Prophesied

Chapter 26

One

I met Lita and Lamia at the Leaky Cauldron a week after I moved out of the manor. I didn't know how to tell her that we weren't going there, but to a smaller (by far) house in the country.

"I know," she said softly. She pulled me into a hug and I fought the tears from spilling. It was too new, too fresh. I didn't know how to deal with it. "I wish I could take it away," she said in my ear. "I wish I could make the pain stop."

I shook my head. "Sometimes you need to feel the pain," I said. Somehow I knew that's why she wouldn't be healing my broken heart.

"Why are you crying, daddy?" came the voice of my little girl.

I pulled away from Lita. "Because Draco--" my voice broke and I felt a sob rise. Lita wrapped her arms around me again and I let myself go on her shoulder.

"If you want me to, I'll do it," she whispered. "I'll take it away."

I shook my head. "No," I said thickly. "Not yet."

*****

When we arrived at the house Harry had bought I was stunned by the size of it. He had spent the last four years living in the grandest house I had seen that was not owned by an elf and he had chosen this as his home for the future.

"It's not very big," he said shyly, as if reading my thoughts, "But it's home."

"I like it," I said with a slight smile.

That night I decided to tell Harry what my father had told me.

"I know why Jeff and I never..." I stared resolutely at the mug of coffee in my hand. Saying this, talking about Jeff, it would be the hardest thing for me in quite some time. I sighed and tried again. "I know why Jeff never was able to get me pregnant no matter how hard we tried," I said softly.

Harry looked up at me curiously. "Why?" he asked.

I sighed. "Because Elves can only have a child with one person," I said.

His eyebrows rose. "Is that so?" he asked.

I nodded. "Humans call it soul mates," I said, remembering my father's words as though he were telling me again. "The Elves call it the One. There is one man and one woman for every one," I sighed. "In all honesty I have no idea what that means for homosexuals," I confessed. "I don't even know if Elves..." I shrugged and decided to continue with my point. "Harry, we've only been together twice," I said. "Jeff and I.... It's enough to make me believe," I said softly.

"Are you saying you think I'm your soul mate?" he asked.

I nodded. "I don't see any other reason for it," I confessed.

"What about Draco?" he asked. "What about me? How can there only be one person for me if I love two as much as I do?"

I sighed. "I don't know if it's the same for humans," I said softly. "I'm only speaking for the Elves."

"And you?" he asked. "What about you? You're half human, Lita. Only half of you is bound to the magicks of a different species."

"So far that's the half that takes control," I spat. "I used to deny that half, Harry, but I have, in the last three years, come to embrace it. You can thank your daughter for that."

"How so?" he asked angrily.

"Draco," I answered simply. "The night she was born she healed his heart," I revealed. "It made me see that denying what I was wasn't the best thing in the world for me to do. I just thought I'd tell you why I ended up pregnant with your child both times."

"How do you know for sure that the child is mine?" he demanded. "How do you know for sure that you can only get pregnant by me? You're half human too, Lita. Maybe that child is Jeff's."

I shook my head. "Harry, I'm almost four months pregnant. Jeff and I hadn't had sex for nearly two months before hand. That would make me six months, Harry. And then don't forget that I don't carry full term like humans," I reminded him. "I carried Lami for only seven, remember? Were this Jeff's child, I would be nearly due."

*****

I didn't want to believe her. I wanted the child growing inside of her to belong to Jeff, hoping that I could have some shot at a miracle at getting Draco back. I was angry with her for the news she presented me with because I didn't want to think that I was her only love in life. I didn't want to think that every time she wanted a child it would be me that would be forced to comply because I was the only one with the ability to give her a child. I didn't want it, because I still loved Draco so damn much.

"It's a boy," she said. "And he carries whatever name you wish for him."

My first thought to that was to name him Draco, but considering the situation I was in, that didn't seem appropriate. No matter how much I loved him, I knew deep down inside that I would never have him again.

I knew it with an absolute certainty, even if I didn't want to believe it.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

I glared at her. "Not what I wanted to hear?" I asked bitterly. "How much of your stupid powers did it take for you to figure that out, Sherlock?"

She winced slightly. "You needed to know," she said with a shaking voice. "This is your son."

I glared at her again and stood up from my chair at the table. "It was a mistake, Lita. This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Neither was Lami!" she yelled, standing. "Yet you love her! She's your daughter and this is your son! Yours, Harry, not Jeff's. No matter how much you want to deny it and say that he's not, he is!"

I wanted to say something to that. It wasn't that I wanted to deny the existence of the baby, it was that I wanted to deny the fact that he was mine...

Before I said something I knew I would regret, or made this fight any worse, I walked away.

"Harry," Lita said softly.

I stopped at the doorway but didn't turn.

[I love you.]

With tears in my eyes, I left. I just didn't know what to do anymore. I couldn't be with her again, not after everything that had happened. I couldn't go back to Draco for the same reasons, and I didn't know if I could be a father full time.

In fact, I highly doubt my abilities at the moment.

I walked out of the house after trying to leave for a full five minutes only to see that my daughter was not in bed as we had originally thought. She was, instead, playing with her toys on the front porch.

"Lami, what are you doing out here?" I asked, my voice rough with emotion.

She looked up at me and smiled. "Hi daddy!" she said happily as I sat down on one of the chairs.

She walked over to me and sat down on my lap. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I sighed. "Nothing, poppet," I said softly.

"Do you still like us?" she asked.

I was struck by the oddity of the question. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Of course I still like you."

"You and mummy fight all the time," she said. "Sometimes it scares me."

"You don't need to worry," I said softly, hoping to assure her as much as myself.

"Are you mad about my baby brother?" she asked.

"Did your mum tell you about him?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No," she said simply.

"What about your grandfather?" I asked.

She shook her head again. "I just knew," she said simply.

Elvish magic...

"What do you think his name should be?" I asked softly.

She chuckled. "Silly, that's your job," she said. Did she know the...traditions of her people already?

I smiled slightly. "I guess it is, isn't it..."