Happy Belated Birthday, draco_pet!
Title: Letting Go
Author: Lire lire_casander
Beta: softly_sweetly
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Summary: Draco discovers a secret Harry has been hiding from him.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own in any shape or form these characters, JK does. Only playing with them for my own amusement and yours.
Warning(s): Flangst. Highlight for the rest *Mpreg*
Word Count: 2207
Author's Notes: Written for draco_pet as a birthday gift. Her prompt was to write a new instalment in Mousetrap series. I hope you like it... Happy Birthday!
The rest of this series can be found here
"I don't know how Draco is going to take this, Maxi," Harry said to his mouse, flipping the dustbin open and throwing inside a white envelope, keeping the sheet in his hands. "I don't know if he'd want to stay with me."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Harry was already in bed, eyes closed and breathing even, when Draco entered the room. He was tired after a whole day of working in his new business - a bookshop that had been barely inaugurated and already had lots of clients and an increasing amount of demands. Some days Draco wasn't able to come back home until past midnight, after having tidied up the shop a bit and tended to every urgent demand. Harry never said a word, but that routine of never seeing each other for more than a few minutes every morning was slowly making them fall apart.
And the fact that Draco's business partner was Blaise Zabini didn't help matters either.
Draco kicked off his shoes and attempted to open the wardrobe silently, but the wood creaked and woke Harry up. "You're already home," said the sleepy brunet.
"Yes. Now go back to sleep, Harry, you need it. Tomorrow morning will come faster than you think."
"What time is it? Why do you want me to go back to sleep so quickly?" Harry demanded, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. Draco sighed and kept on undressing. "Draco?"
"It's two in the morning," Draco replied, and braced himself for the outburst he was sure was coming, as he hadn't answered Harry's question. When the silence fell upon him, Draco turned around slowly only to find his lover crying silent tears. "Harry!" He rushed towards him and tried to hug Harry, but got pushed away.
"Don't," was Harry's shaky reply. "Don't touch me, Draco, not after being with Zabini all this time."
"What does Blaise have to do with it? He wasn't even there after the closing!"
"So it's worse" there is another bloke and I don't even know who he is!"
Draco blinked in confusion - Harry had just implied he was being cheated on. The blond shook his head. "Love, I think you're overreacting. I've been working my arse off at the shop these past weeks, and Blaise is just helping me. There's no one else, I swear."
"Get out of here." Harry was looking at him, determined and angry and hurt; Draco couldn't stand the pain he saw there. "I don't want you here right now, Malfoy. Neither you nor that arse you've been so working off." The snarl in Harry's voice made Draco jump, the use of his last name hurting him deep inside. He shook his head again and walked out the door, leaving behind him a crying, broken Harry.
Draco made his way towards the living room, where they had a very uncomfortable couch - but a way more comfy than the chairs and the floor. He looked around for a blanket, not really understanding what was going on. He summoned hs security blanket - the one he had been using for comfort since he was a child - and hid under the warmth of the Scottish fabric. Only then and there, in the darkness provided by his blanket and the sitting position he had chosen, did he allow himself to tear up.
"He is just being irrational," said a deep voice at his left. "He's just afraid."
"Oh, Maxi, but I don't understand why he acted like that, why he said those words! I would never, ever, cheat on him. I love him far too much."
"He knows, but he is really afraid of losing you."
"Why? I'm not going anywhere! It's true, I've been working a lot but that'll change sometime soon, when finally the shop gets settled and everything..."
"You have to ask him, Draco. He won't talk to me." The mouse looked up at him. "He doesn't need me anymore, Draco, he needs you and I guess he doesn't feel like he actually has you."
"And me working with Blaise..." Draco realized it. "Blaise used to flirt with me when I was pining for Harry. I never ended up with him, though, as I loved Harry, but the stubborn idiot I have for a boyfriend has always feared... But I would never leave Harry for Blaise!"
The mouse sighed. "Erm, Draco, you should know something about Harry," it started. "It's something he's just found out this morning but he just wouldn't tell me..."
"What? Is it bad?" Draco's eyes widened in shock. "What is it? Tell me, Maxi!"
"Well, follow me..."
Wiping away the stray tears in his cheeks, Draco stood up and followed the mouse, still clutching the blanket between his shaking fingers. "Wait, Maxi. I guess we'll make less noise if I carry you."
"True," agreed the mouse, jumping inside Draco's pocket and guiding him towards the office. When they got there, the mouse searched for the drawer where Harry had hidden the dreaded sheet. "Here it is." The mouse tipped it with his nose. Draco tried to open the drawer, but it was guarded by a password. Draco uttered a few words, and the drawer opened magically.
"How did you know the password?" Maxi demanded. "I couldn't figure it out."
"And you call yourself his guardian rat. It was as simple as 'dragon,' Maxi. That's what my name means in English."
"I know what your name me---" The mouse realized then the look in Draco's eyes, the wetness in his pupils, and decided to shut up. Draco took the white sheet lying alone inside the drawer and watched it attentively, as if waiting for something to burst out of the paper.
"What is this?" he asked naively.
"I can't read, remember? I don't know, but Harry was very upset about it this morning."
"Such a magical creature you are!" Draco pursed his lips. "I can only see a pink line here, Maxi. No words, nothing. What does this mean?"
"I guess it's coded. And maybe it's bad, since Harry has been crying ever since he's opened this. Maybe you should talk to Hermione"
Draco frowned. If there was someone with an incredible knowledge of any weird devices, that was Hermione Granger - now Weasley. "I will solve this mystery, Maxi, tomorrow. Now I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to deal with the only witch who'll eat my head if she finds out I've hurt Harry, even if I didn't do a single thing. I'll need all my strength!"
*-*-*-*-*-*
"Oh, for Merlin's beard, Draco! This is amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, causing the crowded pub to centre their attention on them. "This is the best news you could have given to me!"
"Hermione," he tried to hush her, to no avail. "I don't know what you're talking about, but the whole crowd is looking at us!"
"You seriously don't know what this is," Hermione smiled happily. "And you say you found it? So, it's Harry's?"
"Yes, it's his. Now please tell me before I grow older. I just want to know what happens with him, if it's bad. He's accused me of cheating, and I was wondering if this... whatever this is... has something to do with his suddenly foolish ideas."
Hermione caressed Draco's hand over the table in a friendly gesture. She knew that the blond was worried - he had told her about the night before, about Harry's outburst and his own reaction - but she was sure Draco had nothing to worry about. "Listen, Draco, I know you love Harry, but you also know how he reacts when something escapes his reason. This is far beyond his comprehension, Draco."
"Is he... ill?"
"Oh, no! Well, he is, sort of." Hermione realized her words were making it worse by the minute, so she hastily kept on. "Draco, these are the results of a pregnancy test based on a Muggle technique. How Harry knew about it, I'm not sure. But the truth is, Draco... Harry's pregnant."
Draco nearly fell off his chair at Hermione's words.
*-*-*-*-*-*
The house was dark when Harry came back from shopping. Maxi was in his front pocket, humming along a melody they both had just heard at the shops. The wizard opened the door with his free hand, as the other was occupied with bags, and was greeted by the silence he had left behind when he had gone out a couple of hours before.
He had done a lot of thinking during that day, while Draco was away working. Harry had treated him really badly - he hadn't had any reason to suspect that his boyfriend was cheating on him with Zabini. He was going to blame it in those damn hormones waking up inside of him, if he ever gathered up the courage to tell his boyfriend about the news coming into their life.
He hadn't ever been less sure about how Draco would react.
Harry switched on the lights in the hall and headed towards the kitchen, with the full intention of making a tasty dinner and using it to apologise to Draco, when a soft noise coming from the living room startled him. Cautiously, he caught Maxi and secured him in his breast pocket before walking to the source of the noise, wand in hand ready to cast a spell. He opened completely the ajar door and bit back a hex.
Draco was sitting on the couch, the white sheet Harry had tried not to think about for the whole day, in front of him on the small glass table before the couch. "Hello, Harry," he said in a toneless voice.
"Erm, hi, Draco," he replied. He didn't dare to ask how Draco had found the letter with the pink line.
"Can we talk? I think we have lots of things to discuss."
"Of... of course."
"Then, please sit down." Draco motioned for Harry to take a seat next to him. "Harry, is there something you want to tell me?"
Harry shrugged. "I guess you already know."
"No, I don't, Harry. You have to tell me! I can't read your mind. I just... Last night, when you... implied I was... with Blaise... how could you---?"
"I'm sorry for that. I panicked... I felt like I needed to tell you, but then you wouldn't come home... and.... what are you doing here this early?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Don't change the subject, Harry."
"But I want to know! You aren't usually home right before dinner."
"I've decided that not even the bookshop is worth me not knowing what happens to you. I'll be here every single moment you need me."
Harry breathed in deeply. He had needed his boyfriend to know about their new situation, but with him working for long hours at the bookshop Harry hadn't had the chance to talk to him. And when Draco had been there for him, Harry had just blown it up with his spectacularly hormonal reaction of kicking him out of the bedroom. Things were going to change in him, and his fear didn't let him face those changes without the boyfriend he had been hiding the news from.
"You know... you've seen the paper. And I'm sure you understand what that means."
"Say it aloud, Harry," Draco smiled reassuringly. When Harry gulped and looked shiftily at him, he understood finally. "I just need you to say it, and you'll see what my reaction is. Just... say it. I promise you'll not be disappointed."
Harry shook his head but muttered a few words. Draco, not being able to hear anything, put a finger under Harry's chin and forced him to look up. "Again, please?"
"I'm pregnant." Harry felt relieved once he said it, a feeling he hadn't had in such a long time - he didn't even remember that last moment. "We're... we're going to be fathers."
Draco wasted no time in getting up and taking Harry in his arms, showing him his reaction just as he had promised. He made them spin around, dancing in circles that were quickly getting them closer to falling once again on the couch, all the while exclaiming I'm going to be a father, I'm going to be a father, as if it were the most important thing in his life. "But... how?" Draco blurted a few minutes later. "How could you possibly end up pregnant?"
"I can't believe your father never sat down with you and told you about the wizard and the witch getting at it..."
"You pervert! Of course I know how!" Draco slapped him playfully on the shoulder, only to take him once again in his arms and kiss him senseless.
Maxi looked at them from the table, where he had ended after jumping from Harry's pocket. They seemed so happy together, and something in the mouse's heart told him that its mission was coming to an end. Maxi should return to where he had come from, and wait until another couple needed him.
For all he knew then was that the child Harry was magically carrying was going to be the true saviour of that family - the family the Boy Who Lived and the Death Eather Who Wasn't were about to start.
With a sigh, Maximillian Caesar jumped out of the window into the street and disappeared in the night.
Author: Lire lire_casander
Beta: softly_sweetly
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Summary: Draco discovers a secret Harry has been hiding from him.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own in any shape or form these characters, JK does. Only playing with them for my own amusement and yours.
Warning(s): Flangst. Highlight for the rest *Mpreg*
Word Count: 2207
Author's Notes: Written for draco_pet as a birthday gift. Her prompt was to write a new instalment in Mousetrap series. I hope you like it... Happy Birthday!
The rest of this series can be found here
"I don't know how Draco is going to take this, Maxi," Harry said to his mouse, flipping the dustbin open and throwing inside a white envelope, keeping the sheet in his hands. "I don't know if he'd want to stay with me."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Harry was already in bed, eyes closed and breathing even, when Draco entered the room. He was tired after a whole day of working in his new business - a bookshop that had been barely inaugurated and already had lots of clients and an increasing amount of demands. Some days Draco wasn't able to come back home until past midnight, after having tidied up the shop a bit and tended to every urgent demand. Harry never said a word, but that routine of never seeing each other for more than a few minutes every morning was slowly making them fall apart.
And the fact that Draco's business partner was Blaise Zabini didn't help matters either.
Draco kicked off his shoes and attempted to open the wardrobe silently, but the wood creaked and woke Harry up. "You're already home," said the sleepy brunet.
"Yes. Now go back to sleep, Harry, you need it. Tomorrow morning will come faster than you think."
"What time is it? Why do you want me to go back to sleep so quickly?" Harry demanded, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. Draco sighed and kept on undressing. "Draco?"
"It's two in the morning," Draco replied, and braced himself for the outburst he was sure was coming, as he hadn't answered Harry's question. When the silence fell upon him, Draco turned around slowly only to find his lover crying silent tears. "Harry!" He rushed towards him and tried to hug Harry, but got pushed away.
"Don't," was Harry's shaky reply. "Don't touch me, Draco, not after being with Zabini all this time."
"What does Blaise have to do with it? He wasn't even there after the closing!"
"So it's worse" there is another bloke and I don't even know who he is!"
Draco blinked in confusion - Harry had just implied he was being cheated on. The blond shook his head. "Love, I think you're overreacting. I've been working my arse off at the shop these past weeks, and Blaise is just helping me. There's no one else, I swear."
"Get out of here." Harry was looking at him, determined and angry and hurt; Draco couldn't stand the pain he saw there. "I don't want you here right now, Malfoy. Neither you nor that arse you've been so working off." The snarl in Harry's voice made Draco jump, the use of his last name hurting him deep inside. He shook his head again and walked out the door, leaving behind him a crying, broken Harry.
Draco made his way towards the living room, where they had a very uncomfortable couch - but a way more comfy than the chairs and the floor. He looked around for a blanket, not really understanding what was going on. He summoned hs security blanket - the one he had been using for comfort since he was a child - and hid under the warmth of the Scottish fabric. Only then and there, in the darkness provided by his blanket and the sitting position he had chosen, did he allow himself to tear up.
"He is just being irrational," said a deep voice at his left. "He's just afraid."
"Oh, Maxi, but I don't understand why he acted like that, why he said those words! I would never, ever, cheat on him. I love him far too much."
"He knows, but he is really afraid of losing you."
"Why? I'm not going anywhere! It's true, I've been working a lot but that'll change sometime soon, when finally the shop gets settled and everything..."
"You have to ask him, Draco. He won't talk to me." The mouse looked up at him. "He doesn't need me anymore, Draco, he needs you and I guess he doesn't feel like he actually has you."
"And me working with Blaise..." Draco realized it. "Blaise used to flirt with me when I was pining for Harry. I never ended up with him, though, as I loved Harry, but the stubborn idiot I have for a boyfriend has always feared... But I would never leave Harry for Blaise!"
The mouse sighed. "Erm, Draco, you should know something about Harry," it started. "It's something he's just found out this morning but he just wouldn't tell me..."
"What? Is it bad?" Draco's eyes widened in shock. "What is it? Tell me, Maxi!"
"Well, follow me..."
Wiping away the stray tears in his cheeks, Draco stood up and followed the mouse, still clutching the blanket between his shaking fingers. "Wait, Maxi. I guess we'll make less noise if I carry you."
"True," agreed the mouse, jumping inside Draco's pocket and guiding him towards the office. When they got there, the mouse searched for the drawer where Harry had hidden the dreaded sheet. "Here it is." The mouse tipped it with his nose. Draco tried to open the drawer, but it was guarded by a password. Draco uttered a few words, and the drawer opened magically.
"How did you know the password?" Maxi demanded. "I couldn't figure it out."
"And you call yourself his guardian rat. It was as simple as 'dragon,' Maxi. That's what my name means in English."
"I know what your name me---" The mouse realized then the look in Draco's eyes, the wetness in his pupils, and decided to shut up. Draco took the white sheet lying alone inside the drawer and watched it attentively, as if waiting for something to burst out of the paper.
"What is this?" he asked naively.
"I can't read, remember? I don't know, but Harry was very upset about it this morning."
"Such a magical creature you are!" Draco pursed his lips. "I can only see a pink line here, Maxi. No words, nothing. What does this mean?"
"I guess it's coded. And maybe it's bad, since Harry has been crying ever since he's opened this. Maybe you should talk to Hermione"
Draco frowned. If there was someone with an incredible knowledge of any weird devices, that was Hermione Granger - now Weasley. "I will solve this mystery, Maxi, tomorrow. Now I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to deal with the only witch who'll eat my head if she finds out I've hurt Harry, even if I didn't do a single thing. I'll need all my strength!"
*-*-*-*-*-*
"Oh, for Merlin's beard, Draco! This is amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, causing the crowded pub to centre their attention on them. "This is the best news you could have given to me!"
"Hermione," he tried to hush her, to no avail. "I don't know what you're talking about, but the whole crowd is looking at us!"
"You seriously don't know what this is," Hermione smiled happily. "And you say you found it? So, it's Harry's?"
"Yes, it's his. Now please tell me before I grow older. I just want to know what happens with him, if it's bad. He's accused me of cheating, and I was wondering if this... whatever this is... has something to do with his suddenly foolish ideas."
Hermione caressed Draco's hand over the table in a friendly gesture. She knew that the blond was worried - he had told her about the night before, about Harry's outburst and his own reaction - but she was sure Draco had nothing to worry about. "Listen, Draco, I know you love Harry, but you also know how he reacts when something escapes his reason. This is far beyond his comprehension, Draco."
"Is he... ill?"
"Oh, no! Well, he is, sort of." Hermione realized her words were making it worse by the minute, so she hastily kept on. "Draco, these are the results of a pregnancy test based on a Muggle technique. How Harry knew about it, I'm not sure. But the truth is, Draco... Harry's pregnant."
Draco nearly fell off his chair at Hermione's words.
*-*-*-*-*-*
The house was dark when Harry came back from shopping. Maxi was in his front pocket, humming along a melody they both had just heard at the shops. The wizard opened the door with his free hand, as the other was occupied with bags, and was greeted by the silence he had left behind when he had gone out a couple of hours before.
He had done a lot of thinking during that day, while Draco was away working. Harry had treated him really badly - he hadn't had any reason to suspect that his boyfriend was cheating on him with Zabini. He was going to blame it in those damn hormones waking up inside of him, if he ever gathered up the courage to tell his boyfriend about the news coming into their life.
He hadn't ever been less sure about how Draco would react.
Harry switched on the lights in the hall and headed towards the kitchen, with the full intention of making a tasty dinner and using it to apologise to Draco, when a soft noise coming from the living room startled him. Cautiously, he caught Maxi and secured him in his breast pocket before walking to the source of the noise, wand in hand ready to cast a spell. He opened completely the ajar door and bit back a hex.
Draco was sitting on the couch, the white sheet Harry had tried not to think about for the whole day, in front of him on the small glass table before the couch. "Hello, Harry," he said in a toneless voice.
"Erm, hi, Draco," he replied. He didn't dare to ask how Draco had found the letter with the pink line.
"Can we talk? I think we have lots of things to discuss."
"Of... of course."
"Then, please sit down." Draco motioned for Harry to take a seat next to him. "Harry, is there something you want to tell me?"
Harry shrugged. "I guess you already know."
"No, I don't, Harry. You have to tell me! I can't read your mind. I just... Last night, when you... implied I was... with Blaise... how could you---?"
"I'm sorry for that. I panicked... I felt like I needed to tell you, but then you wouldn't come home... and.... what are you doing here this early?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Don't change the subject, Harry."
"But I want to know! You aren't usually home right before dinner."
"I've decided that not even the bookshop is worth me not knowing what happens to you. I'll be here every single moment you need me."
Harry breathed in deeply. He had needed his boyfriend to know about their new situation, but with him working for long hours at the bookshop Harry hadn't had the chance to talk to him. And when Draco had been there for him, Harry had just blown it up with his spectacularly hormonal reaction of kicking him out of the bedroom. Things were going to change in him, and his fear didn't let him face those changes without the boyfriend he had been hiding the news from.
"You know... you've seen the paper. And I'm sure you understand what that means."
"Say it aloud, Harry," Draco smiled reassuringly. When Harry gulped and looked shiftily at him, he understood finally. "I just need you to say it, and you'll see what my reaction is. Just... say it. I promise you'll not be disappointed."
Harry shook his head but muttered a few words. Draco, not being able to hear anything, put a finger under Harry's chin and forced him to look up. "Again, please?"
"I'm pregnant." Harry felt relieved once he said it, a feeling he hadn't had in such a long time - he didn't even remember that last moment. "We're... we're going to be fathers."
Draco wasted no time in getting up and taking Harry in his arms, showing him his reaction just as he had promised. He made them spin around, dancing in circles that were quickly getting them closer to falling once again on the couch, all the while exclaiming I'm going to be a father, I'm going to be a father, as if it were the most important thing in his life. "But... how?" Draco blurted a few minutes later. "How could you possibly end up pregnant?"
"I can't believe your father never sat down with you and told you about the wizard and the witch getting at it..."
"You pervert! Of course I know how!" Draco slapped him playfully on the shoulder, only to take him once again in his arms and kiss him senseless.
Maxi looked at them from the table, where he had ended after jumping from Harry's pocket. They seemed so happy together, and something in the mouse's heart told him that its mission was coming to an end. Maxi should return to where he had come from, and wait until another couple needed him.
For all he knew then was that the child Harry was magically carrying was going to be the true saviour of that family - the family the Boy Who Lived and the Death Eather Who Wasn't were about to start.
With a sigh, Maximillian Caesar jumped out of the window into the street and disappeared in the night.