The Whole Nine Yards

Chapter Eight - Hermione Has An Idea (Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid)

~ Godric's Hollow ~

The rest of the school year passed without incident. The summer holidays had arrived and Harry and Draco had returned to their home in Godric's Hollow.

Draco had continued to write down his thoughts and problems and his nightmares had gradually diminished until now he could go for weeks without having one.

Harry was glad that his husband was happy again. He still didn't know what was bothering him, but it didn't seem quite so critical that he know now.

Harry was in the kitchen organising caterers and decorators. It was his and Draco's sixth wedding anniversary and that night they were having a party to celebrate.

It was actually Draco's job to plan the party, he always insisted that he was much better at it than Harry, which suited Harry just fine, but today the blonde was no where to be found.

Harry wasn't too worried about his husband. Draco had admitted the night before that he still hadn't found the perfect anniversary present for Harry so he had probably slipped out to go shopping in Diagon Alley.

"White tablecloths, wasn't it Mr Potter?" a decorator asked, holding up a cloth.

"Yes that's right, and black tableware," Harry replied. Draco had decided on a black and white theme, even the guests could only wear black and/or white. Draco had already selected their outfits - Harry was going to wear a white suit and Draco was going to wear a black suit.

Harry wandered out into the garden. The good thing about getting married in the summer was that they could always have their anniversary parties' outdoors. It was a beautiful sunshiny day and the evening promised to be warm and tranquil.

There was a dance floor in the centre of the garden, which was surrounded by tables that seat six. House elves were unfolding the crisp white linen tablecloths and setting the tables ready for the party.

"Harry?" a voice called from inside the house.

"I'm in the garden," Harry called back with a grin.

Draco smiled at him as he stepped into the garden.

"And where have you been?" Harry asked teasingly.

Draco grinned secretively as he slipped his arm around Harry's waist. "You'll find out later. This looks good, doesn't it? I knew this theme would work."

A few hours later, their guests had arrived. Some were dancing, some were chatting in small groups and some, like Ron, had attacked the buffet as soon as they'd arrived and were seated at the tables, eating.

Draco was fussing over everyone, making sure they were having a good time and had all the food and drink they wanted.

Harry was standing by the bar, chatting to guests as they came up to get drinks.

"So, six years. That's a pretty long time," commented Hermione.

Harry narrowed his eyes. Hermione had that same look she'd had when she set up Charlie and Justin. That had turned out well but Harry started to feel scared, very, very scared.

"Yes, it is," Harry said warily.

"You know, most couples have children by the time they've been married that long," she said lightly, but her eyes betrayed her. She studied Harry like he was a specimen under a microscope.

Harry looked startled. That was the last thing he'd expected her to say.

"Last time I checked, that was physically impossible," Harry joked.

"Actually it is possible," Hermione countered, looking smug. "There is a new medi-magic procedure which could combine both your sperm, add it to an egg and a surrogate mother would carry the baby until it is born and then you guys would take him or her home."

"How do you know about this?" Harry asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know. They'd never talked about kids before and although they'd been married for six years now, it still felt like they were rushing into things. Actually it felt like they were being pushed into it.

"I read about it in Witch Weekly," Hermione replied.

"What's this about Witch Weekly?" Draco asked as he stepped up to the bar. He ordered a Cosmopolitan from the house elf and turned towards his husband and Hermione.

"I was telling Harry about an article I read about how gay wizards can have children," Hermione explained.

"I read that too," Draco said casually, gazing around the party at his guests as he sipped his drink.

"You did? Why didn't you tell me about it?" Harry asked, wrinkling his brow in confusion.

"It's been lying on the coffee table all week. You could have read it anytime you wanted," Draco replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Well, what do you think about it?" Harry asked cautiously. Draco was acting very strangely about the whole thing.

"I think that we need more food. I'll just go into the kitchen and sort it out," Draco said, slipping off into the crowd.

"Was it something I said?" Harry asked Hermione with a rueful smile.

"He's really not too keen on the idea, is he?" Hermione replied.

"Who's not too keen on what idea?" Ron asked as he joined them.

"Draco is not keen on the idea of having children," Hermione informed him.

"Well, do you blame him?" Ron said understandingly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously.

Ron stared at him in astonishment. "If you had a father like his, would you want to become a father? It's not like he's had a good role model. If I was Draco, I'd be scared that I'd screw the kid up royally."

Harry looked thoughtful. "I hadn't thought of that."

A while later, Harry was returning from saying goodbye to the last of their guests when he came across Draco, sitting at a table, drinking yet another Cosmopolitan.

"Hey gorgeous, would you like to dance?" Harry asked, smiling down at his husband as he held out his hand.

Draco glanced up, smiled and placed his hand in Harry's, "I'd love to."

Harry led him out onto the empty dance floor and pulled him into his arms. They swayed together to the slow romantic music, enjoying the night air.

"I love you, Draco Potter," Harry whispered in his ear.

Draco pulled slightly away from Harry and stared into his bright green eyes. He pressed his lips to Harry's quickly.

"I love you too, Harry. More than I ever thought possible," he replied quietly, his grey eyes burning into Harry's.