FIC: Their Serendipities

[mpreg_fest_mod]

Title: Their Serendipities
Author/Artist: 0idontknow0
Prompt: PROMPT #63 - Harry breaks up with Draco. A few weeks later Draco finds out he's pregnant but refuses to tell Harry so he won't feel obligated to be with Draco because of the baby.
Word Count: ~36k
Rating: NC17
Contains (Highlight to view): [A bit of angst?]
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Epilogue compliant?: Ha, no.
Who is pregnant?: [Draco]
Notes: drarryxlover I saw this prompt and knew I wanted it but not so much what I wanted to do with it so Draco and Harry sort of just took it where they wanted to once I laid out the groundwork. This fic became twice as long as I anticipated it being but it was a very interesting experience to write it. Mods, oh my gosh I am so sorry I took so long and thank you for being so lovely about it. My beta, A, your turnaround time definitely made me appreciate you ten times more. Any glaring mistakes are because I went and fiddled with things (silly me, I know).
Summary: Draco went from dating to unwillingly single, and from unwillingly single to unexpectedly pregnant.

+ + +

"Draco," Harry said, as he closed the cooling cabinet. "Did you really put the milk back into cabinet with this much left?"

"Yes," Draco said, grabbing his toast and buttering it instead of bothering to look up. He already knew there was not enough milk in the bottle to drink. It was enough for Harry's morning cup of tea though. "Oh, and your cereal's finished too. It's actually a bit of all right."

"You finished my—Never mind, of course you did," Harry said, grabbing the bread. They always got the one from the Muggle shops, Tesco it was called. It was already pre-sliced for you. It was terribly convenient. Draco loved walking around in there and looking at all the strange things they had.

"Right, well, I'm running late anyway so I reckon I'll just do toast," Harry said to himself, "and then grab tea in the lunch room."

"Did you put the kettle on?" he asked, flipping the page of the Daily Prophet he was reading and sliding a segment of a mandarin into his mouth.

"Didn't get to," Harry said, spelling two slices of bread to toast over the stove, "since I got up late."

When Draco gave a disappointed hum Harry sighed and got the kettle out, filled it up and set it on the stove before grabbing the dragon gaiwan that Draco took his morning and his evening tea in. Draco had bought a pair of the tea bowls in a Chinese tea shop, one for himself, with a dragon design, and one for Harry, with a phoenix. Harry put some of the camomile-mint blend into the porcelain bowl and set it on the saucer before he got a napkin to put his toast in.

"I've got to go," Harry said, running for his bag.

"Remember to buy milk and cereal," Draco reminded him. "And you forgot to put my lid out."

"Right," Harry sighed, grabbing the lid of the gaiwan and setting it beside the saucer. "There."

"Thank you," Draco smiled, licking butter from his lips and cleaning his hands.

"Later," Harry said, kissing Draco's cheek. "...Love you."

"Wait," Draco said, pulling Harry back before he ran off. He gave Harry a lingering kiss before sending him out the Floo. I love you too.

When the kettle finally whistled he turned the stove off and then poured water over the tea leaves. Draco covered the bowl with the lid to let it steep for a bit. He glanced at the cupboard Harry's gaiwan still rested in and pouted. He might as well have finished the milk last night since Harry had not bothered to have tea at home.

+ + +

At nine Draco went to the studio, heading directly for his board and tacking his most recent design onto it. Harry needed a work desk and Draco thought he might as well make one. The sorry tables that Harry used were beginning to grate on Draco's nerves and the papers on the floor were particularly annoying. Harry did not even need the papers to be on the floor as part of his process, he just could not be bothered to buy enough tables to line the entire room. It was time to fix that mess of an office and Draco had already taken all the measurements he needed of the room so he might as well.

"Draco, I need you to tell me what materials you want to use for the new sectional, the dining set and the long bench," Padma said, standing at his office door. Somehow, in the ten years since the war, Draco had started working with her. "I want to work out what spells and methods need to be used to enchant them. I can't have that lot in there freestyling it."

"Leather, bronco, full grain for the sectional," he said, over his shoulder. "Mr. Harrison fancies the natural imperfections on hides."

"Mhm," Padma hummed, the sound of her quill reaching Draco as he tacked a few more things on his board to consider for Harry's desk.

"Bastogne walnut, marbled for the dining set," he said, before pausing. "Cotton, teal, for the chair padding."

"Mrs. Willowby will love that," Padma murmured, more to herself than Draco.

"The bench… I haven't even drawn you a design for that yet," he said, frowning.

"No, you haven't," Padma said. "You need to get on that."

"Hmmm," he nodded, staring at his desk and drumming two fingers against his lips as he thought. "Something simple and solid. Macacauba, bottom half in cast bronze. I'll draw it up today."

"Should I assume all the woods need to be sealed before we cast any spells on them or should I only work durability charms into them?" Padma asked.

"... I'll seal the dining set," he decided, sitting down.

"All right," Padma nodded, turning and jotting down notes.

"Your turn to decide what we have for lunch today," he reminded her, hoping she chose something he was feeling in the mood for.

"Ah, right. We can get the plantain soup from around the corner," Padma said. "And you're going to eat it, Draco. No complaints. I know you secretly like it."

"Soup is supposed to be savoury…" he muttered, as he got his sketch pad and a pencil. It did not matter if he liked the soup or not. It was the principle of the thing.

+ + +

It was the second Sunday of the month and as usual Draco had to listen to Harry attempt to convince him to go to the Burrow and have dinner with all of the Weasley's. He absolutely hated going to the dinners, sitting and listening to everyone talk about their lives when he was not particularly interested, and tolerating the many little people with their grubby fingers who fancied his hair. He really only paid attention to George's explanations of new Wheezes or to Quidditch discussions. He was also fairly certain that half of the Weasley's had not fully accepted him as yet and he was not up for convincing them to. If it happened then it happened. He did not need them to like him so long as Harry did.

"Come on, Draco," Harry insisted, closing the lid of the wood samples Draco was looking through. "You didn't go last time and these are only once a month."

"I went with you to that birthday party two weeks ago," he said. "It should count as an equivalent to dinner since all the Weasley's were there, and half of your friends too."

"It doesn't count," Harry said with a sigh. "I go to your parents when you ask me."

"And I don't throw a fit when you don't want to go," he pointed out.

He knew full well that Harry hated going to the Manor so he did not see the point in trying to force him to. Half the time he did not bother asking. The Manor did not exactly hold pleasant memories for Harry the way it did for Draco. The only things Harry had to associate with it were related to the war—like Granger-Weasley's torture and Dobby's murder.

"Draco, just get dressed and come with me. Please?" Harry asked.

"I don't want to," he said, opening his case of wood samples again. "And I'm working right now."

"Please?" Harry asked again, this time trailing his hand down Draco's chest and to his trousers. "I'll treat you very nicely when we get home."

"Do I have to attempt socialising?' he eventually asked, Harry's hand pressing against his cock.

"I'd appreciate it, yes," Harry said, kissing behind Draco's ear. "And if you behave yourself while you're there, I'll shag you so hard you'll need me to pull out the Soothing Balm in the morning."

"Can't you just do that right now?" he asked, grinding against Harry's palm and turning his head to brush their lips together.

"No," Harry said, pulling away. "We've got a dinner to go to first. Get dressed."

"I'm rubbing off on you," he muttered, disappointed.

"Hmmm, maybe later," Harry said.

+ + +

"Face it, Ronald," Draco said boredly, "the Chudley Cannons are done for, have been for decades. You need to find another team to support and stop embarrassing yourself. It's not about loyalty any more. It's about your dignity."

"They've got Kip this year," said Ronald. Draco had begun to use given names for the Weasley's now that he spent time around so many of them. "And they've got Harkness and McGeorge. They're all bloody good."

"Can we change the topic?" he asked, not particularly feeling up for a Quidditch debate when all he could think about was having Harry's cock up his arse later.

"What, don't want to talk about it now that I've made solid points?" Ronald asked.

"No, it's just that Harry's promised to give me good hard shag if I'm on my best behaviour tonight," he said, smirking when Ronald's nose wrinkled. "And we all know that getting into it about Quidditch wouldn't exactly help my case."

"Thanks for that," Ronald grimaced.

"So if you're a good boy at dinner you get rewarded?" George asked. "Is that how he gets you to come to these?"

"I'd probably be misbehaving if I answered that question," Draco said.

"I can tell you're really putting in an effort," Ronald muttered, getting up. "George, he's all yours. I'm going to find my child."

"So, Malfoy," George said, leaning back in his chair. "I was hoping to employ you. I need a few pieces for the shop I'm opening next year, but I'll get back to you on that. As for right now, Angie wants a new coffee table and hasn't been able to find anything she likes in the shops. She's been hinting that she wants one of your pieces. Nothing with sharp edges since Fred's absolutely mad and runs into everything."

"If you're looking for a discount-"

"Pfft, I wasn't expecting one," George laughed.

"Good," he said. "We can hash it all out at the studio sometime. You can get a deal for the shop furniture since it'll be a set, but the coffee table is full price."

"A deal?" George gasped, clutching at his heart. "Goodness. Malfoy, are you flirting with me?"

Draco grimaced at the notion.

"Thought not," George said, rising from his seat. "Anyway, I'll pop in this week, yeah? Thanks."

Draco nodded and then waited for Harry to be done with his after dinner conversations. He quietly watched the various groups of people chatting and the children that ran past noisily. It took him a moment to realize that George and Angelina's youngest was staring at him from behind the sofa. It was a little disconcerting. Fred had the largest, roundest eyes Draco had ever seen and was just a bit creepy.

+ + +

"I saw you and Fred playing," Harry said, as he and Draco undressed.

"Playing?" Draco asked, confused.

As far as he knew, Fred had spent the better part of thirty minutes staring a hole into his skull while he returned the favour. Taking his eyes off the child seemed like it would have been a bad idea. Only Circe knew what would have been done to him once he let his guard down.

"Your little staring competition," Harry said, pulling his pants down.

"Ah, I wouldn't say I was playing with him," he said, laying his trousers over the bedroom chair.

"It was adorable," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist and pressing against his back. "Fred had a good time. You know it's difficult for him to make friends."

"So, I guess this means I was exceptionally well behaved," he said, turning in Harry's arms. "Because you promised me something if I was."

"Mmm, I think you were," Harry murmured, kissing him.

"You're bloody right I was," he said, turning them around and shoving Harry onto the bed. Draco quickly got his pants off and climbed in after him, straddling Harry's lap.

They snogged and they touched each other, quickly becoming more and more desperate until they were frotting together and Harry had slick fingers working Draco open. Not wanting to pull away from Harry's lips, Draco reached between them for Harry's cock and guided it to his entrance. He teased them both, running the head of Harry's cock over his anus until he was fluttering and unable to wait any longer.

Draco sank onto Harry's cock slowly and moaned as he felt himself stretch open, Harry pushing into him, filling him, gliding against his rim. He groaned when Harry began to fuck his mouth with his tongue and he rocked his hips in time with it. Harry held onto him and returned the motion, fingers digging into Draco's arse. Soon Draco was gasping into Harry's neck with one hand buried in black curls and the other clasped tightly around whatever he could reach of Harry. Harry thrust upwards and into him at a brutal pace and Draco simply took it, his body a mess of sensation.

Harry rolled them over so that Draco lay beneath him and Draco used the opportunity to catch his breath after having it thoroughly fucked out of him. He pulled Harry in for a snog and let his legs fall open as he rolled his spine and pushed his hips down, fucking himself on Harry's cock at a more relaxed pace. His hands travelled down Harry's body until he was kneading Harry's arse and pulling him in to meet his thrusts.

"Yeah, just like that," Harry breathed into Draco's mouth, curling his hips in. "So good, Draco… Fuck yourself. Just like that."

Harry laid kisses all over Draco's jaw, neck and shoulders. He licked and sucked and nibbled at all the places that made Draco shiver and clench. Draco's movements gained speed and force as Harry tormented a nipple with his tongue and had one hand teasing that bloody spot on Draco's inner thigh—the spot that felt as if it was directly connected to his cock, where Harry only needed to leave his hand resting there for Draco's cock to rise.

"Harry," Draco begged, grinding his hips down.

"Want me to fuck you?" Harry asked, lifting his head and kissing the corner of Draco's mouth.

"Please, yes," he said, whimpering. Draco turned to let their lips meet and dug his heels into the bed for leverage as he writhed underneath Harry, driving their hips together wantonly. "Please, Harry… More."

"Shh," Harry hushed, meeting thrusts. "I've got you."

"Yes… Fuck me," he gasped, bucking desperately.

Draco held onto Harry and kissed him wherever he could reach, Harry's jaw, neck, collarbone. He pressed their heads together, their breaths mingling and their lips touching as they moved together. Draco lived for these moments when they fucked, the moments they were so synchronized that he forgot they were two different people. It did not always last very long. One of them would tire out or they would grow so frantic that it only made sense for one of them to lie there and take it all. Other times, they had moments where even their fluctuations in speed lined up for what seemed like forever.

Eventually Draco was not able to keep up as Harry kept his promise and fucked him good and hard, brushing his prostate on nearly every other thrust and making him moan and beg so shamelessly it would make even Lucius drop his stoicism and blush.

Pleasure rose in Draco, slow and steady and deep. It was the sort of pleasure he could only feel when Harry was giving him a good fucking. The sort he could not reach from his cock alone. Draco heard himself whimpering and he tightened around Harry—arms, legs and arse alike—as his cock twitched eagerly between their bodies. He kissed Harry a moment before pleasure unfolded inside of him. His ears rang, his head swam, his arse clenched, his balls drew up and his cock pulsed between them as he shook and shivered and lost himself in the waves of his orgasm.

As Draco drowned in his own pleasure, Harry sat up, spread his legs until they strained, and fucked him until warmth pulsed inside of him, adding to the sensations crashing in to him. When Draco resurfaced Harry was beside him, touching him, and kissing him softly.

"Hey," Harry said quietly.

"Hey," Draco panted, still reeling and just barely quivering.

"Love you," Harry murmured, brushing some hair from Draco's damp forehead.

"I know," he said, smiling. He turned and kissed Harry with as much as he could while his body was lax, limp and sluggish.

Draco was not one to return Harry's words but he did return the feelings. 'I love you' just was not something he said, not really. Verbal affection was not a strong suit of his and it had honestly taken him some time to get used to Harry saying it. His family did not say it very often and the few times they had seemed to precede events that were memorable for all the wrong reasons, the sort of things you would rather not have happen. The Dark Lord setting up his base in the Manor was one of them. So instead Draco tried to say it with touches, kisses and other little things.

He searched blindly for Harry's hand and held onto it before he fell asleep.

+ + +

"You look dashing," Harry said.

Draco turned away from the mirror and smirked at Harry as he straightened his cuffs. "I do, don't I?" he said.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, leaning against the entrance to the walk-in closet, the smell of grass and soil wafting in from him.

"The benefit Theo and Blaise are holding for single parent households," he said, turning back to the mirror to make sure he was satisfied with his attire. "I told you about it last month and we donated some galleons."

"That's tonight?" Harry asked. "You didn't remind me."

"I didn't think you'd want to go," he said, fixing his collar. "The events themselves aren't really your thing and you don't fancy making small talk. Not to mention that you've been on a stakeout for almost an entire day. I don't want you falling asleep on me."

"I'm not going to fall asleep," Harry said, despite how tired he looked.

"Let me amend my statement," he said, going for his wand and money pouch. "I don't want you passing out on me."

"That only happened in my first year on the job," Harry muttered. "It's been four years since then and that didn't even happen with you. It happened with Hermione. I wasn't even talking to you then."

"Regardless," he said, picking up his invitation. Draco went over to Harry and took his chin between two fingers before kissing him softly. "I'll be back later."

"I'm perfectly fine to—"

"I'll probably be back by ten," he said, running his thumb over Harry's lip and kissing him once more. "And take a shower. You smell like you rolled around in someone's lawn."

+ + +

"Are you serious?"

"Hmm?" Draco woke with a start and blinked blearily as he lifted his head. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" Harry repeated, twisting to glare at him. "Draco, what the hell?"

"I'm just tired," he said, absently thrusting his hips. Draco kissed the base of Harry's neck and then sat up, straddling him and holding onto his arse. "Won't happen again."

"You're half asleep, aren't you?" Harry asked, clearly upset. Draco was not sure what he could possibly do to fix it. He had woken up and he had continued their shag instead of rolling over and retiring to bed—the way he wanted to. There was not much else left in the way of options. "You haven't wanted to have sex for nearly two weeks and now that we are you can't be arsed to stay awake."

With a sigh, Draco stilled atop Harry because he refused to fuck while tired and arguing. It was either one or the other. He did not have the energy for both and if he was perfectly honest, he had wanted to go straight to bed tonight as well. It might have been the couple extra hours he had been putting in that were leaving him so exhausted. The few days he had skipped after getting a bit ill were proving difficult to make up.

"Do you want us to stop?" he asked, stifling a yawn trying to keep his eyes open. "I can pull out if you want and then we can call it a night."

"I want you to tell me what the bloody hell is going on," Harry said, turning onto his side and prompting Draco to uncouple them. "You're normally more physical than this, Draco, and I don't just mean the sex. You haven't been touching me as often as you usually do."

"Nothing's going on. I told you, I'm tired. I've been tired," he said, climbing off of Harry. "I can't help it if that puts me out of the mood."

"Draco, are we having some argument I don't know about or something?" Harry asked, as Draco gave up on shagging and lay beside him.

"No, you're overreacting," he said, tucking a pillow under his head and yawning. "Just have a wank and go to sleep. We can talk in the morning if you want."

+ + +

It was late in the night when Draco got home from his studio. He and his team had finished the dining set earlier in the afternoon and he had stayed to cut the Macacauba into shape for the long bench, as well as add some of the finer details to the sectional. He had lost track of time after that and got a bit carried away figuring out the details for Harry's work desk, and falling asleep in the middle of it. He had not at all expected to see Harry sitting up waiting for him.

"How was dinner at the Burrow?" Draco asked tiredly, bending to give Harry a quick kiss on the lips but finding himself with a cheek instead.

"It was okay," Harry said, getting up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, straightening.

"I've been contemplating this for a while," Harry said, digging his hands into his pockets, "and I think we should break up."

For a moment Draco forgot to breathe. He had been standing still when Harry spoke but even so he froze.

"It's not that I don't love you anymore," Harry continued, as if Draco did not need time to process what was happening before having more words thrown at him. "I do. I love you, Draco. I just don't feel like this is working, not really, and I'm not basing this solely on recent events. We don't particularly get on with each other's friends or family and sometimes I feel like you're only still with me because I'm convenient and I'd do almost anything you ask me to. And I hate that. I really do. Sometimes this relationship feels one-sided in a lot of ways and I didn't want to admit it, but it's been so up and down the last few weeks and I can't. I can't do it anymore."

"Where is this coming from?" he asked, not knowing how else to respond. His heart was loud in his ears and his hands felt like they were trembling, and like his heart was trying to claw its way out and bury itself deeper all at once.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I—" Harry stopped and shook his head. "I uh—I already moved some of my things back to the House of Black so you can keep the flat if you like."

"Can't we talk about it?" he asked. "Instead of you just walking out on me?"

"We have," Harry said, shaking his head. "We've talked about all of it and it never solves anything. There are only so many times we can talk things over, Draco."

"It's been two years, Harry," he said, fighting the stinging in his eyes. "You can't just break up with me all of a sudden."

"… I'll come and get the rest of my things soon," Harry said, walking to the Floo. "Goodbye, Draco."

"No, Harry, don't—" he began, but he was interrupted by a blaze of green that left him staring at an empty fireplace.

+ + +

"Draco," Padma called, interrupting him while he carved at the olive coffee table George and Angelina commissioned from him. The smell of fish and chips wafted into the room with her.

"What?" he asked, continuing to smooth out the edges of the table and enjoying the scent of the wood.

Aside from the flat top, it was going to be all curves and flowing form. He had taken a look at the room it would be in to make sure it did not clash with the decor and managed to come up with something that would both compliment the house and stand out on its own. It also would not stab Fred or Roxanne if they ran into it—the former was a bit on the clumsy side.

"I've got dinner for you and you're going to eat it," Padma said.

"Just put it—"

"Now. You're going to eat it now," she said, her tone final. "You skipped lunch, Merlin only knows if you've had breakfast, and you look like you've hardly slept this past month—probably haven't considering how many times I've caught you napping. I know you and Harry broke up, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you live on tea and the occasional fruit."

"You're a pain in my arse, Padma," he said.

Draco was almost done with carving the table and the manual work was helping to keep him calm. He did not want to think about Harry leaving him, or the vague memory he had of getting pissed one night and saying Circe knows what to Harry on his doorstep—all he knew was that he got a door to the face, which meant it had not gone at all well. He also did not want to think about how much he missed Harry, sleeping beside him, being around him, the little noises that had filled the empty air.

"Fish and chips?" he asked unnecessarily, feeling Padma's glare on the back of his neck and forcing himself out of his moping.

"Fish and chips," she answered, the sound of a paper bag wrinkling accompanying her words.

"Brilliant," he said, brushing away some of the sawdust. "Five minutes. I'm almost—"

"No," she said.

Draco turned to glare at her and then reached for his cup of tea. It was ginger today, with a spot of honey. He had been feeling nauseous recently and it helped to settle his stomach. Padma was right in thinking that he had not slept much recently, or at least comfortably. He had been spending most his time working in the studio and the combination of tiredness and irregular eating usually had him feeling sick if it went on long enough. This was the first time he had got sick quite so often though.

"When I say I'm almost done with this one, I mean it," he said, after a few sips. He set his tea aside and looked at Padma. "Five minutes and I'll be done. Then we can eat and you can lecture me while I pretend to listen."

"Only five," Padma relented.

"See that wasn't difficult," he said, turning to the table again.

Suddenly, Draco's body felt weak and his head impossibly light and he became breathless. His chisel clattered to floor—he hoped to the beings above that he had not chipped the blade—and he braced himself on the work table.

"Draco?" Padma called, her voice distant and slipping away. "You're bloody daft, you know—"

+ + +

Opening his eyes to a ceiling that did not belong to his studio or his flat was unexpected. Draco sat up and saw Padma walking over to him. It looked as if they were in St. Mungo's, of all places.

"Draco, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Drowsy," he said. "What happened?"

"You fainted," she said, pinching his arm. "Honestly, do you eat or sleep when I'm not with you?"

"Well, I'm up now so we can leave," he said, ignoring her question. He absolutely hated hospitals. They smelled horrid and felt cold.

"No, we're not," Padma said, manhandling him until he was lying down again. It was then that he noticed the IV in his arm, one of the few Muggle medical practices that had been picked up after the war. "The Healer wanted to talk to you about something—he said it wasn't anything life threatening so don't worry. He also said that he wanted to monitor you overnight just in case there were any complications."

"Complications?" he asked, the uncomfortable sensation of fear spiking inside of him. "Padma, what's going on?"

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me," she said, shrugging. "Healer-patient confidentiality. It's a thing."

"But they said it wasn't anything serious?" he asked, glancing down at the line in the arm.

"That's what Justin said," Padma nodded.

"Justin?" he asked.

"That'd be me, Malfoy," said a curly-haired blond man that Draco was sure he went to Hogwarts with.

"Uh… Finch-Fletchley?" he tried.

"I really didn't expect you to remember me," said Finch-Fletchley, looking taken aback as he stepped into the room. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Tired, hungry, a little queasy," he answered.

Finch-Fletchley simply nodded and hummed before asking to cast a few diagnostic spells. He performed them with Draco's permission and then jot some things down.

"You seem more or less well, save for your lack of rest. I'm going to put you on some Supplemental Potions to bring your levels up again, especially your iron," said Finch-Fletchley. "Padma, do you mind giving us some privacy?"

"Of course," she said, giving Draco a reassuring look before leaving.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, getting to the point.

"You're a bit anaemic but nothing's wrong with you, don't worry," said Finch-Fletchley. "I just—"

"Salazar, is this a revenge thing?" he asked, becoming wary. Finch-Fletchley was Muggle-born and they both knew how dreadful Draco had been at Hogwarts. "Because I'll have you know that I've got very capable lawyers—"

"No, I just didn't know whether or not you'd want Padma to be privy to the rest of the information," Finch-Fletchley said, chuckling. "Merlin, Malfoy. Calm down. It's been a decade."

"What is it then?" he asked.

"Well, I was a bit surprised when I saw the results myself," Finch-Fletchley began, "and considering what Padma's told me, I didn't get the impression that you already knew—"

"Don't drag this out," he said, getting more anxious the longer he had to wait.

"Right, well," Finch-Fletchley said, nodding, "you're about two months pregnant, Malfoy. Congratulations, you're going to be a father."

Draco sat up and grabbed Finch-Fletchley's Healer robes in quick succession. "Come again?" he asked.

"Uh, you're… pregnant," Finch-Fletchley said uncomfortably. "Somewhere around seven weeks. Twins..."

"Pregnant…" he breathed, his eyes beginning to burn. "Twins…"

Draco's stomach sank and his heart hurt. He was pregnant, they were Harry's, and Harry had left him because he had felt used and neglected. If Draco ran to Harry now, would he just be using him all over again? He was in a financially sound position so it was not as if he needed Harry's money. He had family so it was not as if he would be completely on his own, and Harry did not want to talk to him.

But Harry wanted children, and he would do anything to protect them and keep them safe. In this case, that meant an obligation to Draco and doing what Draco needed or wanted him to do. Harry would want them to at least live together—what with the fainting and all—and he would want the Weasley's to be involved. Molly would be on him in a heartbeat, stifling him with attention. The last thing Draco wanted to do was have a dozen Weasley's fawning over him and trying to touch his belly. Didn't that put Harry in the same situation he tried to leave, just with the addition of a pregnancy? Wouldn't it defeat the purpose of their breakup in the first place? Babies did not magically fix a couples problems, you know.

"What am I going to do? I can't do this on my own… I don't know anything about children…. I'm terrible with them..."

"Malfoy," Finch-Fletchley said, prying Draco's hand from his robes, "Breathe. Good. Now, I want you to stay overnight so I can monitor you and the babies and make sure that—"

"The babies," he repeated, looking down at his stomach and hesitating to touch it, afraid of what he might feel. "Circe's tits, twins."

"Do you want me to send Padma in?" Finch-Fletchley asked sympathetically.

"No, no. I need a while to myself," he said, lying back and tentatively touching his stomach. He had only thought he was tired and a bit bloated, not bleeding pregnant.

"All right," Finch-Fletchley said, attempting to smooth his robe front. "Do you want me to refer you to a Paternity Healer or would you prefer seeking one out yourself? I'd usually suggest Healer Patil, but I don't know if you'd be comfortable."

"Padma's sister?" he asked, wondering why so many of Harry's acquaintances seemed to pop up around him when there were so many other Wizarding citizens he could run into. Still, Draco spent a fair amount of time with Padma. It would be convenient to have her sister as his Healer, especially since Padma seemed more interested in his health than he did. "Go ahead. Padma would end up talking to her anyway."

+ + +

"Twins! You're pregnant with twins?" Padma asked, jumping to her feet after having just sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know you aren't deaf," he said, crossing his legs and leaning back against the pillows.

The few times Draco had imagined himself pregnant he had always envisioned telling Harry before anyone else. It was a little disappointing that it had to be Padma.

"It's a good thing I brought you to the hospital then," she said, looking down at his stomach. "Are they Harry's—"

"Of course they're Harry's," he cut in, insulted. "Who else's would they be?"

"Well, I don't know. After the breakup you might've gone and—"

"I'm two months pregnant," he said, shifting uncomfortably. Merlin, he was two months pregnant. "Almost."

"Oh," Padma said, sitting down again. "Are you going to keep them? I'm really curious about what little Draco's would be like, running around scowling and glaring at people."

"I don't know. I just found out," he murmured, setting a hand on his lower abdomen. Harry would have Draco's head if he terminated the pregnancy.

"You should talk to him," Padma said. "I know he wants you two to keep your distance but this warrants an invasion of space."

"How'd you know that?" he asked.

"I found you in the studio after that night you got sloshed and went to his—"

"Oh my Merlin," he said, sitting up. "I've been drinking."

"That sounds a little like you want to keep them," Padma said.

"Padma," he said, his voice somewhere between stern and worried. "This is no time to sound so pleasant."

"Ask Parvati about it when she comes in tomorrow before you start to freak out," she said. "You won't get any sleep otherwise, and you need it. I don't think you have to worry though. It's still early on. Just don't drink now that you know. Anyway, visiting hours are ending and at least one of us has to show up at the studio on time tomorrow. Plus, I've got a three year old to tuck in."

"Yeah…" he said uneasily. "If I'm able to, I'll come in some time during the afternoon—"

"Maybe you should wait another day or two before you start working in the studio," Padma said. "Get your iron up first so you don't faint and give me a heart attack. There's way too much junk in there that you can fall on. You barely avoided dropping on top of your chisel. Gave me a fright."

"I can stay in the office," he said. "I don't have to be in the workspace."

"Mhm," Padma hummed, sounding unconvinced. "I'll get going then."

"Mmm."

"Oh, did you want me to contact anyone?" Padma asked.

"No," he said. "I'll do that myself."

Having people question him about Harry and the baby were not exactly what he wanted right now. Draco needed a bit of time to think it all over and freak out without anyone interrupting him.

+ + +

In the morning, Healer Patil came to Draco's room to find him regurgitating his breakfast in the adjoining bathroom. So far it was the one time he had actually got morning sickness in the morning. From what he could remember of the pregnancies a few of his friends or their partners had gone through, he was fairly lucky. Daphne for one had been sicking up nearly every day for her first trimester, and Blaise had wound up in hospital with how chronic his had been. Still, he would have preferred it if things looked more like they would head in the same direction as Pansy's. She had not spent much time with her face in the toilet as far as he knew.

"Mr. Malfoy," Patil said, when Draco had stopped and was waiting to see if there was more to come. "I'd say good morning but I'm pretty sure you'd just glare at me for it."

"You'd be right," he muttered, getting up since it seemed his stomach had settled.

"Mouthwash," she said, offering him a small paper cup.

"Thanks," he said, taking it and then swishing the contents in his mouth. He flushed the toilet and then gargled the minty liquid before spitting. "And drop the Mister from my name."

"Thank goodness," she said, walking over to the bed. "Addressing you formally felt strange."

Draco hummed in agreement and went to sit down, pulling the IV stand with him.

"Padma told me you were worried about having had a few drinks before you found out," Patil said, standing beside him. "We can run some tests and see how the twins are doing. But I don't think you need to worry too much."

"Can I lie down for the explanations?" he asked, slightly relieved, but also a bit worried since he was leaning towards keeping the babies. The thought of going through with this was more frightening than contemplating whether or not he would. To make matters worse, he had hardly slept last night.

"Go ahead," Patil said, nodding. "Do you have anything in particular that you want to—"

"I… I'm probably… definitely keeping them, so…"

"All right," Patil said, smiling at him. "Uh, Healer Finch-Fletchley's given me your file so I know you're fairly low on nutrients. Once you're off the IV I'm going to prescribe you some antenatal and iron potions, as well as monitor you fairly closely to make sure you maintain healthy levels. Since you're having twins you'll need to make an extra effort to keep up your iron, folic acid, calcium, protein, etcetera.

"There are a few things you should avoid eating and some that you should be careful about. I'll provide you with a list that includes information. I've been told you haven't really been eating. That'll have to change.

"With a twin pregnancy you're more likely to develop some complications but that's why we'll monitor you more closely than with a singleton pregnancy. You're also male so we're going to be very vigilant with you and the babies. And the fact that you're having twins also means that you're more likely to have a preterm labour. This doesn't necessarily mean that your pregnancy will be more complicated. So try not to fret night and day. Most pregnancies run smoothly so don't give yourself any extra stress with unnecessary worry. It isn't good for you or them.

"And Malfoy, there's no reason for you to look so pale. I'll take good care of you and your babies. We've got excellent midwives and I think we both know that my twin would have a go at me if I don't take good care of you."

"I won't need to stop working for now, will I?" he asked. He was itching to do something with his hands so that he could at least keep his body occupied while his mind had all this to process and review.

"Not right this moment but sooner than the average pregnancy, especially with your line of work," Patil said. "I will ask that you not do anything too strenuous anymore, make sure you protect yourself against any fumes from substances you use on the furniture that might be harmful—which you should already be doing anyway—and no long hours. Don't overexert yourself. Your body's going to be doing extra work to support those two lives and that work is only going to increase as your pregnancy progresses."

Draco got the feeling that he was going to have to tell Harry. There was no way he could handle this on his own. Maybe he could move back into the Manor during his third trimester or something. His parents have been waiting for grandchildren to dote on and had been hoping that he and Harry would get married and that one of them would get pregnant.

"Now, I've got to do some checkups. Some magical and some physical," Patil said, putting down the clipboard with Draco's information and transfiguring the bar at the end of the bed into a set of stirrups. "I'll need to perform a pelvic exam. It won't hurt. It takes about ten minutes at most. I'll be looking at your entire pelvic region and checking to see if your birth canal and your uterus have properly formed. The uterus is positioned between your rectum and your bladder, and the entrance to your birth canal will be around the area of your rectum that your prostate is. I'll be applying pressure to your abdomen, nothing painful, and I'll also be placing my fingers into both your—"

"Basically an extended prostate exam," he interrupted, eyeing the stirrups.

"To simplify things, yes," Patil said.

"Have you done this before?" he asked, feeling a bit uneasy.

"I have," Patil said, before getting that excited look in her eyes that Padma sometimes had. "If you want, I can show you pictures of the babies I've helped deliver for male pregnancies. They are adorable. I can bring them to your next checkup."

"I'd like that," he said, feeling a great deal more relaxed about her handling him.

"Great," Patil said. "Now, I'm just going elevate the bed so that you're more upright, don't mind when it starts moving, and then I'll fetch some gloves and examine you."

+ + +

Four days after getting out of the hospital Draco was at the studio sanding the coffee table. He had already finished what little carving was left and had done the first sanding, with Padma forcing him into taking breaks more often than he would have liked and being more strict than usual about him using a Bubble Head Charm. Now he was using a finer grain for the second. The sanding was proving good for utilising his nervous energy and he enjoyed the sound of sandpaper scraping over wood. He could have used a few enchanted tools to speed things along but doing it by hand was meditative and made thinking about his current situation a tad less stressful.

After all the diagnostic spells Patil had cast on him, it was determined that Draco was pregnant with fraternal twins. He could end up having two sons, or two daughters, or one of each. He had two little life forms growing inside of him and he was going to need to take care of them and himself. He was going to have so much more on his hands and eventually he would not be able to calm himself down in this way. Working in the shop was going to go from calming to hazardous. The number of ways a child could injure themselves in it were endless. Before that though, when he got bigger he would be clumsier and he could probably bump into something or slip in the sawdust and fall on Merlin knows what and—

"Oi, Malfoy."

Draco started and looked up to see George and Angelina walking over. He dispelled the Bubble Head Charm and turned off the dust collector.

"Did you need something?" he asked, putting down the sanding sponge he had switched over to for working on the curves and dips.

"I just wanted to see how the table was going," said Angelina, eyeing the piece. "May I?"

"Go ahead," he said. He pulled out his wand and spelled away some of the sawdust on the floor. A fair amount had built up around the work area.

"I love it," she said, walking around the table. "George, what do you think?"

"It looks like Fred's going to get over being frightened of the coffee table," George answered.

Angelina shot her husband a glare and shook her head at him.

"This is great, Malfoy," Angelina said. "Really."

"Thank you," he said.

"You're awfully humble today," George said, watching him carefully.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, crossing his arms.

"Is Padma in right now?" Angelina asked, looking around. "I heard they gave Dhanesh his first haircut. I'm hoping she's got photos."

"She is and she does," he said, pointing in the direction of Padma's workspace.

Angelina headed over to Padma's as Draco recalled sitting through a terribly long discussion with her about Dhanesh's haircut. He briefly wondered if he would be the same way about it when he had his twins.

"How's Harry?" he asked, turning to George.

"Uh… Well… I don't know if I should really be talking to you about him, Malfoy" George answered, leaning against the work table. "I mean, all things considered. I think you should give it some time before you go talking with him or whatever it is you're planning. You look like you're contemplating something."

"I don't want to wait," he muttered to himself. If he did then he likely would not tell Harry until it was obvious and unavoidable.

"I know you like getting what you want when you want it but he doesn't want to see you right now and you should respect that," George said. "Actually, I think you should be happy with how long you and Harry lasted. I was surprised you made it past six months with how cold you are. I don't know if it was any different when you were alone, but you didn't seem too affectionate. I reckon it got to him."

"Don't presume to know anything about the situation," he said warningly.

"I mightn't know the details but that's what I saw," George said.

It was a bit of a blow to hear from an outsider that he was cold. Draco might not be affectionate in the usual sense but he had his ways and he had thought Harry understood that. He might not say the sweetest things or pull romantic stunts but there were things. Things he felt comfortable with. Things like the desk he had been planning to make but had to forgo, the light touches he sometimes gave Harry, the way he did not push him to go places he did not want to go to.

For the first time since finding out about the twins, Draco wondered if he would be the sort of parent that his children did not feel loved by, the way he had sometimes felt with Lucius before the war had made him see how much his father valued him.

"You think I was with him because I was using him?" he asked.

"That's not what I said. You two managed to make things work for two years after all," George said. "I won't deny that you stepped up in society once everyone found out Harry was dating you though."

"Don't insult someone when they've got sharp tools so nearby," he warned, beginning to remove his shop apron. With George giving him a second opinion on his less than noticeable affection, Draco thought it might be best that he spoke to Harry. If he was going to have these babies then they should have at least one parent that was naturally nurturing. "Tell Padma I'm leaving early."

"Oi, don't tell me I've pissed you off that much," George said, as Draco hung his apron. "Malfoy—"

"I'd throw you out of my studio if that were the case," he said, heading for the door.

With a quick Tempus Charm, Draco determined that Harry would be home, if he was not working overtime that is. He took a deep breath and Disapparated to the House of Black while he still thought it was a good idea.

+ + +

There was something about Apparition that made Draco's stomach turn. He quickly found somewhere to sick up without drawing too much attention from Harry's Muggle neighbours—he did just pop up out of thin air after all. Draco grimaced at the sourness left in his mouth and cast a Breath Freshening Charm on himself. He was about to make his way to Harry's front door when he saw the man walking with a sandy-haired fellow.

"I can't believe you insisted on walking me home," Harry said, laughing. "You really didn't have to."

"Hmm, well I'm the one that asked you out for dinner so I think I did," the sandy-haired man said, bumping shoulders with Harry. They were not holding hands or anything of the sort but Draco got the impression that Harry had enjoyed the date. He had done that thing where he would glance to the side while trying not to smile too much.

Draco stayed out of sight as his heart began to hammer. It had only been a month. How was Harry already dating? And who the hell was that bloke? Harry could have at least waited a bit longer before jumping into the dating pool. This felt like an affront to their relationship. You did not just toss the emotions and the memories of a long term relationship away at the blink of an eye, not if you valued it.

"Fair enough," Harry said, as they walked out of Draco's line of sight and through the front gates. "Thank you. I had a good time."

"I'm glad," said the sandy-haired man. "You look less gloomy than the last few times I've seen you."

"That easy to read, am I?" Harry asked.

"If it's any consolation, I've been checking you out for a while so I was bound to notice," said the sandy-haired man.

The lock clicked open and Draco heard the door squeak before there was the shuffling of footsteps, low chuckles and the closing of the door. Draco found himself walking up to the gate in a worse mood than when he had Apparated there. His jealousy lead him right up the walkway and onto the front steps, hand raised and a finger poised over the doorbell. He knew what was happening behind the door, he knew he absolutely hated the idea of Harry touching that other man and having him touch him in return, he knew he was angry and that this could not end well. He rang the doorbell anyway.

Too long after, the door opened and Draco was standing face-to-face with Harry, his shirt untucked and half open, his lips wet and a very happy expression on his face. The latter turned into a fairly displeased look once Harry saw who he was looking at and Draco wanted to hit him, he really did.

But when was the last time Harry had smiled the way Draco had just seen?

"Draco," Harry said, indifferently. "Not drunk again, are you? I don't really want to listen to all the reasons I'm going to regret leaving you."

"I'm sober this time," he said. All he needed to do was say two words and then he will have accomplished his task. Just two words and then he would pull Harry back in and watch him try to be happy. "I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Harry asked, after sighing and glancing behind him. "I'm sort of occupied."

"Yeah, about to fuck some bloke right after you've left me like this," he said, without thinking. "Did you already have a date lined up when you packed your things?" What the fuck was he saying? "Because you sure didn't waste any time."

"Fuck off, Draco," Harry said, scowling at him. "I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say if that's how you're going to be. You didn't care for what I wanted to do while we were together so don't start caring now. And you know what, don't come here again. I don't want to see you."

The door shut in Draco's face and he came so close to beating it and screaming at Harry that he did care, that he had every right to still care, and that he was fucking pregnant, but he did not. He just stared at the door as the image of a grudge-filled Harry helping him through his term flashed through his mind. Draco swore and Disapparated, leaving Harry to carry on with his life. He would handle this himself.

+ + +

When it came time for dinner at the Manor, Draco was nine weeks along and his trousers were beginning to feel restrictive. He greeted his parents as usual, kissing Narcissa's cheek and shaking Lucius' hand before they took their seats at the table. They made small talk as the house-elves brought the food in. He did not touch the wine that was poured for him. Neither of his parents commented until he was sprinkling an indecent amount of pepper onto his braised chicken and drowning his salad in hollandaise.

"Draco, I think you've got enough pepper there…" Narcissa said. "I don't remember you liking spice quite so much."

"I don't," he said, slicing into his chicken. He dipped a piece in the hollandaise on his plate and spoke before eating it, "But I suppose I'm bound to have a few odd eating habits seeing as I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant," Lucius said, watching him.

Draco stabbed into his salad and brought the sauce covered greens to his mouth. "Twins," he said, before eating.

"Have you told Harry?" Narcissa asked, slicing her meat into small pieces with deliberate motions.

"I haven't," he answered, the image of Harry fading smile as he noticed Draco at his door flashing through his mind. "And I don't intend to, not yet at least. I don't need him fawning over me when he doesn't want to."

"You should tell him," Narcissa said, before taking a sip of her wine.

"There needs to be a wedding before these children are—"

"Father, I'm not getting married just to uphold your traditions," Draco said snapped. He had enough to think about without adding marriage to the mix.

"My traditions?" Lucius asked, his brow twitching. "I would have hoped they were your—"

"Lucius, dear, do you want grandchildren or not?" Narcissa asked, setting her cutlery down and giving Lucius her undivided attention. She could be frightening when she did that. "Draco's never quite stuck to the mold. I don't know why you would expect him to now."

"I want them as much as you," Lucius said, "but I never anticipated that they would be born out of wedlock."

"Whether or not the two of them are married is not an issue," Narcissa said, turning to look at Draco. "The issue lies in attempting to do this on his own."

"I can do just fine without Harry," Draco said, resuming his dinner.

"You have as much pride as your father," Narcissa said, sighing. "Too much."

"This isn't pride," Lucius said, lifting his wine glass. "This is petula—"

"I'd rather we end this discussion if neither of you have anything good to say," Draco said, trying not to get too upset at the table. He was not sure what sort of reception to anticipate, but this was not it.

"If you need our assistance in any way, do not hesitate to ask," Lucius said, looking away and sipping his wine.

"Take Letty home with you," Narcissa said, picking up her cutlery and giving Lucius a small, proud smile before looking at Draco. "She would have been living with you already if you had not told her to stay here. We have more than enough help to maintain the Manor."

"Thank you," Draco said, after a moment.

"If I recall correctly, I didn't have much in the way of morning sickness," Narcissa said. "Hopefully you'll have got that from me. I did have a fair amount of nausea though, in the beginning."

"Ginger, pineapple and mint," Lucius said, before eating a forkful of chicken and greens.

"Pardon?" Narcissa asked, while Draco adjusted to the conversation's change in tone.

"After the first few times you got sick, the house-elves started giving you things with ginger, pineapple or mint," Lucius said, after swallowing. "They made candied ginger, ginger snaps, pineapple juice, pineapple slices, added ginger to some of the food, made ginger and mint tea."

"Ginger tea helps," Draco said, his chest warming at his father's ill-disguised offer of advice.

"We should have the elves make some candied ginger for you," Narcissa said.

"Olly," Lucius called, a house-elf popping up at his side almost immediately.

Draco watched his parents quietly. They might be displeased with the circumstances but they had a quiet excitement about them. They were happy at the prospect of grandchildren. It was difficult to notice but if you took the time to observe them you could see it. It seemed Draco had got that behaviour from them.

+ + +

"How long do we have to be here?" Draco muttered, fixing the line of his robes.

He had purposefully worn robes that were flowing and they barely hid the swell of his stomach. He was twelve weeks along now and he reckoned he would not be able to hide his bump by the time the thirteenth week came around.

"However long it takes Pansy to help the girls buy dresses," Blaise said bitterly. "I don't see why I can't help Isabel chose a dress."

"Quit pouting. She wants it to be a surprise," Theo said, before finishing his water. "Got something planned for Father's Day. I overheard them. I don't know what it is though."

"She's eight. I've only got about six or so years left of her asking me to go shopping with her before she tosses me to the wind and I turn into a bank vault," Blaise said. "No one wants one of their fathers tagging along once they're old enough to need a brassiere, gay or not."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Theo said, before turning to Draco. "Do you have any Father's Day plans?"

"No," Draco said, shrugging. "I'm not a father just yet and my father isn't much into it."

"Don't act so uninterested. I saw you eyeing those tacky balloons," Theo said, getting up. "I've got to use the loo. Excuse me."

"When Theo comes back, we'll have moved on from all Father's Day discussions," Blaise said. "He's a little down about it."

"Why?" Draco asked, munching on the chips he had ordered.

"We've been trying to get pregnant and we're having a tough time of it," Blaise said, stealing a chip. "It's getting to him. I mean, Isabel's just as loving to him as she is to me and Theo adores her, but he's always been a bit conflicted about Father's Day since he's her step-father. He's been more comfortable with it the last few years but now that we're trying he's… stressed."

"Ah," Draco said, looking in the direction of the loo. "The Summer Solstice is coming so this month should be a good time, particularly since it's the magical gene that allows for male pregnancies to happen. My date of conception falls somewhere around the Spring Equinox. Are you the one trying to get pregnant?"

"We know, and yes. I want to," Blaise said, smiling. "I kind of miss it. I mean, it basically took me eight years to get over nearly vomiting myself to death. But aside from that bit I'm looking forwards to it. Some of it. All right, a lot of it was terrible, but the months I could keep food down were mostly enjoyable. Hopefully I won't have HG this time."

"What was that again?" he asked, not quite recalling the term for Blaise's extreme case of morning sickness.

"Hyperemesis gravidarum," Blaise said. "Be glad you don't have it."

"I am after having seen you. You had it for almost six months. Are you seriously considering carrying another child?" he asked, receiving a nod. "Well, at least you've got Theo. It's a bloody good thing he went to visit you when he did last time. Shame you took so many years to start dating."

"Have you reconsidered telling Potter?" Blaise asked. He was against Draco's decision to keep the pregnancy to himself but he did not press the issue as strongly as Draco knew he could. Blaise thought Draco should welcome a father that would likely be there for his children, especially when there were so many that would not—Isabel's for instance.

"I can go to him after and we can make arrangements then," he said, pushing his chips away.

"At least give him the choice," Blaise said, pulling the plate towards himself. "He might want to be part of the pregnancy."

"And then I can torment myself by watching him dote on our unborn children while he ignores me," he drawled. "Marvellous."

"You're being selfish," Blaise said, "but I understand the feeling."

"What did I miss?" Theo asked, taking his seat and glancing between Draco and the chips. "Not hungry?"

"I've taken to snacking on things regularly so not particularly, no," Draco said, before yawning and feeling fatigue hit him out of nowhere. "Circe, this tiredness is no joke. Blaise, if I ever gave you shit about it, I'm sorry."

"Do you want me to help you home?" Theo asked.

"I'm not incompetent," he said, bristling and floating a piece of ice out of his drink so that he could chew on it.

"Just occasionally anaemic," Blaise said meaningfully. "I really think you should stick to paperwork at the studio."

"I stop when I'm not feeling well and I've been sticking to things like sanding, finishing and waxing," Draco said, when the he finished chomping on the ice. "And I'm using the Bubble Head—"

Draco stopped talking when he caught a whiff of cigarettes and could not help gagging. It smelled as if the person was getting closer to him and that would have him sicking up all over the place.

"Loo?" Blaise asked, rising. "He doesn't look like he going to make it there."

Puking all over himself in a restaurant was not on. Puking outside of the loo at all was not on. Draco did not get sick in public. Ever. This was not happening, even if he could feel the nausea rolling and the sudden clamminess. Maybe some deity would take pity on him and he would stop at the gagging and go no further.

"Here," Theo said, pulling a sick bag out of Circe knew where and holding it out.

Draco leaned forwards and soon enough he felt a swift, rising burn in his throat as he vomited violently in the middle of a restaurant for too many people to see and hear, and possibly getting some on Theo's fingers. He might even have urinated a bit. Draco did not think he would be quite so thankful that Pansy and Padma had coerced him into investing in some liners after he had a bit of spotting—which had been a whole other ordeal to experience and had thankfully passed within a few days—but at the moment he thought he could probably hug them both. Well, if they were here and he was not so busy turning out his insides. He might have to thank his mother for having him do pelvic floor exercises as well.

A hand smoothed along Draco's mid and lower back as Blaise stood behind him and it was probably the only thing keeping him relatively calm. It reminded him that he had people there with him. He was not sure what he would have done if this had happened while he was on his own.

"Yes, by all means, stare" Blaise said loudly and sarcastically, before Draco heard throats clearing and cutlery clinking. "Rude."

"I think I'm done. Thanks," Draco muttered, sitting up. "Can we leave now? The smell isn't going away any time soon."

"I'd say yes," Theo answered, grimacing and closing the sick bag while Blaise spelled his hands clean.

"Bill," Blaise said, waving down their waitress and pulling up his chair while Draco mumbled an apology to Theo. "I should leave her a fairly good tip since she has to dispose of that for us. And Theo, when did you start walking with those?"

"Well, when I started helping you out they were essential items," Theo said, shrugging. "Figured it wouldn't hurt to have them now that Draco's pregnant."

"Aren't you a darling," Blaise said, smiling. He turned to Draco, hand still on his back. "It happens, dear. It isn't particularly appealing, but it happens."

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly used to it so I'm allowed to be utterly mortified, aren't I?" Draco asked, glancing around at the people that were attempting to avert their eyes. He could just feel the stares on him. They prickled at his skin and left him hyperaware. That was when he spotted him, Harry, sitting somewhere to his far left with Sandy-Hair and he felt too panicked to sit and wait for the waitress—especially since Harry was watching him. "Theo, take me home. Now."

"Careful, I might get jealous," Blaise said, before biting into a few chips.

"I'm serious," he said, urgently, grabbing his things. "Very serious. I need to go home. Blaise, get the bill on your own. Theo, get your arse out of that chair so I can leave. Harry's here. He's seen me. He's bound to have seen what just happened. And he's with that trollop I saw him take home."

Blaise blinked and crossed his legs. "Go on then," he said, waving them off. "I'll get the bill and send Pansy a message. Hurry, Theo, before he gets hysterical."

"I'm not hyster—"

"You're getting there," Theo said, pulling Draco out of his seat. "But we're leaving so that's fine."

The sudden relief of leaving the restaurant was enough to stop Draco's protests. He gladly retreated to the Floo with Theo, hiding behind him, ducking his head and fighting the urge to look in Harry's direction. To Theo's credit, he did not laugh, even though Draco could tell that he wanted to.

+ + +

Something was different. Draco had woken up tired and weak and it felt wrong. It was not the same sort of tiredness he had felt in his first trimester. This felt a little… deeper, more all-consuming. He called for Letty, working his mouth a few times before he could make the shape of her name, and a few more until he could hear himself say it. Draco was beginning to worry now. He had opened his eyes and his vision was blurred. Letty's voice sounded dull and slow. It felt as if he was underwater. A sharp, pang of fear hit him as he thought about the babies, his babies. What if something was wrong with them and he could not do anything about it?

There was a flurry of movement in front of him before Letty disappeared. There might have been a faint crack as well. Draco's heart pounded in his chest at the thought of being alone. What was Letty doing? How could she just leave like that? He needed help. He needed to get to St. Mungo's, he—

Another crack and Draco soon felt hands on him. For a moment he hoped that it was Harry, even if he knew that was impossible and that he was deluding himself. He missed him though. Voices made their way to his ears and Draco thought he heard his mother. He tried to say something as he was lifted upright and someone hauled him to his feet. She kept speaking, her voice soothing despite the worry behind it. He thought he might have heard his father too, for a moment. It must have been them. He could smell the Manor.

+ + +

There was a warmth on Draco's belly and he hummed contentedly as he gained consciousness. He woke slowly and reached for the source. It was a hand. With a gasp, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up but he was not strong enough. Something had happened, he had been worried about the twins and—

"How are you feeling?"

Draco blinked frantically at his father and then the hand underneath his own. "What happened? Wh—The twins? I—"

"Calm down," Lucius said, the epitome of composure. "Letty called us and we got you to St. Mungo's in time. The twins are well but they've been putting too much stress on your magic and drawing more than you can handle. Narcissa and I have been helping to sustain them while you rest. I think she might have pushed herself too much."

"Mother?" he asked, before looking around to see Narcissa asleep in a chair at the end of the bed, a blanket thrown over her. She looked tired and out of place in St. Mungo's. "You should have taken her home when she fell asleep."

"She wanted to stay, and neither of us thought it was a good idea to leave you," Lucius said. "How do you feel?"

"Warm," he said, moving his hand to the base of his stomach. "Shaken, relieved, exhausted."

Draco was rounder now and there was no mistaking that he was pregnant. His stomach had just one day become noticeable—Padma and Patil said he had 'popped'. The speed at which the babes were growing was a little frightening, maybe a bit exciting too, and he had not known his stomach could grow that much in a month. He had gone from looking as if he had drunk a few too many beers to looking like he had swallowed a cantaloupe whole.

"Warm?" Lucius asked, his brows furrowing slightly.

"It's nothing like a fever or anything of the sort," he said, staring at the window across from him. He concentrated on the warmth of Lucius' hand and the way it permeated his skin, centred on his stomach but leaking beyond that. It helped him to relax. "It's more like I can feel the magic that you're giving me."

There was more to it than that but speaking with Lucius too deeply about anything relatively emotional was not something he was skillful at. Neither of them knew how to do it and so Draco was not sure how to say that the warmth was comforting. He could feel the intent behind it, the love for him and for his unborn children, the worry, the fear, the protectiveness. Draco could feel how much his father cared and he suspected there were lingering remnants of his mother's magic mixed in there as well.

"Thank you," Draco said, keeping his gaze away from his father. He thought he might cry if he looked at him and he was already brimming with emotions and too close to tears after recent events. "Um, is it a spell? How are you doing this?"

"Not a spell, no," Lucius said, jumping into an explanation. It was easier than saying things they already knew. Draco's thanks and Lucius' hand on his stomach were expressive enough. "It was more of invoking a blood rite. If your mother and I were unrelated to you, then spells would have been involved, and a check to see if we were magically compatible. But since we're direct relatives, we only had to evoke the rite for magical surrogacy. We took turns supporting the twins so that you could regain magical strength.

"Some people struggle with providing enough magic for one child, Draco. You've got two. Imagine, you're only sixteen weeks along and it's already causing problems. Tell Potter. He doesn't need to evoke the rite to share his magic. It'll happen naturally and it'll make things easier on you. If this is about pride, swallow it. If it's about heartbreak, look past it."

"He's got someone else now," Draco said quietly.

"That doesn't matter," Lucius said sharply, his hand twitching. "He has a responsibility to these children and so do you. If you refuse to tell him, then I will. This is no time for you to be petulant. Not after what's happened. You could have lost them, Draco, would have if Letty had not started living with you. And what would you have done then, if you had managed to survive? Because you very well could have died too."

Draco looked at Lucius and was met with a gaze as sharp as the words that had preceded it. He felt something too close to despair as he thought about losing them. It rose from in the middle of him and it crept to the tips of his fingers and down to his toes. There was guilt as well, from not having the magical capacity to provide for his children. They were in his body; he should be able to sustain them. Tears welled in his eyes and he lay an arm over his face to hide them.

"I don't know," he said, his voice tremulous. A shudder rippled through him and he tried to stifle the oncoming sobs. "I don't—I don't want to find out. The thought alone—Father—"

"I shouldn't have scolded you so soon after you woke up. You've been through a lot in the past day. You need your rest," Lucius said apologetically.

+ + +

"And what's wrong with that one?" Narcissa asked, sitting at a small table in the hospital room with Draco.

It had been three days and his magic was still too low for Patil's comfort. He would be spending at least another two days at St. Mungo's with his parents giving the twins magic for six to eight hours, switching as necessary. Upon discharge, they would begin to gradually go down to two hours a day. This was not something Draco wanted to inconvenience his parents with but until he managed to talk to Harry it was something that had to happen.

"Nothing. It just isn't right," Draco said, tossing another crumpled half-formed letter into the bin.

"Just tell him you need to talk," Narcissa said. "I'm sure he's seen the papers and heard the many speculations about why you're here. He'll see that it's important. Or I could personally ask him to come see you."

"You mean tell him to come," he drawled, taking up his quill.

Narcissa looked at him innocently before turning to the window, the corner of her lips turning up in a slight smirk. "I can't help it if I'm persuasive," she said.

"He hates it when you do that," he said, writing Harry's name on the parchment. "It's part of why he can't relax at the Manor, aside from the fact that one of his best friends was tortured there."

"That's why you didn't force him to visit with you," Narcissa said.

"Mmm," he hummed in agreement, before picking up his tea. He had asked Letty to bring him his gaiwan since he was going to be at the hospital for so long. It was nice to have a few comforts of home while he was stuck there.

"Your father can't seem to get used to him," Narcissa said.

"And you?" he asked.

"I don't dislike Harry, but I can think of people I'd prefer you be interested in," Narcissa said, looking at him. "People that don't remind us so much of the past. I never understood what you saw in him."

"You don't have to understand," he said, going back to the letter. "And I'm not going to try and explain it to you either."

He quickly wrote a short message telling Harry that there were things they needed to discuss, urgent things that he did not want to put in a letter. Draco pushed the parchment towards his mother, and removed his hands from the table. The faster she got the thing away from him, the less likely he was to toss it in the bin with all the others.

"I'll go and see if the staff would be kind enough to spare us an envelope," Narcissa said, folding the parchment.

"Are you trying to make it look like I'm on my deathbed?" he asked, mentally going over what he had written. "Don't use hospital stationery just to get him here faster."

"I want him to be prompt, and I want to make sure he reads it," Narcissa said, rising and turning for the door. "It's more merciful than allowing your father to approach him at the Ministry."

"Of course he would go to the Ministry," he muttered.

"I'll only be a moment," Narcissa said, walking out the door. She had almost closed it behind her when Draco heard her say, "Harry, is that you? This is quite the coincidence. What brings you here?"

Draco started and turned towards the door. He did not know whether or not he felt like hiding or rushing forwards. This was a much sooner confrontation than he had anticipated. He looked down at his belly and ran his hands over it.

"Do you think I should go?" he whispered. He had taken up the habit of speaking to the twins, especially when he was having breakfast and before going to bed.

"Narcissa," Harry said, sounding surprised. "I—A friend of mine just gave birth."

It must have been Granger-Weasley with her second. She had been about Draco's size when he had last seen her, except she had been further along.

Draco steeled himself and got up to make his way to the door.

"I should really go visit her and the baby," Harry said. "It was—"

"Wait. Here. I was just about to get an envelope and post this to you," Narcissa said.

"To me?" Harry asked, his gaze shifting when Draco opened the door. "Draco, look I don't know what you're playing at but I don't have time for—You're pregnant. Really pregnant."

"I'm aware" Draco said, not sure what to take from Harry's shocked but otherwise blank expression.

"Harry," Ginny Weasley called, walking up to them. "Come on, everyone else is already—Malf—Oh..."

"Gin, I'll… meet you there," Harry said, swallowing as he glanced between Draco's stomach and face.

Weasley eyed Draco and Narcissa before giving Harry's arm a squeeze and then departing.

+ + +

"It's mine, isn't it?" Harry asked, once they were both sitting in Draco's room, Narcissa having left to provide them some privacy. "You… look at least five months…"

"Four," Draco corrected, looking just past Harry.

Draco was not ready to have to this discussion. He really was not. There was no way he could explain his reasoning to Harry in the right way and there was an irksome guilt lingering beneath the surface of his anxiety. Even so, he was excited to see Harry. Being around him was… tantalising.

"Four…" Harry said, sitting back and crossing his arms. "Four, Draco, four? You've been pregnant for four months and I'm finding out now? Did you even think twice about keeping this from me? Were you going to have the baby in secret and… give it away or something? What were you going to do, Draco? What?"

"I was going to tell you," he said, glancing at Harry. "I even went to your place. But then I saw you with some bloke and my temper—"

"Hmph, your temper," Harry said. "That's no reason—"

"Don't scoff at my reaction, Harry," he said, levelling Harry a flat stare. "You broke up with me out of the blue, basically told me you felt like I was using you and then a month later, I find out I'm pregnant. What did you expect me to do when my hormones and my emotions were running rampant? The last time we had spoken you didn't want anything to do with me, and then when I do go to tell you you're going home with a date, you look happy and you're bloody half undressed when I knock at the door. All I could think about was the fact that I was alone and I had the twins to worry over and you were moving on with your life."

"Did you just say twins?" Harry asked, looking nearly as surprised as he had when he realized Draco was pregnant. "Jesus, Draco, what else haven't you told me? There has to be something, since you've been brought here and suddenly decided to tell me. You need my help."

"I do," he confirmed, running his hand over the top of his belly. "I need you to—Well, if I'm going to be honest, my parents are currently doing this for me but it takes more out of them than it would you since they aren't birth parents. So this is more of a want.

"I don't have the magical capacity to keep up with the amount they're pulling from me. My magic isn't able to replenish itself quickly enough. I need help sustaining them."

Harry exhaled loudly and put his face in his palms, his elbows on the table. "How quickly would you need my help?" he asked. "How often are your parents doing this for you?"

"At the moment, it's six hours per day, minimum," Draco said, resisting the urge to thread his fingers through Harry's hair. He could smell Harry from where he sat. He had missed this scent. "The sooner, the better, I suppose."

"And today?" Harry asked, looking at Draco stomach. "Do you need any today?"

"Mother's already done four hours and Father is coming once he's finished with some business," he said. "You won't need to do much. You'll only have to touch my stomach."

"I need time," Harry said, sitting back. "I'll help, but I… need time to think first. Fuck. Draco, you should have told me."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"That's…" Harry sighed and shook his head. "That's not enough, it isn't. You've been pregnant for four bloody months, Draco."

"And I found out weeks after we broke up, then proceeded to keep it from you for two months," he said. "I know."

"You don't get to say that like this isn't a big deal," Harry said.

"What else can I say when I've already apologized?" he asked, not knowing what Harry could possibly expect him to do about it now. It was not as if he could go back and change it.

"I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me," Harry said angrily. "I'm sitting here and I'm wondering if I would have ever found out if this—" He motioned at the room around them, "—didn't happen."

"I didn't go to you because I didn't want you to feel obligated to me and because I didn't feel welcomed, and we nearly died for it," he said, much more calmly than he felt. It was a benefit of having gone through Lucius' scolding days prior. "Is that what you want me to say to you? That I made a mistake and I've been taught my lesson?"

"That's not fair," Harry mumbled, pushing his glasses up and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What?" Draco asked.

"The way you can make me feel guilty for being upset at you when I have every right to be," Harry said. He stood and took a deep breath. "Like I said, I'll help. I might need a day or two to wrap my head around this first though."

"Understandable. I'll write you if I get discharged before then," he said, trying to remind himself that he had dropped quite a bit of information into Harry's lap. Even he had needed time to digest it all and fully accept it, days not minutes.

"Yeah," Harry said, with a nod. "Right, um… I should visit Hermione." He left for the door but stopped before opening it. "Who's your Healer?"

Draco let out an amused grunt. "Patil," he said.

"Parvati?" Harry asked. "Today is just full of surprises."

"Tell Granger-Weasley congratulations for me," he said. "If you feel like it."

"Yeah, I will."

+ + +

"What, pray tell, is Lovegood doing here?" Draco asked quietly. He was out of St. Mungo's and had been coaxed into going to the pool at Blaise and Theo's, which was not difficult to do since he had got uncomfortable with Letty staring at him for two days straight.

"Phineas and Rolf are mates from University so I see her on occasion," Pansy said, with a small shrug. "And Luna's having twins so I thought it would be nice for you to have a similarly pregnant friend. You can do your exercising together. She's fonder of walking than I am."

"Lovegood and I are acquaintances not friends," he grumbled. "And Francesca likes those walks."

"I blame Phineas for taking her jogging with him all the bloody time," Pansy said, adjusting her sunglasses. "And you and Luna get on well enough so stop complaining. Her due date is close to yours too so that'll be exciting when the time comes."

"I hate it when you ambush me like this," he muttered.

"I know," she said airily.

"I wonder if Harry's spoken to her…" he said, thinking out loud.

"I didn't ask so you'll have to check for yourself," Pansy said, before walking over to the children. Her daughter Francesca was busy playing with Isabel in the shallow end of the pool.

Moments later, Lovegood emerged from the changing room in a bright, but surprisingly normal, bikini. She was as round as, if not a touch rounder than, Draco. She set her things down by the pool chair beside him and smiled as she sat down. For the briefest of moments, he thought that the colour of her eyes resembled his before he mentally waved it away.

"Pregnancy looks good on you, Draco," Lovegood said, taking him off guard with the use of his given name. "Pansy tells me you're having twins as well."

"Yes, I am," he said, suddenly aware of the fact that he was in his swim shorts and nothing else. Draco thought he looked better than he had during all the nausea of his first trimester but saying that pregnancy looked good on him was probably an exaggeration. "Thank you."

"How far along are you?" Lovegood asked, letting her hair down.

"Seventeen weeks," he said. Once he remembered his manners, he asked, "And you?"

"Nineteen," Lovegood said, gently patting her stomach. "They're both boys and they seem to have taken a liking to kicking. I wonder if they're playing some sort of game in there."

"Kicking," he said, his curiosity growing. He had been wondering when he would be able to feel the twins. It was around the time when he should be able to. The range was about sixteen to twenty-five weeks and he thought that was a mighty wide span of time. "How did it feel?"

"Hmmm, a bit like I had a gas bubble or what a snitch feels like when it unfurls in your palm. It depends on the movement really," Lovegood said. "I'm sure you'll begin to feel them soon. It's a little difficult to properly describe it. Feeling them flip is probably the most interesting."

"I suppose I'll just have to wait," he said, feeling a bit envious.

"I suppose," Lovegood said, smiling and pulling out a bottle of sun block. "Say, have you been as aroused as I have? I've been wondering if this is what some creatures feel like when they go into heat."

"Lovegood," Draco said flatly, "I don't think we're anywhere near comfortable enough for me to discuss my sex life with you." Or lack thereof.

"I wasn't asking for details," Lovegood said, blinking at him. "I'm just a bit curious about how similar male and female pregnancies are. None of my male friends have ever been pregnant."

"As far as I know, other than the additional physical changes men have to go through, they're essentially the same," he eventually said, implicitly admitting to the frighteningly frequent periods of arousal.

He had engaged in quite a bit of self-satisfaction that month—excluding his time in hospital—even though the pregnancy hormones, elevated oestrogen and low testosterone levels had resulted in impotence, which was slightly strange since there was also extra blood flow to his nether regions. As a result, Draco had spent far too much time fiddling with himself and finding alternatives to the usual tug and pull wanks he was used to having when he wanted to get off fairly quickly. It also meant that he was fantasizing about nearly every fit bloke that looked at him. Hell, he had even thought about Blaise and Theo since seeing them take their shirts off, Pansy as well—if only because her arse was near perfect.

"You must have been exhausted in your first trimester," Lovegood said, rubbing a liberal amount of sunblock on her tummy. Draco himself reeked of the stuff. "Growing a uterus and then you having to provide blood and nutrients for the twins so quickly when you don't have a menstrual cycle to stash that sort of thing away."

"Aren't most people exhausted?" he asked.

Draco did not think his first trimester was particularly remarkable compared to what he had seen or heard of female pregnancies. As far as he knew, the symptoms were the same, then again he had no idea what it would have been like if he was female and had no way of knowing. There were those two days he had thought he had food poisoning. He had suffered through stomach cramps like no other and a bout of retching. Harry had a tough time of finding something he could stomach then. Things had subsided after that though, or perhaps they just felt like it compared to the days he had been groaning in bed. Draco reckoned it could have been his body making some major changes.

"True enough," Lovegood said. "I'm surprised Harry hadn't said about the twins though. He's always wanted children."

"Are you two coming in or what?" Blaise asked, popping up at the side of the pool nearest to them.

"You know you can talk babies while in the water," Pansy said, sunbathing in a double float lounge chair with Isabel and Francesca in the other seat. "And you can enjoy a few moments away from the weight of gravity. Those bellies are heavy."

"If the babies are in their tummies," Isabel began, looking at Blaise, Draco and Lovegood, "then how do they get out?"

"Blaise? Theo?" Pansy asked, with her this-one-is-yours-so-I'm-not-answering-that expression.

"Well, Izzy—"

"They poop them out obviously," Francesca said, rolling her eyes. "Just like everything else that goes in your tummy."

"Pansy, do you have anything to say to that?" Blaise asked, shaking with laughter.

Draco was caught somewhere between wanting to laugh and being slightly impressed since that was exactly what he would be doing when the time came. Lovegood looked thoroughly amused at the children and Theo was watching Pansy expectantly. She looked at a loss for words.

"Does this mean Papa's going to poop a baby out?" Isabel asked, grimacing. She was seemingly unaware of the surprised looks of the adults around her. "That's gross. And how do you poop a baby out anyway? They're too big!"

"Ooooh, does Uncle Blaise have a baby in there too?" Francesca asked, paddling her hands in the water to turn the float and looking at Blaise's belly curiously. "He doesn't look big like they do though."

"Daddy and Papa said it was a surprise," Isabel announced proudly. "Which means I'm going to have a baby sister or a baby brother. And you won't."

"That's not fair!" Francesca exclaimed, turning to Pansy. "Mum, I want a baby sister. Can you get a baby too?"

"How is it that you two have dragged me into this?" Pansy asked, glaring at Blaise and Theo. "Francesca, darling, your father and I aren't ready for another baby."

"So it's true?" Draco asked curiously, while Pansy tried to talk her daughter out of wanting a sibling for the moment. It seemed like all the shagging Blaise and Theo had probably done around the solstice had paid off.

"We weren't going to say anything yet," Blaise said, giving Isabel a look, "considering how early it is."

"They don't count!" Isabel said in defense. "You and Daddy tell them everything and Mrs. Scamander is really nice so..."

"She's missed the entire concept of a secret," Theo said, chuckling and making his way towards Blaise. "I wonder where she got that from?"

"Well, she said it was a surprise. I think it was plenty surprising," Lovegood said, smiling. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Lovegood. We've worked very hard," Theo said, squeezing a slightly embarrassed Blaise from behind and kissing his cheek.

"If you're going to be all mushy then we're going to go back to swimming," Isabel said, climbing out of the float.

"It's gross enough to see Mum and Dad kiss each other," Francesca said, wiggling her way into the water. "I don't need to see Uncle Blaise and Uncle Theo do it too."

Draco did not need to see it either and he had to look away from them for a moment as he felt a twinge in his chest.

"You know, I don't appreciate all of you getting pregnant at the same time while I didn't have any pregnant friends when I was expecting," Pansy complained, glancing at them all. "Luna's going to steal you two away while you're bonding and I'll just be left with Theo."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Theo asked, splashing Pansy with water.

"That we're more important, darling," Blaise said.

"You were pregnant around the same time as Ginny, weren't you?" Lovegood asked.

"That's different," Pansy muttered. "I only started talking to her after we ran into each other at antenatal classes."

"Someone's jealous," Blaise said teasingly.

"Very," Theo agreed, nodding.

"I'm not jealous," Pansy denied. "I just think it's unfair."

"Oh, shouldn't you all celebrate now that we know?" Lovegood asked, looking oddly excited. "Celebrations are so much fun."

"We're already at the pool," Pansy said, glancing over at the girls. "And we've got all the non-alcoholic beverages we can drink—Oh gosh, none of you can drink now. And Theo probably won't when Blaise's pregnancy nose starts having him projectile vomit all over the place."

"You don't need to make it sound like that," Blaise grumbled.

"The pool isn't enough," Lovegood said, sitting up. "We should get some desserts or treat them to something or play some sort of—"

"Let's see how many things we can think of that'll help with Blaise's oncoming nausea," Pansy said, grinning. "Fun and practical."

"I don't know about the fun part," Blaise said.

"Ginger," Draco said readily. "Anything with ginger really. And pineapples."

"Pineapples?" Pansy asked. "Really?"

"Oh, pineapple worked for me too," Lovegood said. "And it was delicious. Ice lollies are good too. Sucking on them helped. I almost always had one in my mouth. Anything cold really."

"I want to read that as an innuendo," Blaise said, "but she doesn't look the type."

"She is. Luna's a perv. Anyway, since I think everyone here has an oral fixation," Pansy said, sending a leer in Lovegood's direction, "we should have the house-elves go and fetch us some ice lollies, or a little of everything we've listed. I don't mind eating most of them right now. What else is there? It's too hot for all the tea Draco drinks…"

"You could have them chilled," Theo said.

"Why do I feel as if I'm being picked on with this so called celebration?" Blaise asked, unamused.

"Because you are, love," Pansy said.

"Just a touch," Draco agreed.

"We're picking on him?" Lovegood asked.

"We can fill you in once we've all got our ice lollies," Pansy said, before hollering for the house-elf and rattling off their list.

"Oh, don't forget ginger snaps," Blaise said. "And plain biscuits."

"Pretzels too and anything lemon flavoured," Pansy added. "And bring enough for the girls as well."

"Hmmm, today's more interesting than I thought it'd be," Draco murmured. It was much more enjoyable than it would have been if he had sat around sketching designs at home and waiting for Harry to contact him.

"What about peanut butter?" Pansy asked.

"No," Draco said immediately. "Not unless you want me projectile vomiting."

"Worked for me," Pansy said, shrugging.

"Yeah, but you also had cravings for the strangest things when you were pregnant," Blaise said.

"Like what?" Lovegood asked.

"This'll be hilarious," Draco said. "Even now I can't fathom some of the foods I saw her eat or the things she wanted to eat but had to settle for sniffing."

"Burn paste was one," Blaise said, looking at Draco since they were the ones that had found her sniffing the stuff.

"Lamp oil," Draco added, smirking.

"Candle wax," Blaise drawled.

"Bubotuber—"

"We're not going to start doing this," Pansy said, pink faced. "I'm not the one in the spotlight today."

"Lamp oil…" Lovegood murmured.

Draco was not sure how exactly they had transitioned into having a good time after that, but he had ended the day in a far better mood.

+ + +

Rather than the day or two Harry had said he would need, it had been a week. A whole week. Draco could not say he was pleased about the wait but a fair amount of his annoyance dissipated when he saw Harry step out of the Floo clad in his Auror robes, which annoyed him even more. It was not at all fair for Draco's complaints to die on his tongue because of the sudden and overwhelming urge to jump Harry's bones. He had always been keen on seeing Harry in uniform and for a few moments it proved to be a distraction.

"Are you listening?" Harry asked, snapping Draco out of his fantasizing. "I asked if you minded me bringing work with me."

"It's fine," Draco said, turning back to the designs he had been working on. He might not be able to work on anything in the shop but he could very well put other people to use in his absence.

"Dinner is almost being ready, Master Draco," Letty said, popping up beside Draco in a slight bow. She turned and addressed Harry. "Will Harry Potter be eating as well?"

"Might as well since I'll be here for the next six hours. Thanks," Harry said, glancing around the room. He set his things down and then removed his robes and shoes before joining Draco at the table.

It was too much of a hassle for Draco to keep going between rooms so he had begun to do his work at the dining table instead of his office—formerly Harry's. With the size he was now he was occasionally experiencing back aches and moving from room to room was not helping. This way he was close to the food, a workspace, the loo and the Wizard Telly Harry had left.

"I spoke to Parvati," Harry said, seated beside Draco.

"I assumed as much," Draco said, a bit dazed by Harry's closeness. It had been so long. "I let her know I was fine with her speaking to you."

"How are you feeling today?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Fine," he said, not at all about to mention the state of his hormones. It was probably a good thing he had wanked a few hours ago. He was not sure how many times he self-satisfied in a day now but he knew it was a good deal more than he had ever thought he would.

"That's good," Harry said, his eyes on Draco's stomach. "I know we're about to have dinner but, can I?"

Silently, Draco balked at the idea of Harry's hands on him right now. He would be driven to distraction if Harry was touching him and he was likely to wet his pants with his arousal. It had been a shock when that had first happened, even if Patil had told him it would. Once his body had fully developed the necessary organs and hormonal levels for pregnancy, his birth canal became able to produce lubrication, just as a woman's vaginal walls would. Pregnancy was frighteningly emasculating but it had helped to have Blaise to speak with, and Patil did a good job of letting him know what to expect from early on.

"It's what you came here for after all," Draco said, setting his quill down and lifting his shirt from his stomach. He tried his best to keep his breathing normal.

"Yeah, it is," Harry said, reaching his hand out and looking more nervous than Draco thought was warranted. "So, I just.."

"That's what Patil said," he mumbled, averting his eyes to his work.

The moment Harry touched him Draco felt warmth and the tingle of magic soaking into his skin and seeping into his womb. For a split second, he felt the uncertainty Harry had been harbouring before it had turned into a wash of relief and a blossoming of warmth and wonder. He batted Harry's hand away before he knew what he was doing—not that he would have changed his reaction to begin with. Draco had his faults but lying to Harry about carrying his children was not something he would do.

"What—It was working wasn't it?" Harry asked, baffled. "Or I think it was. Did I do something wrong? Should I write Parvati or take you to—"

"I'm fine," Draco said, pulling down his shirt and then getting out of his seat with a quiet grunt. He was about to storm off to his room but decided that the bathroom was a better choice. He needed to urinate so he might as well. Hopefully he would feel less like shagging and strangling Harry when his bladder was empty.

As he sat on the loo, he tried not to think too hard about the emotions he had picked up on from Harry but it was a futile endeavor. It was all he could think about. How much of the week Harry had spent thinking things over involved picking Draco's story to pieces? Did he really think Draco would lie about this? Did he really think Draco would have cheated on him? Because that's what all this implied. Somewhere along the line Harry lost faith in Draco's loyalty to him and, for some reason, he thought Draco was stupid enough to ask him to provide magic when the process itself would reveal whether or not Harry was the father.

Needless to say, Draco was not in a better mood when left the loo.

"Potter," he said, stopping short when Letty popped up and began serving the food. She had apparently put his work things away already.

"Master Draco will be eating first," Letty said, looking at him pointedly. Of course his parents had to give him the most stubborn of all the Malfoy house-elves.

"You're a git," he said to Harry, before taking his seat.

"We're having some sort of disagreement I haven't been read in on again, aren't we?" Harry asked.

"Eating," Letty said, looking at them both sternly.

"You thought I was lying to you," Draco said, picking up his spoon so that Letty would leave. She had served them pumpkin curry soup.

"What?" Harry asked, as Letty finally Disapparated.

"About the twins, Harry," he said, stirring in the coconut milk. Anything dairy related had begun to leave him gassy, or gassier since pregnancy made the digestive system slow down, so he used it as a cream substitute. "At what point did you start thinking they might not be yours?"

"What makes you think that?" Harry asked, fiddling with his spoon.

"The way you felt when you touched me is what," he said, glaring at Harry. "Magic carries intent, doesn't it? It shouldn't be a surprise that I picked up on it."

Harry sighed, and looked away for a moment. "Wouldn't you wonder, if I took this long to tell you something like this?" he asked.

"I told you my reasons for that," Draco said. "Was thinking I cheated somehow easier for you to swallow?"

"Since when have you cared about whether or not someone feels obligated to you?" Harry asked.

"Don't insult me, Harry," he said, raising his voice. "I wouldn't have cheated on you. For fuck's sake, I—" Draco could not get the next two words out. Instead he turned to his dinner and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. It was too late to say it now anyway.

"This is the problem with you," Harry said, when Draco opted for eating rather than speaking. "You never let me in. Not really. How can I know what you're feeling when you don't say anything? You leave it to me to speculate and make assumptions."

"No. No, I didn't," he said. "You know, Harry. You know how difficult it is for me to say certain things. We discussed it last year. You said you understood and that you knew I was serious about us."

"I know what I said," Harry muttered. "But Draco—Two years. Two years, we were together."

"And I didn't start caring about you any less," he said. "But you go and you talk to your friends, and you let them get to you, and you let them convince you that we've got to be just like them and that I should wear my bloody heart on my sleeve, don't you? Didn't you?"

"This doesn't have anything to do with my friends," Harry said.

"Right, because you don't give a toss that they think I should be more affectionate towards you," Draco said.

"Well you aren't particularly reassuring Draco," Harry said. "And I'm not going to live my life loving you and wondering if you actually love me or if you can't say it because you don't."

"You make it sound like people can't take those words back or say them half-heartedly," he said. "They aren't some sort of guarantee."

"I know they aren't," Harry said, sighing. "Is it so wrong that I wanted to hear you say it at least once? That I needed that from you. Just once would have been brilliant."

"You should have said something," Draco said, "if it was bothering you that much. Instead of leaving."

"You aren't the only one who has issues discussing some of his feelings," Harry said quietly, finally getting to his dinner.

"When did you lose confidence in my faithfulness to you?" he asked.

Harry sighed and sat upright. "I honestly don't know," he answered. "One day I just… found myself wondering why you didn't ask me to certain places with you or why it didn't bother you much that I didn't want to go to your family dinners."

"I didn't ask you places I knew you wouldn't want to go to, or when I knew you had a long day," Draco said. "And you and my parents don't get on so I didn't see the point in forcing you together unnecessarily."

"Doesn't that bother you?" Harry asked. "Shouldn't you want us to get on?"

"I wouldn't mind it if you did, obviously," he said. "But so long as you weren't at each other's throats it wasn't an issue. Did you think I was meeting with someone?"

"What?"

"When I didn't ask you out with me," he said. "Did you think I was having some sort of lascivious meeting?"

"I don't know," Harry said, shaking his head. "It just bothered me. Like maybe you didn't want to be seen with me or something."

"What?" he asked, having absolutely no idea where Harry would get that idea. Most of Wizarding Society would trip over themselves to be seen with him.

"It doesn't have to make sense," Harry said. "Feelings don't always make sense."

"I didn't have a problem being seen with you," he said. "That's absurd."

"It wouldn't have been the first time someone was embarrassed of me," Harry said.

"Please, please, tell me you aren't referring to those awful relatives of yours," he said, watching Harry now.

Draco sighed and pinched his nose when Harry turned away from him, ignoring the way his chest decided to constrict. "Can we eat dinner before I lose my appetite completely?" he asked, not quite ready to delve into what was bound to be another set of issues. "We can talk about it after, if you want, but I need to eat and I don't think I'll be able to if we keep going."

"Yeah, eat," Harry said, and Draco heard the clinking of metal against ceramic that meant Harry had gone back to his dinner.

+ + +

Harry had been looking over case files for the past hour and Draco was going a bit mental having to sit there while feeling restless. While the first trimester had been an exhausting nightmare, the second had him overly energetic and he was almost always trying to find something to do, since leaving the hospital at least. Draco reckoned that it had to do with the fact that his magic was not running low. He did not have much in the way of options while Harry was providing the twins with magic though.

"Are we going to talk about how I've been reduced to the level of one of your abusive relatives?" Draco asked, after he and Harry had been sitting in the sofa in an unbearably awkward silence.

"I didn't say that," Harry muttered, glancing at him. "I—Part of me felt like things were beginning to turn that way and I don't want to go through anything remotely like it again, so I left."

Draco remained silent. Harry looked as if he was struggling with whether or not to say more.

"You—" Harry began. "Your reluctance, or inability, or whatever it is, to tell me that you love me… it's part of it too. I need someone that can say it. I need to hear it. I… don't know how to properly express it, but I just—I need a partner that can give me that and I don't know that I could have waited until you were able."

"You need the reassurance," Draco said, while mentally reminding himself that even if he could say it now he had no place to.

"I do," Harry said. "I thought I could handle knowing it without hearing it but, as it turned out, my imagination got the better of me whenever you pulled away physically. It didn't matter that I knew you were busy with work. I'm a little paranoid, comes with my job."

"Did I ever forget to kiss you before one of us left the flat?" he asked. "I tried not to. And I don't mean those mechanical, born of routine kisses."

"Not that I can recall," Harry said.

"Well that was my way of letting you know how I feel," he said, tempted to rest his hand over the one on his stomach but refraining. "And I tried not to forget… because I'd never know if someone was going to come and tell me that you found yourself in some utterly ridiculous accident or worse at work."

"Draco…" Harry murmured. "I—Thank you."

"Anyway, we're having this conversation a bit late, I think," he said, looking away from Harry. He had managed not to cry up until now but then he had to go and imagine what 'worse' was and he was still upset over everything they discussed during dinner and he could feel some of Harry's bloody emotions.

"Yeah, we are" Harry said, his thumb stroking Draco's belly. "Um, do you need to take a break?"

"Yes," he said, as he cried his eyes out.

Harry removed his hand from Draco's belly and fixed his shirt for him, giving him a little space to cry it out. Without needing instruction, Letty Apparated into the room with a handkerchief and handed it to Draco. Moments later Draco found himself feeling grateful for the fact that the twins were sitting on his bladder. The loo was a welcomed escape from the tangible awkwardness in the room.

+ + +

"Hmmm," Draco hummed, considering the three persons he and Padma employed full-time as he decided what to delegate to whom. "Miranda."

"Dray—co," Miranda sang, glancing up at him before going back to the trinket she was carving out of a scrap piece of butternut wood.

"I want you to help Basilius with the Oxley piece," he said. "You—"

"Bass," Basilius said, annoyed. "How many times do I have to say it? Call me Bass. And why can't I work with Tom? I can't stand it when Andy turns on the Wireless and succumbs to random bouts of dancing."

"You're so uptight. Tom loves my dancing," Miranda said. "And Tom can't steam bend for the life of him—"

"Since when?" Basilius asked.

"Ahem," Draco cleared his throat and watched them incredulously. "As I was saying, Miranda's the only one whose steam bending I trust here, and she's right about Tom. I wouldn't let him near the piece unless it was to cut the wood.

"Tom, I want you on the Isaacs piece. I suspect Padma's already told you that you'll be helping her. She's out to have a look at the slate right now. We'll go over the design with you when she gets back. Until then, I'm going to go over the details of the Oxley's piece with the pair of you and then critique whatever it is you've done in the studio."

"Yessir," Miranda nodded, wheeling her chair to Draco's desk.

"I'll be turning in the studio. The sink's almost done," Tom said, leaving the office.

"So," Basilius said, taking a seat beside Miranda. "Boys? Girls? A boy and a girl? Andy's betting on boys."

"Excuse me?" Draco asked.

"Poor choice of words," Miranda said, still carving.

"All right, we're not betting. Just curious," Basilius said, running his hand over the top of his head. It was a habit he had whenever he got it cut. "Even Tom's wondering."

"I'll find out when I have them," Draco said, suspecting that there was an actual bet going on. He would not put it past them. "Now—Miranda, stop staring."

"Sorry," she said unapologetically. "You just haven't been in recently. Your cheeks are all rosy. It suits you. It's a nice change from the angry flush we often get. Anyway, carry on."

"What's going on?" Draco asked, realizing that Basilius was oddly bright eyed and Miranda was more fidgety than usual.

Miranda shook her head and bit her lip.

"Just tell us what we have to do," Basilius said, avoiding the question. He liked to think Miranda was easier to break than he was but ever since he got a grandchild he had become a softie.

"Bass," Draco pressed, not so absently stroking his stomach.

Basilius glanced at Draco's stomach and let out a sigh. "We were all thinking—"

"Cheeky," Miranda said, having clapped a hand over Basilius' mouth. "Cheeky, Draco. You know how he is about babies."

"I don't know what you mean," Draco said. "Now, you were all thinking?"

"Ugh, Bass, you clotpole," Miranda muttered, sighing and letting the man go.

"Okay, so I'm a bit of a sap," Basilius admitted, wiping his mouth.

"A bit?" Miranda asked.

"Ahem, you were saying?" Draco prodded.

"We were thinking that we—myself, Andy, Tom and Padma—could build the cots for the twins, or cot beds" Basilius said. "We're up-to-date on safety standards and all that. Tom and Andy sketched something and Padma and I worked up a rough of the enchantments."

"Don't look so surprised," Miranda said, smiling at him. "We're sort of fond of you. Even if you're a bit of a tyrant sometimes. But to be fair we get distracted easily so you sort of need to be."

"If you're already looking at a pair then we don't mind—"

"I'm not," Draco interrupted. He had not anticipated Padma and the employees to collaborate on something so sentimental. It was surprisingly heartwarming and might have made him a tad glassy-eyed. "Go ahead. Just don't make anything I won't like. I'm going to be very particular. I'll need to see those designs and they need to have proper measurements on them, you can't just hand me a random sketch."

"Awe, he's grinning," Miranda said. "You could just say 'thank you' like a normal person."

"Don't tease him too much," Basilius said. "We still have to work for him."

"Padma's already going to kill us for telling," Miranda said. "We were supposed to wait until the end of the week."

"You can blame Basilius for that," Draco said, before tapping the Oxley design and fighting a smile. "Now back to what we're supposed to be discussing."

+ + +

After waking up unbearably randy from dreams about a certain messy haired ex-boyfriend, Draco found himself lying on his side with an enchanted dildo fucking his arse and a hand working between his legs. He was too tired to attempt riding it on a chair, his belly was too heavy for him to lie comfortably on his back, and as much as he used to like masturbating while lying on his stomach that was just plain old impossible.

Draco whimpered as the dildo pulsed inside of him, angled so that it was sliding into his birth canal. It was a different sort of fullness to having something in his rectum. Firstly, it was a more direct path from his anus to his womb, not as many curves as his rectum, and he could tell. Secondly, because it rested firmly against his prostate, no searching around necessary, every thrust and buzz stimulated the gland. It was a welcomed compensation since some days his cock was too swollen and sensitive for him to even think about touching it.

Since his cock was off limits, Draco found he was paying more attention to his balls and basically anywhere he could touch. He had been massaging his perineal area when he felt it, right by his balls, two softer areas that his fingers sank into slightly. It was strange at first and he had no idea what he was touching, or not touching, until he had blushingly spoken to Patil. He could not be arsed to remember the anatomical term at the moment but all he had needed to know was that they were two canals every bloke had and his being able to press into them was normal. They were where his balls had dropped from before he was born and, once he had got used to playing with the area, he had to wonder why he never thought to stimulate them before.

So now, while dildo buzzed and squelched inside of him, he was fingering one of those canals, pleasure shooting up and up and through him and all over him. His body coiled and uncoiled, he was on fire, he was breathless from the constant moans and gasps he let out and he was shivering from the cool air on his slick skin. Draco's legs trembled with the concentration of sensations in his lower body, and he shook with the onset of his orgasm, building and building and then overflowing. He was drowning in it, surrounded by it, screaming into his pillow from the force of it. It was very possible that by the time he was done with the pregnancy, he would not want to go back to penile orgasms because Merlin, fuck.

When he came back to himself, he was feeling sated, a little lonely and too hot and sweaty. He was also utterly relieved that Letty had not come popping into the room fretting and asking if he was in distress—as she had done for a few too many of his wanks. Draco pulled the dildo out of his arse and tossed it on the other side of the bed, his body too sensitive to want to touch himself much less have something inside of him. He could put it away when he got up for the loo. He sighed as his uterus tightened, still not used to the feeling but safe in the knowledge that it was fine. That was one feeling he would be fine missing.

+ + +

"You're late," Draco said, when Harry stepped out of the Floo. Despite how peeved he felt, he was also full of relief. He had been trying not to fret over whether or not something had happened while Harry was working but it had been an impossible task—he had nearly fire-called Ronald on multiple occasions.

"Sorry, I had to—What are you doing?" Harry asked, putting his things aside.

"I'm moisturizing," he said, rubbing his belly with a salve he had made. He had decided to relax himself by soaking in the bath when he nearly fretted himself into a panic and he wanted to avoid flaking. "I feel like dried up clay. I didn't expect I'd get this dry just because I'm pregnant. Or itchy. I've gone through jars of this already."

The salve was essentially the food safe finish he used to treat wood pieces, like butcher blocks and utensils—except that he had added vitamin E oil to the beeswax and coconut oil. Aside from the fact that Draco thoroughly enjoyed smelling mildly of honey and coconut, he was averse to the texture of creams and lotions. Creams were sickeningly goopy and lotions could not seem to decide between being a cream or a liquid so he had taken matters into his own hands.

"Is that normal?" Harry asked, heading for the kitchen.

"I had Patil check me. It's not an itch I need to worry about," Draco said, rubbing some more of the salve between his palms and sneaking a few glances at Harry. He looked all right and Draco reckoned he had probably been worried for no reason. "If you were going to be late, you should have told me. I was worried. Salazar knows what happens while you're at work." He sniffed the air and held up a hand when Harry started walking over to him. "You need to take a shower. You smell like you were dragged through some rank alley."

"Close enough," Harry muttered.

"What?" he asked. He had been joking about the dragging bit.

"I'm fine, really. Don't stress yourself out. I'm not hurt or anything see, moving about just fine," Harry assured, having experienced a few of Draco's random bouts of crying in the past three weeks. "Did I, uh, leave any clothes here or should I pop home?"

"There might have been a shirt or two…" he mumbled, not wanting to think about the time he had spent wearing them around the house after the break up. "Are you sure your boyfriend won't mind you showering here?"

"Boyfriend?" Harry asked, putting down a glass of water he had poured in the kitchen.

"That bloke," he said, trying to be innocuous. "The one you went home with. He was at the restaurant with you when I… you know."

"Oh, William and I aren't seeing each other anymore," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Things are a bit too complicated for a new relationship. I reckoned I'd just focus on you and the twins."

Harry was single.

"You should take that shower," he said. "I'll have Letty put some clothes out."

Bloody single.

"Right, thanks," Harry said. "Is everything still in the—"

"Yeah."

+ + +

"No case files today?" Draco asked, fighting the urge to eat a basket of chips this close to bed. If he could avoid unnecessary heartburn then he would.

"Nope," Harry said, freshly showered. And Single. "Closed a major case today so I don't have anything to worry about until tomorrow."

"Hmmm," Draco hummed, lifting his feet onto the coffee table. "Fair warning, I'm likely to fall asleep."

"Again, I'm sorry," Harry said, sliding lower in the sofa. "If I knew I was going to be late I'd have fire-called. You can go to bed if you want. It's not like you need to keep yourself up for this and I don't have a problem sitting by the bed. I can let myself out when I'm done."

"I don't want to go in the bedroom with you," he admitted, watching Harry's hand. Draco did not need to be feeling Harry's consideration. It was doing too many different things to him.

"It's not like I'm going to try anything," Harry said, yawning. "I'm not a creep."

"That isn't why," he said. It was more that Draco thought he might do something. "I'll just stay out here for now. I'll probably wake up within a few hours anyway."

"You should sleep if you want to," Harry said softly. "Don't force yourself."

"If I fall asleep then that's fine," he said. "But I'll stay where I am."

"Have you decided which room is going to be the nursery?" Harry asked, changing the topic.

"The guest bedroom," he answered. "I don't really need it. And I want to change some of the furniture around the flat and install permanent Cushioning Charms on most the edges of things."

"What are you going to do with the furniture you want to replace?" Harry asked, switching hands and turning towards Draco.

"Either repurpose them or Transfigure them into something useful," he said, thinking it over. "The mattress in the guest bedroom can be split and turned into two firm mattresses for the cot beds."

"And your friends are building those," Harry said, propping his head up with his free hand. "Tell me when you're going to start working on things."

"Yeah. Hey, how much magic did you use today?" he asked, because now that Draco looked, Harry seemed fairly tired.

"I wouldn't say it was a lot," Harry said, shaking his head. "I was chasing a Dark Wizard earlier so I'm a little worn, is all."

"I don't have any caffeine in the flat," he said.

"It's fine," Harry said. "I can hold out for the next four hours."

"Don't fall asleep here," he said, knowing that a sleeping Harry was a dangerous thing.

"I won't. I'll be as diligent as I am on a stakeout," Harry promised. "You know, I always thought that if we had children things would be drastically different."

"I imagined we'd be married and that you would be the one with a rotund stomach," he said. "Instead of broken up and with me growing exponentially. You've always been more comfortable with children, especially since you helped out with Teddy before Andromeda moved."

"Hmmm, it's not ideal," Harry said, sliding his hand over Draco's belly and watching it fondly, "but I don't think I'd change anything. Who knows if I'd have ever had children if I kept waiting for things to be ideal?"

"You might have found a bloke you wanted to have little Potters with," Draco said. "Still might."

"I did, but then I broke up with him," Harry said quietly. "And he didn't particularly like children so I'd reckoned I'd have waited a while. Turns out I was wrong."

"We should probably stop talking," Draco said, his emotions and hormones running worryingly high all of a sudden. "You babble when you're tired."

"You've been doing that a lot recently," Harry said.

"Babbling?" he asked.

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "Changing the subject when things are going well."

"Because things are going too well," he said.

"There you go again, refusing to let me in," Harry said.

"You broke up with me," he reminded Harry.

"I know. I'm sorry," Harry said, his magic warming Draco's belly with affection and regret.

"Stop talking, Harry, please," he said.

"All right," Harry said. "But I meant it."

+ + +

For a long time now Draco's nipples had been sensitive and his pectorals had lost musculature, which he had more or less got used to. What he was not used to was the way they were getting suspiciously supple. They were not by any means big, but they felt like it since there had not been anything there before. At his most recent checkup with Patil, she suggested he buy a maternity or a nursing bra. He was a bit bothered that the shops were still gender specific when it came to brassieres for pregnancy because it did nothing for the awkwardness. For some reason most places could label regular attire 'paternity wear' but they were reluctant to do so with brassieres.

"Parvati said that?" Padma asked, walking with him to little Greek shop near the flat. It was far enough for Draco to convince himself it was his Wednesday exercise. "Makes sense. At least you haven't had any accidents with leaking. That was embarrassing."

"Of course there's leaking," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Between the burping and the flatulence, I've been embarrassed enough. Why do I need to add breast leakage to the list?"

Padma chuckled and opened the door for him when they reached the shop.

"Never in my life did I think I'd go shopping for brassieres for myself," he said.

"I can go with you if you want," Padma offered. "I'm not going to get to do all the mother-daughter things since I've got Dhanesh so you can fill the void, sort of. I'm pretending that helping you with getting liners and pants that you can wear them with was something like—"

"Padma, I am not a substitute for a daughter," he said, taking another blow to his masculinity.

"I know," Padma said, before gasping. "Oh, we should bring Parkinson."

Draco shot Padma a glare before turning to place his order for a pita gyros. Tzatziki was the only dairy he could not seem to convince himself to completely avoid. He had cut down on greasy foods but liked to indulge himself once a week, to Letty's chagrin. In actuality it was twice a week since he had taken to having the gyros cut in half, ate one, and then saved the other for later in the day, but he was not paying attention to the details.

"Pork pita gyros," the cashier said. From what Draco knew, he was the grandson of the owners. He had been terribly shy when he had first started out, but now that he had got used to things he was fairly personable. "As per usual. And I'll make sure the chips are golden before they go in."

"Yes, please, Milo," Draco said gratefully. "And a spinach spanakopita for my irritating friend."

"I'm not actually irritating, he's just irritable," Padma said.

"You're the one having fun with my woes," he said, paying for their food.

"No, I'm having fun helping you with your woes," Padma said.

"Either way, you two seem to get along well," Milo said, handing Draco his change.

"Of course," Padma said. "He likes to bicker, after all. If we didn't, he'd be bored of me."

"I'll take your orders to you when they're ready," Milo said, chuckling.

"Thank you," Draco said, before they went to sit. "And you are not inviting Pansy. She had way too much fun buying me pants. You'd have thought she was on Elixir to Induce Euphoria. I was going to ask Blaise to follow me. He's less likely to fawn and won't be nattering on about finally having sizeable breasts when he was pregnant."

"I keep forgetting that you'll react differently to some of these experiences," Padma said. "I threw a fit when I started growing facial hair and you just rock the five o'clock shadow when you can't be arsed to shave."

"I'm a bloke," he said. "I was already growing hair in all the places you didn't. And I think you growing facial hair is a bit of a small change compared to growing breasts and self-lubricating."

"Yeah, yeah, it is," Padma agreed, nodding. "By the way, ziricote? Really? You couldn't ask for one of the cheaper types of wood for your cot beds? We're gifting these to you. Be kinder to our pockets."

"It isn't as if I need them now. You've got at least a year to spread the costs between the lot of you. It's your fault for telling me not to hold back. Plus, it's strong and it's lovely to look at," he said, picturing the cot beds already. "The darkness of the heartwood contrasts well with the lightness of the sapwood and the grain is just—swirls, spider webbing, dips. I'm going to have these things for a few years, they better be bloody good eye candy. If ziricote was a bloke, I'd forget about Harry in a heartbeat."

"True. And you'd probably go for cocobolo and bocote as well," Padma said, laughing.

"It isn't even a question. I would," he said, getting more turned on than was usual for visualising wood grains. "Don't give me that look. If a piece of snakewood or lignum vitae turned into a bloke right now, you'd have an affair."

"Probably. Yes. Definitely," Padma conceded. "I wouldn't be averse to redwood or gaboon ebony either."

"So unfaithful," he murmured absently, his thoughts floating unwittingly to some of the wooden dildos he had—smooth, firm, beautifully curved and crafted.

"We're talking about wood. I can have as many affairs as I like," Padma said.

"Um, here you go," said Milo, with their orders. "Pork gyros, extra chips and a spanakopita. And I made sure they cut the gyros in half for you."

"Brilliant, thank you," Draco said, salivating.

"Just so you know, that was completely out of context," Padma said, startled. "I'm not—"

"I wasn't judging," Milo said. "Do you two want any water or something to drink?"

"We've got, thank you," Padma said.

"All right," Milo said, before turning to go to his post. "And don't worry, I won't tell on you."

"Splendid," Padma said, embarrassed.

+ + +

It was some time in the middle of the night and Draco was, as usual, having trouble staying asleep. This time, however, it was because there was a light, fluttering, tapping sensation on his bladder. He took a few moments to realize what exactly the fluttering had been and then half way to the loo, it clicked that the twins were kicking. He immediately stopped and put both hands to his belly, keeping still and hoping for another flutter. A few beats passed and just when he was about to give up on feeling anything else there it was, strange, exciting, a little bit fun and apparently tear inducing.

"Took you two long enough," he said. "I was getting worried for Merlin's sake. Almost twenty-two bleeding weeks."

Draco called for Letty and probably frightened the little house-elf, but who else was he going to yell for and tell the news to? He very nearly forgot that he needed to urinate but managed to make it to the loo before he had an accident.

In his excitement, Draco went for a quill and the first clean piece of parchment he could find. Belatedly, he remembered that most people would be fast asleep but he already had the parchment out so he had to tell someone. He could not keep this to himself and his house-elf. It was not right. Someone outside the flat needed to know. This was noteworthy news. Harry and his parents would probably mess themselves if Draco sent them a letter after two in the morning though.

In a moment of brilliance, Draco recalled Lovegood telling him that she spent half the night awake and so he hastily wrote her the news and had Letty take the letter to his eagle-owl, Falco. In retrospect, it was not the best of names, but Draco had been collecting Chocolate Frog Cards and been all aflutter about learning how to be an animagus like Falco Aesalon.

To Draco's great pleasure, Lovegood replied.

+ + +

"You've got cankles," Blaise said.

"I know you helped me keep Padma in check with the bra shopping today, but do you want me to send you home?" Draco asked, stuffing a pillow behind his back.

"Please, no," Blaise said, gazing up at Draco. He was lying down in the sofa, taking up an absurd amount of space, and had his legs dangling over the arm since Draco was sitting on one end. "It stinks."

"What have you been doing when Theo or the house-elf cook?" he asked, trying to get comfortable. After shopping, everyone had taken the Floo home. Draco had not been in for more than five minutes before Blaise had walked into his living room.

"Hiding in the bathroom," Blaise admitted. "Izzy thinks I'm being ridiculous."

"It sounds like it," he said, lifting his legs onto the cushion he kept on the coffee table. When Blaise glared at him, he added, "I didn't say it was. But it does sound it. I don't imagine it makes sense to an eight year old."

"Well, at least I can keep the food down this time, mostly. If I have to hide in the bathroom then I will. Bubble Head Charms make me feel claustrophobic," Blaise said. "Do you have any chocolate?"

"Dairy turns me into a wind instrument," he said.

"So sexy," Blaise deadpanned. "Grapes then, green grapes?"

"Those I have," he said. "But I refuse to get up. You have to help yourself."

"Maybe five more minutes," Blaise said. "And I can smell something sweet on you. I'm tempted to eat it."

"Do not lick me," Draco warned, looking at Blaise sternly. "It's a salve I use to moisturize. I can give you a jar. I made a significant amount of it last time. Don't eat it."

"I'm not daft," Blaise said.

Seconds later, the Floo roared and Harry stepped out already uttering a greeting. He had changed out of his Auror robes and should have showered as well before arriving—Draco insisted on it. Harry stopped short when he saw Blaise lazing on the sofa with Draco.

"Zabini, hi" Harry said.

"Potter!" Blaise said, with surprising enthusiasm. "Perfect timing. Be a dear and get me some grapes from the kitchen, and hot sauce if Draco has any."

"Hot sauce…" Harry repeated, grimacing.

"I don't know why anyone would eat it either, but I want to," Blaise said. "It's not my fault."

"You're pregnant too," Harry deduced, stepping out of his sandals. It was not terribly difficult to guess since Blaise was already sporting a small bump at nine weeks. Draco had heard that people sometimes showed earlier the second time around but he had not really expected it with Blaise since the first had been so long ago.

"Yes, I am," Blaise said, with a nod. "Grapes and hot sauce, Potter. Please."

"Um, okay?" Harry said, heading to kitchen. "I'm just going to bring the hot sauce because I've no idea how to begin judging how much to add."

"That's disgusting," Draco muttered, adjusting the band of the maternity bra he was wearing. It was strange and he felt like he was wearing half a shirt. "I really want to get rid of this thing."

"It's weird, right?" Blaise said. "You'll get used to it within a week or so. Pansy had no idea why I kept complaining about it when I was having Izzy. I think she's been wearing them so long that she's forgotten what it's like to go without."

"I remember when she had to get one in second year," he said. "She couldn't stand the thing and Grubbly-Plank pulled her aside and had words with her."

"Upper school blokes weren't happy about that," Blaise said, grinning.

"What are you two on about?" Harry asked, walking up to them with the grapes and the hot sauce. Just then, Draco realized that they could have asked Letty to serve Blaise but he had got so used to seeing Theo dote on him, and Blaise more than enjoying it, that it had not crossed his mind to have a house-elf do it.

"Someone," Blaise began, sitting up to take the food, "had to get a bra today. You should have seen him when he had his measurements taken. Quite entertaining."

"Don't you have a home to go back to?" Draco asked, wrinkling his nose as Blaise drowned the grapes in sauce.

"I'll get you a fork," Harry said, turning to the kitchen looking thoroughly put off.

"Ta," Blaise said, swinging his legs around so that he was sitting properly. "It's a real shame you don't have chocolate, Draco."

"Merlin, you're making me cringe," Draco said. "Don't put more on it."

"Just don't watch," Blaise said, taking the fork from Harry when he came back. "And Potter you don't have to look so uncomfortable. Sit in the sofa and do your thing."

"Sorry, I'm just having a hard time getting over that," Harry said, nodding at the food and moving to sit between them. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Ta," Blaise said, before eating.

"Did you eat anything like that?" Harry asked, turning to Draco.

"Thankfully, no," Draco said, watching Blaise in wonder. "I did have a liking for chips though. Still do, though not with as much garlic or pepper as before."

"So you were into pepper as well," Harry said, lifting Draco's shirt and resting a palm on his belly. They were down to sharing magic for a minimum of three hours a day.

"Regardless of how much I used, I always put it on normal things," he said, not missing the smug look on Blaise's face. He seemed to enjoy reminding Draco that he was right about how much Harry would have liked being involved earlier on, and it did not help that Draco had told him about Harry's curiosity regarding the time he had missed.

"At least I'm craving edible things," Blaise said, prompting Harry to give Draco an odd look.

"Not me," Draco said, shaking his head. "While I admit to wanting to sniff at a few types of wood on occasion, I never once craved them. That sort of thing was Pansy, and Lovegood."

"Luna?" Harry asked, surprised. "When did you start talking to Luna?"

"Pansy brought her to the pool with us and forced her on him," Blaise supplied. "She's not so bad. You should see her eat an ice lolly. I'm not one for birds or blondes, but it did things to me that I'm going to attribute to hormones. It's a good thing the girls weren't paying attention."

"She and Theo shouldn't eat those things around others," Draco said.

"I don't think Theo should eat most things around others," Blaise said. "It's practically pornographic."

"Wait, how is it that you talked to Luna when Pansy asked but not when I did?" Harry questioned, sounding more perplexed than anything else.

"She's having twins and it gives us something to talk about," Draco said, shrugging.

"And Pansy didn't ask," Blaise muttered.

"Any other interesting things I missed out on?" Harry asked.

"I exercise with her," Draco said, shrugging. "That's about it. She's bullied Blaise into joining us."

"Have you told him you've been unbearably randy for the past eight or so weeks?" Blaise asked, as if it was the most normal thing to bring up when things with Harry were as complicated as they are. He put the bowl on the coffee table and looked at Draco with a slight smirk, the interfering bastard.

The Floo chimed while Draco was glaring daggers at Blaise and sporting more than just a pregnant flush. Harry seemed to jump at the chance to get up and went to answer it.

"Potter, evening," came Theo's voice. "If my runaway husband is still there, tell him that I'm done cooking and the air's breathable now."

"Well, you two have a nice evening," Blaise said, rising and heading for the Floo. "Potter, nice seeing you. Draco, kindly remember to send me a jar of that salve."

"Arse," Draco muttered under his breath.

After Blaise left, Draco and Harry did not say much to one another. There was a very brief chat about how troublesome it must have been to be in a near constant state of arousal and then they steered clear of any talk of sex for the rest of the evening, keeping only to small talk and noticeably trying to stop thinking about sex but having minimal. They also tried, without much luck, to avoid staring each other. It did not help that Draco could feel some of Harry's arousal emanating from his touch.

"Let's wait a bit," Draco said, pushing Harry's hand away from him. It was getting difficult to concentrate on anything other than their attraction, especially since Harry could feel that way with him as round as he was.

Draco wanted to hex Blaise for making things uncomfortable when he and Harry had finally got past most the awkwardness between them.

+ + +

"You look bothered," Narcissa said, over tea. "Did Harry do something?"

Lucius looked up from the paper at that.

"No, he didn't," Draco answered.

His parents had recently taken to visiting him at his flat rather than having him over at the Manor. While it meant that Draco did not have to fuss as much over getting dressed to go out, it also meant that he was spending an unusual amount of time with them. It was not a bad thing, per say. It was just that they had a knack for popping in at odd times—when he was in the bath, in the middle of a long awaited shit, wanking or crying over something embarrassingly silly. Rarely did they show up when he was not doing things he would rather stay private. What would it hurt for them to arrive when he was counting kicks, having one sided conversations with his belly, designing or very merrily brewing a batch of his salve for the sole purpose of making the flat smell like Heaven?

This time they had found him crying over the not all that silly fact that he and Harry now had a frustratingly large amount of sexual tension between them. He could not seem to stop dreaming about having Harry up his arse and wanking was getting increasingly difficult.

"What's the problem?" Lucius asked. "Is it something we can help with?"

"No," he said, taking up his tea. As it turned out, ginger was also good for his indigestion and heartburn.

"Are you certain?" Narcissa asked.

"Mother, it isn't a problem you want to help with," he said. The last thing he wanted to do was tell his parents he would like to be intimately reacquainted with Harry's cock.

"I take that to mean it's hormonal," Narcissa said.

"You could ask Potter to help you," Lucius said, keeping his eyes on the paper. "Didn't he leave that other fellow—"

"I think that would be too stressful given the situation," Narcissa said, pouring herself another cup of tea and giving him a look. She had stopped trying to get Draco to use traditional English teacups at home but had not stopped trying to subtly persuade him.

"Mother's right," Draco said. "And please don't start hinting at marriage again. I don't need that on my mind. And we're not living together so stop thinking about it."

Lucius considered Draco for a moment, glanced over at Narcissa and then gave a nod as he went back to the paper.

"Now that that's settled," Narcissa said, "Are you sure you don't want to move into a small house? I saw this lovely—"

"I'm perfectly fine with the flat, Mother," Draco said, taking a deep breath before he answered. Today seemed to be one of those days where his parents kept asking things he had already answered. "I've already started making changes to it, it's fairly spacious in design, I'm on the ground floor so I'm not worried about stairs, and I like the area. A house would be too much right now."

"You don't mind not having a yard?" Narcissa asked.

"No, I don't," he said. "Maybe in four or five years, but not right now."

"Have it your way," Narcissa said, sipping her tea. "Have you and Harry decided how you'll go about taking care of the twins once they're born?"

"They'll live with me and he'll come by on the weekends and whenever he can make it during the weekdays," he said. "I think I'll ease them into spending the daytime with him and play it by ear for overnights."

"It's good to know you two actually talk to each other instead of simply sitting there in silence," Lucius said, setting the paper aside. "You've been doing a good job of being civil. I'm impressed."

Draco was impressed as well, mostly. Mentally, he applauded himself for only screaming at Harry a handful of times and somehow managing not to molest him, but otherwise Draco's hormones were berating him for being stubborn and too afraid to let Harry close to him again.

+ + +

"Harry," Draco said, his tone serious.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"I'm fine," he said, licking his lips. "But I really, quite desperately, need you to go to the Greek place. You know the one, Argyris. I want a pork pita gyros. Tell them Draco sent you. Make sure they remember the extra chips, and to cut it in half. Take some extra tzatziki back with you. They should be closing soon so hurry up."

"I thought you weren't eating dairy," Harry said, still sitting in the sofa for some reason.

"This is an exception," he said, pushing Harry in the direction of the door. "Please, can you just go before they close? Extra chips. Cut in half. Tzatziki to go."

"Okay. I'm going, I'm going," Harry said, giving Draco's belly a quick kiss and leaving it warm with affection. "Love you."

"H-hey," he sputtered, feeling his cheeks flush. "Don't do that all of a sudden."

"I reckon I'll go slow next time," Harry said, already at the door and shoving his feet into his sandals.

"Apparate, don't walk," he said.

"Speedy," Harry said, heading out. "I get it. Be right back."

The moment Harry was gone, Draco's tummy was fluttering. There had been one or two right after Harry had kissed it but now the twins felt like they were playing happily inside of him. It had been a few weeks since he had first felt them and he had noticed that they were either a pair of teases or just shy. From touching his belly he thought the kicks had become strong enough to be felt on the outside but they refused to kick for anyone. They also slept at the strangest times and fancied moving around in the evenings and nights when Draco was trying to sleep.

"The pair of you are going to give trouble," he said. "I can tell. I just hope it isn't as much as the Weasley pair did."

Once the movements subsided, Draco stared longingly at the door, wondering why Harry was not back yet. He was hungry and he did not particularly want anything other than the gyros. He could settle for eating the tzatziki by itself if he was completely honest.

"Harry won't be happy to hear you lot decided to play around while he was gone," he said, getting up to use the bathroom.

It was an increasingly slow process, getting up. Draco thought his thighs had probably got stronger from having to sit and stand so often with all this extra weight. The larger he got, the more frequently he needed to urinate so he thought he was moving around quite a bit.

"Thanks, but I think I can let it out just fine by myself," he said, when he felt a few taps to his bladder while sitting on the loo. He was not sure why he found it amusing but he did.

Draco was on his way back to the sofa when Harry returned with the food. He went straight for the food and told Harry to get a plate for him. He usually did fairly well with wraps but he would rather avoid dripping onto himself if he could.

"I can sit on a sofa on my own," Draco said, when Harry began to tail him. He had barely plopped back into the sofa one time while trying to get up and Harry could not seem to forget it.

"I know," Harry said, still tailing Draco. "I just—"

"Get that plate, Harry," he said, carefully seating himself.

"I was just concerned, is all," Harry said, walking to the kitchen as Draco opened his bag of goodies. "Um, did you do something to the cabinets? They're stuck."

"I baby-proofed them," he said, smiling at the fact that Milo was kind enough to wrap the halves separately. "Tap it with your wand twice then try."

"You baby-proofed the top cabinets…" Harry said. "Draco, how tall are you expecting our children to be?"

"They're babies. I don't expect them to be tall at all," he said, putting up his feet. "But Circe knows when they're accidental magic will act up and I'd rather not wait for dishes to go flying before I set up precautions. I did all the drawers and closets and what have you as well."

"Did you do all of it yourself?" Harry asked, handing him the plate and sitting down.

"It's not as if I did them all at once," he said, pulling out one half of the gyros and the extra tzatziki. He could shag Harry right now for remembering the latter but he settled for tossing the bag in his lap instead. "You can have that half if you're hungry. Otherwise put a Preservation Charm on it."

"Thanks," Harry said, reaching in the bag. "Did you remember to take your antenatal and iron potions?"

"Maybe?" he said, unwrapping his food. He was terrible at keeping track and Harry kept reminding him anyway so he had got out of the habit of trying.

"You know I gave you the potion organiser for a reason," Harry said, getting up and going to the kitchen. "Today's slot is still full. You've got baby brain. I should put Post-Its all over your apartment."

"What?" he asked.

"The little sticky squares of paper," Harry said, coming back with Draco's potions. "Here. Before you forget again."

"Thanks." Draco downed the potions and then gladly went to eating his gyros.

They sat in relative silence with the Wizard telly running a programme about the mysteries of Muggle-made plastic. It was not terribly exciting but Draco was more preoccupied with biting into his gyros, occasionally humming in satisfaction and dipping it in the extra tzatziki he had put in his plate. Harry mostly watched him with a soft smile as they ate, though he was not quite as merry. It was a little too close to feeling like when they had been dating.

"Stop staring at me like that," Draco said, handing Harry the empty plate to put down.

"I remember a time when you fancied being admired," Harry said, before clearing his throat and getting up. He grabbed the rubbish and headed for the kitchen. "I'm going to get a drink. You want something?"

"Half an orange," he said, rubbing the top of his tummy idly.

"Wow, you really did baby-proof the entire kitchen," Harry said. "The bin, really? You know, you could have asked me to help."

"I didn't exactly plan to do all that this early," he said. "It was spur of the moment. I did the kitchen and then a few days later I figured I should do the loo and such too."

"Still," Harry said, coming back with an orange that was already sectioned. Draco really needed to learn how to spell the knife to do that. "I feel like I'm not doing much. You don't need me here for more than an hour now and it's tough as hell to make up excuses to stay longer than I need to. I want to help out."

"You can paint the nursery if you want," he said, before popping a piece of orange in his mouth.

"I'm sure you've already decided on what it's going to look like," Harry said, propping his legs up. "Let me put it all together while you bark orders at me. And tell me when you want something. Let me rub your swollen feet, or give you a massage or something.

"I know you're being really careful so that we don't end up doing something stupid like having a one-off and complicating things, and you're worried about me abruptly ending things like I did with our relationship, but I'm feeling pretty useless. It's like I'm a sperm donor that was allowed to observe instead of an involved expectant father. I'm at the point where you asking me to buy food was frighteningly exciting and I was embarrassingly happy to see you enjoy eating it. I'm even a little jealous that the bloke at the shop knows how many tomatoes you want and precisely how crispy you like your chips."

"Providing the twins with magic isn't being useless," Draco said, surprised at Harry's words.

"I wouldn't have been here if they hadn't needed me for it though," Harry said, letting his head falling back on the sofa. "And I'm more than happy to help you sustain them, I am. But what else am I here for? I can barely make it to your antenatal appointments, especially when I've got active cases and the Ministry isn't required to give me time off. Head Auror Levi thinks I'm overly entitled so he isn't going to go easy on me."

"Is this how you've been feeling for all of two months?" Draco asked.

Harry's revelation explained some of the emotions Draco had picked up on whenever Harry had tried to feel the babies kicking. They had not all been clear, the disappointment had outshone everything else. It also made the sense of purpose Harry had while surrogating magic feel compounded. Harry was feeling like a useless parent and Draco could sympathize with it far too well. It was largely why, after his stint in the hospital, he had tried to do as much as he could without needing Harry's help.

"No, just mostly the last few weeks," Harry said. "Watching Ron with Hugo's probably making it worse."

"Merlin, not again," he muttered, when his eyes began to water and his throat constricted. "I need a tissue or something."

If this had happened before then Draco either had not noticed it or had not thought much of it, but milliseconds after Harry made to move Letty popped up beside Draco with a handkerchief in hand. He took it, obviously—tears were already rolling down his cheeks after all—and then he cried a little harder at the quiet, frustrated grunt that came from Harry.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Harry said, tentatively touching Draco's back. "Sorry. I wasn't planning on ranting to you about it. But I saw all the cabinets and it just sort of—Sorry."

Draco was glad Harry stopped himself from babbling anymore because it would have just made him cry even more. Instead Harry let his hand settle in the middle of Draco's back, warm and quietly comforting. Harry had learned how to handle Draco's mood swings fairly well.

"You're an idiot, Harry," Draco said, hiccupping. "You aren't—useless. I'd probably have fainted by now—if you weren't keeping track—of my potions. Damn it—I'm tired of crying! You're the one feeling useless, so why do I have to cry for it?"

"If I say hormones, you're just going to slap me," Harry said lightly, shifting closer and pulling Draco against him.

"Hmph," he snorted, wiping at his eyes.

"You know it's true," Harry said, reaching for the oranges.

"Don't touch my oranges," he objected.

"You only wanted half," Harry said, despite pulling his hand away. "But I reckon I'll leave you to the rest of them since I've put you in a foul mood."

"Bloody right you did," Draco muttered, sniffing. He probably should not have kept leaning against Harry's side but he was too comfortable. "And if you really want something to do, I've been making lists. You can have a look at them. And you can put Cushioning Charms on all the edges and corners around the flat. I have this fear that we might have children as clumsy as Fred and I don't want to forget to do it before they turn into rampaging maniacs."

"You sound like you'll be better at this parenting thing than you think," Harry said. "You also sound like you'll fret yourself into a grave before you birth them. But I can't exactly tease you about it since I've been worried too."

"How many Weasley babies have you helped to look after?" he asked.

"That's completely different from raising them," Harry said.

"It's more than I've done,"he said. "I've never babysat anyone over five, and even then I've always had help."

"You were around when Isabel was just born, right?" Harry asked. "I'm sure you learned a thing or two when Blaise was figuring it all out."

"Those were frightening days," Draco said. "She spit up on me a few times. And once, Theo accidentally drank some of the breast milk Blaise had in his cooling cabinet. I should probably label where I put it."

"You should probably get a Muggle breast pump. Hermione has one. Casting spells at that angle is really awkward and she wasn't going to express large amounts of milk by hand," Harry said. "Anyway, you can just pump right into a baby bottle. Everyone will know what it is. I've seen Hermione use hers all the time. Sometimes I think she's a little too comfortable with me because I'm gay."

"They're just breasts, Harry," he said, though he was not sure how comfortable he would be having someone see his.

"Yeah, well when your best mate's wife asks you if her 'areolas look sore' then you say that," Harry muttered. "Anyway, you can talk to her about it if you want. You don't have to get all overexcited about it now. It'll be easier to decide what kind you need when you start breastfeeding and you know what to look for. Or so Hermione was saying when she was up to her eyeballs in product reviews."

"Oh yes, you're definitely useless," he drawled, rolling his eyes.

"It's not my fault we don't usually talk about all the things I know about," Harry mumbled.

+ + +

"You're probably not going to like my next words," Patil said, glancing at Draco as she scribbled some notes.

"No more masturbating," Draco said, listening to the two heartbeats that Patil had amplified with a mild Sonorus charm. "It's fine. I'm already scared shitless."

Draco had wanked in the middle of the night and, while his orgasm had been splendid, there were a few too many contractions following it. They had thankfully subsided and there had only been a slight twinge in his back but that was enough put him off from touching himself for a while.

"Just to be safe," Patil said. "We don't need you going into labour too early. You're twenty-nine weeks along and a fair amount of multiples are born around thirty-two so we're going to try and keep those buns in the oven until they're ready."

"These little pervs are going to be as put out as I'll be," he said.

"Kicking around a lot after orgasm?" Patil asked, beginning to feel around his abdomen to check the babies' positions.

"Not just after," he muttered.

"I think it's cute. You feel good, they feel good. You're happy, they're happy," Patil said. "I've noticed you're keeping up with your supplements. Your levels are less varied. What happened to all the baby brain?"

"I might've had some help," he admitted quietly. "I really hate it when you two get that look on your face."

"Padma tells me you and Harry are getting along," Patil said, smiling and moving away to jot something down.

"Padma talks too much," he muttered.

Patil chuckled and nodded. "Anyway, one of the twins is still breech right now but remember there's time to flip, and even then I and the midwives here have successfully delivered a number of breech babies so don't drive yourself spare. The heartbeats are brilliant, as you can hear, and you're healthy. Next week, we'll add the Body Simulation spell to have a look at everything—babies' growth, dilation— and I'll run a few tests. Uh, was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

"I was, uh, wondering about breastfeeding," he said, growing ever worried about postnatal life.

"You boys are always so shy about discussing that," Patil said. "What did you want to know?"

"Well, I don't exactly have much of a bust so I was wondering if I'd be able to…" he said.

"Well, you're going to grow a bit more in this last trimester and after birth as well," Patil said, reaching for one of her many informational brochures. "And I'm sure you've read a bit about it. Your milk production will react to how much you need to produce so you really shouldn't worry about breast size too much. It's more about production. But some people, fathers and mothers, naturally have a difficult time producing enough milk, for singles or multiples. If you have difficulty don't worry. It won't be the end of the world. You'll just have to supplement with formula. If you know anyone that's had twins, you can talk to them about it. I'd recommend my mother if she weren't so reserved about talking to men about these things."

"The only person I know with twins is Molly Weasley…" he said. "That's terribly awkward."

"You know you can ask Harry to talk to her, right?" Patil said. "It's perfectly fine for him to do it. He's practically her son."

"You Patil sisters are useful when you need to be," he said.

+ + +

The Floo roared and crackled but Draco was too distracted to complain about Harry being late. Why? Well, Harry had a large box with him was why and it stirred Draco's curiosity like nothing else.

"What is it?" Draco asked, before Harry had even managed to put it down.

"Good morning to you too, Draco," Harry said, shaking his head. He put the box down and walked over to where Draco was standing—he had been double-checking that all the corners around the flat were cushioned. "And good morning to you two."

Harry took Draco by the waist and bent to kiss his belly. As had been happening recently, the twins kicked the living daylights out of Draco's ribs. As usual, Harry put his hand over Draco's belly to try and catch the movement and, as usual, they stopped.

"You should be used to my touch by now since I come 'round every day. I don't get it," Harry said. He left his hand on Draco's belly and kissed it again. The twins hesitated a bit but kicked nonetheless. Harry sprung up with the most brilliant smile Draco had seen in months. "Ha! Finally."

"That took them long," Draco said, laughing at Harry's reaction.

"Yes. Yes, it did," Harry agreed, sniffing and blinking furiously.

"Harry, I'm going to cry if you start crying," he said.

"I'm not crying," Harry said, wiping his eyes. "Well, maybe just a little. Give me a minute."

"Circe," Draco muttered, walking over to the box halfway to tears. "So, uh, what's in here?"

"I went to get the bassinets," Harry said, following him. "You said I could pick."

"This looks like more than just two bassinets," he said, sniffing. Damn Harry for still bloody crying.

"I got a little over excited when I saw the pram I'd been itching to buy—"

"A pram," he said.

"For twins, yeah," Harry said, wiping his eyes dry and then beginning to open the box. "It has two bassinets and you can switch them out later with toddler seats, and it's got a storage space underneath and all sorts of things. And I reckoned we could just enchant it if we need magical features, and you can just use the bassinets in the bedroom when you aren't using the pram. They're going to be too small for the cot beds for a few months—"

"Since when are you so efficient?" he asked, fighting a sudden, frightening urge to kiss Harry—and to also rip his trousers off, but Draco was trying to avoid thinking about sex when he was not even able to wank.

This was another reason Draco had not let Harry do too much in the beginning. He still loved the fool and having him do things for him was too endearing.

"It's been known to happen," Harry said, still smiling as he pulled out the manual. "I reckon this is one of those times you actually read the instructions instead of tossing them."

"Good idea," he said.

"Draco," Harry said quietly, "if you keep looking at me like that—"

The Floo flared and Theo stepped out a moment later, effectively interrupting what had turned into a heated stare. He was supposed to pick up two jars of Draco's salve for Blaise.

"Morning," Theo said, glancing between them. "Er… should I come back later?"

"Why?" Draco asked.

"Might just be me but it kind of looks like you were both crying," Theo said, looking about ready to jump back through the Floo. "So if I'm interrupting…"

"It's fine," Draco said, wiping his cheeks self-consciously. "It was Harry's fault anyway."

"D-don't say things people are going to misunderstand," Harry said, startled. "Nott, you weren't interrupting."

Theo gave Harry a dubious look before turning to Draco.

"He started crying first," Draco said, to Harry's chagrin. "I'll go get the salve. Be right back."

"All right," Theo said, as Draco headed out the room. "So, Potter, what's got you crying this early in the day?"

Somehow—between Draco's leaving the room, packing the jars into something and going back—Theo and Harry had started an amicable conversation and were crouching on the floor looking at the pram's instruction manual after having unpacked the parts. How that managed to happen so quickly was beyond him and he stood there watching them and feeling more than a little baffled.

"Can you spell it together?" Theo asked, looking at a few of the pieces curiously.

"I don't think so," Harry said, picking something up. "Not properly anyway. This looks like that right?"

"It's got the same number, yeah," Theo said. "You just… stick it into that thing there and put in the swirly bit. What's that thing? It wasn't in the box."

"It was in my pocket," Harry said, putting the pieces together. "It's a screwdriver."

"Hmmm, next is… this thing here," Theo said, grabbing something. "And I just put it on—"

"Theo, I've got the salve," Draco said, floating it onto the coffee table.

"Thanks," Theo said, glancing at Draco and then going back to the pram.

Draco decided not to question the situation since Theo and Harry hardly ever said more than a few polite words to one another. Instead he stole the manual and sat nearby to tell them what to do. As much as he liked putting things together himself, he was not about to go moving about on the floor with his belly as big as it was.

"It seems like we're getting somewhere with this," Theo said, clicking something into place. "This is really functional even without magic. And for its size, it isn't heavy."

"You sound like you want one," Draco said, more than a little excited about the pram himself.

"Why wouldn't I?" Theo asked, looking at him. "One for a single child, clearly. And remember we've got Isabel. I reckon neither of us wants to push around a heavy pram while watching a very energetic eight year old, well, nine when we actually start to use one."

"What happened to Isabel's pram?" Harry asked, putting together one of the bassinets.

"Donated," Theo said, attaching the wheels to the frame. "Blaise and I hadn't exactly known we'd need one later on, seeing as we hadn't been married or anything when we started the charity. We're basically starting from scratch. A few of Isabel's vests and blankets are tucked away though. Hard to believe she was ever that small."

"That's adorable. But don't tell Zabini I said that," Harry said. "Molly's been knitting vests and things that I couldn't imagine ever giving away."

"She's what?" Draco asked, surprised, though he realised he ought not to be. "What do you mean 'and things'? What other things?"

"A pair of blankets, booties, hats, tiny gloves," Harry said. "She's been knitting up a storm since I told her you were pregnant. Most the grandchildren visit on the weekends so she does it in her spare time. And considering she's used to knitting sweaters for everyone at hols, it doesn't take her much time."

"Well, we are having winter babies—Wait, was she planning to use them as a surprise gift?" Draco asked, giving Harry a flat look. "Because if she was, you've ruined it."

"Pretend you didn't know?" Harry said, making it sound like a request.

"He reminds me of two people we know," Theo said, chuckling. "I think it's done now."

There was a chime from the fireplace and Harry got up to answer it as Theo let out a sigh.

"What's with you?" Draco asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, for this pregnancy Blaise has been—"

"Potter, is Theo there?" Blaise asked.

Theo rose and went for the salve.

"Er, yes," Harry said, glancing back at them.

"Theo, Mother's gone with Isabel so get your arse over here. I need a shag," Blaise said, before the fire-call hissed and ended it.

"Don't comment," Theo said, pre-empting them.

"On what?" Draco asked, unamused. "You not wanting to shag your pregnant husband?"

"Yes, that," Theo said. "He's been like this for a little over a month and I'm already dying. I'm going to end up in bed with an icepack on my bits at this rate. My balls need a rest. Excuse the candidness, Potter."

"Oh, n—Don't mind me," Harry said.

"You're exaggerating," Draco said.

"Don't compare us when you're thinking it over," Theo said, walking to the fireplace. "Your male reproductive organs aren't still trying to fertilize everything in your trajectory. Now, I'm going to go home and hopefully Blaise will cut me some slack most the weekend."

"Hmmm, I really don't get it when blokes complain about that," Harry said, after Theo left.

"Well, how many times do you think you can go at it per day?" Draco asked, mulling over Theo's words. His orgasms did tend to affect his womb more than his testicles. He had not really paid it too much attention because by the end of it, he had been satisfied regardless.

"At least once depending on work," Harry said, going back to the pram. "Maybe twice on a weekend."

"They're probably maxing out at three," he said. "Maybe more for Blaise depending on what he does with his spare time, if he has any."

"Bollocks," Harry said, stopping mid stride. "That's more than some spouses do it in a week. Have you been wanking that much?"

"That's none of your business," he said, turning to the safety instructions in the manual.

"You have," Harry said, watching him and shifting his stance the way he sometimes did when he was getting randy. "Isn't it weird, with them right there and all?"

"They didn't know what I was doing," he said. He mumbled the rest, "And they liked it anyway."

"Come again?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," he said, wanting to end any and all talk of sex. "Let's just figure out all the things we can do with this pram and see what we might need to enchant it with. And you're bollocks at Transfiguration so remind me to transfigure a stand to put in my room that fits the bassinets. And we should probably put Reinforcement Charms on them. We should also—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get a piece of paper first and—" Harry stopped when Letty Apparated beside him with writing materials and then Disapparated. "Right. Thanks."

+ + +

Like a number of things that had happened in his life, Draco was not quite sure how he managed to find himself spending time with Molly Weasley and Granger-Weasley. Lovegood was partially to blame, the Patil sisters, and Harry as well—maybe Pansy to some extent.

He and Lovegood were sitting in the Burrow watching Granger-Weasley go through the motions of breastfeeding her very alive, and very squishy son, Hugo. Now, while he had spoken to Patil and his friends with children about the semantics of everything labour and newborn—from things he wanted to know, to thing he did not want to know—the visual aid was helpful, even if Granger-Weasley's breasts made him oddly self-conscious of his less than stellar pair. There was not much to do for the next fifteen minutes or so after Hugo had latched on.

"Does it hurt any at all?" Lovegood asked, watching Hugo.

"Well, when my milk came in, it hurt. It just sort happened and all of a sudden I was another cup size," Granger-Weasley said. "So at first, yes, because I was bit sore. And also because he had a bit of trouble latching on properly at first."

"How often do you feed him?" Draco asked, wondering how the bloody hell he was going manage with two babies.

"Hmmm, well at first it was every two hours or less," Granger-Weasley said. "And sometimes he fed for half an hour. I don't have to feed him quite as often now."

"We're going to have a baby permanently attached to our chests, Lovegood," he said, sighing.

"It'll take some practice," Molly said, looking at him sympathetically, "but you can feed in tandem. Once you get used to it you'll save yourself quite a bit of time."

Molly proceeded to explain to them how she went about feeding Fred and George and the various positions she had to adopt. Draco thought he would take to reclining but, all in all, it sounded like an impossible amount of work.

"Hermione, you should show them how to express milk," Molly said.

"Ah, yes," Granger-Weasley said, unabashedly undoing the flap of her nursing bra for her free breast. "That was tricky and I'd wished I'd got to see someone actually do it. I do it when I just need to get a small amount out. Can one of you just hold the muslin out to catch the milk? Thanks, Luna. So you just take your breast like this… and then you feel for a sort of change in texture around this area here. Set your hand like this and then you'll need to just sort of massage it like so."

"Can I feel?" Lovegood asked. "Right here? Oh. This really is more helpful. Draco you should—"

"As much as I'd love to fondle Granger-Weasley," Draco began, "I don't think her husband would approve."

"There's no need to look like that, dear," Molly said.

They might have forgotten the fact that Draco was a bloke but he had not, and he was not about to assume that Ronald had.

"I've got two of my own that I can examine," he said. Draco was quite determined to avoid touching Granger-Weasley in places her husband would not approve of. He thought he understood now what Harry meant when he said Granger-Weasley was too comfortable with him.

"You and Harry are so squeamish about breasts," Granger-Weasley said, sighing exasperatedly before continuing with her demonstration. "Anyway, once you've done that, you use these two fingers…"

Reluctant as he was, Draco did find himself leaning closer to see what she was doing. He did not compare to Lovegood however, though she seemed slightly distracted now.

"And if he gets a bit fussy during or after a feeding you need to burp—Luna?"

"I'm beginning to think these Braxton Hicks contractions aren't really Braxton Hicks," Lovegood said, looking as if she was trying to closely analyse the sensations. "I can't tell. I think that last one was stronger."

"Oh," Granger-Weasley said. "It is a bit tricky to tell if you're in labour, isn't it?"

"You're shitting me," Draco said, wondering how the hell Lovegood managed to sit there contemplating it so calmly. She was thirty-four weeks along and that was an entire month early.

"Are you having any abdominal pain? Backache?" Molly asked. "Do you want me to call Rolf to come for you?"

"My back feels like I'm on my period," Lovegood said, preparing to get up. "I think I'll go to the bathroom before I call Rolf."

"Draco," Granger-Weasley said, as if she had been trying to get his attention while he stared at the corner Lovegood had turned down to get to the bathroom. Her blouse was back in order.

"Hmmm? What?" he asked, distractedly. He had just been thoroughly reminded of how soon he would end up having to take care of someone other than himself, two someones.

"I was asking if you wanted to try burping Hugo while we wait," she said. "Here."

"Wh—Oh—Er," he sputtered, before finding himself with a baby sitting on one of his legs as he held onto the infant for dear life. "Granger."

"Lean him forwards a bit and support him with that hand. Keep his head up," Granger-Weasley said, ignoring Draco's discomfort and placing his hand for him. "And then give him a good pat on the back with your other hand. Go on."

Hesitantly, Draco began to pat the boy's back.

"That's too gentle," Molly said.

"Too gentle?" Draco repeated. "Look at the size of him. He's a baby."

"Like this," Granger-Weasley said, patting Hugo loudly on the back until Draco heard a surprisingly loud burp. "See."

"Ah," he said, watching Hugo blink at him and dribble a bit. He looked absolutely adorable while drooling and it just did not make sense at all.

Granger-Weasley wiped Hugo's mouth dry and then sat back. "I see he calmed you down a little," she said. "I don't think that would have worked when Rosie was this age. She wasn't this quiet."

A moment later, Lovegood rounded the corner calling for Molly. "I should go home to call Rolf and my midwife. My waters broke when I was getting off the loo. Sorry, Molly. I was too distracted to cast an effective Cleaning Charm."

"Don't you worry about that, Luna dear. I'll follow you home," Molly said, rising and heading to the fireplace with Lovegood. "I can make the calls while you get your hospital bag and a fresh pair of knickers. No time to waste."

"You'll be fine, Lovegood," Draco said, his eyes wide. "All three of you."

"Remember to breathe," Granger-Weasley said. "And hydrate. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate."

"All right, let's not waste time," Molly said, already holding Floo Powder. "Come on, dear."

"Thank you, Molly," Lovegood said. "You too, Draco, Hermione."

"Bring some ice lollies with you," Draco said, before they disappeared in green flames.

"Ice lollies?" Granger-Weasley asked, taking Hugo from him.

"She has a thing for them," he said, watching Hugo in her arms.

"Food was the last thing on my mind when I had Rose and Hugo," Granger-Weasley said.

"Padma ate up until the second stage of labour," he said, giving Hugo his finger to play with. "Hopefully everything goes smoothly for Lovegood."

"She's had a normal pregnancy so I think they'll be fine," Granger-Weasley said. "I think Hugo likes you."

"He's got good taste," he said. "Be sure to tell Ronald."

+ + +

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, as Draco wobbled around the flat.

"I'm just making sure I've got everything," Draco said, rummaging through his hospital bag.

"We packed this weeks ago and you've checked it more times than we can count," Harry said, taking the bag from him and putting it back where it was. "Now sit down. Magic time."

"Don't call it that," he protested, walking over to the sofa.

"Fine, fine," Harry said, following him. "So long as you sit and stop doing unnecessary things."

"They aren't unnece—Buggering fuck," he hissed, feeling a sharp kick to his cervix that travelled down his groin and his birth canal and through to his legs. He really preferred hits to ribs or ambiguous parts of his belly.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, catching Draco as he stumbled. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Harry had been asking him that for far too many things since Lovegood had gone into labour three weeks previous. She was home and tired with two small babies that frequently needed feeding now.

"It's nothing," he said, holding his lower belly and leaning against Harry as he caught his breath, "someone just decided it would be fun to kick me in my bleeding cervix. I really wish you'd stop doing that. It's not fun for me."

"I don't think they're going to listen," Harry said, holding Draco up.

"Well they should, seeing as I'm going through all this trouble," he said.

"You can lecture them about it in a few years," Harry said, running his hand up and down one of Draco's arms.

"I want to lecture them about it now," he said, exhaling and relaxing against Harry. "That really hurt."

"I'd say I know, but you went off on me last time and it was a little traumatizing," Harry said. "Now onto the sofa with you. You've been up and down enough as is."

Harry helped him to get comfortable and sat beside him.

"Not going to do your thing?" Draco asked, lifting his shirt.

"I need a few minutes," Harry said, closing his eyes.

"What for?" he asked. It was not as if they needed any preparation for Harry to share his magic.

"For my emotions to smooth out," Harry said, putting a leg up. "You're more perceptive recently and I notice they've been affecting your mood."

"Are you upset?" he asked.

"No, I'm not," Harry said, pulling his glasses off and rubbing his eyes with a knuckle.

"Is something worrying you?" he asked.

"That's not it," Harry said. "Don't worry about it."

"If you don't want me to worry about it, don't bring it up," he said.

"You asked why I needed time so I answered," Harry said, looking at him.

"Then what is it you don't want me to feel?" he asked. "Is it—Are you thinking about someone? Is that it? If you are, spare me. I don't want to go through that."

"I'm not thinking about anyone that isn't already here," Harry said. "Let's leave it at that."

+ + +

Draco was sore as all fuck. Yes, there were backaches, and swollen feet, and headaches, and aching breasts and bits before, but this was just cruel. He was massive and heavy and it was impossible to get comfortable—that was a lie, he was comfortable now but it took him nearly an hour so it clearly did not count. Even his belly button was protesting, poking out as it was. While it might have looked cute when it popped, it was annoying otherwise since the skin there was not at all used to stimulation. He was also exceedingly hot, all the time. He could not lie around in the house naked though. With his luck, his parents would choose those precise moments to visit. Draco simply wanted to give birth. Nine months was too long for this and he wanted the twins to come out already. Never mind how terrified he was of taking care of them, he was at his wits end.

"If I ever have more children, the other bloke is going to have to do this," Draco complained, lying on a mound of pillows in the bed. If he was any lower, his heartburn would torture him. "And sod the Contraceptive Spell. I'm going back to potions—assuming I manage to get a shag from anyone. At least you can tell when those are defective."

"You hate them though," Harry pointed out, seated beside the bed rubbing Draco's lower back.

"Doesn't matter—And you know what, with your track record, I wouldn't be surprised if you somehow broke the spell without knowing," he said, wishing he could glare at Harry but not wanting to risk discomfort by turning. "Surviving Killing Curses, withstanding the Imperius. Why should it be a surprise if your sperm can bypass a Contraceptive Spell?"

"I don't know," Harry said sceptically. "Depending on the day, we might have been so randy that it was just shoddy spellwork."

"Even more reason for the potion," he muttered.

"You're grouchier today," Harry said.

"You try doing this and see if you don't get grouchy," he grumbled. "I'm worn out. I don't want to wait anymore. How'd I even make it to thirty-eight weeks with twins? What is this? Why am I still pregnant? Didn't I already pass that disgusting blob of mucus yesterday? What's taking so long?"

"Here," Harry said, sliding his hand to Draco's belly. "How's that?"

"It's… it's better," Draco admitted, as Harry's emotions provided him some amount of comfort. His frustration began to recede, which was slightly frustrating, and he was able to relax a bit more. "You're in a surprisingly good mood. What happened to all the anxiety?" he asked.

"Still there," Harry said. "I reckon I'm more content than anxious though. It's nice to hear you refer to them as 'ours'. I've also been thinking that even though I didn't see you three as much as I would have if we still lived together, I've managed more than some husbands get to. I might have been more than a bit bitter about the way things happened at first but I think everything turned out pretty well. I'm not sure how I would have reacted if you'd told me sooner. I was pretty cynical and your drunken ranting really pissed me right off."

"That means you'll be there, right?" he asked. "When I have them and after. You won't just leave without warning?"

"Can't you tell?" Harry asked, his hand leaving Draco briefly as he got up. He leaned down and rested their heads together. "You can feel how much I want to be there for them and for you, how much I love them and how much I still love you. I'll be there."

"Don't go changing the mood all of a sudden. It was a yes or no question. What are you doing making things so complicated?" Draco asked, involuntarily brushing their noses together. "Couldn't you wait until my hormones went back to normal and I wasn't privy to your emotions? You're playing dirty."

"I'm surprised I didn't do something months ago," Harry said, before kissing the corner of Draco's mouth. "You've been looking at me like you still love me and like you want to tear my clothes off. And I saw those designs you made for when the office was still mine. It really suits me. You paid more attention to me than I ever knew."

"When did you see them?" he asked, shocked.

"A few months ago," Harry said, rising. "When you had me rig the flat with Cushioning Charms."

"Why didn't you mention it?" he asked.

"Because it made me want to get close to you again, and at the time, you'd pull away whenever we did," Harry said. "Besides, I wanted to think it all over instead of just acting on how I felt. We weren't the only ones I had to consider. Took me a while to realize that."

"…Stay with me tonight," he said, resting his hand over Harry's. "But don't try anything."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, taken aback. "I mean, not too long ago, I wasn't even allowed to come in here with you."

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure," he said, giving Harry a flat look. "Now help me up. I need to use the loo."

"Right. Here," Harry said, beginning to help Draco out of the bed. "I should probably tell Letty that I'll make the tea tomorrow morning, while you read the paper, of course."

"There's no milk for you to take it with," he said, finally able to get up.

"That's not terribly new and I can settle for honey alone," Harry said, smiling.

+ + +

Draco was on a fire-call with Narcissa when his waters broke. He was in the middle of a sentence and then there was a cringe-worthy gush of fluid that had promptly shut his up. The chair Letty had set near the fireplace was sopping wet but he was a little too startled to feel uncomfortable.

"I need to go to the hospital," Draco said, holding his belly. "I'm… sitting in amniotic fluid."

"I'm coming through," Narcissa said. "Olly, tell Lucius that Draco's going into labour. Draco, I'll only be a few seconds."

The call ended without Narcissa giving him much time to say anything and Draco quickly found himself being spelled clean as his mother ordered his house-elf about the flat. She had Letty fetch the hospital bag and a few light snacks.

"You need to put on a pad so you don't mess your clothes again," Narcissa said, grabbing some Floo Powder. "I'll call your Healer and see if I can reach Harry at work."

By the time Draco had readied himself, Lucius was in the flat holding his hospital things.

"Did you reach Harry?" Draco asked, walking over to his parents.

"He went out into the field. They're trying to contact him now," Narcissa said. "We should go to St. Mungo's rather than wait around. He can meet us there. Healer Patil is already on her way."

+ + +

"You should rest," Lucius said.

"You should wait outside if you're going to keep telling him what to do," Narcissa said, holding onto Draco's forearms as he rested his head on her shoulder and rocked his hips from side to side. Sitting or lying down were the last things he felt like doing right now.

"Do you know if they managed to reach Harry?" Draco asked.

It had been at least three hours since his waters broke and two and a half since he had started getting labour contractions. He was very near being fully dilated.

"Not that I've heard," Narcissa said, rocking with him.

"I'm going to hex his bollocks off and feed them to him when I see him," he said, groaning and rocking just a bit more as he felt another contraction.

"I know a number of suitable curses," Narcissa said, while Draco grunted through the contraction.

"Floor," Draco said, feeling the urge to rest on his hands and knees.

"Lucius, a hand," Narcissa said, before they were helping Draco into position, the ache in his back easing a touch as it was relieved of some weight.

A few minutes later, Draco was eager to push and Patil had confirmed that he was fully dilated. He was going to Crucio Harry until he shat himself when this was over. Draco should never have asked him to stay over last night and he should not have listened to all the things Harry had said.

+ + +

Compared to the duration of labour, delivery passed in a surprisingly short amount of time—painful though it was. Narcissa had stayed in the room with Draco and Lucius had opted to wait outside. The first baby had been a girl and then fifteen minutes later Draco pushed out a boy. Within the hour, he was lying in a bed, sore, exhausted and holding two impossibly small people that were latched onto his breasts. He was fairly hungry himself but it did not seem like he could take his eyes off of them just yet.

Draco's heart felt full as he stared at the twins, Carina and Vela—both with surprisingly thick, jet black hair that his mother said was going fall out and possibly grow back in a different colour. To think that these little angels were the ones kicking his insides like they were beating a Bludger. They looked too innocent to have been stepping all over his bladder and cervix.

"You did an exceptional job," Narcissa said, as she attempted to right some of Draco's hair. "Though I could have done without some of the more colourful expressions you used."

"I couldn't exactly help it," Draco murmured, not quite remembering most of what he said, but knowing full well that he would never have spoken like that in front of his mother under normal circumstances.

"A nurse told me your father looked quite green listening outside the room," Narcissa said. "More so than when he left. She almost got him a pan with the way he looked when you started screaming."

"Nonsense," Lucius said, seated near the end of the bed.

Neither Lucius nor Draco seemed too keen on the idea of him watching his son pull his breasts out. It was hardly on the list of father-son experiences, even if it was a possibility. This was a moment Draco had hoped he would share with Harry, rather than his parents and the nurse that had helped him with nursing.

When Carina and Vela pulled away, Draco somehow managed to clasp his nursing bra and then let them rest on his chest, enjoying the contact. The nurse had told him that they might not feed for very long at first but they that they would need to be fed frequently. He was just happy that he had something to feed them to begin with. There would have been a lot more to worry over than how much or how frequently to feed them if he did not.

"I'm starved," Draco said, finally taking note of just how hungry he was, ravenous actually, and parched.

"Is there anything in particular that you want?" Lucius asked, after calling a house-elf.

"Broccoli and stilton soup," he said.

Draco had envisioned wanting something more exciting when his pregnancy was over, a bacon buttie perhaps, but it was winter and he had soup on his mind. At least he was not as likely to get heartburn from the cheese now that his digestive system was not being squashed.

"Narcissa?" Lucius asked.

"I'll have some as well," Narcissa said, stroking Draco's hair and then moving.

"I'll have a sandwich of some sort," Lucius said to the house-elf, before dismissing it.

"I'm going to fire-call Andy and tell her the news," Narcissa said, halfway to the door. "I should have one of the house-elves bring me a camera when I get back. She'll want to get a few pictures and I need something more tangible than a memory. I won't be long."

"Father, could you pass the two hats in the hospital bag, please?" Draco asked. The ones he had brought seemed warmer and more appealing than the hospital's. He had to wonder at how he could know if the twins were feeling chilly since he could not very well ask them. "They should be in one of the side pockets."

When Lucius came to the bed with the hats, he had a soft expression. Draco waited until his father had put them on Carina and Vela before saying anything. It was not one he saw on his father often.

"What's with that look?" he asked.

Lucius shook his head and sat watching them. "I'm having a difficult time believing you were ever this small," he said. "Even though I can clearly remember it. They look the same way you did."

+ + +

A short time after Draco had eaten, there was a knock on his door. He was more than half-hoping to see Harry walk inside when he gave the go ahead and was more than disappointed, and surprised, to see George and Fred.

"Not who I was expecting," Draco said, glad that the Medi-Wizard had cast a few charms on him so that he did not smell like he had just delivered a baby.

Draco had been feeling too sore to walk himself to the shower yet and, unlike his female counterparts, he was not used to bleeding from his nether regions and was extremely uncomfortable about it, so he spared himself the worst of it. The next week or so was going to be even more of a challenge when he added postpartum bleeding to having newborns.

"I know," George said, nodding to Draco's parents and trying to get Fred to stop hiding behind him. "But we ran into Parvati and she got on my case asking about Harry. I reckoned I should pop in. Plus, this one wanted to see you. If only he would say hi."

Draco looked down and found Fred looking curiously between him and the twins, currently being held by their grandparents. He gave Fred a smile and the boy disappeared behind his father's legs.

"He seems shy," Narcissa said, glancing at Fred.

"Yeah," George said, patting Fred's head. "Say hello to everyone. Don't let me tell Mum you've forgot your manners. Or worse your Nan."

"… Hi," Fred said quietly.

"Hi," Lucius said, barely taking his eyes off of Carina.

"Hello," Narcissa said, smiling politely. "Did you want to see the babies?"

"Go on," George said, when Fred tried to peek at the twins from where he was.

George went up to the bed once Fred went to meet the twins, despite how wary he seemed of Lucius and Narcissa.

"I can see where you got your glaring abilities from," George said quietly. Draco was not sure which one of his parents had done it but he was not surprised they had. "So, December tenth, huh? I can buy you nappies for the hols. Well, boys? Girls? One of each?"

"One of each," he said, looking over at them. "Carina and Vela."

"Nice. Congratulations," George said, watching them as well. "They're lovely, and lucky too. Having a twin is pretty fun."

"Thank you" Draco said, before turning back to George. "Where's Harry?"

"Uh, right," George said, resting his hands on his hips. "Firstly, he would have been here if he could have been. Secondly, I'm not entirely sure if he knows you've delivered Carina and Vela."

"What?" Draco asked, utterly dumbfounded.

"Well, he and Ron had a bit of an accident in the field so he's up in Spell Damage—He'll be fine. No need to panic or anything," George said, quickly reacting to Draco's shock. "I wouldn't be this calm otherwise. They've finished treating him. He's just sedated. He'll probably be up in the morning. They're going to keep him under until the Skele-Gro has him good as new."

"Lead with 'He's fine' before you tell me he's in the bleeding hospital," Draco said, his hands shaking and his heart racing as he clung to the bedding. "Bloody hell. I'm too tired for this."

"Just give it a night. He'll be giving the Medi-Witches hell come morning and demanding to be let out. You don't need to worry about him," George said reassuringly. "Meanwhile, get what rest you can. You need it. Trust me. And I'll fend off the rest of my family when I give them the good news. I reckon you don't need all of us making a scene."

"I don't. Thanks," he said, trying not to feel too guilty about swearing Harry to hell and back. He had not meant most of it anyway. "How's Ronald?"

"He might end up with a bit of a limp and a wicked scar, but I reckon he'll take that over losing an ear any day," George said, tapping the right side of his head. "I'm beginning to think it's a Weasley rite of passage to get some sort of lasting magical injury. Anyway." He leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice. "Do you think your parents will bite my head off if I get too close to the babies? I never noticed it before, but your mother's a little frightening."

"You should be fine," he said, looking over at them. "Tell Molly the hats are perfect."

"Oh, are those them?" George asked, walking over. "She's going to be even more excited now. Wait until she starts making them sweaters every Christmas. Awe, I'm going to have a good time going on about how cute they are before everyone gets to see them. You can help, Fred."

"Vela… doesn't have eyebrows," Fred said, touching his own.

"Yeah, well you didn't have any either and now look at them," said George, turning from Carina to look at Vela. "Who knew Harry and Malfoy would make such cute babies together? I just hope they don't bicker the way their parents did in school. That'd be a pain."

"Hopefully they don't inherit their stubbornness either," Lucius said, looking at Draco.

"They are stubborn, aren't they?" George said, chuckling. "All right, Fred, say goodbye. I'm sure everyone's wondering why you've been in the loo for so long. Your sister and cousins are going to tease you if we take much longer."

"Bye," Fred said, grabbing onto George's trousers.

"And?" George prompted.

"It was nice to meet you," Fred said, hiding behind George's leg again. "And the babies."

"I suppose that'll do for now," George said. "G'night, Malfoys, and welcome to the family you two. We're off."

The two headed for the door and Fred gave Draco a shy smile as they walked out. Draco really did not know why Fred had taken to him.

"I'm really going to have a problem with that job of his," Draco said to himself.

"Listen to the Weasley boy and get some rest," Narcissa said. "We'll wake you up for their next feeding. Worrying about Harry won't do anything for anyone right now."

That might have been true but Draco could not exactly help whether or not he worried. It was Harry after all, the father of his children and the man he loved. How was he not supposed to worry? Harry chose a hell of a day to wind up in a hospital bed.

"I want to hold them for a while first," he said, holding his arms out. His parents could hold them while he was sleeping.

+ + +

It was the day after Draco's delivery, too early for visitors, and there were no Medi-Witches or Medi-Wizards in the room and Draco could not, for the life of him, figure out how to safely get Carina and Vela into his arms on his own. One of them, yes. Both of them, no. The mechanics of it just did not make any sense in his mind. What was he supposed to do? He needed both arms to pick each of them up. Yes, the ridiculous Medi-Wizard that usually helped him had managed getting the pair of them into his arms somehow, but he was used to it and Draco was not.

Logically, he knew it was impossible to expect himself to automatically be an expert at handling or feeding Carina and Vela, much less in tandem. The problem, however, was that they were both crying. The pair of them was hungry and what the bloody hell was he supposed to do when he could only manage them one at a time? Obviously it was to feed them one at a time, but he did not want to. Draco wanted to feed them both. They were both hungry.

"Two minutes ago you were impossibly adorable sleeping together and now this," Draco said, holding Vela against his chest and silently thanking Circe that the boy decided to latch on in good time instead of just licking his nipple.

Carina was still crying though and Draco was tempted to join her. It had not been a full day and he already felt like he was in over his head. He reached into the bassinet and tried to calm Carina down at least a little, stroking her head and touching her gently.

The door opened and Draco was about to tell whoever it was that they should bloody learn how to knock, except Harry was staring at him and their children and berating him about manners did not seem all that important anymore.

"Harry," he said, taking in the patient robes and the bandages Harry was wearing.

"I really missed it," Harry said, rushing over to the bed. He touched Carina and Vela in turn and then looked at Draco. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I wanted to—I said I would—"

"Harry," he said, touching Harry's arm, "we can talk about it later. For now, hand me Carina so I can feed her, please. I can't stand her crying."

"Right, yes," Harry said, reaching into the bassinet. He inhaled sharply and let out a short chuckle as he lifted her, blinking rapidly. "Hi there, Carina." He carefully handed Carina to Draco and then kissed the top of her head. "So, a boy and a girl then, which means you must be Vela." He leaned over and did the same for their son. "Hi." He sat on the edge of the bed, less than an arm's width away, and watched quietly as Carina latched on.

Draco sighed in relief and relaxed now that no one was wailing.

"They're perfect," Harry said quietly. "I'm a little upset at myself."

"It wasn't your fault," he said. "But I won't say I wasn't thoroughly upset at first. I didn't know something had happened until George came and told me."

"I wanted to be there though," Harry said, touching Draco's hand. "Even if I stayed at the head of the bed the whole time."

"Sorry to disappoint you but I didn't exactly use the bed," he said.

"No?" Harry asked, blinking in surprise. "What then?"

"The floor," he admitted. He really had not wanted to move once he was on his knees.

"You were lying on the floor?" Harry asked, appalled.

"Merlin, no," he said. "I was kneeling."

"So long as you were comfortable I suppose," Harry said, tugging Vela's hat down a bit.

"Comfortable," he said flatly. "I was screaming my lungs out."

"I meant with the position," Harry said, raising a hand in defense. "I wasn't implying it was easy or anything."

"Good," he said, looking down at Carina and Vela. "Because it wasn't."

"I know. But you did marvelously," Harry said. He lifted Draco's chin and kissed him. "You probably didn't want me to do that yet. Sorry. I'm—A lot of things happened and seeing the three of you—I don't really know what I'm saying right now but I think 'I love you' sums it all up pretty well. I love all of you."

"You're going to have lean forwards again… since I can't," he said. "But you have to be serious about doing this. I'm worried enough as it is and I already can't imagine having enough time or energy for us to start over—"

"I'm serious," Harry said, before looking down at Draco's belly. "If you could still feel my emotions when I touch you then you'd know how serious I am."

"That would be really reassuring right about now," he said, hating that he had got used to it.

"I know," Harry agreed, glancing at the twins before looking at Draco. "Do you still want me to kiss you?"

"Yeah," he said, worried but willing to take the risk. "And I still can't say it just yet, but… I do, too."

"Close enough," Harry said, leaning in.

"Auror Potter."

"Bollocks," Harry mumbled, before pulling away from Draco's lips. "Medi-Witch Lance, morning. I just came to—"

"I don't blame you," said a stern-looking Medi-Witch, "but you should have waited until someone was able to take you down here. You can't just rip out your IV and go waltzing around the hospital."

"You did what?" Draco asked. "Are you daft?"

"What did you expect me to do after waking up to a note that said 'Oi, Malfoy gave birth while you were under'? Just lie in bed?" Harry asked.

"At least get cleared by someone," Draco said, feeling both touched and appalled at the same time. "You were regrowing bones all of last night."

"Well they're fine now," Harry said. "And I wanted to see the three of you."

"You still need bed rest," said Medi-Witch Lance, walking into the room. "Sorry about the bother, Mr Malfoy. And I'm sorry, Auror Potter, but I'll have to take you back upstairs."

"Can't you cut me some slack?" Harry asked. "If you put a bed in here, I'll stay put and stay on my IV. I don't see why it can't work until one of us gets discharged, unless Draco has a problem with it."

"Auror Potter, that really isn't—"

"That's a brilliant idea actually," Draco said, not wanting Harry to leave just yet. "I mean, we couldn't reach you at work when my water broke, and then you didn't show up for the delivery, and afterwards, I hear you're lying in the Spell Damage ward and I had no idea what was—"

"Fine," Medi-Witch Lance said, with an exasperated sigh. "I'll see what I can do. But only this once, Auror Potter."

"Thank you," Harry said, grinning. He turned back to Draco and kissed his forehead. "I'm definitely going to make this up to you."

"When she comes back with a bed and your IV, you can start by watching them while I take a shower," he said. "I haven't had one since yesterday morning."

"That makes both of us," Harry said, before touching both twins. "And I'll gladly watch them. I've missed enough as it is."

-fin-

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