A Priceless Gift

Chapter 4

A month later Hermione, Harry, and Draco were sitting in the waiting room of the fertility clinic at St Mungo's Hospital.

They had taken nearly two weeks to decide to accept Hermione's offer. They had argued frequently, cried, ignored each other, made up, had sex, talked some more, and finally made a tearful decision to have a baby together.

It took a lot to convince Draco that he would be a good father and they still hadn't been completely successful. Harry was surprised to discover that his usually confident and arrogant boyfriend had so many insecurities that hadn't had a reason to come to the forefront until now. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that although they were both concerned about their parenting abilities, they knew their family and friends would be there to help and offer as much advice as necessary.

The discussion then turned to who would donate sperm and be the biological father. Neither Harry nor Draco were bothered which of them was the sperm donor, so before the World War III of 'You do it's' and 'No, YOU do it's' erupted between the couple, Hermione had suggested they both give samples, which would be mixed together and that way, whoever became the biological father was left to fate.

They were now at the clinic to make the donations and the same afternoon, Hermione would undergo the fertilisation process and they would find out in three weeks if the process was successful.

Hermione was excited but calmly reading a magazine. Harry was sitting next to her, his leg bouncing nervously and he was biting his thumb nail.

"I have to go to the toilet," Draco grumbled and stood up.

"You just went ten minutes ago!" Harry said in exasperation. "And twenty minutes before that, and twice before we left. Do you have the runs or something?"

Draco flushed distinctly and scowled. "So what if I do?" he snapped. "I'm nervous! You know my stomach plays up when I'm nervous!" He stalked out of the waiting room to make his way to the bathroom.

"I didn't know Draco was capable of nervousness," Hermione stated simply. "I've never seen him like this. He's a mess."

"I know. You wouldn't pick him for a hot-shot lawyer, would you? He's usually so confident. He can stand up in court in front of the harshest judge and not bat an eyelid, but situations out of his control disturb him. The only other time I saw him this nervous that sent him running to the loo every ten minutes was when he was due to stand up in court the first time. Severus had to Apparate to the court urgently to give him a potion," Harry explained with a nervous laugh and moved around anxiously in his seat.

"Harry, you need to relax. You're both going to have a hell of a time giving a donation if you can't even get it up. The nerves are going to cause you problems. Go find your boyfriend and snog him senseless in a dark corner or something. You both need to calm down," Hermione said as she flicked through her magazine.

"You're giving me permission to ravish Draco in public in the same building that you work?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Not ravish. Nothing beyond snogging, ok? None of us want your donations to end up in your pants; and not in public find somewhere relatively private. Just get each other a bit hot and bothered. It will help you relax and then you both will be in more than appropriate conditions for the donations," Hermione advised with a smirk. Harry nodded distractedly and was about to stand when the receptionist came to the counter.

"Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy?" she called.

Harry looked up. "Fuck, he's still in the toilet," he swore.

"You go find him and I'll go and check you in," Hermione said.

Harry raced out of the waiting room and met Draco coming out of the toilet. "Are you ok?" Harry asked and he gave Draco a quick kiss. Draco rubbed his stomach a bit.

"I'll survive. I hope they call us soon, I don't know how long it will be before I need to go again," Draco moaned softly.

"They're ready for us now. Come on." Harry dragged Draco back into the fertility clinic and Hermione was standing at the door through to the clinic with a short, plump lady who reminded Harry of a brunette Mrs Weasley. Harry gulped. This was going to be embarrassing.

"Harry, Draco, I'm Wendy and I'll be your clinician for today, should you require any help," Wendy said with a cheerful smile. Draco made a choking sound and started coughing.

"We shouldn't need any, er, help, thanks Wendy. Can you just tell us what is required?" Harry asked. It was Hermione who coughed this time, though it sounded like she was trying to hide a laugh.

"Oh, I'm sure you know what's required, dear," Wendy laughed and Harry blushed. She even sounds like Mrs Weasley! He thought. "Anyway, first up, I need to know if either of you have had any ailments in the last twenty-four hours, such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, runny nose, cough, light-headedness, temperature et cetera."

"Draco's got -" Harry started but was cut off by Draco elbowing him in the ribs. "Ow!" Harry glared at his boyfriend as he rubbed his side.

"You have to tell her, Draco," Hermione insisted.

"It won't prevent anything, dear. We just need to be aware in case we find an abnormality with the sample," Wendy explained.

"Diarrhoea," Draco mumbled and looked at his feet.

"When was your last motion, dear?" Wendy asked as he wrote some notes on her clipboard. Almost impossibly, Draco flushed an even brighter shade of red.

"Bloody hell," Draco mumbled under his breath. "'Bout ten minutes ago," he said without looking up.

"Oh my, I'll get you something for that. It won't do to be interrupted during your donation. I'll be back in a tic!" Wendy disappeared into a door to their right and left them standing in the corridor. She returned a few minutes later with a tiny vial containing a pink potion and a glass of water. "There you go. That will work in about ten minutes."

"May I ask how long this will take, Wendy?" Hermione asked politely as she watched Draco swallow the potion and gulp down the glass of water.

"As long as it takes, dear," Wendy said with a smile. She took the vial and empty glass off Draco and placed them on the staff desk and picked up another two little specimen containers. "Now, you two are more than welcome to accompany one another into the donation room. There are magazines and videos, but I doubt you will need them! Nothing quite like the real thing! We need these cups at least half full. The room is quite comfortable; it should have everything you need but if you require assistance at any point just page me through the intercom on the wall. There is a toilet off the room if needed. Once you have finished, if you could write the time of the donation on this form here. Just bring the cups out to me at the desk when you're both done." She handed a cup each to Harry and Draco and handed Harry the clipboard and waved them into a room across the hall.

"See you soon, boys! Good luck!" Hermione said with a little wave and a cheeky grin.

The pair went into the little room which contained a comfy looking leather couch, a water cooler, a table, a television mounted to the wall and a shelf with some adult magazines and videos on it.

Harry placed the clipboard on the table and flicked through the magazines and videos. "No gay porn at all," he huffed. "What's the point? I'd be stuck in here for hours if I had to rely on this rubbish." Before he knew it, Draco spun him around and pressed his lips hungrily against Harry's. They melted into a deep, needy kiss and somehow stumbled over to the couch and flopped onto it with Draco lying on top of Harry.

They took their time and spent half an hour or so making out; kissing, groping, touching. They both knew they could have the whole process over within minutes if they needed but they wanted to take their time. This was their contribution to making their baby and they wanted to enjoy it. Soon, they were both nearing the point of no return.

"Harry!" Draco gasped as he pulled away from Harry's mouth. "I'm going to come if you keep that up, baby." Draco pulled Harry's hand from out of his pants.

"Me too," Harry laughed. "I'll get the cups. If we don't focus on the job at hand, I'll be having an accident in my jeans. Take your pants off." Draco pulled his pants off and sat down again. Harry came over and handed him the cup.

"I'm coming, baby..." Draco gasped out a warning and he moaned in pleasure as his climax washed over him. Harry pulled back and did the best job he could collecting Draco's donation.

Draco flopped back into the seat panting with his eyes closed and a soft smile of pleasure on his face. "You did good, honey," Harry said and kissed Draco's nose. He grabbed the box of tissues and started cleaning Draco up. Draco opened his eyes and looked at the cup in Harry's hand which was almost full.

"Wow," Draco said, impressed at himself. "I guess no fucking last night helped." Harry laughed. He screwed the lid onto the cup and took it over to the clipboard to fill in the time on the form. Draco pulled his pants back on and got up to have a drink of water from the cooler.

"How's your stomach?" Harry asked; he started removing his own jeans and sat down on the couch with his cup in his hand.

Draco took a long drink of water and savoured the cool liquid in his mouth before swallowing. "That potion seems to have done the trick." He sat down next to Harry the same way Harry had with him. Harry was already more than ready to proceed; he jumped and nearly climaxed at Draco's first touch. Draco chuckled.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "But I very nearly came at the same time you did. It took all my willpower not to." Draco leaned in and started suckling at a particularly sensitive spot on Harry's neck and Harry gasped at the sensation. Draco set to work eagerly and it only seemed like seconds before Harry was biting into his hand to stifle his screaming as he spilled into the cup Draco was holding. "I love you," Harry murmured as he came down from his high.

"I love you too, baby," Draco answered as he succinctly cleaned Harry up. "Done! Impressive. To think this may be our future son or daughter." He screwed the lid on and handed it to Harry. Harry looked at the cup and raised his eyebrow.

"Ew, Draco, have a little bit of tact! This supposed to be a special time for us," Harry complained as he pulled on his jeans. Draco filled out the time on the form and fetched Harry a cup of water. "Thanks." Draco gathered up the form and the two cups and scrutinized them with a frown.

"Why are they clear? Everyone can see what's in them!" Draco sounded put out rather than embarrassed.

"Everyone who will see it sees it everyday, Draco," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Hermione doesn't," Draco pointed out.

"Yes, but it's going in her, so what's the problem?" Harry asked with a sigh. Draco shuddered slightly.

"Don't put it like that. It just feels weird for me," Draco mumbled as they emerged from the room. Hermione was leaning against the wall across from the room.

"Forty five minutes!" Hermione scoffed. "What took you so long?"

"We were enjoying ourselves. Have you got a problem with that?" Draco said with a haughty sniff. Hermione's glanced at the cups in Draco's hands and her eyes widened.

"Well done," she said with a laugh. Wendy came over from the office then and smiled at the boys.

"Very good!" Wendy said enthusiastically. "Now, that' your job done, boys. You're free to leave."

"Ms..., uh, Wendy?" Draco said and Harry could hear the professional tone creeping into his boyfriend's voice.

"Yes?" Wendy replied with a smile.

"I would like to put in a formal complaint with your management about the lack of homosexual visual aids in your donation room," Draco said stiffly.

"Draco..." Harry said warningly and flushed in embarrassment.

Wendy laughed. "We are a fertility clinic, Mr Malfoy. Generally the males donating are doing so for the purpose to impregnate their spouse and are therefore heterosexual."

"How can you be sure? Harry and I are far from heterosexual and we were in need of your facilities," Draco challenged, sounding every bit a lawyer and Harry cringed.

"Oh, well, um," Wendy said, flustered and she giggled slightly.

"In addition, how can you be sure that heterosexual pornographic material is arousing to all men?" Draco pressed and Harry put his face into his hands and moaned.

"Draco!" Hermione scolded. "They don't need to have any aids in there at all, if they don't want to! All men are equipped with enough arousing material connected to the end of their arm! Give it a rest. You are just holding up the process!"

Draco's face fell into a deep scowl and he went to open his mouth but found Harry's hand slapped over it instead.

Wendy cleared her throat and eyed Draco warily, still slightly flustered. "You are both free to leave, now," she said pointedly.

"We're staying with Hermione," Harry stated firmly.

"I'll be fine, guys. I'm going back to work after. No offence, but I'm a big girl and don't need you two overprotective buggers holding my hand and I certainly don't need Draco threatening to sue the pants off everyone within hearing distance." Hermione chuckled.

"But we should be here with you," Draco insisted. "I'll keep my mouth shut, but -"

"You've had your say!" Harry snapped, interrupting him.

"This is the easy bit, guys. You know I'd ask you to stay if I needed you, but I'll be fine. We aren't going to know anything today anyway. Go home and get some rest."

"We don't need rest! We donated sperm, not a kidney!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes, but Draco wasn't well before and I think it's affecting his brain. Do you boyfriendly duties and take him home to rest. Really, Harry, don't be stubborn, it doesn't suit you," Hermione said as she kissed Harry on the cheek.

"Are you implying my brain is in my arse?" Draco huffed and looked offended. Harry snorted. "Anyway, I'm fine now." Hermione kissed him too.

"Then go home and have a good, long fuck! I don't care what you do but you really don't need to stay. You have the day off. Enjoy it." Hermione shoved them both gently towards the door. "I'll be in touch."

o o o o o

"What are you grinning at?" Harry asked curiously as they walked hand-in-hand through the park near their house.

"Nothing!" Draco said defensively, realising he had well and truly been caught having a moment. He glanced at Harry and then looked back to where a tiny boy and girl of about three years old, appearing to be twins as they were dressed identically, were feeding the ducks by the pond a few meters away from them.

Harry smiled knowingly as he followed Draco's gaze. "That goofy grin you had was not 'nothing', Draco," he commented. Draco shot him a look half way between sheepishness and irritation.

"We might be pregnant right this minute, Harry," Draco murmured wistfully. He plopped down onto a bench they had just approached, and the goofy smile was back in moments.

"I hope not," Harry snorted.

"You know what I mean!" Draco cried and smacked Harry in the head.

"Baby, I don't doubt your sperm is top class; the best around even! But, even then, they'd have to be extremely, um, talented to swim and make a baby that quick! Hermione would be barely through the procedure, love," Harry pointed out and tapped his watch.

"Oh yeah," Draco said feebly and scratched his head in embarrassment.

Harry put am arm around Draco's shoulders and kissed the top of his head. "You're excited. You're allowed to be, you know?" he said.

"Yeah, I really am," Draco agreed with a soft laugh. "I feel about two steps away from grabbing the nearest baby and talking baby talk to it and blowing raspberries on it's belly."

"Please don't. I plan to shag tonight, not visit a police station to bail you out for being arrested," Harry joked and earned another smack in the head. "Not even the slightest bit terrified of changing your first dirty nappy?"

Draco sniffed and leaned causally back into the seat. "Of course not. I plan to have you change them all," he said lightly and Harry's mouth literally dropped open in shock.

"You better not be serious, Malfoy," Harry said warningly. Draco merely smirked.

"I'm not frightened of a dirty nappy, Harry," Draco said with a shake of his head.

"Ah, you say that now," Harry said knowingly. "You gag at the smell of day old milk and parmesan cheese."

"Who doesn't?" Draco pointed out.

"What do you think a dirty nappy will smell like? Roses?" Harry laughed.

"Pfft," Draco scoffed. "I've gone into the bathroom after you've been in there and survived to tell the tale. Even when you occasionally forget to use the air freshener."

"My hero," Harry mocked and pretended to swoon. Before he realised it, Draco had grabbed his face and was planting a firm, wet kiss on his lips. Harry laughed. "What did I do to deserve that?"

"You're just you, and I love you for that," Draco said with a shrug. "We've just come from the first step of making our baby. I just feel... I don't know, I can't quite describe it."

Harry nodded. "I know what you mean, love," he said and took Draco's hand. "But you do know there is a chance it might not work the first time."

Draco closed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah," he muttered. "I'm optimistic. So, shoot me."

"You're not optimistic," Harry said knowingly. "You're just scared that if this doesn't work for us the first time, it's a sign." Draco turned and looked at Harry; an unreadable gleam in his silvery eyes.

"I never could pinpoint the exact time you started knowing me better than I know myself," Draco said with a flicker of a smile on his lips.

"Is that a bad thing?" Harry asked. "If it's any consolation, you know me better than I know myself too."

Draco shielded his eyes from the sun and went back to watching the little boy and girl just in time to see the little girl smack the little boy in the face with her bread bag. Draco laughed. "No. How could it be a bad thing? People go a whole lifetime and never find someone who even knows how they have their tea in the morning. We've got a pretty perfect thing going here... Do you think it's going to change when the baby comes?"

"To be honest, Draco, I wish I got decent grades in Divination so I could See what we were getting ourselves in for. But, I didn't predict my death enough and failed. Truly, though, how bad could things get with a little one of those," Harry pointed over to the children, "of our own running around?" Draco's eyes were misting over and he blinked and lost himself in watching the tiny twins. The little girl gave the little boy a hard shove and he fell on the ground and started crying. Harry watched Draco physically restrain himself from running over to pick the little boy up by gripping the edge of the seat. "Ours would never do things like that though."

Draco snorted. "Are you kidding? If we have a daughter, I want her to be exactly like that! If we have a son..." Draco trailed off and swallowed to contain his emotions. "I want him to be exactly like you."

Harry smiled and kissed Draco softly. "We'll be alright, Draco. I promise you that," he murmured. "Nothing can be more perfect with us. Our son or daughter will only be the icing on the cake."

"Yeah." Draco nodded slightly. He took Harry's hand and circled his thumbs in the palms. "We're good together, so we'll be good parents together. Makes sense," he mused and smiled at Harry. "I'm still going to make you change all the dirty nappies!" He jumped up and took off running before Harry had a chance to react.