55Chapter 29: PU 2: A Painful Loss
Parallel Universe, part two: A Painful Loss
"What are we going to do about James?" Draco asked in despair when the boy had been gone for more than five days. "According to the bloody clock he's not travelling, he's not in the past, he's not in the future … he's not even bloody lost!"
Harry pulled the blonde closer into his arms to soothe him. "It'll be all right," he murmured reassuringly, "we'll find him. We always do. We just have to figure out where to look, that's all."
"But how are we supposed to do that?! He could be anywhere, Harry! He could even be in another era, for fuck's sake! That boy has no regards for time whatsoever! He's a bloody danger to himself, and he … and he …"
The blonde whimpered and put his hand in his mouth. He tried his best to fight back the tears, but they stubbornly streamed down his cheeks and left wet stains down his front.
Harry was starting to feel frustrated. There was nothing he could do or say to make Draco feel better, and that made him feel so useless. They were even married now! He had to look out for his husband!
Then, all of a sudden, the blonde flew up from the couch in a fit of excitement. "I know!" he yelled, and sounded as if he could not believe that he had not thought of this sooner. "We have to call Joseph!"
Harry frowned. "Joseph?" he repeated, and peered up at Draco's still-flat belly. A mocking smile came to his lips without his control. "Isn't it time we give him a name of his own?"
The blonde blinked. "Huh?" He looked down at himself. "Why are you staring at my stomach like that? Have I spilt something on my robes?"
"No. Don't you see? That must be the blond boy in there, and seeing as we named our daughter Josephine it seems kind of stupid to name our next son Joseph, doesn't it?"
Draco gave a small start. "Oh, you're right. Yeah, this time it must be him, right? And no, I guess we can't call him Joseph … And I guess we never did. Do you remember how taken aback he was when we said we'd named him Joseph? Said, 'no, you never named me that', remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. What do you want with Joseph? I mean—the boy?"
Draco sat down next to him again. "He told me he's some sort of Time Manipulator—can manipulate time any way he wants anytime he wants. So if we could get him to come here, he could probably find James for us."
He explained what the blond boy had told him when Draco had wished Blaise back into life three years previous. And if he was right, the mysterious blond boy could move through time as he wished—which meant that he also should be able to hear them calling him regardless of the amount of years separating them from each other.
But they still were not sure that he would actually come; not after that incident three years ago … The boy had clearly said that he would not return because of the shame he had drawn upon himself by trying to kill his own father. He had actually confirmed their theory back then; he was their son. Shaken by what he had almost done, he had—oblivious of it himself—said, "I'm so sorry, father."
Neither of them held it against him—he had been under 'her' control, whoever 'she' was. Maybe they would never know who 'she' was. Maybe they would never even know what was happening to their son in the future, or why.
Bearing all that in mind, they did not really expect him to come when they made their attempt at calling him, therefore they were extremely baffled when he immediately answered.
"Is there something in particular you need assistance with, since you're calling me specifically?" his low, melodious, and slightly melancholy voice asked behind them.
They both turned in surprise.
"Jo— You! Boy! Whoever! Hey!" Draco said, sounding embarrassedly confused and stupid.
The boy actually smiled. It was the first genuine, humorous smile they had seen on his lips, and it warmed them immensely. "You can call me Tim," he offered in a friendly manner.
"Tim?" Harry echoed. "Is that what we—"
"It's short for Time Manipulator," he explained, interrupting him. "I'm afraid I can't reveal my real name because that could cause a major disturbance in the time continuum. You're not supposed to know until the day you yourselves name me."
It felt strangely awkward to hear him talking about them as fathers and son; they were not used to it yet. The mystery about him sort of lifted when they knew for sure who he was, and he was reduced to a normal teenage boy. Which was kind of dull, actually. Harry would have liked to have a special child.
But maybe you could call a son who vanished as a result of the hiccups and a daughter who possessed powers so intimidating she had to be locked up for her entire life sort of special …
"James is missing," Draco informed the boy. "We got a Location Clock just to be able to keep tabs on him, but it just broke when he went … wherever he went this time. He came back for our wedding, but then he left again. Said he'd found a much more fun place to play at. We hoped you could help us, er … Tim."
Draco blushed.
The boy studied them for a few ominous seconds, and then he nodded solemnly. "I'll do my best to find him. You have my word." Harry half expected him to leave, but instead he closed his eyes and got an expression of utmost concentration on his face. After only a minute or so, he opened his startlingly green eyes again. A new level of anxiety was reflected in them. "I can't sense him anywhere."
Harry frowned. "What d'you mean?"
Tim seemed reluctant to elaborate. But ultimately, he sighed and lowered his gaze. "I can't sense him anywhere. Not here, not in the past, not in the future … I can sense all living beings in this world and the worlds beyond. But I cannot sense James anywhere."
Draco gasped in terror. "Does that mean he's dead?!" he shrieked, panicking.
Tim swiftly shook his head. "No, if he was dead somewhere I would have sensed so. When someone's time ends, it gives off a special vibration. I can detect no such vibration when I think of James. He's still alive somewhere—I just don't know where. I will need more time to find him. I'll get back to you as soon as I know."
He went back to his own time before they could object.
It felt weird to be in Dumbledore's office again—not to mention how weird it felt being there as a teacher-to-be! But paradoxical and unthinkable as it seemed, he was willing to give it a try. He had already tried quite a few things; studies, being an Auror, playing professional Quidditch, being pregnant, being Draco … But Quidditch was one thing he would never give up; he loved Quidditch, and it was the only thing he was really good at. Not even a job as a teacher could stop him from flying.
Dumbledore smiled fatherly at him when he sat down opposite him in front of his desk. "How are you these days, Harry?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Harry felt a lot more comfortable now that Dumbledore had spoken to him, and leant back slightly in his seat. "I'm fine, thank you, Professor," he replied automatically.
The old Headmaster smiled even more broadly at his words. "There now, Harry, you really don't have to address me like your Headmaster anymore—you are a teacher now," he reminded him.
"Right. Sorry … Mr Dumbledore."
"Albus is fine."
"No, I think I'll stick with Dumbledore, if you don't mind."
"Of course not."
Harry told him that he had decided to accept the position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and that he was willing to step back into the Order of the Phoenix.
Apparently, Dumbledore wanted him to be stationed at Hogwarts and use his knowledge about the Dark Arts, Defence Magic, Pywercaseley, and the old Percy Weasley to protect the young witches and wizards attending the school. The Order needed more people inside Hogwarts since the Dark Lord seemed to have made the school one of his main targets. There had been no attack for the past two years, but they all knew Hogwarts had it coming; Pywercaseley needed to strip the magical world of its greatest asset, namely the next generation of talented Aurors and suchlike.
When their meeting was coming to an end, Dumbledore rose from his seat to shake Harry's hand. "Then I'll let everyone know that Harry Potter will be coming back to Hogwarts to teach," he said. "The students will be most pleased, I'd say."
Harry cleared his throat and stared down at his trainers rather awkwardly. "Er, Harry Malfoy, Dumbledore," he corrected him. "Draco is rather fanatic about this, so … I would appreciate it if you …"
"Certainly, Harry. I will make all the necessary arrangements. See you on September 1."
When Harry went back home to Draco, it was with mixed feelings. Sure, he loved the thought of returning to Hogwarts—the first place he had ever considered to be 'home'—but to return on such ominous pretences …
An attack could be anticipated at any time, and the thought of always putting himself in imminent danger … of always forcing his family to face the very veritable risk of losing him … It all seemed so selfish. However, Draco made him re-think this. Harry was more than happy to have the blonde by his side, because he could always calm him when he felt agitated.
The only thing that would have made it even better was if James had returned home during his meeting with Dumbledore, but the nursery was still silent and deserted.
He sighed with resignation and, head hung low, walked back down the stairs to the parlour where he knew Draco would be. Ready to soothe his lover once again, he stepped inside the archway and—
"Harryyyyyyy!"
Shrieking in joy and exhilaration, the blonde threw himself around the baffled Harry's neck.
"Guess what guess what guess what?!" he fired at him with glistening white teeth.
Harry was reminded of vampire fangs. "No, what?"
"We can take Joz home for a trial year! They're letting us have her here with us! They've been working on a cure for the Masamadie for centuries, but not until now have they made progress! They've actually produced some sort of potion that slows the development of the disease, and it's working perfectly on Joz! They're ready to give her a chance to have a normal life with her family! Isn't it fantastic? Isn't it marvellous?!"
He laughed boyishly and danced around with Harry on the spot.
Harry was numb with puzzlement. "Er … yeah. Sure … great."
"Oh, come on! You can do better than that!" Draco admonished, and slapped his face. "This is our daughter we're talking about! She's coming home, Harry! Oooh, I am so happy!"
Harry slowly closed his arms around Draco's upper body. "I'm happy, too, baby. I'm happy too."
"Can you find him?" Jonas asks in his sexy American accent while Timothy is trying to sense his big brother's 2010 self.
"No. I can sense a lot of Jameses and a lot of Toms, but not the James of that year and day … strange." He opens his eyes again to look at his father. "I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry shrugs. "I'm not worried. We got him back eventually, didn't we?" He studies the blond boy for a while. "You sure you don't wish me to tell you where he is?"
"No. I am meant to do this search on my own. It's not fair that you already know the answer because you've already lived through that particular time. I'm not born yet, remember?"
Several years has passed in the time of the past Harry and Draco, and they have recently celebrated their wedding, but in Timothy's time only five minutes have passed since The Other finally found him. He was called down to 2010 before he could establish any kind of bond with his soulmate. Now he longs to get acquainted not only to Jonas's wits and intelligence, but to his body. The urges of a sixteen-year-old boy are not to be denied.
Harry seems to sense his eagerness to forget about the task he has been given and resort to other pastimes. He smiles faintly. "Go ahead. You can indulge in an evening of fun now and then, you know. You two must be dying to talk right now, what with your lifelong search and everything … James will still be there in the morning."
Timothy frowns in concern for his father. "You sure you'll be okay? I mean, I just killed Joz …"
"Ah, don't think about it. It was inevitable, right? Besides, you told me they've already discovered her abnormality in that new past you're creating. In this time, I didn't even know twenty-one years after that. Things'll be all right. The past is changing. So, please … Go have fun."
Timothy nods. With one glance at Jonas, he says, "Then we're going to bed." His hunger is plain to read on his face, he is sure, and his heart is pounding painfully against his ribcage. In a moment, he will feel The Other's skin on his …
Harry clears his throat rather awkwardly. "Er … shouldn't you get to know each other first …?"
He has interpreted the tension between the two young boys correctly, and it actually makes Timothy blush. It is quite embarrassing that his father knows about his sexual lust … But he cannot ignore it any longer—it is too strong. He swiftly shakes his head. "No. We don't need to get to know each other—we already know everything we need to know. And we love each other."
Jonas smiles in a most affectionate way. "You bet we do, darling. Here, take my hand."
Being escorted to bed by such an American gentleman makes Timothy's young heart flutter.
Having their little girl at the Manor was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to them, and they both loved every second of it. But their concern and anxiety for James just kept growing for each week that passed without a single sign of him. And there had been no new visits from Tim; the boy did not even answer their calls anymore. Now three months had gone by since James went missing, it was July and both Harry's 23rd birthday and the start of the new school year was approaching at breakneck speed.
Someone else was showing up on a regular basis, though … and always to Draco's utter wrath …
"What is that bitch always doing here?" he confronted Harry with one morning.
"Stop calling her a bitch! She's my friend, and I do spend time with my friends, thank you."
"I haven't seen you spending as much time with Ron, and he's your best friend," Draco pointed out suspiciously. "Why d'you always shut yourself in some room and won't let me join you? What are you doing in there, anyway?"
The raven-haired man's lies about having slept with Cho were painfully pressing on his memory.
Harry pushed him away, offended. "What are you implying now? We're not doing anything fishy … We're just hanging out, like friends do."
The blonde's eyes narrowed into slits. "Doing what?" he prodded.
"Nothing, we just … have tea and stuff. Talk."
"Talk? You talk?"
"I'm gay, Draco, stop asking me 20 bloody questions. You should be more worried about Ron than Cho."
"Ron's married."
"So am I. Why don't you trust me?"
"I trust you, but I don't trust her. She's doing something to you."
"Hardly. Now get out of my way, I have business to attend to."
"Not until you've answered my questions." He grabbed hold of Harry's sleeve and pulled him back when he tried to slip away into the kitchen. Gazing deep into his emerald eyes, he tried to discern the secrets that his husband shared with Cho Chang. And then he noticed something utterly different. Pulling back slightly, Draco raised his eyebrows in bafflement. "She's hexed you!"
Harry angrily jerked free of his grip. "She has not! It's just your imagination."
But the blonde firmly shook his head. "No, this isn't imaginary. I can see it in your eyes. She's put an Influence Spell on you, Harry, that's why you're acting so weird."
"I'm not acting weird! God, come off it!"
"No? Then why don't you believe me? Cho is trying to break us up, and she's been trying to do so for the past three years. Why can you not believe that? Tell me, have I ever lied to you? Have I ever tried to mislead you in any way? The answer is no, isn't it, Harry? I've always been honest with you, and yet you won't believe me. Me. I'm your husband, Harry. You're supposed to believe in me and trust in me, but you never learn, do you?
"Do you remember when we first switched bodies? Do you remember what you did to me? Do you remember the outcome of your lack of trust in me? Do you wish to drive me away again? Do you wish me to go live with Snape again, is that it?"
He paused to give Harry a chance to answer, but the raven-haired man just stood there, mute.
Draco went on: "She was the one who poisoned me, Harry. She was the one who gave me the potion that brought out my other self, which means that she was ultimately responsible for both Slutty's and Blaise's deaths. She was the one who turned me into some sort of transsexual slut with make-up problems, and she was the one who made me poison myself in hopes of killing Josephine. Harry … she's trying to break our family apart. Can't you see what she's doing to us?"
But that eerie glint that Draco had perceived in his husband's green eyes would not go away. Instead of casting off the Influence Spell, Harry simply shook his head in disbelief, and said, "You're just something, Draco. This jealousy is really starting to get silly."
"You're one to speak! You were jealous of Blaise while he was still dead!"
Someone cleared his throat. "Erm … excuse me."
They both stopped quarrelling and swirled around.
Tim was back, and his face was very solemn and his eyes even darker with sadness and melancholy than they usually were. "I'm sorry, but I have really bad news," he said, and a muscle near the right corner of his mouth twitched. His green eyes were strangely watery.
Draco gasped and clasped his hands over his mouth. "No! Don't tell me he's dead!"
"No, he is not dead, but he is in grave danger. I suggest that you both take a seat, this will probably boggle both your minds."
They asked the visiting Cho to go out to the kitchen and wait there. She downright refused to leave, and the bewitched Harry did not mind her staying. Draco simply glared at her with black eyes.
"Well, where is he?" Draco asked as they had all sat down in the parlour.
"He's taken refuge in one of the Parallel Universes," Tim informed them soberly, and awaited their reactions.
They blinked at him. "A parallel what?" Harry asked in bewilderment.
"A Parallel Universe. There are thousands, possibly millions, of parallel worlds co-existing in this now, worlds which we cannot see with our mere eyes. Usually it is impossible to walk between the parallel worlds, but now and then a breach occurs. I cannot always sense them right away since they are so rare and I haven't yet learnt to recognise the specific vibrations of parallel breaches. I'm assigned to this universe and do not have authority over the others. The Time Manipulator of that universe contacted me and told me one of my charges had crossed over to his side."
Furthermore, Tim tried his best to explain the phenomenon of Parallel Universes to them in as much layman terms as he could find. Obviously, the force of time had been created to bind the different worlds together, but also to keep them separated from each other out of safety reasons. And what was more confusing was that each world looked exactly like the others. All the Parallel Universes were exactly like the world Harry and Draco were living in, and the people in it were the same as well.
"So you mean there are millions of other Harries and Dracos co-existing with us right now, but we can't see them?" Harry asked in fascination.
"Yes, they all exist together with us in this now, but they cannot be seen, no," Tim said, relieved that they understood so quickly.
Even though each and every parallel world was the same to their appearance and structure, they were all utterly different from each other. Some worlds had been known by certain names because they were extremes, worlds in which things had gone utterly wrong or worlds in which things had turned into a huge fluffy fairy-tale. The world they were living in, however, was one of the regular, neutral ones. A world in which good and evil were at a tie.
Apparently, each of these worlds had their own Time Manipulators, whom were assigned to maintain the flow of time and prevent breaches. If ever there was a hole in the fabric of time, the Time Manipulator had to sew it shut as fast as he could. And Tim was now very urgent to find James and apply a fresh line of stitches.
"Why is it so important to find him?" Draco asked suspiciously. "Not that I don't want to find him or anything, but why is it so important to you?"
Tim's eyebrows were furrowed. "Because nothing came out when he went inside."
Harry blinked in confusion. "Wha'? Nothing came out? What kind of logic is that?"
"No, you don't understand … All the Parallel Universes are exactly alike when it comes to locations, sites, main historical events, and even the people that live in it. But some of them differ from the others, of course … Let's look at it like this. In this world, you and Draco are a happy married couple, and you've been a couple for more than eight years now. When it comes to most of the parallel worlds, their Harries and Dracos are leading the exact same life as you blokes are. But in some of them, you never got married. You were perfectly happy with just being boyfriends. In a few of those worlds you got married much sooner—I bet many Dracos answered positively to their Harry's first proposal. In some worlds Harry never proposed at all.
"In yet other worlds, you are not even a couple. Do you see where I am going? In this world, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have two children, but in many other parallel worlds, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have no children because they never became a couple in the first place. And my bet is that James wound up in one of those worlds."
Now Harry frowned. "What makes you think that?"
"Because there is a major rule when it comes to world crossing," Tim explained, "a rule which must be followed by everyone if time is to persist. When a person ventures into a parallel world, his parallel equivalent will take his place in the world he leaves behind. To make it easier for you to understand: If James had gone into one of the worlds in which he exists, the James of that world would have emerged into this world. And no other James came out, right?"
Both Draco and Harry numbly shook their heads. This was a lot of info in one morning.
"That means that James must have materialised in one of the parallel worlds in which he does not exist," Tim concluded. "And that is why it's so urgent for him to return to his own world. He's meant to be here—he's an inhabitant of this world. If he stays in that other world for too long, there is a great risk of time collapsing. Everything might implode. His presence in the other world creates a major disturbance in the fabric of time, and he needs to be collected and brought back before that disturbance becomes too great to mend."
Draco and Harry exchanged a knowing look. They both rose to their feet.
"What do we need to do?" Harry asked solemnly.
Tim rose, too. "You have to go in and get him."
"You mean into that parallel world?" Draco wondered.
"Yes. I am sorry to say I don't know which world he has wound up in, I can't sense those sorts of things. All I can do is open the gate for you."
They nodded. "Right. Open it, then," Harry said with determination.
"But I have to warn you first: I can't guarantee your safety once you're inside that world, and I will not be able to go with you. Three Time Manipulators in a world meant for two is unthinkable; you will have to trust in my Parallel Self to help you with the briefing once you're there."
"All right," Harry said, already ready to leave.
But Draco had a few worries. "But what if we don't exist in that time, either?" he asked. "Won't that create an even greater disturbance?"
"Yes, of course it would. But we won't know that until I open the gate. Only then will I be able to sense which world it is you are going to enter."
"And if we do exist in that world, our parallel selves will step into our world in our places?"
"Yes, you will switch places with one another," Tim confirmed, nodding slowly.
"But what if they're nothing like us? What will happen then?"
"You're asking all the right questions, Draco. I'm impressed that you've got the hang of this so quickly. Unfortunately, I can't guarantee you that either. The Harry and the Draco that come out might be utterly different from you two—they might even still be archenemies. It's impossible to predict their reactions when they're brought here. And unfortunately, there are a few rules when it comes to world crossing besides that one I mentioned earlier … If one switches places with a Parallel Self, one must resume the life of one's Parallel Self. Meaning that you have to act like the other Harry and Draco, and they will have to act like you. You can under no circumstances let anyone know that you come from another world. It is of utmost importance that the existence of the Parallel Universes stays unknown to the public. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I think so," Draco said. "I really hope we're trading with good parallel selves."
"Yeah, so do I," said Harry.
"But there is one other thing that concerns me," Draco admitted. "My pregnancy …"
Harry instantly understood what he meant. The Parallel Draco that he was about to switch with might not be pregnant, and since it was already starting to show quite a bit, both Dracos would find it hard to play one another.
"It will be really difficult for me to conceal my pregnancy if I'm supposed to play someone who's never had a child," he said anxiously.
"I know," Tim told him, "but I'm sure my Parallel Self will have it all figured out."
They prepared themselves to step into the unknown when something else hit Draco. "Oh no! Joz! Who's going to take care of Joz?"
The boy jerked visibly. "J-Joz?" he repeated. "Wha … what about her?"
"She's living at home with us now; the Healers have put her on some new miracle medicine that totally represses her abnormality. She's here on a trial year and she's been home for about three months now. We can't just leave her here with strangers!"
"But she'll have Piper," Harry put in. "Piper can look after her. She'll be a'right."
"I guess so …"
"Hang on, I'll go ask her."
"I'll come with you," Tim offered. "I need to talk to her about this. Piper will have to function as a sort of commander while you're gone. Your Parallel Selves might not be so willing to act like you guys, so we'll need someone here who can keep them in check. Aunt Piper's perfect for that."
They left Draco alone in the parlour. Hardly a minute passed before Cho emerged from the kitchen, where she had obviously been eavesdropping on their conversation. He gave her a murderous look.
"Tough luck, Draco," she said, and stood a couple of feet in front of him. "Wanna bet you and Harry won't come back out as lovers?"
Draco's eyes narrowed. "Don't you try to work your black magic on us again, or I'll kill you."
She laughed. "I'm not afraid of you. You don't have Dark Draco in you anymore. You're no threat to me—and Harry will be mine."
"He will not!" Draco shot up from the couch, all the anger and the frustration stored up inside of him for the past three years suddenly surfacing in a violent outburst of sheer wrath, and hovered threateningly above her. "Harry is mine, and I will bloody Hell never let a little bitch like you steal him away from me!"
She cocked her head. "No? That's weird, because lately I've been spending more time with him than you have, 'ickle Drakie." She moved closer and whispered: "Seems as if he's already mine."
Draco was shuddering with fury. Had he been a manga figure, he would have had multiple vein-pops by then. "Oh, yeah? You think you own my Harry? You think you've got him in your pocket? Then tell me, how many times has Harry been hit with the death curse?" Suddenly he felt competitive and challenged Cho to a Who-Knows-More-About-Harry-Potter contest.
She smirked self-righteously. "Only once, silly. You can only survive it once—or, well, never really, but he did once."
Draco laughed cruelly. "No, he's actually survived it four times by now, and he gets stronger every time he's hit with it. Why did Harry become a Potion Maker?"
"Because he hates to see people poisoned and wants to dig into the depths of new antidotes."
"Wrong answer. Harry never became a Potion Maker, he became an Auror."
"An easy mistake. All right, hit me with another one."
"What kind of underwear does Harry wear? Boxers or briefs?"
There was a slight pause. "Boxers."
"Wrong answer again—Harry doesn't wear any underwear at all!"
"He doesn't?"
Shit! he thought. Now I just added to her twisted fantasies!
"Oh, fuck these games!" she said violently, and pushed him aside. "We don't need to play games to know who'll end up with Harry. It'll be me, because I can manipulate him like your little friend can manipulate time. I have him in my grasp, Malfoy. You said it yourself—he's under my spell. No matter what you do, no matter what you tell him, he will never believe you, and the more you try to convince him that I'm a bitch, the further away you're going to push him. Eventually he'll distrust every single word you're saying, and sooner rather than later, he'll be mine."
The further along Cho came in her monologue, the angrier Draco got. He was beyond mere fury. But now other feelings started to surface, too. The fear and the anxiety that he had been experiencing ever since he first began to suspect that Cho was the villain, but something else too; he was starting to get a real bad tummy-ache. Not completely unlike the feeling he had had when Tom had been doing loads of evil stuff. And there was this wet, sticky feeling originating from somewhere around his crotch …
Slowly, he lowered his gaze to see what this new, strange feeling could be.
Blood. And lots of it. Erupting from his privates, colouring his light grey robes a dark burgundy-black-purple. A sudden cramp made him cry out loud and double over, his hands on his stomach. He felt as if something was breaking inside of him—as if he was dying.
"My baby … my baby …" He forced himself to lock gazes with Cho, the bloody wench who was successively taking his family away from him, forced himself to stare into her swiftly paling face. "What have you done?" he hissed accusatorily. "What the fuck have you done?"
Her eyes were wide with terror at what she had caused.
He did not stay to let her destroy anything else; he slammed the back door open and ran out into the garden.
Tim laid his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked up at him in surprise. This was the first physical contact the boy had made in the five years or so they had known each other. "You need to be with Draco now," he said with a voice that was thick with emotion and eyes so sad that Harry's heart skipped a beat.
"What? Why?" he asked in lack of understanding.
The sympathy in Tim's green eyes was disturbing and unnerving. "Because your baby's time is swiftly running out," he said in honesty, "and I think he needs you now."
"What?!" Harry whispered, panic rising within him. Not paying any attention to the currently breastfeeding Piper with a million confused questions, Harry ran down to the parlour where he had left Draco, but the only person he found there was Cho. She was standing utterly still in the middle of the floor, her face pale grey and her eyes wide with shock. "Where's Draco?" he asked anxiously. She did not answer, so he intended to walk over to her and lightly grab her arm—
He stepped in something warm and sticky and looked down. His white sock was swiftly turning red, and the fluid it was absorbing was hardly juice. Shocked and disgusted, he took a step back. A tiny puddle of blood was on the floor. "Draco?" he breathed. "Draco's bleeding?" He looked up at Cho. "Why are you just standing there? Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you help him?"
Instead of answering, she turned on her heel and ran out of the open back door. Fifty yards away, she Disapparated. Harry could not understand why. "Why did she just run off like that?"
"Because in a way, her time is also running out," Tim informed him. Then he pointed at a blood trace on the floor. "I think you might want to follow that. If you don't find him soon, he'll bleed to death. A miscarriage doesn't mend itself."
Harry gasped and twitched. Miscarriage?!
"Oh no, Draco …" He ran out into the garden, not caring to look where he put his feet down, only relying on his instinct to bring him to Draco—and fast! If Draco had indeed had a miscarriage … and if it was true that it just kept bleeding and that the mother was in grave danger of bleeding to death …
"DRACOOO!"
He had to find him. He could not bear losing him now, not this soon; they had only had eight years together! He could not …
"DRACOOO!"
The blonde was down by the lake, face down on the shore, his right cheek to the rough sand. He was bleeding badly from his nether regions, and he was holding his hands to his stomach as if trying to keep the baby inside of him. His face was whiter than white, a sick alabaster white, and he seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness.
Harry threw himself down beside him. "Draco! My God, Draco! We have to get you out of here!"
"The baby …," Draco whispered faintly, silent tears streaming down his semi-catatonic face, "my baby …"
Harry tried to hush him as he simultaneously put his arms around him with the intention to Apparate them both out of there.
"… I killed him …"
Harry froze. "What? No! No, no! You didn't kill him, Draco, you didn't kill him at all …"
"I killed Tim," he persisted, and his eyes were strangely focused for the first time since Harry found him. "I killed him just like I killed Tom … just like I almost killed Joz … I'm a lousy father; I just keep killing my children … I'm not worth living …"
Harry held him close to his chest and brought them out of there. "That's not true, Dracums. He's alive. Tim's still alive—I just saw him. When I left him, you had already had the miscarriage, and he was as solid as rock. I promise. You didn't kill him."
"I didn't?" Draco snivelled without believing him.
"Nurse!" Harry cried as they arrived at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. "Nurse!"
Draco was inconsolable when they finally got assistance from half a dozen Healers, whom successfully stopped the bleeding and conducted a magical blood transfusion, and when they told him that they weren't able to save the baby, he wanted them to start the bleeding again. Harry tried his best to soothe and calm him, but this time it was practically impossible. Finally, he managed to pull the truth out of him, however.
"Cho did it," Draco said weakly. "She provoked me, said she'd steal you from me and manipulate you into disbelieving me even more than you already do, and then I started to bleed. She did this to me, just like she did everything else. She killed our baby. I hate her 'cos she killed our baby." He began to cry uncontrollably again.
It was as if someone had struck Harry in the head with a blunt object. And then he had a sensation of a very heavy veil being lifted off his head, and suddenly he could see everything clearly. Suddenly, every odd thing that had happened to them during the past three years made sense to him. "I believe you," he murmured. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you before, Dracums. I love you, and I'll do something about this Cho."
Fact is, he intended to put an end to this madness right away. Since Draco was in no danger of bleeding to death anymore, he was released. Harry explained the plan to him on their way home. They would set a trap for Cho and catch her in the act once and for all. That way, they would probably land her in Azkaban. It was very serious to attempt murder on another witch or wizard, and Cho had done so much more than that.
When they came back to the Manor, Draco placed himself on the couch, playing weak and sickly after his visit to the hospital. Harry made the thumbs-up sign to him and threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace. Then he called, "Cho! Could you please come here a second? I would like you to witness me breaking Draco's heart so we can be together, love!"
Draco winced.
Harry shrugged. He did not like the sound of that, either, but he had to say it in order to lure her there. She arrived almost immediately, and the expression on her face told them both that she had a 'Told you so!' on her tongue. Harry swept her into his arms and looked her deep into the eyes. "Wanna see me break him?" he asked, winking knowingly at her.
"No, allow me," she said, and directed her wand at Draco. "Cruci—"
Harry reacted instantly and strictly instinctively: "Avada Kedavra!"
She was dead long before she could finish her curse.
Tim appeared in the doorway from the adjoining den. He had Piper in tow. "Are you ready to go?" he asked ceremoniously. They both nodded. "Good. Then I'll open the gate. Piper will take care of that corpse for you. She will also function as a commanding officer at the Manor while you're gone."
He made a sweeping movement in the air, and a large oval disc appeared in front of him. As soon as it had opened, his features darkened. "Oh no," he said.
"What? What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"It's … It's the Dark Plane," Tim said somewhat uncomfortably. He met their eyes. "In the Dark Plane, everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong. Maybe you would like to reconsi—"
"No, we're go," Draco said firmly, not hearing another word about reconsiderations. "We're going to get James back no matter what."
They went inside before anyone else could start making objections. And when they went in, the others came out …