Ron woke early, and moved to the windowsill, his arms folded across his stomach as he watched the sky gradually lighten. Just before it was light enough to see, Harry joined him, his knees tucked up under his chin, the first tingles of his child waking as well stirring his stomach.
"Are you afraid, Ron?" Harry asked quietly.
"Are you nervous?"
"Of course I'm nervous!"...
"Truce?"
"Truce."
"Ron?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. What was the question?" Harry smiled tenderly at his friend.
"Never mind." And they both fell silent, watching the sky go from gray to gold.
"We best get up," Harry said finally as the other boys began to stir. Ron nodded and climbed off the sill. Harry spared the sky one last look and climbed down to get ready.
"Ron? Aren't you going to eat anything?" Hermione asked pointedly, but her eyes were trained on Harry; neither had eaten anything yet, though they'd done a good job of mutilating their food. Ron opened his mouth to say he wasn't hungry, but sighed and forced a bite of eggs into his mouth; it was tasteless and he had to coax his throat to swallow the mush. He took a bite of toast but wouldn't eat any more than that; his stomach was doing somersaults and he didn't think he could manage to hold it down. Harry on the other hand simply stared at his food and refused to even consider eating. Hermione sighed, then her eyes lifted and she caught Draco Malfoy's glance for a second as he left with a large group of Slytherins.
"Show time," she whispered under her breath, louder she said, "Well if you aren't going to eat, let's go." Harry and Ron immediately understood and Ron paled. He took several deep breaths.
/I can do this.../ He stood slowly and took his time gathering his things while Harry and Hermione waited. Ron was distinctly queasy as they walked out of the Great Hall.
"Hey, Mudblood!" They stopped and turned to face Draco Malfoy and about twenty Slytherins. Pansy giggled furiously and Crabbe and Goyle had twin stupid grins plastered to their wide blocky faces.
"Tell me, Mudblood..." Draco started, walking toward Hermione.
"Stop that!" Ron didn't even have to pretend to be angry.
"Or what? You'll hurt me? Will you hurt me, weasel?" Ron seethed and Draco stepped up to him, their toes touching. "Will you?" He taunted softly. With a growl, Ron leapt at Draco, crashing them both against a wall, their hands met discreetly for a brief second and a sudden flash of pain shot through Ron's body and he whimpered. Draco quickly made a feigned jab to his gut, giving the other boy an excuse to sink to the ground. Ron moaned, clutching his stomach, and Draco just barely suppressed a hiss as pain invaded his own body.
"What's going on here?!" The unmistakable voice of Madam Pomfrey demanded, pushing through a ring of students; some laughing hysterically, others looking on with worry. Snape entered the hall on que and made a beeline for the gaggle of students.
"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Weasley! I'm ashamed of you!" Pomfrey declared, elbows akimbo.
"Weasley attacked Draco," Pansy said quickly as Snape entered the cluster of students. "Absolutely no provocation." She added. Hermione jumped into what would be her normal role and turned to face the professor.
"Malfoy *was* provoking Ron," She said matter-of-factly. "He invaded Ron's personal space-"
"That is no excuse to strike another student," Snape interceded. "Fifty points from Gryffindor." The surrounding Gryffindors made exclamations of shock and disdain. Harry joined in with the general uproar even though he knew that Snape and Pomfrey would have a verbal fight of their own where teachers alone would witness it and the penalty would be dropped to twenty.
"But, Malfoy hit Ron too!" one of the Gryffindors in the crowd declared.
"In self defense!" Pansy shot back in the general direction of the Gryffindor who had spoken.
"That's enough!" Snape called. "All of you, get to class!" The group reluctantly broke apart and headed toward classes, Ron walking with arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Mr. Weasley?" They stopped and turned to face Madam Pomfrey. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" He pressed out through gritted teeth.
"Your body is rearranging itself to accommodate the fetus; that's bound to hurt. Don't worry, it'll pass in a few minutes," she assured him so quietly that Hermione-who was standing off to Ron's left could barely hear her. Ron nodded shortly and Pomfrey smiled at him reassuringly. "If it gets any worse, or hasn't stopped in the next half hour, come to the infirmary immediately," she said a little louder before moving away. Ron clutched Harry's shoulder tightly and they slowly made their way to Transfigurations.
"Are you okay, Ron?" Harry whispered when McGonnagall started class. Ron nodded and said,
"It's getting better." Harry nodded and discreetly massaged his own stomach.
/Just until class is out.../ He pleaded bitterly with his unborn child. However, the fetus didn't seem to care and continued to kick and twist with growing frequency until Harry could barely remain upright. When class was finally dismissed Harry moved sluggishly out of his chair, one arm curled around his stomach. Hermione noticed and bit her lip for a moment as she tried to come up with an excuse to go down to the dungeons.
"You guys? I'm sorry, but I have a question to ask professor Snape-would you mind if we went down there now?" Ron looked at her inquisitively and she pointed wordlessly at Harry. Ron's eyes opened slightly.
"Oh...'Monie, do we have to?"
"Yes." She said firmly, pulling them toward the dungeons. Both boys did their best to look resistant, but in truth Harry *wanted* to be in the cool dungeons, in Snape's arms. It was disgusting.
Since the rest of the student body was out in the courtyards for break, they met no one in halls and made it to the Potion's classroom without a problem. Snape was sitting at his desk when they stumbled into the room, now practically carrying Harry, as he could no longer see straight through his pain. Severus Snape growled audibly and got up to meet them, pulling Harry out of their arms. Hermione rushed to shut and lock the door as soon as she was relieved of her burden.
Harry sighed, as he was pulled into strong comforting arms. His stomach calmed slowly and he relaxed muscle by muscle, barely noticing that Severus had pulled out a chair and he was now straddling his professor's lap, arms hanging loosely at his sides, face buried in the other man's chest. Had he been watching himself at that moment, he would have laughed.
"Well, I suppose it's just as well that you're here. Lucius Malfoy will be here any minute," Snape decided finally, his eyes on Ron. Ron swallowed hard; he hadn't thought about facing Lucius with the knowledge that he was carrying Draco's child-Draco's heir. He cursed silently and felt link banging his head on a hard surface. Ron was momentarily distracted however, by a knock on the door. The room fell completely silent.
"Professor? It's Draco-I'm alone," the voice called, the last added as an afterthought. Snape nodded and Hermione opened the door enough to allow Draco in before shutting it quickly and locking it again. Draco paused for a moment to smirk at Harry and Severus; they looked ridiculous. He finally turned his gaze to Ron when Snape glared at him threateningly. Ron looked back at him a little uncertainly, both arms wrapped around his stomach. Draco walked up beside him, keeping a slight distance when Ron flinched a little.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked him quietly. "I didn't hurt you did I?" Ron looked at him uneasily-Draco sounded as though he was seriously concerned.
"Do you care?" He asked cautiously, arms tightening around his torso.
"Of course I care! You're carrying my child-my heir!" Draco told him firmly, but his voice was still quiet. Ron flinched; of course a Malfoy would care about his heir. Draco sighed. "We agreed to a truce remember? I do care, really. How are you?" Ron looked away from him, gaining another sigh from the blonde.
Hermione watched the two couples from the corner she had retreated to and couldn't help but feel like an unwanted fifth wheel. She sighed and slid into a chair.
When Lucius Malfoy appeared holding a frilly pink handkerchief the room was silent. He dropped the piece of material distastefully and surveyed the room. The first thing he noticed was Harry Potter straddling Severus' lap in an undignified heap; he snickered softly and turned to his son, who was standing quietly by the young Weasley, looking uncomfortable and a little helpless while the red-haired teenager ignored him. The last thing he noticed was the Granger girl sitting in a chair in the far corner. She was the first to notice him and stood quickly. The sudden motion drew the rest's attention-with the exception of Harry who was asleep-and they turned to face him. He gave the group his customary sneer as a greeting and moved over to where Severus was sitting.
"Quite an interesting concept, the Virgin Mary..." he said, lifting the boy's chin with the head of his cane. Harry's eyes opened slowly and he blinked up at Lucius without recognition. "Quite interesting indeed." Lucius then turned to his son, allowing Harry's head to drop back to Severus' chest. He couldn't be sure, but he thought Severus growled at him.
"Draco." Draco inclined his head gracefully in acknowledgement of the greeting.
"Father," he returned formally. Ron nearly snorted in disgust. "I wish to introduce Ronald Weasley," Draco continued, one hand resting lightly on Ron's lower back as he presented him for Lucius' inspection. "I assume Dumbledore has informed you of recent developments?" Lucius nodded slightly and brought his cane forward to lift Ron's head as though the boy were too dirty to touch. Ron snarled at him and jerked away from the cool metal snakehead.
"A wild one..." Lucius observed, his gaze running over the Ron's form. Draco's hand tightened slightly on the back of Ron's robe.
"He is strong-willful, but strong," Draco insisted. Ron stared at him in shock; Draco Malfoy was defending him to his father.
"Of course." Lucius drawled, finally turning his attention to Hermione who was hovering behind the two boys.
"Ah, Ms. Granger, I presume?" She nodded and stepped out to one side, offering her hand. Lucius looked at it, then up at Hermione's face, then turned away. She looked markedly affronted as she lowered her arm. Ron glowered at Lucius back, his muscles tensing. Draco tightened his grip on Ron's back and shook his head tersely. When they stepped around Lucius to find chairs Harry was seated on the floor between Severus' legs, the man's hands resting lightly on his shoulders. He looked distinctly unhappy.
This picture only served to anger Ron further and he growled loudly, drawing the two adults' attention. Severus glared at him and Lucius lifted a delicate eyebrow at the boy. Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly; he forced himself to calm, jumping up on a table and clutching the wood roughly. Draco parted his legs and stood between them, gaining a shocked stare from Ron and a calculating look from his father which he met evenly. Hermione looked between the two Malfoys anxiously, almost expecting one of them to spontaneously combust. Lucius finally turned away from his son and focused on Snape. Severus explained the haphazard plan in as much detail as he could, his fingers unconsciously stroking Harry's neck and cheek.
When the clock on the back of the room informed them that it was 'five minutes to class!' Lucius stepped back to the place where he had dropped the handkerchief, which had now transfigured into a yellow napkin with bright blue polka dots.
"You shall be hearing from me soon." He said, placing a foot on the piece of cloth and disappearing. The room's occupants breathed sighs of relief and the atmosphere relaxed.
"Do you all have your supplies for class?" Severus asked finally. They all nodded and Hermione went to open the door as Harry slowly stood and stretched.
"I'll be giving you detention today," Severus said briskly as he moved away from the boy. Harry glared at him and located his seat, falling into it roughly. Snape ignored him, and the other students drifted to their seats as well.
Harry waited until class was nearly over before casually dropping a vial full of treated swamp water on the floor, barely surprising the insane urge to grin at the satisfying sound of the glass shattering on the floor. Professor Snape winced instinctively and turned to let loose his wrath on Neville Longbottom.
"You clumsy-!"
"Potter broke it, sir," Draco piped up quickly, smirking in Harry's direction. Harry glared at him and turned his abashed look to his potion's master.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. I should have known," Severus decided finally. "That will be ten points from Gryffindor and a week's detention. Here. With me." Harry had the decency to cringe rather than laugh. Severus took a moment to smirk at his student before turning his eyes to the clock at the back of the classroom. The hand was hovering between "Second Period" and "Lunch".
"Class dismissed!" he barked, then as an afterthought, "Mr. Potter, you will remain behind." Harry sighed and packed up his things, pilling them on top of his desk and watching the students leave.
Harry stood and walked to Snape's desk when the room had cleared and just stood silently, waiting for the professor to say something.
"I realize," Severus said after a second "that no one has talked to you regarding your.... situation," he began uncomfortably. Harry looked at him in confusion.
"Yes they have," he answered.
"The technical part, yes...but not the...emotional bits." Harry tipped his head to one side and gazed at his teacher in wonderment. Snape was attempting to initiate a heart-to-heart. "I understand that I am not well suited for the part of confidant...however, I feel that someone must...speak with you...or listen as the case may be."
"I...I don't really know what my feelings on it are," Harry confessed, shifting from one foot to the other. "Perhaps, I'll come talk to you when I know where my own feelings lie?" The professor nodded in relief and agreement. "But what about you?" Harry asked cautiously. "No one's talked to you about this either." Severus looked at him level for several long seconds.
"Thank you for the offer...perhaps, I shall take you up it someday," he answered finally, but neither thought he would.
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