Paternity

Paternity, 7/?
Part of the Truth

Later that afternoon Snape was working on a list of potion supplies, noting what needed to replenished, and what needed to be replaced before the next term. There were certain ingredients that were perishable and wouldn\'t survive the summer holidays, not even with a refrigeration charm. Pixie spit, for instance, evaporated at a shocking rate after more than a month of storage. Since pixies were so tiny it was difficult to come by, even though the nasty little things were always willing to spit, even it ast asked.\'d \'d have to order it well in advance if he wanted to have enough when school started again.

When the door to the potions room opened, he was busy counting blood beetles, so he didn\'t look around. They were kept live, of course, till they were needed, and you really didn\'t want one of those loose. They weren\'t deadly, except in large numbers, but they could make life damn interesting, in a most unpleasant way.

\"Professor, Filch said you could use a little help,aid aid a familiar voice.

\"Yes, Malfoy. I expect I\'ll be able to find enough to keep you busy, though I doubt that you\'ll enjoy it. Unless I\'m mistaken you prefer to have your toadies, Crabbe and Goyle, do most of your ingredient preparation. Your grade might be higher if you did it yourself--they\'re ham handed oafs.\"

\"But they work cheap. All they require is the off chance that they might be able to ride my coat tails once we\'re out of here.\"

Snape snorted softly as he screwed the lid tight on the beetle jar. \"That\'s one thing that\'s refreshing about your, Malfoy. You\'re not the least bit shy about admitting to being manipulative. I sometimes think that might be your MOST manipulative quality.\" Severus noticed that a faint, silvery glow seemed to be emanating from somewhere behind him. He frowned. \"Are you using a will o\' the wisp for light, Draco? We\'ve told you students time and again to use candles if you feel you need extra light, because those things can be dangerous if they...\" He was speaking as he was turning. He stopped short, eyebrows shooting up, and exclaimed, \"By the Light above and the Darkness below! Draco, what have you been DOING?\"

The boy SHONE. He glowed with an opalescent light, shimmering silver over his torso, then fading out to a faintly rainbow tinged glow. It took Severus a moment to realized that what he was seeing was a magikal power trace--the same sort he\'d seen during his prank clearing sweep this afternoon. The same that he\'d seen on... \"Weasley!\"

Draco had been regarding him with bored politeness--now he tightened visibly, his expression growing wary. \"What about him?\"

\"Don\'t try to play ignorant with me, Draco,\" snapped Snape. He walked past the boy and locked the classroom door, then went to his desk. \"Come over here and sit down. We need to have a talk.\" When Draco hesitated, Snape raised his voice. \"NOW!\" The boy scowled, but went and took the front row desk in front of Snape, slouching nonchalantly. \"I want to know what you and Weasley were up to in that restricted patch behind the greenhouse.\"

Draco sat up sharply. \"I never!\"

\"Don\'t compound the offense by lying to me. I used a detect spell to do my check of the school today, and it\'s still in effect. You\'re glowing like a Christmas tree, boy, and so was Weasley. I want to know what the hell happened.\"

Draco\'s eyes shifted, then turned to meet Snape\'s. There was a rueful crook to his lips. \"I don\'t suppose you\'d believe that I chased him into it and administered a good thrashing, just on general principles?\"

Snape eyed him narrowly, then pointed. \"Not with that red glow on your hand. You\'ve been handling subitus libido seeds, Draco. I found the spot where you spilled them in the greenhouse. If I were to take a closer look at Ron Weasley, would I see a similar glow?\"

Draco crossed his arms, tucking his hands under. \"I suppose so--he helped me pick them up.\"

Snape sighed. \"Well, it doesn\'t take advanced arithmancy to figure out what happened next. I\'m bloody surprised you made it as far as you did before it struck, especially since you had undiluted contact.\"

Draco scratched nervously at a stain on the desk, trying to look unconcerned. \"I didn\'t know what it would do.\"

\"No, I expect you didn\'t. This is one area of forbidden knowledge where those in control actually seem to HAVE a bit of control. It constantly amazes me that we manage to keep you young people so ignorant of any form of sexual magic till just before you graduate.\" He snorted. \"While the wizarding world can be liberal in some areas, we\'re shockingly straight-laced when it comes to this. Even the Muggles seem to inform their youths better than we do. I\'ve heard Miss Granger saying that there are all sorts of public service adverts warning people about drugs and alcohol lowering one\'s inhibition, and leading to impetuous acts. You shagged him, didn\'t you?\"

Draco paled. \"That\'s a bit blunt, Snape.\"

Severus flicked his hand. \"And there\'s my answer. His glow was concentrated on his back, and yours is on your front. You did it Muggle-missionary style in the middle of those plants.\"

\"I don\'t suppose it would do me any good to try to deny it.\"

\"Not with that blush creeping up your cheeks. Blonds really can\'t lie well unless they have enormous self-control and absolutely no conscience.\"

Draco studied him. \"Am I in trouble?\"

Snape returned the study, and finally said, \"If we pilloried every student who lost their virginity before graduation, the ceremonies would be a damn sight smaller. I don\'t see any good reason for this to go beyond this room.\"

Draco slumped in relief. \"Thanks for that. I don\'t like to think about my dad\'s reaction if he found out I\'d been grubbing with a Weasley.\"

\"Yes,\" said Snape dryly. \"I seriously doubt that Lucius would be best pleased.\"

\"He\'d be infuriated. The only thing that would be worse would be if I got Granger or Ginny pregnant.\"

Snape thought about the fecundus plant, and said, \"I\'d advise you to refrain from any physical activities with the ladies for a week or two, Draco.\" When the boy looked at him curiously, he said, \"No, I will not explain that remark. Just take it seriously.\"

Draco shrugged. \"Fine by me. I like girls well enough, but the pickings left this summer are awful slim. Now, what was it you needed me to do?\" Under Snape\'s direction, he was soon grinding sea snail shells. He eyed the pile to his right, and the tiny pile of iridescent powder he\'d produced, and sighed. It was going to be a long evening.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

\"What\'s worrying you, Ron?\"

\"Nothing.\"

\"Oh, come on. You\'re about to chew through your bottom lip.\" Harry turned on his side in the bed, regarding his lover. \"Is it sleeping in my bed? It won\'t hurt my feelings if you don\'t want to, you know.\"

\"No, it\'s not that. Gosh, Harry, with the size of my family, do you think that I can\'t share a bed with someone? I wouldn\'t get ANY sleep during the holiday get togethers if that was the case.\"

\"Then what is it?\" Ron was silent. \"Look, Ron, I\'m your friend.\" He reached out, drawing a fingertip down the other boy\'s cheek. \"I\'m MORE than a friend, yeah?\" Ron nodded. So, if there\'s some sort of trouble, you need to let me help.\"

\"It\'s not like that, Harry,\" Ron sighed. \"It isn\'t anything that can be avoided--it\'s already happened.\"

\"Then I\'ll help fix it.\" Ron\'s eyes were huge and dark in the pale moonlight that filtered through the room\'s one, high window. \"What IS it?\ \"I \"It... it can\'t be fixed. I mean, I don\'t think it exactly NEEDS to be fixed. It\'s just something that happened, and I wish it hadn\'t, that\'s all. Forget it.\"

Harry was silent for a moment, then said quietly, \"All right.\" He turned over, putting his back to Ron. \"If you still don\'t trust me enough...\"

\"Harry!\" Ron spooned up behind the other boy, hugging him tightly around the waist, burying his face in Harry\'s soft, spiky hair. \"That isn\'t fair, you arse.\"

He felt Harry\'s hands settle over his own. \"What ever gave you the idea that love is fair, Ron?\" Ron sighed, and Harry chuckled. \"Stop tickling me. I wouldn\'t ask if I wasn\'t worried, Ron. You were in such a good mood this morning, and now you\'re acting like you have an axe hanging over your head.\"

Ron sighed again. *I have to tell him, at least enough to ease his mind. But I\'m not telling him EVERYTHING.* \"Harry--last night...\" He trailed off.

\"Please don\'t say it was a mistake.\" Harry\'s voice was level, but Ron could feel the tension in his body.

\"No. No, Harry, that was the rightest thing I\'ve ever done.\" He took a deep breath. \"I don\'t want to hurt you.\"

Harry turned in his arms, facing him. \"The only thing I can think of that will hurt will be if you don\'t want this any more.\"

He stroked a lock of Harry\'s hair up off his forehead. \"I\'m just worried that YOU won\'t want it anymore.\" He swallowed. \"Harry--that wasn\'t my first time.\"

Harry smiled gently. \"Is that all that\'s worrying you, Ron?\"

\"Isn\'t it enough?\"

Harry kissed him. \"Silly git. Did you love this person?\"

\"No!\" Harry blinked, and Ron controlled his voice. \"No, Harry. It was... it... It came at me so quick--both of us, really. It was like being struck by lightening.\" He made a face. \"And just about as enjoyable.\"

Harry shrugged. \"Then as far as I\'m concerned, you were a virgin. You\'d never been with anyone you cared about, who cared about you.\"

\"No,\" agreed Ron. \"I can assure you of that.\" He hesitated. \"Do you want to know who it was?\" *Please, God, make him say no.*

Harry shook his head. \"I don\'t think so. If it\'s someone I know, I\'ll have to deal with seeing them, and if it\'s someone I DON\'T know, I\'ll wonder every time I meet someone new.\"

Ron closed his eyes in relief. He didn\'t have to tell Harry about Draco Malfoy. Ron felt Harry\'s lips graze his neck, and shivered in pleasure at the sensation when his lover whispered against his skin. \"I\'m not going to have to worry about him coming back for you, am I Ron? Do I need to brush up my dueling skills?\"

Ron pulled Harry up for a lingering kiss. \"I doubt there\'s any danger of that. I\'m sure he wants to forget it happened just as much as I do.\"

Harry moved over him, sliding a hand up under Ron\'s nightshirt to comb through his pubic hair. \"Good. There\'s been enough fighting in my past, and more yet to come, I\'m afraid.\" He kissed Ron hungrily, squeezing the redhead\'s growing erection. \"I could do with a peaceful patch in my life.\"

Ron reached up and gripped Harry\'s ass, pulling him down even tighter, relishing the solid warmth of his body. As they began to rock together, hard-ons painting warm, slick trails on each other\'s bellies and thighs, Ron whispered, \"I\'ll do my best to be that for you, Harry--I promise.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Things settled into a comfortable, pleasant routine after that. Harry and Ron would report to Filch in the mornings for assignments. They were almost always dirty, rough, smelly, or all three. The day they had to distribute fertilizer in the greenhouse was memorable. Ron commented that he never would have believed that an ethereal creature like a unicorn could produce such odiferous manure.

They\'d work till lunch, then either visit Hogsmeade or just laze about the school. The evening would be spent in their common room, playing games, reading, or just talking. They\'d known each other for six years, but after they first made love, Harry felt that they\'d grown immeasurably closer.

Now when they slept, it was in the same bed, snuggled together, more often than not limp and sated from good sex. But they didn\'t have sex EVERY night, and somehow that pleased Ron all the more. It said that there was more to this than just PHYSICAL closeness. He was happier than he could ever remember being. Yes, he\'d have been utterly content, if it wasn\'t that he seemed to be coming down with a cold.

It was just past two weeks into the summer holidays. He woke up feeling tired. He supposed that shouldn\'t be too surprising, considering the fact that he and Harry had been particularly passionate the night before. They\'d acted on a fantasy Harry\'d said he\'d had for some time--bending Ron over the table in the common room and fucking with wild abandon. Then of course it was only right that Ron should have one of his dreams come true, so they\'d made love slowly on a blanked in front of the fire. It had been tiring, but lovely. *Still, I got a good nine hours sleep,* thought Ron. *Why do I feel so fagged out?*

He left Harry snoring softly, and shuffled to the lavatory. He made it jun tin time, because his late night snack of scones and jam suddenly decided that it didn\'t like where it was, and wanted to see if it would like the toilet better. He stayed bent over the bowl till the queasiness left him, then brushed his teeth so that Harry wouldn\'t smell the sourness on his breath. Nothing like chunder breath to kill romance.

The dining hall was empty of adults. What little staff that remained was having an informal breakfast conference with Dumbledore in his private quarters. Ron looked mistrustfully at the piles of bacon and sausage. He called up a house elf and requested a bowl of Wheetabix. Harry said, \"You know, I was surprised to find out that the wizarding community ate those as well as the Muggles.\"

Ron sprinkled sugar liberally on the cereal. \"I guess some things are just universal, Harry.\"

\"I suppose so.\" Harry broke the yolk on a perfect sunny-side up egg. The thick, viscous yolk oozed out. \"Snape said that stupidity isn\'t limited to any one race, so I suppose that other things are... Ron? Are you all right?\"

Ron, pale, was staring at Harry\'s plate. The golden liquid yolk had seeped over into a small patch of grease left by a particularly fatty rasher of bacon, and now it was surrounding the base of Harry\'s fried tomato. The red and yellow color combination looked almost lurid in the morning sunlight that streamed down from the enchanted ceiling. \"I\'m all right.\" He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

\"Are you sure?\" Harry wiped up the yolk with a triangle of toast, then popped the dripping morsel into his mouth. \"Maybe you\'d better hurry up and eat. If your stomach\'s too empty, you can feel...\"

Ron lurched to his feet, hand over his mouth, and dashed for the exit. He made it out of the dining hall, but only just. The sounds of retching floated back. The Slytherins looked after him with disgusted frowns, whispering among themselves as house elves, bearing buckets, rags, and wearing worried expressions, hurried past.

Harry left the remains of his meal and rushed after his friend. He found Ron sitting on the bottom step of the main staircase. He was sipping a glass of water as the elves quickly and efficiently cleaned up a small puddle of nasty looking stuff. When he saw Harry approaching, he grimaced. \"Sorry.\"

Harry sat beside him. \"Lord, Ron, no one does something like that on purpose. What is it?\"

Ron shrugged. \"I just came over funny, all of a sudden.\"

\"You ought to go see Pomfrey. Any time you\'re off your feed, it\'s got to be sickness.\"

\"Oh, there\'s no need for that,\" Ron protested. \"It just took me by surprise, is all. I didn\'t think I had anything left to chuck up.\" He realized he\'d made a mistake when Harry looked at him sharply. \"I mean, the last time I ate was a long time ago. I figured it would have passed right on through by now.\" He stood up. \"It must\'ve been the milk. I\'ll have some toast and tea, that should set me right. Mum swears by it.\"

\"You\'re sure?\"

\"Harry, I\'m FINE. Gah, what a fusspot you are. Next thing you know, you\'ll have me wrapped in cotton wool.\"

They went back into the dining hall, ignoring the snickering Slytherins. Harry gave Draco Malfoy a particularly hard stare when he saw him smirking at Ron. *Damn cheeky,* H,* Harry thought. *He\'s done nothing but torment Ron from day one. Well, he\'d best watch his step from now on.*

Ron was determined to eat enough to soothe Harry\'s worries, even if he had to clench his teeth and swallow any rebellious bile back down. It didn\'t come to that. The crisp toast and tea justified Mrs. Weasley\'s faith, and he even managed to drink a large glass of orange juice. He considered two, since he was feeling unusually thirsty, but weighed the risk of overloading his stomach and decided against it. If he threw up twice in one day, there was no way that he\'d be able to convince Harry that he didn\'t need to visit the infirmary. Harry was a good friend, but stubbornness was one of his defining qualities. He had no trouble the rest of the day, eating a hearty lunch, a respectable tea, and a good dinner. He only snacked on Pepper Imps after they retired to the tower. He figured they\'d be all right, since they were widely held to be a digestive aid. They seemed to work nicely.

Till he woke up the next morning.