“The boys are coming for
tea,” Molly Weasley sang out to her husband as he passed through the kitchen on
his way out to the shed.
“Which boys?” Arthur
asked, peering over the top of his glasses. He was carrying a large jar full of
different size screws.
“Harry and Draco, dear,”
Molly said. “They got my owl and are coming right over.”
“Well, that’s nice,”
Arthur said, smiling. “Would have been a bit of a nasty shock if they didn’t
know.”
“I know,” Molly said
clapping her hands together. She went to her husband and clasped his hands in hers.
His hair had kept receding and now a reddish ring went in a half-circle around
his head. She still thought he looked handsome.
“Just think of it,” she
gushed. “And we all thought the lines had ended.”
“Just a moment,” Arthur
said, frowning. “Don’t tell me you’re suggesting-
“It may be their only
chance,” Molly said, searching her husbands face and frowning slightly.
“They may be happy as they
are,” Arthur said.
“When you were their age
we already had Bill, Charlie and Percy,” Molly insisted. “Would you redo it?”
“Of course not,” Arthur
said. “I’m just saying-
“What are you saying?”
Molly had that look: no matter what Arthur said, he was wrong.
“One of the boys may not
want to have a baby,” Arthur said. “It’s not like men have the urge to
procreate.”
“That’s not how I remember
it,” Molly said, crossing her arms at him.
“You know what I mean,”
Arthur said, annoyed.
“Well, they still need the
information,” Molly said stubbornly. “It’s dangerous for them without it.”
“Fine, fine,” said Arthur
rolling his eyes. “Just don’t be disappointed if things turn out different that
you expect.”
Molly waved him out the
door and he left, shaking his head and looking at his jar of screws.
She went back to preparing
for her visitors. Those boys always seemed to be hungry. Corned beef would be
filling. They probably would skip lunch altogether. She shook her head.
The plate of sandwiches
was set in the middle of the table, a tin of cookies was out and the pot had
just begun to whistle when the fireplace roared with green flames and Harry and
Draco walked into the kitchen.
“It’ll be just a moment,
dears,” Molly said as she bustled about. She waved her wand at a cabinet and
cups and saucers soared to the table.
“No rush, Molly,” Draco
said as he sat at the table. Molly smiled at both him and Harry. She was
positively beaming. It made Draco very nervous.
Harry squeezed Draco’s
knee under the table and Draco looked at him. He was smiling nervously.
What was everyone looking
at him for?
Absolutely not. Not him.
He didn’t care if he was prettier.
“Hell no,” Draco said
flatly.
Harry jumped a little.
“Beg your pardon?”
Molly turned around with
the teapot in her hands. She peered at him.
“What’s that, dear?”
“I’m not getting knocked
up,” Draco said flatly. “You can do it if you want, Potter, but I’m not dealing
with the bloating and the cramps and the,” he lowered his voice a little,
“hemorrhoids.”
Harry’s jaw dropped. Molly
exploded laughing.
“I’m serious,” said Draco,
a little hysterically.
Molly kept on laughing as
Draco scowled. Harry began to snicker a bit, in spite of himself.
“What’s so funny?” Draco
demanded.
“You sound like my cousin
Abigail when we were 10,” Molly said, wiping a tear from her eye. She waved a
hand at him and began serving the tea.
Draco scowled at Harry.
“Hemorrhoids?” Harry said,
confused.
“I heard all about it from
Pansy,” Draco said, looking at Molly for confirmation. His eyes were wide and
his head was bobbing. “She said it was horrible.”
“She gave birth in a
muggle hospital,” Molly said, patting Draco on the arm. “There are spells and
potions, you know.”
“I don’t care,” said Draco
testily, crossing his arms.
“Shame they were visiting
Dean’s family at the time,” Harry said. “They could have gotten to St. Mungo’s
if they were still in London.”
“It’s still not going to
be me,” Draco grumbled. Harry snickered.
“Well,” Molly said,
sitting across from them. “I’m sure you will discuss the details later.”
“I’m not sure I’d be
opposed,” Harry said, raising an eyebrow at Draco.
“You’d have to stay off that
bloody broomstick, then,” Draco said stiffly.
“Who says?” Harry said
hotly.
“I’m sure you boys can
work out all the details later,” Molly said a bit louder.
Harry and Draco stared at
each other for a moment.
Molly inwardly beamed. So
they wanted a baby. Now all that was left was to sort out the parts. Wonderful.
“So how is this possible?”
Harry asked, turning back to Molly.
“Yea, Concubinus Beran is
just a fable,” Draco looked uneasy.
“It’s not a fable,” Molly
said. She handed Harry and Draco a very old, leather bound book. Draco looked
at it while Harry held it and ran his hand over the cover.
“Where did you get that?”
Draco said flatly.
Molly looked embarrassed
for a moment.
“Well,” she said, looking
around before settling on the tin and reached for it. “It’s yours, dear. It was
found in the wreckage.”
Lucius and Narcissa,
Draco’s dear parents, had committed double suicide rather than face Azkaban
again.
More than a dozen aurors
had given chase. To everyone’s surprise, they had gone back to their manor.
Their cloaks were flapping
behind them as their broomsticks zipped through the open skylight. It had
magically sealed behind them.
The aurors grouped in the
yard, communicating with the Ministry for backup and deciding what to do about
what they knew was a completely sealed home. Then the vibration started.
The aurors realized what
was going to happen barely in time. They had hopped back on their broomsticks
and flew as quickly as they could, anywhere but the direction of the house.
The noise was deafening.
People as far as 10 kilometers away claimed to have heard the blast.
The Malfoys had destroyed
any evidence they might have possessed, including themselves.
The crater from the
explosion was blamed on a gas line igniting. Debris was scattered for kilometers.
Harry out a hand on
Draco’s back and rubbed it roughly.
“At least your dad was
good for something,” Harry smiled slightly.
“I suppose so,” Draco said
raising his eyebrows. “Whoever would have thought he’d be useful for
something?”
Molly looked slightly
startled. Draco almost never remarked on his family.
“What else do you have?”
Draco asked, piercing Molly with his clear blue eyes.
“I know you said you
didn’t want anything,” Molly squirmed uncomfortably. “But I though maybe one
day you would change your mind.”
Draco took a deep breath.
Harry didn’t know what to say.
“I know you went through a
lot, but if your line ever went on, it’s your history,” Molly insisted.
“It’s not a pleasant one,”
Draco said.
“Exactly,” Molly said.
Harry nodded.
“It’s better to hear the
truth from someone instead of reading about it in a book,” Harry said. “Trust
me.”
“The page is marked,”
Molly said, gesturing at the book.
Harry opened it and began
reading. Draco rested his chin on Harry’s shoulder. Molly sipped her tea and
watched them.
“I still think we should
write Granger,” Draco said.
“I already did, dear,”
Molly said nervously.
Harry and Draco looked up
sharply.
“What did she say?” Harry
and Draco said in unison.
Molly bit her lip to keep
from giggling. She was unexpectedly reminded of the twins. She suspected they
would make excellent parents.
“She wants to come out and
observe if you decide to conceive,” Molly said slowly. “Including before you
conceive.”
“Sure,” Harry said,
without thinking of Draco.
Molly looked at Draco
nervously.
“Will she be bringing all
the babies?” Draco asked. Molly’s look softened.
“I suppose she will,”
Molly said. “As well as Ron.”
“Well,” Draco said slowly,
looking at Harry. “I think we’re going to have to clear out some of the rooms.”
“Good Lord,” Harry said,
looking horrified.
“I’ve been telling you
your study’s needed work for ages,” Draco nagged. “Things move in there!
It’s unnatural.”
“Fine,” said Harry through
clenched teeth. He opened the book to the page Molly had marked with a bit of
blue ribbon. “Molly, this just gives astrological positions, how do you know
it’s going to happen?”
“I was trying to figure
out the best time to plant my new bulbs,” Molly said. “When I started doing the
charts I realized there was some unusual activity going on and went from
there.”
Draco shook his head.
“Well, I know the legend. What else is there?”
“Moreover,” Harry said,
clearing his throat. “What are the details and when does this ‘cycle’ start?”
“You’ll be susceptible to
pregnancy two Tuesdays from now,” Molly said folding her hands. Harry reached
for a sandwich.
“How does this even work?”
Draco asked.
“Magically,” Molly said.
“Very funny,” Arthur said
as he walked into the kitchen.
“Hello Arthur,” Harry
smiled.
“Hello boys,” Arthur said
grabbing a sandwich for himself and plunking himself down next to Molly. He
pecked her on the cheek.
“What do you think of this
‘baby’ nonsense?” Draco asked.
Arthur looked at Molly
quickly.
“Never mind,” Draco said.
“That said everything.”
“Oh,” Arthur said
worriedly. He pointedly didn’t look at Molly again. “Parenthood isn’t for
everyone boys.”
Molly smacked him on the
shoulder.
“Now, if you’re going to
be like that I’ll ask you to leave the room,” Arthur said hotly. “My opinion
was asked for.”
Molly stuck her chin out
but remained silent.
“I don’t want you boys to
rush into something just because you suddenly have the ability to procreate,”
Arthur said seriously. He poured himself a cup of tea. “There will be plenty of
unwanted children after this cycle, I’ll tell you.”
Draco and Harry looked
suddenly sobered.
“That’s horrible,” said
Draco, surprising everyone. “That’s fucking horrible.”
Molly looked shocked, but
Draco’s face screwed up.
“Harry, we could wait and
just adopt after the orphanages start filling up,” Draco said.
“We can adopt now,” Harry
said softly. “We could adopt a few years from now. We could have already tried
to adopt. We aren’t talking about adopting. We’re talking about joining our DNA
and creating another person.”
Draco looked at Harry for
a moment. Light blue eyes gazing into emerald green. Molly fidgeted nervously.
“Sirius James Malfoy,”
Draco said softly.
“What?” Harry asked,
confused.
“Well, James, for your
father,” Draco said. “That would be traditional and suitable for our family’s
social standing. Harry’s eyebrow’s raised. “Sirius for your godfather and for
representation of my family.”
“I noticed it was first,”
Harry said grinning.
“Because you’d let me get
away with it,” Draco smiled.
“Hello,” Arthur said,
reminding them they were not alone.
“You need one before you
name it,” Molly said, looking amused.
“And Malfoy,” Harry went
on. “What’s all that about?”
“You’ll iron the details
out later,” Arthur said finishing his sandwich and rolling his eyes. Harry was
strongly reminded of Ron, except the sandwiches were corned beef.
“Malfoy-Potter then,”
Draco said.
“Better,” Harry said,
relaxing somewhat.
“So, Molly didn’t get very
far explaining things to you,” Arthur said.
“Not really,” Harry said.
“But we didn’t really give her a chance.”
“Well,” Molly looked
uncomfortable. “Once the sperm enters the body a change begins to take place.”
“Enters the body,” Harry
repeated.
“Does this mean: ‘enters
anywhere?’” Draco asked eyes wide.
“Well,” Molly faltered.
“You have to realize boys, this doesn’t happen very often. We don’t know a
lot.”
“You can get preggers from
a bit of oral?” Harry thundered before he remembered who he was talking to.
Molly blushed a brilliant shade of scarlet.
“Maybe,” Molly said. “We
don’t know.”
“Hermione might know,”
Harry looked at Draco.
“If anyone does, she
will,” Draco agreed.
“We have a couple weeks to
talk about this, anyway,” Harry said.
“Yes,” Arthur agreed.
“Take the book. Think about it. Let the novelty wear off.”
“You act like you
disapprove,” Draco said, looking at Arthur with those piercing blue eyes. His
father’s eyes. Arthur shivered a bit.
“I know I wouldn’t want to
find myself in that situation,” Arthur said squirming. “Women are odd enough,
what will happen when wizarding males start cropping up pregnant?”
“What do you mean by
that?” Molly asked accusatorily.
“Mood swings and
testosterone don’t go together,” Arthur said sternly. “Once Dumbledore explains
the situation to the Ministry emergency birth control might be issued.”
“For pity’s sake,” Molly
said dismissively. “It’s not the plague.”
“It may act like one,”
Harry started giggling. “We’ll be able to watch it spread through the community
through disbelievers.”
Draco chuckled.
“This is serious boys,”
Arthur said loudly. The boys stopped. “Haven’t you a thought as to how the
child gets out?”
Harry and Draco looked at
each other and winced.
“No one knows, actually,”
Molly said quietly.
“Excuse me?” Draco said.
“You see, people didn’t
used to keep track of things like they do now,” Arthur said, taking his glassed
off and polishing them. “We do know male survival in childbirth was a much
higher percentage than female for the time.”
“Well, that’s
encouraging,” Harry said sarcastically.
“The Ministry should be
able to scrounge up more information by next week,” Arthur said.
“So we’ll think about it
until then,” Draco said with an air of finality about his voice.
Molly smiled weakly. It
hadn’t gone as planned, but it could have gone much worse.