A Priceless Gift

Chapter 10

It was now the following Saturday and for the fifth morning running Harry sat on the edge of the tub in their bathroom and rubbed Draco's back as he heaved the previous night's dinner into the toilet.

Draco coughed pitifully as he finished being sick once again. He rested his cheek against the cool rim of the toilet and closed his eyes.

"Don't fall asleep this time, baby," Harry said gently, shaking Draco's shoulder. The previous morning, Draco's sickness had started earlier than any other day and Harry woke to find Draco slumped over the toilet asleep and shivering.

"I'm so tired," Draco moaned. "I feel like utter shit."

"At least you don't have work today. It's been nearly a week and then those few times before that. You're dead on your feet. I'm taking you to the Healer," Harry said with finality. Draco didn't object.

"Can we wait until after lunch? I usually feel better by then. I don't want to Apparate or Floo anywhere feeling like this," Draco asked and reached up to flush the toilet.

"I've got an even better idea. I'm just going to take you to St Mungo's; you won't need an appointment and it will be quicker," Harry decided. Draco pulled himself up from the floor and stumbled a little with dizziness, so Harry held his forearm to steady him.

"You know, I think I might actually go back to bed," Draco yawned and grabbed his toothbrush.

"I'm thinking you probably should have gone back to bed every morning," Harry pointed out. Draco finished brushing his teeth and braced himself against the sink with a deep sigh. He looked at Harry wearily via the mirror.

"I had to go to work," Draco reminded him. "Can I have a hug?" he asked. Harry turned him around gently and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

"You're going to go back to bed and sleep, sweetheart, and when you wake up in your own time without being woken from an upset stomach, we'll head over to St Mungo's for a check-up, ok?" Harry insisted gently and took Draco's hand and led him back to their bed. "It's probably just some wizard bug going around or something. I still think it's weird you feel better after a few hours, but it's back the next morning without fail and there are absolutely no other symptoms."

"Stop going all doctor-ish on me." Draco climbed back beneath the covers and pulled Harry down for a kiss. "Harry, I'm horny," Draco murmured as he broke the kiss. "Can we fool around a bit before I go back to sleep?" Harry shook his head and chuckled fondly at his unbelievable boyfriend.

"I can't believe you. It wasn't more than fifteen minutes ago that you were puking your guts up and now your wanting a fuck?" Harry pulled off his pyjama pants and climbed into bed next to Draco.

"Not a full fuck, just to play around a bit. If I come, I'll sleep better," Draco said flippantly.

"A 'full fuck'? That's what you call it, hey?" Harry laughed. "Where's all the romantic declarations of 'Oh, Harry, my dear sweet beloved! Come into the depths of my bed chambers where we may make mad passionate love til the sun sets!'"

"I'm not Shakespeare," Draco scoffed. "We fuck when we're horny and we 'make love' when we're being romantic. Beloved? Bed chambers? Pfft." Draco pulled his boxers off under the covers and tossed the over the edge of the bed.

"But seriously, baby, are you up to this? I mean, I don't want to be vomited on." Harry stifled a laugh, which earned him a slap in the head from Draco.

"When have I ever vomited on you? I seem to recall a particular incident where I was the one being vomited on." Draco smirked.

"Hey, that was one time and I gave you ample warning!" Harry protested.

"Ample warning? I don't class 'Dray, sick' followed by said vomit all over my brand new robes to be 'ample warning'," Draco scoffed.

"It was my twenty first birthday and I was pissed off my face! I'm sure the warning sounded a lot more ample in my head than what it came out of my mouth." Harry shook his head. "And anyway, you have vomited on me. That day when Ron was here, you vomited on my feet. So there, we're even."

"Daggy old trainers versus Italian silk robes? Even my arse," Draco snorted.

"Yes, and what an arse..." Harry purred as he pulled Draco on top of him and gripped his bum; their lips met in a deep kiss. It wasn't long before Draco was rubbing himself leisurely against Harry and making little noises of pleasure.

Harry's hands roamed all over Draco's back as they continued to kiss and slowly made their way to Draco's chest. Harry gently touched Draco's nipples and tweaked them lightly. Draco shrieked and rolled abruptly off Harry.

"OW! Fuck! That hurt Harry!" Draco cried. "What are you trying to do? Rip them off?!" Draco rubbed at his nipples with a frown on his face.

"Draco, I was barely touching them!" Harry insisted.

"Well, don't. They're sore," Draco huffed. He gave his own nipples a small pinch and winced. "Ow, they really do hurt. Must be that new shirt I got the other day."

"Ok, I won't touch them, I promise," Harry said gently and took Draco's hand and kissed it. "Lay back, baby." Draco settled back down onto the pillows, still with a tiny frown on his face.

Harry set about pleasuring Draco with his mouth and Draco sighed deeply at the feeling. "Mmmmm, oh baby, that feels so good...Oh, yes..." Draco breathed as he ran his fingers through Harry's silky hair. It didn't take long before Draco's orgasm raced through him.

Harry pulled back and licked his lips. "You taste as good as ever, my love," Harry said with a sweet smile. "Now, get some sleep and I'll wake you for some lunch."

"Don't you want me to..." Draco murmured as he gestured to Harry groin.

"You can return the favour tonight. You need some more rest. You haven't slept later than five AM this week." Harry said firmly. He tucked the thick covers around Draco, whose eyes were already dropping closed.

"I love you, Harry," Draco whispered from the edge of sleep.

"I love you too," Harry said as he flicked his wand to turn the lights out and close the curtains. He waited until he heard Draco's soft, familiar snores before he left the room.

o o o o o

Harry and Draco were sitting at the kitchen table the following day having just shared a lunch of homemade chicken noodle soup. Mrs Weasley had brought it over that morning after hearing from Hermione that Draco was ill.

Thankfully, that morning Draco hadn't vomited, although the nausea was ever present. By lunchtime, the sickness had usually passed and he was able to stomach light lunches.

Draco had woken up the morning before after his long rest feeling much better, so Harry had relented at Draco's insistence that he didn't need to go the St Mungo's which ended with a hasty bargain that if he was sick again in the morning, he would not only call in sick to work on Monday, but would let Harry drag him to the Healer first thing.

Draco groaned and took a big gulp of his water. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Do you feel sick again?" Harry asked worriedly.

"No, I think I've just got really bad indigestion. Not that I've ever had indigestion before, so I highly doubt it," Draco complained and rubbed his chest, he burped discreetly into his hand. "Pardon me."

"Describe the feeling to me," Harry said as he started clearing the table.

"What?" Draco asked.

"The pain; describe it to me," Harry repeated.

"Um, sort of a tight feeling here," Draco said and touched his breast bone, "and like an uncomfortable rumbling feeling lower down here." Draco rubbed his lower abdomen.

"It's not indigestion, it's wind."

"Excuse me?" Draco squeaked and looked offended. "I don't get wind." Harry laughed at his snobby boyfriend.

"Everyone gets wind, Draco." Harry smirked and Draco looked scandalized.

"I don't," Draco said shortly. Harry shook his head and chuckled. He came over and sat next to Draco and lifted Draco's shirt up a bit and placed a hand on his stomach.

"You'll have to get used to dealing with wind if you're going to be a daddy," Harry told him. "For starters, just from looking I can see your stomach is all bloated." Harry rubbed lightly and Draco looked down horrified. "You've got a cute little belly thing going here."

"I'm not fat!" Draco bit out.

"Bloated is not fat, Draco! Bloody hell, you're vain," Harry said exasperated. "Just let me help you without being a shit, ok?"

"Fine." Draco scowled.

"Don't be embarrassed," Harry said.

"I'm not embarrassed," Draco snapped back.

"I'm wondering if you might have a food allergy. It would explain the vomiting and the wind. But then again, you don't eat before the vomiting, and this meal just now wouldn't have time to cause this much wind," Harry mused to himself more than Draco. He was rubbing Draco's lower abdomen and could feel it rumbling heavily.

"Just use your wonderful knowledge of medicine and tell me what I have to do to take away the pain!" Draco finally sniped.

"Fart," Harry said simply and Draco's jaw dropped. He glared at Harry in disbelief. "I'm serious, baby. I can go and get you a potion or something from the chemist to help, but honestly, the most natural remedy is to get rid of the wind yourself. So, stop holding it all in and let go. You'll be surprised at how quick the pain disappears."

Harry admitted that he expected Draco to possibly throw a tantrum, yell at him, slap him, storm off in a huff, insult him, or laugh at his suggestion. Draco was usually quite refined in his actions and certainly very modest with his body (other than when it came to sex, of course). Harry couldn't even remember having heard Draco consciously fart in his presence, which is what Harry suspected to be part of the problem now. There had been occasions when Harry himself had accidentally let rip in front of Draco, but Draco just ignored it and acted like it hadn't happened. Harry supposed that his boyfriend was just being polite, but after eight years together, Harry felt that there was politeness and there was just plain prudishness. If you can't relax around your partner, who can you relax around? It wasn't like Harry hadn't heard Draco do it in his sleep.

Harry certainly didn't expect his immaculate, aristocratic boyfriend to study him for a mere few moments before leaning forward and letting rip one of the biggest farts Harry had ever heard.

Which is exactly what Draco did.

Harry sat shocked for about ten seconds before he started laughing loudly. Draco was sitting there grinning wickedly at him and Harry had to take a few minutes to contain himself.

"Oh god," Harry laughed as he wiped tears from his eyes. "You certainly showed me, huh? I wasn't expecting you to take me seriously. I was expecting you to thump me one, actually!" Harry coughed to get his breath back. Draco just shrugged and smirked again.

"I wasn't going to at first, but my stomach was telling me your suggestion sounded appealing, so I did what you said." Draco laughed himself. "Besides, you made me realise that maybe I shouldn't be so... restricted around you. You are my intended, I'm going to be with you for the rest of my life, we are going to have a baby and well, I don't think I've ever allowed myself to break wind in front of you before and I realised that seemed kind of screwed."

"Yes, well, that may be a contributing factor to why you're suffering from trapped wind just now. Although, from the sound of it, the wind doesn't sound so trapped anymore." Harry giggled and gave Draco a kiss.

"I'm sorry, I should've excused myself," Draco apologised, but was still laughing.

"Shh, that's not what I meant." Harry gave him a light smack on the arm. "Feel any better, though?"

"There doesn't feel to be so much pressure," Draco told Harry with a slight blush, and Harry nodded with a grin.

"Good. Try and do that some more, you will feel much better. I have to go over and visit Hermione. I promised I'd return her book. Do you want to come?" Harry offered.

"No, I have a few briefs to read over. I might have a lie down on the couch and relax a bit while I go over some work." Draco gave Harry a hug. "Could you bring me home some choc mint ice cream from that store on the corner?" Harry raised his eyebrows at Draco.

"You must be feeling better. I'm glad. I've felt so helpless this past week with you feeling so sick in the mornings and wish I could do more," Harry admitted.

"You just being there and rubbing my back and holding my hair away from my mouth means the world to me, Harry. I know it's not the most pleasant thing to sit through. I wish I knew what was making me throw up, but honestly I always feel better after being sick. I can only think I haven't been getting enough sleep at night or something." Draco shrugged.

"I don't think you're sick enough to visit a Healer. You've not lost any weight and your appetite is fine from lunchtime onwards. I'm really at a loss. I'll have a chat to Hermione about it." Harry gave Draco a goodbye kiss. "Get some more rest and I'll be back with your ice cream in a couple of hours, ok? Call me at Hermione's if you need me. I love you."

"See you later, baby. I love you." Draco smacked Harry's bum as he retreated.

o o o o o

Harry gave Hermione a huge hug when she opened the door. "How are you, Hermione?" Harry asked as he followed her into her living room.

"Pretty good. The morning sickness isn't fun but it's tolerable. This is the second day running that I threw up when I got up, but it's not half as bad as I expected," Hermione said with a grin. "How are you two?"

"Today is the first morning in almost a whole week that Draco hasn't spent half an hour vomiting in the toilet. The nausea woke him early again today, as usual, but he didn't actually throw up, so I just rubbed his stomach for him for a while and he eventually went back to sleep. He didn't wake again until after ten. Maybe he's getting over whatever it is he has." Harry pulled out his wand and conjured some tea for them both.

"If I didn't know for certain that Draco was a hot-blooded male, I'd be thinking he was the pregnant one around here!" Hermione said with a giggle. Harry's eyes went wide and he gaped at Hermione.

"Oh, please don't tell me it's possible for wizards to get pregnant! Is that one of those screwed wizard things that can happen that no one thought to mention to me? Please say it isn't!" Harry moaned and rubbed his temples. Hermione laughed at him.

"Of course not, you silly bugger. We're magical people, not miracle workers. You don't have the right bits," Hermione soothed. "But still, it makes you wonder. Draco started having 'morning sickness' about the same time as me. Has he had any other symptoms that might clue you in to what's the matter with him?" Harry ran his hand through his hair and exhaled.

"I don't know. Tiredness I suppose, and well, um a bloated stomach and wind." Harry blushed a bit and Hermione chuckled. "I thought it might be a food allergy."

"Imagine a Malfoy having something as common as wind," Hermione teased. "An allergy sounds plausible, though."

"Yeah, but the sickness doesn't come any time remotely following him eating. It's always the morning when his stomach has minimal food remaining in it. Most reactions to food follow within one to two hours after ingestion," Harry said and Hermione hummed in agreement. "Actually there is something else. He had sore nipples the yesterday. Really sore. He literally shrieked in pain and yelled at me when I touched them," Harry murmured thoughtfully and Hermione looked at him sharply.

"What?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Is his stomach swollen or just bloated, like you said?" Hermione asked.

"You just told me he can't be pregnant!" Harry cried and started breathing deeply.

"No, no, he can't! But just answer the question," Hermione pushed dismissively.

"Well, yeah, it was a bit swollen but that's not unusual when someone has wind," Harry insisted. Hermione exhaled sharply.

"Harry, have you ever heard of Couvade Syndrome?"

"Um, not off the top of my head, no. Should I have?" Harry said warily.

"No, but I think it might be what Draco has," Hermione said seriously.

"Oh no, please tell me it's not terrible! Is it fatal? Should I take him to a Healer straight away? Will he need needles, because he's petrified of them!" Harry was bouncing his legs anxiously.

"Calm down, Harry. Don't jump to conclusions." Hermione smiled. "Couvade Syndrome is also known as sympathetic pregnancy."

"Sympathetic...?" Harry trailed off and blinked.

"It's an ailment that sometimes affects expectant fathers. It isn't a common thing, but it definitely exists. It basically causes expectant fathers to experience similar symptoms of a pregnancy, like morning sickness, lethargy, weight gain, changes in appetite, increased sexual appetite, mood swings and even things like sensitive nipples, wind, indigestion, cravings, and back aches. There isn't a known cause but in some cases, the father has been known to suffer just as much as the expectant mother," Hermione explained.

"And you think Draco might have this?" Harry asked hesitantly, thinking about the choc mint ice cream.

"It's possible, Harry and the pattern certainly fits. There isn't much else to explain his sickness. I think it's actually more prevalent in wizards. I remember reading something about the father sensing a link to the baby's magical signature. But I will do some more research when I get to work. I'm only familiar with the Muggle kind." Hermione poured herself another cup of tea.

"Do you think that means that Draco is the biological father?" Harry asked softly and Hermione studied him for a moment.

"Would it bother you if I said yes?"

"Not at all, it would make me unbelievably happy and proud of him," Harry said honestly. "Don't get me wrong, Draco and I said straight up that we didn't care which of us turned out to be the biological father but I just didn't expect to find out which of us it was until the birth, you know?"

"That's understandable. But look at it this way, if this is Couvade Syndrome, then Draco is likely to suffer for the duration of the pregnancy and it may make it feel that little bit more like the complete package for you both," Hermione joked and patted his leg. "You are both so strong, sweetheart. This is such a hard thing for you to go through. I know you are both over the moon, but I also know that deep down inside somewhere it hurts that you both can't be a biological parent. You wouldn't be human if it didn't hurt at least a little bit." Harry nodded and blinked away some tears.

"But then we remember that you're giving us something we didn't think we would ever have, which makes the biological aspect seem irrelevant," Harry muttered in a quiet voice. Hermione came over and sat next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I think you already understand that if Draco is suffering from Couvade Syndrome, it's basically inevitable that he's the biological father." Hermione rubbed Harry's back and he nodded but didn't reply immediately. Hermione watched as a tiny smile played on Harry's lips.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Just how lucky I'm going to be to have a son or daughter with a combination of your's and Draco's qualities," Harry said fondly and Hermione blushed but felt honoured at her best friend's words. "I just feel unbelievably fortunate right now."

"Ah, but you are going to have to live through nine months with a pregnant-feeling Draco. Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Hermione smirked.

"Oh shit. You said mood swings, didn't you? Oh god, help me," Harry groaned. "How do you know about sympathetic pregnancy anyway?"

"My uncle had it mildly when my aunt was pregnant. Of course, I just had to read about it when they told me. As for the wizard equivalent, I read about it briefly when I was doing research on DNA and bloodlines at work."

"Do I need to take him to a Healer or something?" Harry asked.

"It's not necessary but it might be worth it just to rule out any other illness. You don't want to write it off as Couvade Syndrome when it may be something more serious," Hermione reasoned and Harry agreed.

"I'll take him tomorrow. Though, now that I think about it, it does all fit. I mean the morning sickness for one, but like the sore nipples, the smell of the coffee making him sick and well, he asked me to bring him home some choc mint ice cream and Draco rarely eats ice cream," Harry laughed.

"You'll have your work cut out for you, honey. I don't envy you! Just remember, crackers and ginger or peppermint tea," Hermione teased. "Harry, I think I should tell you that I've heard from Ron."

Harry tensed. "And?" he asked shortly.

"He really hates himself for what he said. I don't think he meant to hurt you. He wants to make amends."

"Then let's hope he grows some balls and comes to apologise to Draco and myself in person. Our Floo is always open to him, but not if he is going to ridicule my relationship with Draco." Harry's voice was firm and Hermione nodded in understanding.

"I'll tell him," Hermione offered.

"Fine, but tell him also not to bother unless he is willing to accept that just because he is my best friend he is not entitled by default to be privy to a personal decision between myself and Draco. Our relationship issues are not secrets from him; they are merely matters that involve Draco and I alone. Not everything is a conspiracy against Ronald Weasley," Harry said bitterly.

"I know you're still angry, Harry, and you don't have to listen to him if you don't want to but I know you're better than that. I'll tell him what you said and also tell him to pull his head in and remain aware that Draco is ill and not to cause hassles." Hermione said.

"Thanks, but you won't tell him what's wrong with Draco, will you? At least, not yet until we are sure."

"I'll just tell him Draco's having stomach problems caused by stress, so he better think twice before he causes any." Hermione smirked.

"Sounds good," Harry laughed. "Anyway, I better get back. His Highness will be waiting for his ice cream and I need to sit him down and talk to him about this sympathetic pregnancy business. He's going to freak."

"Say, Harry love, you wouldn't mind bringing me some of that ice cream over next time, would you? Your boyfriend has good taste in cravings!" Hermione laughed and Harry gave her a hug and said goodbye.