55Chapter 28: PU 1: A Long-Awaited Yes
Parallel Universe, part one: A Long-Awaited Yes
They were just passing by outside the room, and not even that could be made in peace anymore. Things were looking up for the two 'gayies'—as Piper had begun to refer to them as—but that did not mean that the entire world needed to know what they were doing behind closed doors. (Heh, yeah … as if anyone could claim not to know what they were doing in there!) Actually, Piper did not mind—she just got kinkier with time—but Yousuke clearly preferred to stay oblivious. But, you see … that was a bit difficult when certain sounds travelled through doors and walls …
They were just passing through the hallway on their way to the library, but—
"Aah, ah, ah!"
Piper could feel Yousuke freeze.
She nudged him on, but he moved awkwardly stiffly and was difficult to manoeuvre.
"Harry, Harry, Harry! God, Harry! Aaaaahh!"
Yousuke stopped and cast a disgusted glance at the closed bedroom door. "Mata?!" (Again?!) he exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Yes," she said, and sighed. "But don't bother yourself with them; they're just happy things are finally working out for them without external interferences."
"I understand that! But do they have to do all time?!"
Piper laughed. "You've lived here for three years and you still don't know my brother? If you did, you'd know that him and Harry can go on for ever—"
"God, yes! Yes! Yes!"
"—and they enjoy sex very much. I think that's when they feel closest to each other. And isn't that the whole point of sex? To feel close to another human being?"
Her husband sighed. "I guess you right. Suimasen, Paipaa-chan. (Sorry, Piper-chan.) I be nice now. They can do whenever they like."
Piper patted him on the head, and they kept walking. Right before they reached the library door, another scream cut through the air.
"Ooh, Harry—fuck, yeah! Harder, harder, harder, hard—"
Piper could not help but chuckle gleefully. "So, Harry's on top, then?" she commented with a kinky smile.
Yousuke blinked. "Nani? (What?) How you know?"
"Because it's always the one on his back screaming. They like to take turns. Bet Harry's gonna be the one hollering dirty words next." Laughing pervertedly, she stepped over the threshold and began to ogle her way through the potions section.
It was early March, 2010, and it finally seemed as if all dark wizards had decided to let their families be; there had been no sign of Pywercaseley and his Death Eaters for over two years. Dumbledore figured that they were lying low, planning even more devious schemes, waiting for the perfect time to execute their dark plans.
They were all glad to have some time to breathe—especially the laddies. The past three years had been rough on them, what with giving up Joz and everything. But they knew that little Josephine had it much better in the care of competent professional Healers that could devote all their time to her and only her, and there was less of a risk of her ever turning into a deranged monster now that she was supervised 24/7.
Since Harry finally admitted to himself that he hated being an Auror—after nineteen months of service directly following his graduation from Auror School with more than outstanding grades—and had begun to play professional Quidditch instead, he had much more time to go and visit Joz at St Mungo's. Draco, on the other hand, who had way too much time on his hands, often got frustrated because he could not just go and visit her when he felt like it due to their strict visiting hours.
At least she seemed to know who they were, and that comforted them a lot.
Piper had turned into a baby machine. Besides little Shizuka, whom of course was the same age as Joz, she and Yousuke now had almost-two-year-old Keitarou and twins on the way. Each time Draco caught a glimpse of her immense belly across a room or in a corridor, he shot angry glares at her. He still did not like the idea of housing a litter of mini-Pipers, but regardless of how firm he was on his point, he never had the heart to throw her out and probably never would.
Deep down in his heart, he loved her. They both knew it. He was just way too proud to ever say it aloud again.
But she was happy with that. He had said it twice, and that was enough for her. She enjoyed life with her Japanese husband with the same over-enthusiastic joy and 'genkiness' that she enjoyed anything else with, and she did not feel like she needed to spend time with Draco anymore. They were both happy with having their own wings of the house and only seeing each other on those rare occasions when they shared a family dinner.
But she often snuck up to the third floor and stood outside their door at night, trying her best to catch a few obscenities …
"Kono hon desu ka?" (Is it this book?) Yousuke asked all of a sudden, and held out a thick volume.
Piper studied it. "Yeah, that's the one," she said, and snapped it out of his grasp. "Thanks, love. Now let's scurry back downstairs and make some Polyjuice Potion."
"That was bloody brilliant," Draco panted ten minutes later as they were lying on their backs in bed, happily smiling and holding hands. After listening to their successively slowing breathing for a while, he decided this was the perfect time to ask him. "Er, Harry …"
The raven-haired man snuggled up closer. "What?" he murmured sleepily against the blonde's shoulder.
He shut his eyes in excited anticipation, thinking Okay, here goes nothing …
"Harry, I've been thinking. A lot. I've been thinking about many things these past six months, and I … God, I don't know how to say this, I'm so bloody nervous …" He stopped temporarily to take a deep breath and steady himself a bit. Then he just blurted it right out: "Harry, I want to have your baby!"
He waited impatiently to the sound of his own thundering heartbeats.
Sheets stirred and rustled beside him. He knew that Harry was raising himself on one arm to look at him, but he still had his eyes shut because he would not dare look at him right now; he was too afraid that Harry would not like the idea and would tell him to go fuck himself or something. Although that would of course be totally unnecessary right now …
"Are you serious?" Harry asked, and Draco thought he detected a hint of excitement and happiness in his voice.
He forced his eyes open. Emerald green sparks met him.
"Yeah, I'm serious. I want to have a baby with you. I know, we already have two, but I … The last two times I was sort of forced into it, but now I really, really want to. I want us to choose for ourselves. D-do-do you want to have a baby with me, Harry?"
It was obvious that he would not have had to ask. Harry's lips curved into a beautiful, loving smile and his green eyes glistened with happiness and affection. He bent down to kiss the blonde. "Of course I want to have a baby with you, Draco. Oh, I love you so much!"
They kissed for several long, lovely seconds.
Then Draco shot up from the bed and began to search for his trousers. Looking back at Harry right before running out of the room, he said, "You wanna make one now?" Harry barely had time to nod before the blonde had disappeared from view and started to run down the hall towards the stairs. He took them two at a time and then kept darting towards Piper's wing. He banged on the door in impatience and silently urged them to open quickly!
"Hey! What's the hurry?" Piper asked irritably as she opened the door, but fell silent at the sight of her brother's huge grin. "What's wrong with you?"
"You have any Priberty Potion lying around?" he asked.
Piper gasped and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Draco! I'm so happy for you! Of course! Just wait here, I'll go get it right away!" She was only gone for half a minute. "Here you go. It's the new and improved version. It's just like the old one with the exception that it now only needs three minutes to work instead of three hours. Good luck, Drakie-bums!"
"Don't call me that!" he yelled over his shoulder as he darted back up to Harry, but this time there was a jocular tone in his voice instead of the usual indignant wrath that always came with those nicknames. Today he did not care what she called him; he was way too happy to be bothered by anything.
Harry was lying sprawled on the bed with twinkling eyes when Draco returned, panting from the swift rush back up the stairs. He waved the small bottle before him in a teasing manner before unscrewing the cork and swallowing the semi-cold liquid in one deep swig. Then he jumped into bed with Harry and pressed his lips to the other man's.
He pressed their naked bodies tightly together, urging Harry on, eager to feel his hands on his skin, to be covered with kisses and nibbles, and finally to be penetrated and satisfied. A whimper escaped him as groping fingers travelled over his arms and then along the sides of his chest.
"But … is it … gonna work?" Harry asked between kisses. "Doesn't it … need … three hours?"
"Uh-uh," Draco grinned, and captured Harry's mouth with his. "Only three minutes …"
Harry gently grabbed his arms and rolled them both around with himself on top, eagerly running his hands over the blonde's upper body, eliciting small squeaky moans from him. Black hair fell like a halo around his slightly flushed face as his hot breath fluttered against Draco's jaw. His teeth were carefully closed around his earlobe.
Draco cried out and clasped his hands around Harry's shoulders. "No foreplay," he begged. "I'm ready … Come inside me, baby. Love me."
Harry did not need further persuasion; he pushed inside and heard himself mumble a muffled "Oh, babe". It was kind of cool, hearing himself like that, almost as if he was listening from a distance.
The blonde caught his attention again by smashing his lips into Harry's, forcefully sticking his tongue deep inside his mouth. He responded by thrusting hard into his lover—"God, Harry!"—deliberately pounding against his prostate in a merciless, yet loving fashion while the room faded away around them. He could feel Draco's hard dick brushing against his abdomen, and it fed his passion, increased his hunger, and sent him spiralling into an emotional state beyond mere desire; he needed … needed …
"Haaahh … haah … Harry … God, yes, more—more! Keep … keep … aah! Please, left, left, please, little more left … yes! God, yes, yes! Harry, baby, fucking beautiful …"
There was no stopping the blonde, and his ecstatic cries urged Harry on, made him move faster and thrust harder and deeper and deeper still, and he felt himself getting lost in a mist of pleasure in which he could barely discern his own body anymore.
"Draco … Draco …" He still heard his own voice as if it was travelling to him over a ravine from a far distance, but the blonde's words echoed inside his head as strongly as anything.
Draco bucked and thrashed and unconsciously smashed up his hips to meet Harry. His eyelashes were fluttering, his mouth opened wide in silent cries, and his quick breathing was the loveliest sound Harry had ever heard. The arch of his back, the healthy blush on his face, the line of his jaw and his aristocratic chin … details that Harry savoured and hungrily swallowed with his emerald eyes, details that were so beautiful and so unique that they alone made him love Draco a little bit more.
The blonde gave a last ecstatic cry as he reached climax, and that was the end of Harry. Shuddering and burning with a pleasure so strong he felt like he would lose consciousness, he released himself into Draco. For a moment, he was still above Draco, waiting for the shudders and the tingling of firing nerve ends to decrease; then he fell on top of Draco, panting in delight.
The blonde caressed the back of his head, slowly, slowly and very lovingly running his fingers through Harry's black hair. "I love you," he whispered with his lips to Harry's ear.
"But I love you more," Harry teased. He just lay there, with Draco's fingers in his hair, panting into Draco's chest, listening to his lover's gradually slowing heartbeats.
"That's not possible," Draco mumbled. He closed his arms around Harry's back, but yet he managed to keep stroking his hair.
It felt good to actually be held for once. He had been doing the holding for so long he could not even remember when he had last been held himself. He closed his eyes in bliss.
"Yes."
Harry tried to make himself more comfortable without having to slide off Draco. "Wha'? I haven't asked you anything," he objected drowsily.
"You did three years ago."
"But how am I supposed to remember a question I possibly asked you three years ago?" He wished Draco would just shut up and let him fall asleep in peace. He could not even hear his heartbeat anymore. He liked listening to Draco's heartbeat.
"It was the kind of question you only ask a person once," the blonde elaborated politely. "It was the question. I said no back then, but now I'm saying yes. Yes, I will, Harry. I'd love to."
Harry stiffened. Wait a minute. Was this …? Was he …?
The only question special enough to only ask a person once that he had asked three years previously and that Draco had said no to was …
"A … Are you …? Do you? I mean … is this what I think it is? You will? You want to marry me, is that what you're saying? You'll marry me, Dracums?"
Draco pulled his arms tighter around Harry's back. "Yes."
Harry did not know what to say to that. He was too happy to find words. So he just lay there on Draco's stomach, his ear pressed to Draco's heart, with the blonde's breath upon the crown of his head. The fingers stroking the back of his head became lazier by the minute, and eventually they stopped moving altogether. The blonde's grip on him lightened somewhat.
Harry could hear him sigh happily and then what was unmistakably Draco's sleep-breathing. Hardly fifteen seconds passed before Harry too fell asleep.
"Seriously?! You're getting married?!" Piper shrieked as they had finally managed to gather the whole family in the parlour.
"That was about bloody time, too!" Ron exclaimed and pretended to be annoyed and tired with them.
Harry and Draco had decided to invite all the people they considered to be part of their family for a special dinner at the Manor so they could announce the good news. When they had awoken that morning, Harry had finally found his tongue again. For a few crazy minutes he had rambled happily, expressing his great delight at Draco's answer.
And now they were standing in front of James, Piper, Yousuke, Shizuka, Keitarou, Ron and Jonathan, the rest of the Weasleys, and Professor Lupin, whom was once again in employ at Hogwarts. (Piper had grown tired of the place and started working at the Ministry of Magic as a Potion Maker instead.) Harry considered Lupin to be a very important part of their family because he was the only living link that he had to both his father and Sirius.
Draco squeezed Harry's hand and looked him deep into the eyes as he said, "But that's not all." He plucked a small, odd device out of his robes pocket—Piper's homemade Priberty Measurer—and blew into the tube-like end. Immediately, a whistle began to blow and the little machine spewed out clouds of thick grey smoke. Ten seconds later, a small green light had begun to glow. Draco proudly held it up for them all to see.
But Piper seemed to be the only one who understood what that meant. She gave a loud shriek and clapped her hands over her mouth. With some effort, she rose from the couch and came waddling towards him. "Oh, my God! Congratulations!" She hugged him hard, and they both laughed happily.
The other people in the room gave them blank looks.
Harry decided to explain to them what had just happened. "That little thingy is like a pregnancy test for men," he said with a knowing wink at them, "and Draco is positive."
There were exclamations of joy all around the room, and Mrs Weasley instantaneously walked up to Harry and embraced him. "Oh, I am so happy for you, dear!" she said with tears in her eyes. "You are such perfect parents, both of you! You make me so proud …" She snivelled against his shoulder.
Feeling quite embarrassed, he patted her back. "It's quite all right, Mrs Weasley, you don't need to cry," he said, blushing crimson.
"Oh, but I'm crying of joy, dear!"
"That doesn't make it any less awkward, I'm afraid."
Mrs Weasley laughed a little and withdrew from the embrace. "I'm sorry, Harry dear, it's just that you feel like my own son. I swear, when Arthur and I were talking the other day I honestly thought you were."
Mr Weasley came up to them and put his arm around his wife's shoulder. "It's true, I can vouch for that. She asked me if we couldn't go visit the twins, and I naturally assumed she meant going to Fred and George's joke shop. But when I suggested us going there, Molly said 'No, not them—our other twins! The young ones!' I didn't understand who she meant, but when I asked her about it she said 'Harry and Ron, you silly man!'" Mr Weasley laughed heartily and shook his head at his wife.
Molly blushed. "Yeah, well, I think of you as my second pair of twins …"
"Wow!" Ron said with a note of humour. "Imagine that, being twins with Harry Potter!"
They all laughed.
"Uh-uh! Soon-to-be Harry Malfoy!" Draco pointed out.
All their guests blinked at Harry in astonishment. "What?" Ron said blankly. "You're taking his name?"
"No, I'm not!" Harry said with emphasis. "I wouldn't want to be a Malfoy even if my life depended on it! No offense, babe."
"None taken," Draco assured him with a smile.
"I'm not taking his name," Harry went on defiantly. "It's just one of Draco's whims, nothing to take seriously. He's trying to talk me into conserving the Malfoy name for the future."
"Excuse me!" Draco said in mock indignation. "My name happens to be one of the most respected in wizard history, and I'm not just going to give it up. If one has to take the other's name it's going to be you, Harry, because I'm not going to be Draco Potter. It sounds ridiculous—honestly."
"Yeah, you're right. Draco Alastair Mortus Potter wouldn't really be striking, would it?"
They laughed.
After another few minutes of bantering, they sat down to dinner. Ron and Harry immediately engaged in a violent conversation about the upcoming Quidditch game on Saturday. It would be their first game against each other, and they were both pretty excited about it.
Harry was playing Seeker for Puddlemere United and had done so for the past sixteen months while Ron played Keeper for the Chudley Cannons. It was like a dream come true to him—to actually be playing on his favourite team of twenty years! They had both been on England's team during the last World Cup Series, and they had actually made it to the finals in Egypt.
Bill had invited the entire Weasley family over for that special occasion, and they had all watched the game from the Top Box thanks to the family's contacts at the Ministry, but after three days of violent and fast Quidditch playing, South Korea had taken the tournament. But it had nonetheless been a great experience for all of them.
James only sat at the table for very short whiles and spent most of the evening running around the room playing various games. Now and then, Shizuka made him company, but since they did not even speak the same language (Piper had never bothered teaching her English properly) they did not think it was any fun playing together and soon got tired of one another.
The boy was still extremely optimistic and merry—something that both fathers were very happy about. So far, there had been no sign of Tom, and they intended to keep it that way. They had begun to think of 'Tom' as a possible second personality to James, a personality that would only put in an appearance if Harry made a crucial mistake in raising him.
Harry watched him with a small smile. "Isn't he adorable?" he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
"It is surprising how much he already is like your father, Harry," Lupin replied, obviously watching the boy, too. "I bet young James will grow up to become a fine wizard, such as yourself and Draco."
Harry gazed at the professor. "Thanks, Remus. I thought I was the only one who saw it …"
Lupin raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "That he resembles your father? Well, not many of your friends knew him." Then, after a moment's silence, he added: "Neither did you."
A sadness came over Harry as he watched James playing with his miniature racing broom. "I know. But I saw him once … you remember, don't you? When I was accidentally flung into Professor Snape's memory. Down by the lake …"
"Yes," Lupin said, "I remember. Yes, your son most definitely remind me of the way James was when we were at school. Him and Sirius, as a matter of fact. But Harry, don't take that as anything negative. They both came out all right in the end."
Draco moaned in irritation and tried to rub a sore spot on his back. He glowered over at Harry, who was cursing over his shirt, which miraculously shrunk to a children's small every time he tried to put it on. "Am I the only one who feels reluctant to live through this day?" he asked in a dark tone.
Harry looked up. "Wha'?" He made one last attempt at putting the shirt on and cursed even louder when it once again shrunk before their eyes. "Who the fuck cursed my shirt?!" he shrieked in exasperation.
"Probably Piper, she's sort of having an Indecent Mockery Week or something," Draco said, and threw Harry a disliking look. "Wear some robes, will you? And try to make them match, all right?"
"What's wrong with my clothes?!" Harry spat.
"They're Muggle clothes."
"Yeah, so? I'm half Muggle, remember. I grew up with Muggles. I'm used to wearing jeans and T-shirts and regular jumpers and my Uncle's old socks—I like T-shirts and jumpers. Just because you're so bloody prissy and snazzy—"
Draco jerked. "I'm what you said?"
"Prissy and snazzy!" Harry yelled at an eardrum-splitting volume that made Draco jump in his seat and get to his feet with his cheeks burning and his breath temporarily caught in his throat.
He soared up to Harry and threw himself at him. Harry met him halfway, and their lips crashed together in a hard kiss, their bodies slamming into each other with incredible force. Draco pressed him up against the wardrobe and mercilessly tore his bloody jeans off—it was not even wizard's jeans, for crying out loud!—throwing them to one side to prove his point.
The raven-haired man responded by furiously pushing him down onto the floor and defiantly biting his lower lip, drawing a little blood. But this time he would not have his way. Oh, no; this time Draco would win.
He forced Harry down on his back, pressed him down onto the cold, hard floor, and charmed his clothes away. Then, without the slightest bit of warning, he forced inside him, instantaneously thrusting violently and angrily. Harry replied with low animal grunts and defiantly scratched him on the back. The blonde wanted him to scream, wanted him to succumb to the power of his thrusts, therefore he moved more determinedly, and soon he was granted the reaction he wanted.
"God, yes, harder! Make me pay! Make me pay!"
Harry's back slammed against the floor, but he did not seem to notice. He just clasped his hands around Draco's upper arms to hold him still as if he thought he'd wander off somewhere without finishing what he had started.
The blonde swallowed the image of Harry whole and savoured the ecstatic look on his face, the fluttering of his semi-long, dark lashes, the flush on his face, the wonderful nakedness of his muscular upper body … Grunting a low "uh, uh, uh" over and over again, he arched his back as he drew nearer to climax, slammed into Harry with twice the force. "Haah … say you love me!" he demanded, shuddering. "Say you bloody love me!"
Harry just wheezed for the longest time, then he threw his head back even more, bucking and arching, and semi-whispered, semi-shouted, "Yes! Yes, I love you, I love you, I love you!"
Draco gave one last thrust and finished them both in a lovely explosion.
Panting, Harry put a hand on the blonde's cheek. "You don't need to fuck me blue to make me say I love you," he teased. "But I have to admit, it does help."
They laughed. It was so wonderful to have all that tension successfully fucked out of them. Nothing could beat a good screw when you were angry and frustrated. Totally made you relax again.
Draco sighed. "I have a doctor's appointment today," he complained. "First compulsory check-up on the pregnancy. And then I have to go to Diagon Alley to pick up quills and parchment and Floo powder and rats' spleens and frogs' livers … And then I have to babysit Piper's bloody brats while she goes shopping. Bloody sister … just 'cos her husband works for the Japanese Ministry of Magic …"
Harry snorted. "What about my day, then? First I have therapy—which is going fine, by the way—and then I have a meeting with my old co-workers at the Ministry, then I'm due at Hogwarts to sign the new baby in … And what was that last thing? Oh yeah—I'm going to Privet Drive to help Aunt Petunia with some persistent weeds that won't go away the normal way so she wants me to try some spells. What the Hell did you do to those people? All of a sudden they want my help with everyday troubles, and only a couple years ago they were dead scared of magic."
Draco shrugged. "I made their son thin—maybe that counts for something, even by their standards?"
"Oh, yeah … that's right. You used magic to help him with that diet of his."
"Not quite. I just made all the fat go away."
They both sighed deeply.
"Your day sounds much better than mine," Draco complained.
Harry stared at him in exasperation. "You think meetings and therapy and magical weed whacking sounds fun?" he asked in disbelief.
"No, I never said it was fun, but it sounds better." All of a sudden, a crazy idea hit him. He looked at Harry with hopeful expectation. "Hey, you wanna trade?"
Harry frowned. "Whatchu mean?"
"Switch bodies for the day," the blonde elaborated. "You do my chores and babysit Piper's monster offspring while I go to your therapy session and tell Dr Windpipe how good I sleep at night, and everyone'll be happy! No-one will have to know; it'll be our little secret."
They had discovered the counter-curse for Piper's 'Wabbafunktany'-spell that made them switch bodies; it had been exactly what Draco had joked about. You simply said 'Bodilo Changeo Backo' and went to bed, and after a minimum of six hours' sleep you had changed back to normal. So now they could easily switch bodies for short periods of time and still get their own bodies back when they desired it.
Harry thought it over for a while. Then he said, "Okay. Why not? What could go wrong?"
They went their separate ways when they arrived at St Mungo's—Harry to the maternity ward and Draco to the psychiatric ward. The blonde felt somewhat embarrassed at being there. What if anyone saw him? But then he remembered that he was Harry now. That made it okay. No-one would think that he, Draco Malfoy, was mentally unstable.
But, come to think of it … He was going to marry Harry, and he did not want anyone to think of him as mentally unstable, either!
Lost in his own thoughts, he did not pay much attention to what was happening around him when he walked up to the information desk, therefore he did not notice the two dark-clad figures that came up at him from behind. Suddenly, someone had grabbed him from behind and covered him with some kind of cloak. When he tried to scream he realised that a hand was clasped around his mouth. He was abducted from the hospital before he could signal to the Healer nurse that he needed help.
Draco tried to fight his assailants off, but when he began to flail his arms about, someone grabbed his wrists and forced them behind his back. He tried to kick back at the perps, but since he could not see anything and had to kick at such a twisted angle, he did not hit anything.
Panicking, he tried to squirm free. The Death Eaters. The Death Eaters had got him! They thought he was Harry, they thought they had got The Boy Who Lived, and now Draco was going to be The Boy Who Died on His Way to Therapy!
Oh my God, he thought and shut his eyes in terror, I'm going to die, I'm never going to see Harry again, I'm never going to see my children again! Oh God, help me …
There was a flash of greenish-turquois light that briefly blinded Draco, and then the lot arrived to an empty, unfurnished room.
One of the thugs kicked him hard in the backside and he was flung forward onto the floor. He landed on his hands and knees, the wind knocked out of him. The cloak was finally taken off him, and he caught a glimpse of shiny, silvery fabric in the corner of his eye.
He stiffened. An Invisibility Cloak? The only person he knew owning one was Harry … And they were really rare, extremely expensive … Trying to catch his breath, he got up on unsteady legs and turned around to get a good look at his assailants.
Three tall figures in long, black, hooded cloaks were standing before him.
Acting on pure primitive instinct, Draco drew his wand in less than a second and directed the first jinx that came to mind at the middle one. "Furnunculus!" he yelled, his voice cracking with hysteria.
The middle figure cursed and threw his hands up to his face. "Oh, man! What did you do to me?" it shrieked in a mix of pain and exasperation.
Draco just blinked stupidly. He lowered his wand hand.
It was Ron's voice.
The other two black-clad figures rushed forward to aid the jinxed one. While Draco stared at them, they all lowered their hoods at the same time and revealed their faces.
It was Ron! Ron and Jonathan and Ginny!
Ron's face was covered in huge boils. He cursed even worse than before. "What the Hell d'you do that for, mate?!" he yelled in indignation and fury.
"What?" Draco yelled back, affronted. "You were dressed as Death Eaters! What did you expect me to do, huh?! What the fuck were you thinking? I could have killed you!"
"Yeah, like Harry bloody-prissy-altruistic Potter would ever actually kill anyone!" Ron exclaimed angrily, trying to fend his worried sister off with one hand. "It's all right," he said to her. "Bloke didn't know any better."
Draco laughed sarcastically. "There's only one thing wrong: I'm not Harry. But for your information, Harry has killed people, you know. At least five Death Eaters have fallen by his wand. So don't go thinking he'd never hurt anyone—he's no bloody saint."
The others stared at him with new apprehension. "You're not Harry?" Ron asked warily, as if he thought that they had stumbled across a real Death Eater.
"No, I'm Draco."
They all exhaled with relief.
"Piper switch your bodies again, eh?" Jonathan stated with a knowing twinkle in his blue eyes.
"No—Harry switched'em."
Yet again they looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Harry switched your bodies? You mean you changed voluntarily? Are you mad?" Ron wondered in disbelief.
"No, we just swopped for the day. We know how to switch back now, but we haven't told Piper about that or she'd probably create another spell similar to this one to amuse herself with." He paused to yawn. "Anyway, Harry's taking care of my shopping today and I'm doing his therapy and some meeting at the Ministry for him. Right now he should be at my doctor's appointment. So, what's up with you? What you planning for Harry? It's not his birthday for another four months."
He looked at them with genuine curiosity.
The redhead blinked. Then he gave a start as if something bad had just struck him. "Harry's at your doctor's appointment?" he echoed darkly.
"Yeah. Why?"
"But in that case, Piper is …"
He never finished the sentence, but he did not have to; Draco understood perfectly well what this must be. Surprise bachelor parties—what else? And Piper had obviously planned something real nasty for Draco, so he figured Harry must be facing an abduction as well at the moment.
Maybe he had been lucky to wind up with Ronnie and Johnny, then.
Harry was not at all bothered by the medical examination that he had to undergo when he came to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but it was not as if he sat back and enjoyed it, either. At least he got it officially confirmed that Draco was pregnant—now in his third week—and that the baby was doing fine.
He thanked the Healer midwife and left the maternity ward with a pleased smile on his face. He could not wait to tell Draco the great news.
When he was walking down the hall to the fireplace by the main waiting room on that floor, he had a feeling that someone was tailing him. Uneasy and slightly frustrated with himself for being so paranoid, he tried to shake off the feeling, but his skin kept prickling and the hairs on his neck were raised. Just as he was about to turn around and check it out, two people, both wearing long, black hooded cloaks, briskly walked up next to him and grabbed an arm each.
"Hey!" he warned, but was cut off before he could tell them to bugger off and leave him alone. They Apparated him to some dark room and knocked him down on the floor. He tried his best to swirl around in mid-air so he would land on his back and not on his stomach.
He fumbled for his wand, but he was all entangled in his travelling cloak and could not get his hands free. Cursing, he looked up at his abductors.
When they took off their hoods, he saw that it was Piper and Yousuke. Staring in bewilderment, he tried to grasp the situation. Why the Hell had they kidnapped him?!
"Congratulations, Drakie-poops, you big baby!" Piper shouted with childish excitement, and threw herself at him, which was a slightly painful experience bearing her very pregnant belly in mind.
Harry coughed and gasped for breath. "Hey, hey, take it easy, will you? You're five months along already. And wipe that grin off your face—you've got the wrong man. I'm only taking care of a few chores for Dracums—I'm not him. He's off somewhere in my body, probably trying to run away from my past employers at the Ministry …"
He stopped when he saw her blank expression. "I'm Harry," he elaborated impatiently.
"Oh!" Piper said. "Then I get it." She looked about to leave him there to go search for the real Draco when she started and swirled back around. "Wait a minute! If you're Harry, then Ron's having all the fun with my brother!"
Harry frowned. "Ron? What would he want with me today? He knows I'm busy and … Hang on. Is this a bachelor party?" He moaned irritably when Piper nodded vigorously. "Piper! We told you no bachelor parties! What were you thinking? Is Ron dressed like that as well?"
"Uh-huh. We thought it'd be fun to give you guys a little scare first."
"Then I'm afraid Ron'll be either dead or jinxed into impossibility of recognition by now," Harry stated. "Take me to them; I'm worried Draco's done something terrible to him if he thought he was a real Death Eater …"
So, the bachelor parties had become a total catastrophe. Ron had to go to St Mungo's to have his boils removed, Harry (or Draco in Harry's body, rather) missed both his meetings and received a Howler from his former employer at the Ministry, and they definitely did not get any shopping done that afternoon. The only upside to it was that neither of them needed to babysit Piper's children anymore. Harry completely forgot about his aunt, as well, but that did not really bother him when he recalled it later that night.
The following morning, he did not want to get out of bed. He just wanted to lie there next to Draco all day and cuddle. But someone needed to take James to the magical day-care centre, so he sighed and slid out of bed. "Wait for me, all right?" he murmured in the blonde's ear before leaving.
Draco just waved his hand at him and kept on sleeping.
He was still fast asleep and snoring softly when Harry returned. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was almost noon. Grinning teasingly, he threw a pillow at the blonde, who gave an extra loud snore and jerked awake. "Huh? Wha'?" he asked in confusion, and surveyed the room through one half-open eye. Then he spotted Harry by the foot of the bed and moaned. "Bastard … I was sleeping so good …" he complained, whining.
"Too good if you ask me," Harry mocked.
"Fuck you, and shut up, too. For once I didn't have that forest dream …"
"What forest dream?" Harry asked, and snuggled down beside him.
Draco demonstratively crawled out of bed and went for his dressing gown. "The dream in which I die, remember? I've been having it at least twice a week for more than four years now. And I'm telling you, Harry, it's a premonition. I'm gonna die in that forest one day. For real, not just in the dream."
Suddenly hit by a bad fit of the collywobbles, Harry shot up on his feet and went over to Draco. "Don't say that! If you say it out loud it's gonna come true!" he found himself saying hysterically.
The blonde snorted scornfully. With a sceptic and sarcastic look at Harry, he said, "And you claim not to believe in fortune? You claim not to take Divination seriously? You should see your face right now, Harry; you look like you just died …" He chuckled darkly.
Harry had a sudden urge to pinch Draco to see if he reacted to the pain. But instead, he pulled the blonde into his arms and kissed him with naked desperation. It was as if he needed to prove to himself that he was really alive and that the dream about the forest was just a dream and nothing else.
Draco was stunned by his spontaneity, but slowly came out of his paralysis and kissed him back. The invite that Harry had presented him with seemed to be just what the blonde had been waiting for, because he pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled him, a mischievous smile on his pale face.
"Harry, you're mine to mess with now," he said with his silver eyes sparkling with badly disguised desire.
Harry pressed the blonde down on top of him and forced his mouth into a wet booby trap. His gaze locked on Draco's, he whispered, "Wasn't I always?"
The blonde threw Harry's clothes aside and hungrily licked away at his chest and abdomen. Hardly two minutes later, they were joined anew, both lost in their own world and totally oblivious of the bedroom door that Harry had left ajar upon arrival. With eyes only for Harry, Draco muttered a low "Ahh," threw his head back and—
Piper was standing in the doorway with what was unmistakably drool trickling down from the corner of her mouth.
Draco stiffened. His happy grin had been shoved away by a deep scowl.
"Whassamatter?" Harry asked beneath him, panting slightly. "Why'd you stop?"
When no answer came, he shifted his head to peer up in the direction Draco was looking. Spotting Piper, he jerked, and a terrified expression disfigured his lovely face. "Shit!" he exclaimed, and instinctively pulled away from Draco.
Draco rolled off him with a deep sigh and sat on the foot of the bed with his back to his sister. Furiously grabbing his robes from the chair by the desk, he growled, "What the Hell do you want?"
But instead of answering, Piper said (in a rather thick voice), "Woooow … I totally see why you spend half your life in bed …"
Draco gazed back with an inquiring frown and noticed that she was staring at Harry's package.
Harry instantly snatched one of the pillows and covered his crotch with it, blushing crimson with embarrassment. He would not look at her, but stared in front of himself as if he was trying to pass for a statue.
Draco had pulled on a pair of black custom designed wizard's trousers and stood up before his sister. "You barged in because …?"
Piper started. "Oh, right! Uncle Sevvy's here to see you."
The frown deepened. "Snape's here? Why?"
"Dunno, but he wants to speak with you both. Says it's urgent."
So there was nothing Harry could do but to swallow his shame and put on some clothes (Muggle clothes, to Draco's enragement) and come downstairs with them, all the time self-consciously aware that Piper was eyeing him with great approval.
When they walked into the parlour, however, he cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably and greeted Snape in a quite formal manner. Draco did no such thing. He just went straight up to his uncle and crossed his arms over his semi-bare chest. "This better be good, you just interrupted something exceptionally precious to me," he snarled, his lip curled threateningly.
Snape raised an eyebrow in mockery and scorn. "You were trading bookmarks, Draco? How very adorable."
Draco snorted. "Your intimidation techniques don't work on me. Now tell me what you want and leave."
The Potions master sneered at him. Then he turned his black eyes on Harry. "Dumbledore wants you back in the Order, Potter," he informed in a drawling voice.
Harry blinked sheepishly at him. "What?"
Snape gave him a disliking look, as if he was nothing but leftovers from a night of frog dissection. "You have three days to consider it, Potter, then Dumbledore wishes to see you in his office at Hogwarts. You have officially been offered the position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
So, that was why he was looking at him like that? "But I'm not a teacher!" Harry protested. "I'm a Quidditch player! How am I supposed to—"
But Snape gave him no time to finish his question; he Disapparated without another word.
Harry was left standing there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide with shock and lack of understanding. Getting involved in the Order again meant putting his entire family in danger—he never wanted to do that again. But bearing Pywercaseley's deranged behaviour in mind … he really could not say that they were not already in danger of their lives. And they had a new, improved force field around the Manor. Being a part of the Order again might actually do him well. What with his talent for Defence Magic and his knowledge as an Auror, he might actually be an asset to both the Order and Hogwarts. Therefore, when he turned to his lover, Draco already knew what he was going to say. "I think I'm gonna do it."
Draco just nodded. "You have my support—you know that. As long as you're happy, you can do anything but sleeping around and killing innocent people in their sleep," he joked.
Harry laughed and scooped him up into his arms. "Anything but that? Sure you won't regret just saying that?"
The blonde laughed and intended to tell him just what he thought of Harry's kinky, obscene streak when little Shizuka came into the room calling for their son.
"Jeemuzu?" she squeaked. "Jeemuzu? Doko itta?" (James? Where did you go?)
Draco blinked down at the small girl. "What did she just say about James?" he asked Piper.
He figured the children must be playing some sort of game, and that's why Shizuka seemed to be looking for James, but when Piper asked her daughter about it, the only response she got was a single word: "Nakushita!"
Piper stiffened. Her face grew pale—a greyish pale that betrayed her terror and anxiety. It was starting to unnerve Draco. "What? What did she say?" he asked, desperately clutching Piper's magenta robes. "Where is he?"
"Nakushita … 'Disappeared'. He's gone."
"What? But there's only two days left until the wedding!" He shook her violently as if to punish her.
"I know, but I'm afraid I can't do much about that, laddie …"
And neither could anyone else, it seemed. The boy was just gone. He did not seem to care that his parents' wedding was coming up—let alone that his own fifth birthday was swiftly approaching—and he did not return regardless of their efforts to contact him. The arm with his name on the grandfather clock in the parlour had been spinning like crazy for about three hours after his disappearance before finally breaking and flying across the room. Judging by that incident, James was nowhere plottable.
Draco was in total distress. "We can't get married without him!" he blubbered into Harry's dress robes five minutes before the ceremony was about to start. "It's not fair! I was really looking forward to this, it was going to be the best day of my life—and then he had to go and disappear again! I tell you, when I get my hands on that kid … Oh, if he could've just popped in for the wedding at least! Then he could've disappeared all he wanted—but now!" He blew his nose loudly.
Someone tugged at his midnight-blue dress robes. "I came as you asked me to, Daddy. I'm here now."
At first, Draco did not understand what was happening, but his relief at seeing the boy alive got the better of him and he scooped the boy up into his arms and whirled around with him for a few happy moments. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he repeated over and over again, kissing the boy's cheek until it got all red and wet.
Finally they could get on with the ceremony. When they came to the part where they were supposed to decide upon who should take whose name, the row that had been on-going for a month temporarily made them yell at each other while the majority of the guests shook their heads in resignation. Ultimately, Harry gave in. If Draco would not be a Potter, then all right, Harry could be a Malfoy. But he insisted on keeping Potter as a middle name, and argued that they should do the same with the children, whom had both been baptised Potter.
With that settled, they could finally finish the ceremony and end it with the traditional kiss. Applause and jubilant cheers came from the guests, and many rushed forward to greet them with hugs and kisses.
Harry was the happiest man alive. Draco was his now—for real. They were for ever bound to each other by holy vows, and it felt brilliant. But another part of him was undeniably and inevitably hollow and sad. Hermione had missed his wedding. This was the first time since her death that he actually missed her, and he realised that he did not hate her at all.
Fighting back tears, he admitted to himself that he would have wanted nothing more than to have her there on his wedding day, his best friend … But she was dead and could not be there.
And another thing weighed down his heart. As soon as the ceremony was over, James cordially announced that he was returning to wherever he had been before materialising at Draco's request, and half a minute later he had succeeded to force a loud hiccup.
His heart sinking, Harry looked at the spot on which the small boy had been standing. He had a nasty feeling that he would never see him again.