(no subject)
Title;Coming Together and Falling Apart (2/?)
Author; bottomsup07 & prequel_2_krazy
Rating; PG-13
Word Count; 2.520
Warnings; Angst, Mpreg
Disclaimer; This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary; 'After years of being married and trying and failing to adopt, they have a baby boy named Orion James Malfoy. Four years later they divorce. When their child becomes life threatiningly ill, will it bring them closer together, or pull them farther apart'
Notes; This story is written between the two of us. We alternate chapters, and as such, cannot determine what will happen. Please be patient with us.
Previous Chapters; 01
Coming Together and Falling Apart
by; Mack and Cassie
Their conversation was stilted. Both of them wanted to ask questions, they were curious about each other, but they were scared to ask too many personal questions. It would only lead to a fight, and neither of them wanted to fight with Orion sick just a little bit away.
“Do you know how long it’s going to take?” Draco asked looking at his watch for what had to be the hundredth time in a few hours.
“No,” Harry said chewing halfheartedly on the sandwich. He wasn’t sure how he could eat like this. Who could eat when their child was in a bed with an unknown sickness?
“Do you think he’s going to die?” Draco asked voice fearful, barely above a whisper.
Harry felt his throat constrict and his eyes tingle before the first of the tears spilled out over his cheeks. “Don’t say that, don’t you ever fucking say that. He’s not going to die, he’s not.”
Draco looked taken aback at the anger and confidence in the tone and he swallowed, nodding his head. “Why didn’t you take him in earlier? When he started coughing up blood.”
Harry bit his lip, looking down at the table. “I didn’t want to do it unless I had to,” he admitted softly.
“Why? He could’ve been better if he had been brought in then. This is your fault,” Draco accused.
“Because I couldn’t afford it Draco, you took everything, remember?”
Draco had the grace to look ashamed before his gaze hardened. “Why about your trust fund from your parents?”
“I put half into an account for Orion’s education and in case something happens to me, and the rest is used to buy food and keep him clothed and fed.”
Draco noticed then, the threadbare clothes Harry was wearing, and remembered the fact that Orion was always well fed, and clothed, even by his own standards. “I would’ve helped; you know that, if you had asked.”
“I don’t want, nor do I need to rely on you Draco. You made that perfectly clear when you decided you wanted to date Jacob, and not me, without telling me about it first,” Harry spat. “How was I to know that if you married Jacob and you had a child with him, you’d forget about Orion like you forgot about me? I needed to plan for everything, that’s one thing you taught me. Always have a back up plan.”
Draco growled at that. “I would never do that.”
“And you promised me you’d love me forever; excuse me for not believing you.”
“I give you child support, which should help.”
“Draco that is not enough money to survive on, Orion’s schooling alone is pushing it and taking that and a little more, and then his inhaler costs money, as does the clothes he wears, toys, books, food, regular check ups and so on.”
“Why didn’t you get a job?”
“I need the training for a decent job, and that requires time I don’t have, I’m taking online classes, but it’s not enough.”
“You should’ve asked,” Draco said biting his lips.
“You shouldn’t have taken it all.”
“There was a prenup, it’s not my fault.”
“And you have a heart, or you had a heart, it’s not hard to ignore it and help me out, after all, it’s your fault. I never stopped loving you Draco.”
Draco looked up and saw Harry look away, a look of sadness and longing in the green eyes. He remained, silent, unsure of what to do. He felt bad, he really did. He had stopped loving Harry. He had ever since their lives and marriage had taken the turn to a life that stayed the same with no excitement. He missed the excitement; he needed the adrenaline rush that came with newlyweds. He loved his son, and it was the best thing in the world, but he missed their usually turbulent relationship, he missed the fire that had made him fall in love with Harry in the first place.
So he had done something about it, one night when Harry was at Ron and Hermione’s with Orion he had gone out to a club, and had ended up stumbling back home, attached at the lips and hips with a man who gave him that excitement back. He had fallen into bed with him, the same bed he slept in with Harry every night and they proceeded to fuck. It was only after, as they were lying in the afterglow, Jacob giggling sleepily, that he noticed Harry leaning against the doorframe, tears running down his face.
He had sat up, about to say something, but Harry shook his head, turning and moving to sleep in another room. That night they slept apart for the first time in eleven years, ever since they had moved in together. Draco hadn’t been able to sleep, he had felt guilty, but the worst thing was that he hadn’t felt bad. He felt good, he had had that excitement back that he missed, and even the look of pain on Harry’s face the next day hadn’t been enough to deter him from doing it again.
It had been a week before Harry broke; tearfully confronting Draco and asking why, but he hadn’t said anything. He couldn’t explain it to the green eyed boy as to why he was no longer in love with him. He knew he loved Harry, he would always love him with some part of his heart, but he was no longer in love with him, and he couldn’t stay married with someone he wasn’t in love with him.
“I should’ve expected it,” Harry had whispered as he was leaving.
“Should’ve expect what?” Draco had asked.
“You leaving me. I guess my Uncle was right, I am unlovable,” Harry had whispered, staring straight at Draco, lowering his shields, showing the pain Draco had caused Harry. “I should’ve listened to Ron and Hermione, they said you were just like your father, but I didn’t want to believe it. I guess they were right.”
Draco had winced, hating the pain he saw there. But he still felt like he was doing the right thing, still felt that a man he no longer loved, could not be someone he was married to. He and Harry had separated and a week later Jacob had moved in. He and Harry had tried to be friends, for Orion’s sake, but the dinner was awkward, with Jacob sitting there, under the belief that it was a mutual separation and that it wasn’t his fault at all. Draco had made sure that Orion was always in the room, fearing for Jacob’s health if he and Harry were left alone, and he wouldn't have blamed Harry. They had given up a few weeks in and Harry had agreed to alternate every two weeks.
The divorce had been finalized only a few weeks ago, with Harry having sole custody of Orion. And then Jacob had left him two months ago, unable to handle the fact that he doted on Orion more than Jacob. Draco hadn’t been sad, Jacob had been needy, clingy, wanting Draco to buy him the world and leave his past behind.
Draco looked at Harry, seeing the blank, worn face and he felt a slight stirring, but he ignored it. “Why’d you want sole custody so badly?” he asked the question that had plagued him for so long.
Harry looked up from where he had been shredding the sandwich into little bits. “So I could take away Orion from you if I felt like it.”
“You’d keep him from me?” Draco asked sitting back in his chair, feeling as a bludger had just hit him in the stomach.
“I was going to; I was going to deny visitation rights, just so I could hurt you, but I didn’t want to hurt Orion. I could never deny anyone their parents, so I didn’t; I let you have the visitation.”
“Harry, I-“
Harry shook his head. “Don’t, Draco, just don’t.”
“I was just going to thank you.”
“I don’t need your thanks Draco, I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. Don’t give me something you obviously aren’t sincere about. You know just as well as I do that if you wanted you could take Orion from me, I’m jobless, I’m almost broke and you’re the richest person in the world, so just don’t. As soon as this is over, we’re going back to what it was like before.”
“I’d never do that,” Draco protested.
“Forgive me if I don’t put much stock in your word.”
Draco looked at Harry, actually looked at the man he had spent twelve years with. Gone was the carefree, joyful man that had never let anything get him down, had never lost hope and was always smiling. Instead, Harry looked tired, worn down, jaded and sad. He had looked as if he had lost all hope in the world, and Draco had done that. Draco used to be able to rely on Harry to always look on the bright side of life, and get them through anything, and he had come here, expecting Harry to be happy, and confident that Orion would get through this and there would be sunshine and puppies and the world would be good. Instead Harry had stared at him, cold and hardened, finally jaded after thirty nine years of the world shitting on him. He felt a slight lump in his throat as he sighed, opening his mouth to apologize.
“Don’t Draco. Until Orion is better we’re going to get along, I don’t want to stress out Rye, and so I’ll be nice. But as soon as this is over, I’m going back to my house, you’re going to yours. I’m going to give you custody of Orion, and we’re all going to go our separate ways. We’re not going to be friends, as much as it would please Orion, I can’t do it, I hate you to much, maybe in a few years, but not right now. I’m going to go to school, get a job, and pray that I’ll find someone who can actually love me and love Orion.”
Draco closed his eyes. “You’re giving me custody?”
“I can’t do it, I can’t support Orion and myself and he needs the best, you can give that to him. I want him to have a good life,” Harry said, closing his eyes.
Draco watched him, noticing the way Harry looked as if the world’s weight rested on his shoulders, and he was finally crumbling. He opened his mouth, but closed it, unsure of what to say. He sat back in his chair, running a hand over his face tiredly.
“We can keep the same arrangement if you want.”
“We’ll see, I need to get through the schooling as fast as possible, so I’m going to be at school all day, and I don’t want him home alone. I’ll take weekends, if that’s ok.”
“That’s fine. What are you going to do?”
“The same thing I did before you convinced me to stay at home and be a parent because you had money and could support us and whatever children we had our entire lives. I have one more year of schooling before I can be a Healer, and then McGonagall says Poppy’s retiring, so I’m going to take that job.”
Draco winced, wondering if Harry was going to throw everything he had ever said back in his face. “If you need help, anything, money or anything, just ask please. I’ll help, promise.”
Harry nodded his head jerkily once. “Fine.”
Draco opened his mouth, before closing it again the two of them sitting in silence.
“Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, please come to room 502,” a voice announced.
Harry stood up immediately, grabbing his tray and disposing it before taking off at a brisk walk. Draco was a moment later, jogging a little to catch up with the smaller man, the both of them walking in silence until they reached the room.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked almost immediately stopping in front of Healer Michaelson and planting his hands on his hips.
Draco could see Orion on the bed, looking pale and drawn, deathly still. He turned to look at the healer, wanting an answer, biting his lip as he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
Michaelson sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “We don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Harry asked, clearly worried and agitated.
“I mean, he’s not showing up positive for anything, or any of the tests, we thought it was cancer, but we can’t find anything, it’s not an infection, its not genetic, not environmental or anything. According to the tests, he’s perfectly healthy; it’s almost as if he’s asleep. Has he been acting odd lately?”
“No, he’s normal, he hasn’t been sick, outside of a few asthma attacks now and then, but we give him his inhaler for those, and they’re usually sports induced,” Harry said his running his hands through his hair over and over.
“We’re going to keep testing, and we want permission to take a MRI and CAT scan, just in case. As well as an IMS test.”
“What’s an IMS?” Draco asked.
“Inner Magical Strength, sometimes a child can come into their power a little early and because the body cannot adjust to it, they cannot handle it and get sick. The problem with the test is that it puts the bodies through a series of hard and sometimes painful tests to determine it.”
“Can anything bad happen to him,” Draco asked.
“He can’t die from it, if that’s what you mean, but in his condition there are chances of heart attacks, organ failure or any manner of things because we do not truly know his condition yet.”
“Do it,” Harry said. “If it’s going to help him, I don’t care what the test is, do it. I just want my little boy better, you got it?”
The healer nodded, and after signing a few forms, went to go set things up leaving Harry and Draco in the room for a few moments with Orion before they tested him again.
“Why’d you give him permission to do any tests?” Draco demanded.
“Because we have to sign the forms anyway, and I know all the tests, and some of them are invasive and can be dangerous to someone who is very sick, but hopefully they are not going to affect Rye. If it helps get him better then they’re going to do it.”
“Aren’t they expensive?”
“I’ll manage; I’ll take out a mortgage on the house or something.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’ll pay for it,” Draco said irritably.
Harry nodded and moved, placing a hand on Orion’s head and leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Come on kiddo, wake up, Papa needs you so bad. Please be ok,” he whispered.
Draco moved to the other side, taking Orion’s hand and kissing the back of the cool skin. He stayed silent; not trusting his voice anymore as he held his little boys hand.
Author; bottomsup07 & prequel_2_krazy
Rating; PG-13
Word Count; 2.520
Warnings; Angst, Mpreg
Disclaimer; This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary; 'After years of being married and trying and failing to adopt, they have a baby boy named Orion James Malfoy. Four years later they divorce. When their child becomes life threatiningly ill, will it bring them closer together, or pull them farther apart'
Notes; This story is written between the two of us. We alternate chapters, and as such, cannot determine what will happen. Please be patient with us.
Previous Chapters; 01
Coming Together and Falling Apart
by; Mack and Cassie
Their conversation was stilted. Both of them wanted to ask questions, they were curious about each other, but they were scared to ask too many personal questions. It would only lead to a fight, and neither of them wanted to fight with Orion sick just a little bit away.
“Do you know how long it’s going to take?” Draco asked looking at his watch for what had to be the hundredth time in a few hours.
“No,” Harry said chewing halfheartedly on the sandwich. He wasn’t sure how he could eat like this. Who could eat when their child was in a bed with an unknown sickness?
“Do you think he’s going to die?” Draco asked voice fearful, barely above a whisper.
Harry felt his throat constrict and his eyes tingle before the first of the tears spilled out over his cheeks. “Don’t say that, don’t you ever fucking say that. He’s not going to die, he’s not.”
Draco looked taken aback at the anger and confidence in the tone and he swallowed, nodding his head. “Why didn’t you take him in earlier? When he started coughing up blood.”
Harry bit his lip, looking down at the table. “I didn’t want to do it unless I had to,” he admitted softly.
“Why? He could’ve been better if he had been brought in then. This is your fault,” Draco accused.
“Because I couldn’t afford it Draco, you took everything, remember?”
Draco had the grace to look ashamed before his gaze hardened. “Why about your trust fund from your parents?”
“I put half into an account for Orion’s education and in case something happens to me, and the rest is used to buy food and keep him clothed and fed.”
Draco noticed then, the threadbare clothes Harry was wearing, and remembered the fact that Orion was always well fed, and clothed, even by his own standards. “I would’ve helped; you know that, if you had asked.”
“I don’t want, nor do I need to rely on you Draco. You made that perfectly clear when you decided you wanted to date Jacob, and not me, without telling me about it first,” Harry spat. “How was I to know that if you married Jacob and you had a child with him, you’d forget about Orion like you forgot about me? I needed to plan for everything, that’s one thing you taught me. Always have a back up plan.”
Draco growled at that. “I would never do that.”
“And you promised me you’d love me forever; excuse me for not believing you.”
“I give you child support, which should help.”
“Draco that is not enough money to survive on, Orion’s schooling alone is pushing it and taking that and a little more, and then his inhaler costs money, as does the clothes he wears, toys, books, food, regular check ups and so on.”
“Why didn’t you get a job?”
“I need the training for a decent job, and that requires time I don’t have, I’m taking online classes, but it’s not enough.”
“You should’ve asked,” Draco said biting his lips.
“You shouldn’t have taken it all.”
“There was a prenup, it’s not my fault.”
“And you have a heart, or you had a heart, it’s not hard to ignore it and help me out, after all, it’s your fault. I never stopped loving you Draco.”
Draco looked up and saw Harry look away, a look of sadness and longing in the green eyes. He remained, silent, unsure of what to do. He felt bad, he really did. He had stopped loving Harry. He had ever since their lives and marriage had taken the turn to a life that stayed the same with no excitement. He missed the excitement; he needed the adrenaline rush that came with newlyweds. He loved his son, and it was the best thing in the world, but he missed their usually turbulent relationship, he missed the fire that had made him fall in love with Harry in the first place.
So he had done something about it, one night when Harry was at Ron and Hermione’s with Orion he had gone out to a club, and had ended up stumbling back home, attached at the lips and hips with a man who gave him that excitement back. He had fallen into bed with him, the same bed he slept in with Harry every night and they proceeded to fuck. It was only after, as they were lying in the afterglow, Jacob giggling sleepily, that he noticed Harry leaning against the doorframe, tears running down his face.
He had sat up, about to say something, but Harry shook his head, turning and moving to sleep in another room. That night they slept apart for the first time in eleven years, ever since they had moved in together. Draco hadn’t been able to sleep, he had felt guilty, but the worst thing was that he hadn’t felt bad. He felt good, he had had that excitement back that he missed, and even the look of pain on Harry’s face the next day hadn’t been enough to deter him from doing it again.
It had been a week before Harry broke; tearfully confronting Draco and asking why, but he hadn’t said anything. He couldn’t explain it to the green eyed boy as to why he was no longer in love with him. He knew he loved Harry, he would always love him with some part of his heart, but he was no longer in love with him, and he couldn’t stay married with someone he wasn’t in love with him.
“I should’ve expected it,” Harry had whispered as he was leaving.
“Should’ve expect what?” Draco had asked.
“You leaving me. I guess my Uncle was right, I am unlovable,” Harry had whispered, staring straight at Draco, lowering his shields, showing the pain Draco had caused Harry. “I should’ve listened to Ron and Hermione, they said you were just like your father, but I didn’t want to believe it. I guess they were right.”
Draco had winced, hating the pain he saw there. But he still felt like he was doing the right thing, still felt that a man he no longer loved, could not be someone he was married to. He and Harry had separated and a week later Jacob had moved in. He and Harry had tried to be friends, for Orion’s sake, but the dinner was awkward, with Jacob sitting there, under the belief that it was a mutual separation and that it wasn’t his fault at all. Draco had made sure that Orion was always in the room, fearing for Jacob’s health if he and Harry were left alone, and he wouldn't have blamed Harry. They had given up a few weeks in and Harry had agreed to alternate every two weeks.
The divorce had been finalized only a few weeks ago, with Harry having sole custody of Orion. And then Jacob had left him two months ago, unable to handle the fact that he doted on Orion more than Jacob. Draco hadn’t been sad, Jacob had been needy, clingy, wanting Draco to buy him the world and leave his past behind.
Draco looked at Harry, seeing the blank, worn face and he felt a slight stirring, but he ignored it. “Why’d you want sole custody so badly?” he asked the question that had plagued him for so long.
Harry looked up from where he had been shredding the sandwich into little bits. “So I could take away Orion from you if I felt like it.”
“You’d keep him from me?” Draco asked sitting back in his chair, feeling as a bludger had just hit him in the stomach.
“I was going to; I was going to deny visitation rights, just so I could hurt you, but I didn’t want to hurt Orion. I could never deny anyone their parents, so I didn’t; I let you have the visitation.”
“Harry, I-“
Harry shook his head. “Don’t, Draco, just don’t.”
“I was just going to thank you.”
“I don’t need your thanks Draco, I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. Don’t give me something you obviously aren’t sincere about. You know just as well as I do that if you wanted you could take Orion from me, I’m jobless, I’m almost broke and you’re the richest person in the world, so just don’t. As soon as this is over, we’re going back to what it was like before.”
“I’d never do that,” Draco protested.
“Forgive me if I don’t put much stock in your word.”
Draco looked at Harry, actually looked at the man he had spent twelve years with. Gone was the carefree, joyful man that had never let anything get him down, had never lost hope and was always smiling. Instead, Harry looked tired, worn down, jaded and sad. He had looked as if he had lost all hope in the world, and Draco had done that. Draco used to be able to rely on Harry to always look on the bright side of life, and get them through anything, and he had come here, expecting Harry to be happy, and confident that Orion would get through this and there would be sunshine and puppies and the world would be good. Instead Harry had stared at him, cold and hardened, finally jaded after thirty nine years of the world shitting on him. He felt a slight lump in his throat as he sighed, opening his mouth to apologize.
“Don’t Draco. Until Orion is better we’re going to get along, I don’t want to stress out Rye, and so I’ll be nice. But as soon as this is over, I’m going back to my house, you’re going to yours. I’m going to give you custody of Orion, and we’re all going to go our separate ways. We’re not going to be friends, as much as it would please Orion, I can’t do it, I hate you to much, maybe in a few years, but not right now. I’m going to go to school, get a job, and pray that I’ll find someone who can actually love me and love Orion.”
Draco closed his eyes. “You’re giving me custody?”
“I can’t do it, I can’t support Orion and myself and he needs the best, you can give that to him. I want him to have a good life,” Harry said, closing his eyes.
Draco watched him, noticing the way Harry looked as if the world’s weight rested on his shoulders, and he was finally crumbling. He opened his mouth, but closed it, unsure of what to say. He sat back in his chair, running a hand over his face tiredly.
“We can keep the same arrangement if you want.”
“We’ll see, I need to get through the schooling as fast as possible, so I’m going to be at school all day, and I don’t want him home alone. I’ll take weekends, if that’s ok.”
“That’s fine. What are you going to do?”
“The same thing I did before you convinced me to stay at home and be a parent because you had money and could support us and whatever children we had our entire lives. I have one more year of schooling before I can be a Healer, and then McGonagall says Poppy’s retiring, so I’m going to take that job.”
Draco winced, wondering if Harry was going to throw everything he had ever said back in his face. “If you need help, anything, money or anything, just ask please. I’ll help, promise.”
Harry nodded his head jerkily once. “Fine.”
Draco opened his mouth, before closing it again the two of them sitting in silence.
“Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, please come to room 502,” a voice announced.
Harry stood up immediately, grabbing his tray and disposing it before taking off at a brisk walk. Draco was a moment later, jogging a little to catch up with the smaller man, the both of them walking in silence until they reached the room.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked almost immediately stopping in front of Healer Michaelson and planting his hands on his hips.
Draco could see Orion on the bed, looking pale and drawn, deathly still. He turned to look at the healer, wanting an answer, biting his lip as he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
Michaelson sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “We don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Harry asked, clearly worried and agitated.
“I mean, he’s not showing up positive for anything, or any of the tests, we thought it was cancer, but we can’t find anything, it’s not an infection, its not genetic, not environmental or anything. According to the tests, he’s perfectly healthy; it’s almost as if he’s asleep. Has he been acting odd lately?”
“No, he’s normal, he hasn’t been sick, outside of a few asthma attacks now and then, but we give him his inhaler for those, and they’re usually sports induced,” Harry said his running his hands through his hair over and over.
“We’re going to keep testing, and we want permission to take a MRI and CAT scan, just in case. As well as an IMS test.”
“What’s an IMS?” Draco asked.
“Inner Magical Strength, sometimes a child can come into their power a little early and because the body cannot adjust to it, they cannot handle it and get sick. The problem with the test is that it puts the bodies through a series of hard and sometimes painful tests to determine it.”
“Can anything bad happen to him,” Draco asked.
“He can’t die from it, if that’s what you mean, but in his condition there are chances of heart attacks, organ failure or any manner of things because we do not truly know his condition yet.”
“Do it,” Harry said. “If it’s going to help him, I don’t care what the test is, do it. I just want my little boy better, you got it?”
The healer nodded, and after signing a few forms, went to go set things up leaving Harry and Draco in the room for a few moments with Orion before they tested him again.
“Why’d you give him permission to do any tests?” Draco demanded.
“Because we have to sign the forms anyway, and I know all the tests, and some of them are invasive and can be dangerous to someone who is very sick, but hopefully they are not going to affect Rye. If it helps get him better then they’re going to do it.”
“Aren’t they expensive?”
“I’ll manage; I’ll take out a mortgage on the house or something.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’ll pay for it,” Draco said irritably.
Harry nodded and moved, placing a hand on Orion’s head and leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Come on kiddo, wake up, Papa needs you so bad. Please be ok,” he whispered.
Draco moved to the other side, taking Orion’s hand and kissing the back of the cool skin. He stayed silent; not trusting his voice anymore as he held his little boys hand.