Pregnant.
Never mind that boys couldn't possibly become pregnant.
Harry wiped his mouth. He'd just thrown up his entire lunch into the toilet and he was mostly just glad he'd had the time to run to the bathroom before it all came up.
Leaning back against the wall, Harry tried to erase Snape's words – and the look of the now hugely pregnant Snape – out of his mind. He didn't want to hear all about how the Contraceptus Potion worked to stop pregnancies for girls, while it made pregnancy possible for boys. He didn't want the image of a pregnant Snape in his head because he knew that that would be what he'd look like in six months.
He'd look like a whale. Harry shuddered but both his hands moved to his abdomen and he tried, once more, to wrap his mind around the idea of a small, living thing inside of him. He couldn't begin to fathom it – and even less could he understand the idea that he'd be a parent soon.
He and Draco Malfoy.
Harry sighed deeply at the thought and shook his head. Draco Malfoy was his boyfriend – on and off boyfriend, should probably be added considering how bad the two were at making up their minds – and since Harry had never had sex with anyone else, he was also the baby's father.
Draco Malfoy, a father? Harry almost laughed at the thought. That wasn't going to happen. Malfoy was a good fuck but though Harry sometimes fancied himself in love with the blond git, he was not father material. He wasn't even long-term material.
Just like that, Harry realised he'd have to break it off with Malfoy – and this time without there ever being a chance to get it 'on' again.
Then came the trouble of the pregnancy. Harry would go through the entire thing while at Hogwarts, if he was about two months along as he suspected. He recalled getting the stomach ache Snape had spoken about, and the other symptoms, and it had all started about two months ago, after Malfoy had made an impromptu visit to the Dursleys' and all but kidnapped him.
Going through the pregnancy without showing it to Malfoy, without making him suspicious? It was probably a ludicrous idea but Harry knew he had to.
Harry sighed again and stood, swaying only slightly on his feet. With a flick of his wand he made his mouth feel fresh once more. It was a handy spell and he'd learned it by heart after a few days of being sick every morning.
"Harry!"
Harry turned around and saw Ron standing in the doorway to the bathroom.
"Where'd you go? You just disappeared after class," Ron said. Then, with a concerned look, he asked, "You all right?"
Harry's stomach had settled once more, though he knew he was far from all right. He shot Ron a grin that he hoped was enough. "I'm fine."
Ron considered this for a second, but accepted Harry's words. He grinned instead. "Wasn't that a fabulous class? Snape looks like a stranded walrus or something. And standing there, teaching us about the Contraceptus Potion – it's rich, considering it's what got him into his situation."
"Did you know?" Harry asked carefully. "Did you know the Contraceptus Potion works that way on boys?"
"Oh, of course," Ron said. "With our genes and ability to make offspring, Mum has always made a point of us knowing that kind of stuff. Why? You didn't know?"
Harry shook his head as they headed down the corridor towards Charms.
"Well," said Ron, "now you know. Men can have babies – so if you feel like fattening up for nine months and squeezing a kid out your behind, all you have to do is drink the Contraceptus Potion and spread yourself for some guy."
Ron laughed heartily at his own words. Harry tried to chuckle along.
"Oh," Ron said, "it's good for the gay wizards to know. They have just as much right to have a baby, you know? But it's not for us. Neither one of us is going to get fat like Snape and squeeze out a little screaming, red thing into the world."
"Uh," Harry said and he tried to laugh along once more. He winced at how fake it sounded and the wince grew deeper when Ron suddenly stopped.
"Harry? You okay, mate?"
"I'm—" Harry said and he felt his stomach start rolling once more. "I'm—"
Ron was starting to look very suspicious. "You haven't taken that Potion, have you Harry?"
Harry's eyes widened and he looked from side to side. "I—"
"And even if you had, you've never been with a guy, right?" Ron continued and he had a look that Harry couldn't quite place.
Harry stammered an incoherent answer.
"And even if you had done both those things, you are aware of the way the potion works so that if you had the stomach ache and the other symptoms, you'd know you're pregnant. Right?"
Harry squeezed his eyes shut.
"Harry?"
Ron didn't sound angry, merely a bit desperate, his voice reaching a high pitch.
Harry let out a sigh and looked at the ground.
Ron's eyes widened. "Oh sweet Merlin. Harry, how could you not—"
"I haven't grown up in this world, Ron. I don't know everything," Harry said quietly.
Ron sighed and pinched his nose. "How far along are you?"
"A bit over two months, I'm guessing," said Harry.
"And who is the father?" Ron asked.
Harry winced again. "I can't tell you, not here. I'll tell you when we're in private but please— can we just have this conversation later on, some place else?"
Ron looked around. There were students passing by on their way to class, though none took any real notice of Harry and Ron, standing in the middle of the hallway looking very serious.
Ron nodded, with another small sigh. "All right, later on. Once classes are over. We'll find a classroom or something – and then you'll tell me everything."
As the sun set beyond the Forbidden Forrest, Harry fidgeted in front of his friends. Ron had convinced him to tell Hermione immediately as well and Harry figured it was for the best – if he was to survive this pregnancy and survive it without Malfoy finding out, he'd definitely need allies. His best friends seemed like a good option.
Hermione was looking between the two of them. "I suppose there's a reason why we're sitting in an old teachers' lounge, so why don't we start talking?"
Harry sighed and looked at the floor. He wondered how to start, which part to start explaining to Hermione. Should he start with Snape's class, or with the so-called kidnapping Malfoy had done in the middle of summer?
His mouth decided for him. "I'm pregnant."
Hermione was quiet for a second and then she said, "Oh."
Wanting to crawl out of his own skin, Harry continued to fidget.
After another few but very long moments had passed, Hermione asked, "How do you know?"
Another sigh and then, "I realised when every single symptom Snape said during the class today fit on me. The morning sickness, the stomach ache, the— everything."
"You haven't tested yourself?" Hermione asked.
Harry was about to say that it wasn't necessary, but he stopped himself. Perhaps it was all in his imagination. Perhaps he had just gotten the flu – for two months, a voice in him asked but Harry ignored it pointedly – and perhaps it had just been a regular stomach ache. Perhaps the potion hadn't worked on him.
"No," he said.
"Well then," Hermione said and stood up, "we need to check that it's actually true before panicking, don't we?"
She walked over to him and took her wand out. "Pull your shirt up and lean back."
Harry did as he was told. He closed his eyes and wished hard for it not to be true; for him not to be pregnant. He couldn't have a baby now! Voldemort hunted him and how would that look – a hugely pregnant Harry, facing off with the Dark Lord? Oh yes, perhaps Voldemort would fall over and die from laughing so hard.
"Uh, Harry?"
Hermione's voice woke him from his thoughts and he opened his eyes. Right in front of his belly was a shimmering, live version of what was going on inside of him. Harry didn't know what the things were exactly, but he supposed it was his stomach – his liver, his kidneys, his intestines and everything else that made his body work.
And then there was a small sack.
Hermione was bent before the small, magic image of the sack and she squinted, trying to see better.
"I'm pregnant, aren't I?" asked Harry and there was a lump in his throat that made him feel as though he was going to cry.
Hermione nodded absently. "Yes. About ten weeks along, could that be right?"
Harry nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes."
Hermione looked up at him, eyes warm and understanding. "I suppose congratulations aren't in order?"
Harry simply sighed.
A week had passed since Hermione had confirmed the news. They had sat silently together for several minutes, and then they had both made him tell them who the baby's other father was. Neither one acted too terribly surprised when he told them it was Malfoy; both had suspected that something had been going on between the two.
Harry now hunched over the toilet once more, as he always seemed to in the morning. Sometimes, the nausea would hit him in the afternoons and evenings as well and Harry didn't think the term 'morning sickness' was all that accurate. Hermione and Ron got to cover for him as he ran to the bathroom. They were worryingly good at lying.
Harry had avoided Malfoy for the week. All he had to do was break things off with Malfoy, but it wasn't that easy. Malfoys got what they wanted and they kept it for as long as they wanted it.
In the end, Harry had no choice but to face him, when Malfoy pulled him into a broom closet after the last class of the day.
Malfoy pressed Harry up against the wall and kissed him hard.
"Playing hard to get, hm?" asked Malfoy as he rubbed himself against Harry. Harry gasped; it felt so good and so natural to feel the hard planes of Malfoy's body against his own. He felt Malfoy's hardness rub against him and felt himself begin to swell as well.
"I've been—busy," Harry gasped as Malfoy's hands travelled in under his shirt.
Malfoy sneered at him. "You're never too busy for a Malfoy." Then his hands plunged beneath the waist of Harry's pants and he grabbed Harry with a strong fist. Harry's breath caught and he fought to stay on his feet as the sensations of Malfoy's talented hand threatened to overwhelm him. The battle was lost and Harry's mind gave up, allowing his body to take over – one last time.
"What do you mean over?"
Malfoy looked wholly confused at Harry's words.
"Over, Malfoy," sighed Harry. "I can't do this anymore. I just— it's great sex, but I want something else."
"Some lovey-dovey relationship with some little sweet girl that you can do the two point three kids and the picket fence with?" Malfoy sneered at him, his eyes suddenly hard and cold.
"I—"
"Well, fine," said Malfoy. "It's not like this meant anything anyway. You were a good shag, but there are others who are better."
Malfoy's words cut into Harry like a sharp knife and he only barely kept from wincing. It wouldn't do to show Malfoy that his words actually had an impact on Harry. It wouldn't do to make Malfoy realise that sometimes, Harry thought he might be in love with Malfoy. Malfoy would never understand anyway, and even if he against all odds did, Malfoy would never, ever want to become a father at age seventeen.
"Good," Harry said, and he buttoned the last of his robes. "Then we're agreed. This ends here."
Malfoy shrugged, the image of indifference. "I don't care."
"Good."
"Good."
And Harry left. He blamed the lump in his throat and the wish to cry on pregnancy hormones.
He'd broken it off with Malfoy just in time, Harry realised a little over a week later, when he noticed the slight swell of his stomach. He'd already gained weight and Harry wondered just how big he'd be by the end of the pregnancy. He grimaced at the thought.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were in Hermione's Head Girl rooms. Harry lay shirtless on the couch and Hermione had a thick book on pregnancy flipped open on the small glass table in front of the fire. She pointed her wand and uttered a spell, and the shimmering image of Harry's intestines appeared above his stomach.
"It's growing as it should," Hermione said as she compared the shimmering image with the pictures in her book.
Harry squinted at the blurry shimmer. "How can you even tell there's anything in there?"
"Oh, don't you see? Here is the head – and that'll be the feet," Hermione replied and pointed at a tiny figure. Harry still only saw a blur and with a sigh, he lay back.
"How is the morning sickness?" asked Hermione after ending the spell. "Suffering any other symptoms?"
"Still the morning sickness," Harry said and rubbed his eyes. "I'm pretty tired too. And my spells don't work as well as they should."
Hermione shook her head. "In the beginning of your pregnancy, your body needs so much magic to sustain the baby and create the womb, that your casting will suffer. In the middle of the second trimester, or a bit later, your magic will have levelled out once more and you may experience that your spells are even more powerful than before."
"Oh," said Harry.
He was immensely thankful for Hermione's thirst for knowledge and her near photographic memory. She'd brew the potions he needed to sustain the pregnancy and she already examined him once a week. She had however warned him that if problems arose, she would not be enough. She could not replace a trained Healer and she had no experience whatsoever of the birth or what to do if complications arose before that.
As Harry didn't want to bring anyone else in on the secret, he told Hermione she would be enough. He hoped she would.
He sighed. "I've also begun showing a tad, as you can see," he said. It wasn't much, he knew, but soon enough it would be. "I'll need hiding spells soon."
At this, Ron nodded. "I've been going through the books Hermione gave me," he said. "There are two or three that seem useable; the rest I think would be bad for the— the baby."
Ron stumbled over the last word; he still hadn't quite gotten over the fact that Harry was pregnant. Harry couldn't blame him; he was still trying to come to grips with it himself. For him it was more real, though; his body changed and he could feel it. He could feel an odd warmth of the baby: he felt that his spells weren't as strong as they should be. He threw up almost every morning. The truth stared him so blankly in the face that he couldn't ignore it, couldn't not believe it.
Hermione squeezed his hand. Her eyes were warm and sympathetic.
"We'll get through this, Harry," she assured him.
Ron sat down heavily on the couch. He nodded slowly. "Yeah. We'll get through it."
"Somehow," Harry said thickly.
"Somehow," Ron agreed and smiled slightly.
"Somehow," Hermione said and closed her book with a thud.
Harry swallowed and nodded and tried not to think about the fact that in six months, he'd have a little Potter-Malfoy baby to take care of.