursley.

Boy,

Don’t plan to come back here after you graduate. You are no longer our responsibility and we don’t ever want to hear from you again.

Vernon Dursley

Harry just stared at the letter. In two weeks he would graduate from Hogwarts and he had absolutely no place to go. He felt the baby flutter and tears began to well up in his eyes. Crumpling the letter, he threw it on the table and rushed out of the Great Hall, ignoring curious glances. Damn hormones.

Before Hermione or Dean could reach for the crumpled letter, the letter lifted and shot across the hall into Dumbledore’s hand. His face fell as he read the words. The old wizard exchanged a few words with Professor McGonagall before leaving the hall.

*~*~*~*
TBC