Conception of Dreams (Chapter Four)

[freakingcrups]

Chapter Four

Harry shoved the last of his books into his backpack and sighed in exasperation.

“Was it that bad?” Hermione asked from beside him, passing him some more books.

“Terrible,” Harry responded with a mumble as he took the books from her, shoving them into his bag as well.

“What happened?” Hermione sat on the bed beside his backpack and took it off him as he struggled to fit them in. She pulled a couple out and rearranged them before slipping them back in. Harry bit his lip in frustration.

“What do you want to know, Hermione?” he snapped. “He rutted up against me and came.”

“Oh come on, there must be more to the story than that!” Hermione crossed her arms and huffed. Her bushy hair was much more frazzled than usual and it made Harry suspicious.

“Were you here last night?” He said in an attempt to change the topic. It wasn’t uncommon for her to spend the night in the boys’ dormitory. However, she seemed a little more frazzled than usual.

“‘Course she was, mate, she was worrying about you.” Ron strode into the room and nodded at Harry. “She was acting like you were a virgin or something.”

“I was not, Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, “I was just worried because Malfoy hasn’t always been nice, you know?”

“Oh, I think we both know that, ‘Mione, but Harry’s a big boy.” Ron patted Harry on the back. “And I don’t think he wants to tell us about his sex life. It’s like me telling him about ours.”

Hermione flushed a bright red and stood. Her arms were still crossed, but she tucked her arms into her armpits tighter. She was becoming more annoyed. “Ron, don’t act as though you haven’t told Harry anything before. You told him about the first night and second.”

“Yeah, but that’s it,” Harry responded, standing up for his best friend. “And I told you about my first and second night with Justin. We’re even.”

Hermione spun around to look at Harry. “This is different, Harry! This is with Malfoy, an Incubus who you’ve fallen pregnant to. I only worry.”

Harry shrugged. “Worry about what, Hermione? I’m already pregnant and yeah, he has a huge dick, but hey, I’ll deal with it when it comes at me.”

“Mate!” Ron’s face grew red and he groaned. He slapped his hands over his face to hide the embarrassment.

Harry laughed. Hermione seemed as though she wanted to ask more, like just how big he was, but she was too flustered to even talk. Instead, she picked up Harry’s backpack and handed it to Ron. “You can’t carry this bag, it’s too heavy.” Harry had to admire her quick change of topic.

“It’s not too heavy, Hermione. I’m not even showing,” Harry complained. He went to reach for the bag, but Hermione slapped his hand.

“Harry, the first stages of pregnancy is the most vital, especially in regards to Malfoy and his need to protect you. So just listen to me, okay?”

Harry knew when not to argue with her.

***

He had visited Madame Pomfrey before breakfast and she had agreed to a 2pm visit. As soon as it was confirmed, he sent an owl to Malfoy as he had requested. He chose a barn owl, one with bright eyes and an even brighter personality. Since Hedwig’s death, Harry hadn’t bought a new owl. He didn’t have the heart too. It felt as though he would have been replacing her and it was too much to bear the thought of. He knew eventually he would have to buy a new one, but while at Hogwarts, he chose to use school owls instead. It made it easier as well, so no one would know that he had sent the letter to his school rival.

Breakfast that morning was a new experience. He had piled his plate with food, which had been rare for him. The people around him noticed as well. Ginny was the first to ask about it.

“I’m just hungry,” Harry replied swiftly, not even rewarding her with a glance.

Seamus then questioned it.

“I need food to grow big and strong.”

Seamus just laughed at this.

And then Romilda, Dean and even Luna (who was sitting with them as well) had asked about it. Luna had done it in her own way, of course.
“Did you know that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack choose the females who are bigger than the others?” Luna cocked her head and stared at him with big, round eyes.

“Oh really?” Harry smiled at her as he stuffed another couple of pieces of bacon into his mouth.

“Mhm. The bigger the female is, the better she is to breed with. The females eat more to attract the male. Are you trying to attract a mate, Harry?”

Harry nearly choked on the food in his mouth. Everyone else around them, excluding Hermione and Ron, laughed. Little did Luna know, she was damn close to the truth. He had a ‘mate,’ but he wouldn’t exactly say he was trying to attract him. He was breeding though, so he wondered if that counted.

When he finally swallowed, he laughed softly. “No, Luna, I’m not trying to attract a mate, I’m just hungry.”

“Mhm,” Luna smiled knowingly at him. She leaned in closer to whisper into his ear so only he could hear her. “Draco Malfoy is staring at you quite intently. Did you know that Incubi have mates too? Much like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.” She leaned back, smiled gracefully and stood. “Goodbye, everybody.” She gave the people around her a little wave, before she skipped back over to her own table.

“That girl is loony,” Seamus said.

Harry glared at him. “Shut up, Seamus. She’s nicer than you, apparently.” He didn’t know where the sudden anger came from.

“Mate, I didn’t mean any harm,” Seamus held up his hands defensively.

“Yeah, sorry,” Harry shoved more food in his mouth and ignored the happenings around him. He didn’t want to deal with any more questions.

After breakfast was finished, they went to classes. The day went by pretty quickly and before he knew it, it was two o’clock. He walked to the Hospital Wing and as soon as he entered, he was met with the sight of Malfoy.

The man sat in a chair, his legs crossed gracefully and a magazine spread across his lap. A long, thin finger trailed down one of the pages and every so often, he snorted.

“What are you doing, Malfoy?” Harry asked as he entered further.

As though he just noticed him, Malfoy’s gaze shot up to stare at him in surprise. “Potter,” he acknowledged. “How was breakfast?”

“Fine,” he grumbled a reply. Harry walked further into the room and sat on the chair beside Malfoy. He stared at the magazine and frowned. “Is that-”

Malfoy quickly shut the magazine closed and threw it on a little table beside him. He snorted. “Just some ruddy magazine.”

“About pregnancy?” Harry grinned at him.

Malfoy didn’t look at him. He stared straight at the plain white wall on the opposite side of the room. “Like I said. Just some ruddy magazine, Potter. It was all bollocks anyway.”

“What did it say?” Harry leaned forward on the seat, trying to get Malfoy’s attention. It worked. Malfoy stared at him from the corner of his eye.

“Doesn’t matter.” Malfoy sighed and crossed his arms. “I saw you eating this morning. Good to see you are finally eating properly.”

“Properly?” Harry snorted, “I nearly ate enough for ten people.”

“You are pregnant, Potter, it’s expected.”

Harry frowned. “Everyone else doesn’t know that. They think I’m just being greedy and not to mention, it’s too early for cravings.”

Malfoy finally turned his head to look at him. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Does little Potty care what other people think?”

Harry glared fiercely. “Every time I think I might actually end up liking you, Malfoy, you prove me otherwise.” He slammed his back against the chair and crossed his arms.

Malfoy sighed beside him, but he didn’t reply. Harry could feel him glance at him, but he ignored any attempt to get his attention. He didn’t deserve it.

“Mr. Potter.”

Harry looked up as Madame Pomfrey gestured them to come forward. He rose to his feet and walked hurriedly towards her, ignoring Malfoy, who walked beside him. She set him up in a bed and closed the curtains. With a mutter of a silencing spell, she turned to look at him. The corner of her lip quirked, but she didn’t smile. “Mr. Potter, I hear congratulations is in order.”

“Not really,” Harry murmured, but sighed. “Thank you” he said louder.

Madame Pomfrey nodded swiftly. “I’d like to do a check up on the baby and make sure everything is fine.”

“Madame Pomfrey, can I ask you a question?” Harry wiggled a little so he was sitting up properly, but with a firm shake of her head at his movements, he sighed and pushed himself back down to a lying position.

“Yes, of course.”

“Seeing as Malfoy is an Incubus and I’m a Halfblood, will the baby be Incubus?”

Malfoy opened his mouth, but Harry glared at him. He needed Madame Pomfrey to answer this, not him.

Madame Pomfrey’s eyes flicked between Malfoy and Harry. “Mr. Potter, don’t you think you should be asking your mate this?”

“I - ”

“I do not agree with the ethics of this either, Mr. Potter, but it is nature. Mr. Malfoy is your mate, treat him as such. He can answer any questions you have. If you are to be parents, you need to work together.” She pulled out her wand and with a look at Malfoy (he gave her a nod), she pushed up Harry’s shirt. “But to answer your question, Mr. Malfoy is not fully Incubus. He has Incubus blood which has become a dominant gene inside of him. The baby will have Incubus blood, as the rest of the Pureblood families do. Even Halfbloods have this blood due to the Purebloods breeding with Muggles. So yes, your baby will have Incubus blood. If you are asking me if the gene will become dominant like Mr. Malfoy’s did, the answer would be that it is not likely.”

Harry glanced at Malfoy, who stared back at him. Malfoy didn’t say anything, his face was blank, but his eyes told a whole different story. They burned into Harry.

“Do you want to see your baby?”

“How is that possible? Isn’t it too early?” Harry asked.

Madame Pomfrey smiled. “For Muggle pregnancies, yes. However, because your baby has magic, we can enhance an image. What you will see is your baby’s magical signature. So would you like to see him or her?”
Both Harry and Malfoy’s head snapped to look at Madame Pomfrey and they nodded. The corner of her lip twitched again as she flicked her wand and muttered a spell. A live image appeared before them. It was black and white and looked exactly as a Muggle’s ultrasound did. They were beeps and the little foetus moved slightly in the image. There wasn’t much to see, the baby didn’t look anything like a baby, but Harry could see what Pomfrey meant about the magical signature. The only colour was that of the baby’s, whose body danced with different colours. It was the magical signature, no doubt about it. The thing he couldn’t work out though, was why there were two of them.

Harry couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face. That was their baby. His and Malfoy’s child. While the idea seemed surreal, now that he saw that the baby was there, he could start believing it.

“That’s our baby, Potter,” Malfoy said from beside him. He was very close to Harry's ear, so much so that Harry could feel Draco's hot breath caress the shell of it. He sounded as astonished as Harry felt.

“Our baby,” Harry repeated in a dazed tone. He reached out towards the image, trying to touch it, but his fingers slipped through it. He pulled them back and smiled. “Our baby.”

“Babies,” Madame Pomfrey actually smiled now.

“Babies?” Harry frowned. “What do you mean?”

She walked around the image and pointed at the small curved form of one of them. “That’s one,” her finger moved to the left, towards the other one, “and that’s the other. You are carrying twins.”

Harry choked. “Oh Merlin,” he rubbed at his eyes, where tears were threatening to form. Damn this. He was not going to cry over just an image.

“Twins?” Malfoy repeated again, “Bollocks.” He paused, still enraptured in the image. “Mother will be very happy at this news. She will be getting two grandchildren.”

“Can you tell the sexes of them?” Harry asked quickly, excitement building up inside of him.

The nurse shook her head. “No, Mr. Potter. It’s even far too early in the Wizarding World for that.”

“Oh.” He tried not to let the disappointment show.

Madame Pomfrey nodded. “Would you like a photograph of this, Mr. Potter? What about you, Mr. Malfoy?”

Before Harry could reply, Malfoy beat him to it. “Yes, I would.” When Harry stared at him in surprise, he continued, “for mother, of course.”

Harry doubted that, but he didn’t comment. He nodded with a smile as well. “As would I.”

“Brilliant.” She swished her wand again. “I shall be back in a few moments.” She slipped out of the curtains, leaving the men to themselves.

Harry couldn’t help but look at Malfoy again. His cheeks were tinged pink and he was staring very intently at the image that remained above them. The coldness in his eyes seemed to have disappeared, leaving only warmth that sent shivers down Harry’s spine. Malfoy must have felt him shiver, because he tore his eyes away from the foetuses to look at him.

“You okay, Potter?”

Harry nodded. “Malfoy, in your wildest dreams, did you ever expect this to happen? I mean, Harry Potter is carrying your twin children.”

“What do you think?” It wasn’t said rudely. Instead, Malfoy said it quietly, even kindly. It shocked Harry. “No, I didn’t.”

“Were you gay before this?”

Malfoy seemed surprised at the question. He raised an eyebrow, before nodding his head. “Yes, I was a ponce. I have been since I broke up with Pansy.”

“Oh. I didn’t know,” Harry whispered quietly.

“Why would you?” Malfoy snorted in amusement, “We were never friends, Potter. It’s not like I would’ve told you that I liked to shag guys.”

“I know that!” Harry huffed and crossed his arms. “I was just saying that I didn’t know. Although, Ron said you dress like a ponce. I happen to agree.”

Malfoy grunted. “And you don’t dress like a ponce. You dress like a straight man with no fashion sense. I’m not judging you, am I?” Harry raised an eyebrow. Malfoy continued, “And Weasel can’t talk either, he dresses like a poor person. Oh but wait…” He broke off when Harry glared at him. He sighed and waved his hand. “You expect me not to insult your friends and yet, Potter, your friends can insult me.”

Harry never thought about it that way. It was true. Ron insulted Malfoy all the time and he had never thought twice about stopping it. “I’ll talk to him, okay? Will that make it better?”

Malfoy sniffed indignantly, but he nodded none the less. “It would.”

Harry nodded as well. The room was silent, but it was a comfortable silence, a happy one. When Madame Pomfrey finally entered, Harry’s excitement grew. She handed them both a photograph and Harry stared at it in awe. It was perfect. He still couldn’t get it into his head that he was now having twins. Twins!

Madame Pomfrey made the image disappear and pulled Harry’s shirt back down. She told him that they were okay to leave. Before they left, they made another appointment for a couple of weeks. They left at the same time and both of them seemed uncaring by the looks they were receiving. Harry was too enraptured in the moving photograph to care.

“Harry!”

Harry halted and looked up. He smiled as he saw Hermione and Ron running towards him. Malfoy tensed beside him, but didn’t move. When they stopped in front of the men, Hermione nodded at Malfoy before grinning widely at Harry. Ron ignored Malfoy as though he wasn’t even there.

“So?”

Harry grinned just as widely. “We’re having twins!”

Hermione and Ron both looked surprised. He wasn’t sure whether it was because he had told him they were having twins, or if it was because he had said ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’ Harry hadn’t really thought about what he said before it left his mouth. Malfoy glanced at him, and Harry had a feeling it was because he was just as surprised.

“Oh Harry! That’s amazing,” She took a step forward; Harry assumed she was going to hug him, but with a growl from Malfoy, she stopped. “Malfoy, please?”

Malfoy took a deep breath and nodded sharply.

Hermione smiled at him thankfully and pulled Harry into a hug. She laughed into the crook of his neck. Harry swore he could feel tears on his skin. She finally pulled away, giving Ron a chance to slap him on the back.

“Congrats, mate.”

Harry smiled his thanks. It was only then did he truly take notice of Malfoy still standing beside him. He stared at him curiously. “Are you just going to stay here?”

A pink tinge found its way on Malfoy’s cheeks. He shuffled his feet. “Yes.”

“Why?” Harry tried again. He wasn’t annoyed, to his own surprise, just curious.

“Because my instincts are telling me to protect you. I've just seen my children, Potter, everything inside of me is screaming for me to stay by your side and keep you safe.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, but just nodded. “What will your Slytherin friends think?”

Malfoy snorted. “They already know, Potter.”

“How?” Harry exclaimed. He looked at Hermione and Ron, but they both shrugged at him. This was the first time they had heard about it as well.

“Theo and Blaise saw you that morning after we had sex. And I didn’t feel the need to lie to any of my housemates.” Malfoy crossed his arms. He watched the students walk by, some openly staring at them. Malfoy glared at one girl, who squeaked and scampered off.

“What a good father you’ll be, Malfoy,” Ron said sarcastically.

“Ron, be quiet.” Ron looked at Harry in shock. It caused him to sigh. He continued, “I told Malfoy he can’t insult you anymore, it goes both ways, mate.”

Ron opened his mouth as though he was about to retort, but his jaw quickly snapped shut. He glanced at Malfoy and sighed. “Yeah, whatever, as long as Malfoy doesn’t say anything about me or my family.”

“Malfoy has agreed not to, right Malfoy?” Harry stared at him intently.

Malfoy pursed his lips and nodded. “Right, Potter.” He didn’t seem happy to say it, but Harry was grateful he did. When Ron turned his head to look at Hermione, Harry mouthed ‘thank you’ to the blond. Malfoy looked surprised, but nodded anyway.

“Don’t you guys have classes?” Harry asked, grinning at his two best friends. They both nodded.

“Professor McGonagall said you can have the entire day off,” Hermione smiled. Her eyes zeroed in on the picture in Harry’s hand and Harry laughed. He handed it to her.

“Meet our twins.”

Hermione let out a squeal and Harry wondered if she even realized that she did. Hermione had never done such a ‘girly’ thing before. She usually scoffed at the idea of it.

“Oh, Harry, they are beautiful,” Hermione cooed. His eyes filled with tears and she wiped them quickly. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Hermione, they are blobs,” Harry laughed, but he understood completely. “I can’t wait to meet them either,” Harry continued truthfully. He glanced at Malfoy, but he was specifically not looking at Harry. He was staring straight ahead. “And Malfoy is excited too.”

“Am I?” Malfoy turned his head and smirked.

“You are. You can’t deny it. That photo isn’t for your mother, it’s for you.” Harry sent him a smirk of his own. He turned to look at Hermione. “He was even reading a pregnancy magazine when I entered the Hospital Wing.”

“That’s poppycock, Potter,” Malfoy scoffed, “it was just sitting there and I happened to pick it up because I was waiting for your late arse.”

“Sure, sure, Malfoy, you keep telling yourself that.”

Hermione glanced between the two of them before she smiled knowingly. She tugged on Ron’s robe sleeve. “Well, we better get to our next class. Why don’t you two go to the Room of Requirement? Talk about things.”

Before Harry could reply, she was already walking past them, dragging a surprised Ron as she went.

“Your friend is a little conspirator,” Malfoy commented, watching them go, “I admire it.” The smirk on his face widened, before he started walking in the direction of the Room of Requirement. Harry followed him.

“She’s a good person. You shouldn’t let her blood status worry you, Malfoy, you’d like her.”

“If you say so, Potter.” He didn’t turn around to face Harry; he just kept walking. Harry didn’t say a word after that, he merely followed. When they finally reached the room and entered, it was nearly exactly as it had been before, except instead of the table, there was a long lounge in front of a fireplace. Malfoy rested on the couch immediately and Harry followed, sitting down on the opposite end.

“So what do you think Malfoy?”

Malfoy grunted. “Are you still talking about Granger?” He laid his arm on the back of the lounge and raised an eyebrow.

“No,” Harry snapped, “I was talking about the fact I’m pregnant with twins, you git.” He didn’t understand how Malfoy could be the person he was in the Hospital Wing, looking at the image of his children, and then dramatically change into an arse.

“Oh.” He shrugged, “More the better, I guess. That’s one less pregnancy for you anyway.”

Harry snorted. He forgot about what Malfoy had said about Incubi and their mates wanting more than five children. He hardly thought that was going to happen between him and Malfoy. Not if they couldn’t feel anything for each other.

“Malfoy, why aren’t you denying what’s happening to your friends?” He asked curiously.

Malfoy stared into the fire for a moment and then turned his head to look at Harry carefully. “Why should I lie? I’m going to be with you until I die; better for them to find out sooner rather than later.”

“But aren’t you worried they’ll judge you? I mean, you knocked up the Boy Who Lived.”

“Potter, you call us bigots, and yet you are the one stereotyping us. Slytherins aren’t what you Gryffindors make us out to be. Yes, we aren’t exactly fans of Mudbloods - ” he ignored the look that Harry gave him, “and Halfbloods and Muggles, but we can be just as loyal as you Gryffindorks. We can be just as understanding.” His eyes stared at Harry heatedly, “we lost everything in that war. Whether we were on your side or his, we still lost everything we owned. Everything we valued.”

Harry swallowed. “Malfoy, your father did horrible things.”

“Yes, Potter,” Malfoy spat angrily, “my father did. I didn’t. Why should we be punished for what our parents did? Didn't I save your life when I didn’t admit that it was you at our manor that day? Yes, my father made a mistake and he’s been punished for it. Isn’t that enough?”

“Not really,” Harry started to feel anger rise in his chest, “he didn’t get punished enough. He nearly got Ginny killed when she was only eleven years old and that was only the beginning.”

“My father had no idea that would happen!” Malfoy was breathing deeply and his eyes darkened. He moved closer to Harry, but Harry didn’t back away. He wasn’t going to back down from Malfoy. “Potter, you were the one who defended my family, you got what you asked for, and you saved us from Azkaban.”

“I didn’t…” Harry broke off. Malfoy was right, he did defend them. Not so much Lucius Malfoy, but he had testified for Mr. Malfoy and her son. He sighed. “Let’s not fight, Malfoy. I’m sorry, okay?”

“I don’t want your apologies, Potter.” Malfoy reached out and before Harry could react, his hand cupped the back of his neck and he pulled him forward. Their lips smashed together, teeth clattering as they accidently knocked. Harry knew he should have pulled away from it, but the feel of Malfoy’s lips on his own was irresistible. He hadn’t kissed Malfoy before, or at least not that he remembered. The kiss was passionate and Harry wasn’t quite sure if it was because of the hatred pouring into it or the desire for each other. Either way, it was a toxic combination.

Malfoy’s tongue pushed into his mouth and Harry didn’t fight it. Instead, he pushed his own tongue against Malfoy’s, fighting for dominance. Hands grappled at his body, tugging him forward until he was on top of Malfoy. His arse was pressed against Malfoy’s crotch and he could feel the hardening erection beneath him. He whined into the kiss, trying to pull away, but Malfoy fought with him to keep their lips connected. When he finally broke the kiss, he moaned when Malfoy thrust his erection against his arse.

“Malfoy…”

Malfoy threw him onto the couch and he couldn’t help the small, surprised yelp that left his mouth. And then Malfoy was on top of him, rubbing his erection against Harry’s own quickly hardening cock. His legs had a mind of their own as they wrapped themselves around Malfoy’s waist, pushing him down harder. His arms wrapped around Malfoy’s neck and the kiss started again, just as passionate as before.

Harry felt like he was on fire. His own body was a bundle of buzzing sensations, all of which shot straight down to his sensitive cock. They rocked, erections brushing against each other and lips latched on to the other as if for dear life. When they broke off for air again, Malfoy was grunting and groaning and Harry was whinging and moaning.

“Malfoy, fuck. Bollocks.” Harry clenched his eyes shut tightly. He felt his balls tighten and the pressure became unbearable, before finally his spunk was released into his pants. It was so quick, that Harry felt embarrassment flush his face.

Malfoy panted above him and with a final grunt, he, too, came. His forehead fell forward and rested against Harry’s. Harry didn’t say anything, his eyes were still closed and he was listening to Malfoy’s deep breathing carefully.

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Malfoy had his closed. Harry wondered if he had fallen asleep. “Malfoy?”

Malfoy’s eyes opened and he smirked down at Harry as he pulled his forehead away. His forehead had been sticky with sweat and Harry grimaced when he realized he now had Malfoy’s sweat on his temple.

“You can’t tell me you aren’t attracted to me, Potter,” Malfoy drawled as he moved off of Harry. He sat on the couch and grimaced, most likely due to the quickly cooling semen in his pants. Harry had a similar feeling. He pulled his wand out of his robes and unbuttoned his trousers so he could point it in his pants. He muttered a spell and sighed as the mess disappeared. Malfoy had done the same thing to himself.

“Believe what you want, Malfoy, I just needed to get off,” Harry explained. He was lying, but he didn’t want to admit that he was actually turned on by the kiss.

Malfoy chuckled darkly and rested back against the couch. He smiled and Harry couldn’t help but stare intently at him. He didn’t know if Malfoy realized it or not, but Harry was very slowly starting to see another side of him. He was starting to see more smiles and the spoilt brat was very slowly disappearing. He was still a git, but he was getting better.

Harry picked at the fabric of the couch and sighed. “Thanks, Malfoy.”

“For what, Potter? Getting you off?”

Harry shook his head. He stared at Malfoy with a grin. “I don’t know, just…thanks.” He supposed he was saying thanks for the twins, even though they weren’t here yet, and thanks for actually trying to be civil.

Malfoy stared back, before nodding curtly. “Yeah.”

“How is it?” Harry cocked his head. “How do people treat you?”

Malfoy looked surprised at the question. He frowned and shrugged. “They treat us like we expected them to. They hate us, Potter, we’re Malfoys. They either fear us in private or outwardly detest us.”

“Do they…do they do horrible things?” Harry never really considered what it would be like for Malfoy. “You know what I mean, yeah?”

“If you are asking me if they send us mail that has been hexed, then yes. If you are asking me if they spit on me when I walk down Hogsmeade, then yes. And if you asking me if they refuse to let me buy things from their stores, then yes.” Malfoy looked away from Harry and stared into the fire.

Harry reached out and grasped his shoulder. Malfoy’s gaze flew to him and he raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, Malfoy. I went through some stuff when people didn’t believe Voldemort was back, but I never went through that.”

Malfoy cringed at the name, but he pursed his lips, keeping quiet.

Harry continued, “I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry, Potter,” Malfoy snapped angrily and stood from the couch, glaring down at Harry. “I don’t need you to feel sorry for me.”

“You’re right,” Harry replied quickly, standing as well, “I’m not pitying you, Malfoy, the point is that I understand.”

Malfoy took a step forward and grabbed Harry’s upper arm, bringing him closer. “You are challenging me, Potter, that’s what you’re doing. You are unconsciously asking me to prove that I can protect you and our children.”

“I’m not…” Harry paused when he realized that this wasn’t just about Malfoy’s pride. This was about his Incubus instincts as well. “No, I’m not, Malfoy. I think you can protect us just fine. You’ll be a wonderful provider for us.”

Malfoy stared at him suspiciously. He snorted. “Whatever, Potter. Now you’re mocking me?”

“I’m not…”

Malfoy wasn’t listening. He spun on his heel and walked to the door. When he reached it, Harry saw his back tense. It looked as though he was internally struggling with himself. He glanced back at Harry. His jaw was tight and his face portrayed his anger. And as though he had won his inner battle, he snapped his body forward and walked out of the room hastily.

Harry watched him go sadly. They were making progress and now it had just been flushed down the loo.

→→→ Chapter Five