Charmed

Charmed

13/12/01

Diary,

Draco and I finished our latest assignment today. This one took what felt like forever, but at last it's done!

It feels mean to write this, but I'm kinda glad that Ron and Hermione have been away recently: it's given Draco and me more time to spend together, both working and...not.

I love him, Diary.

I don't think I say it enough, but I love him more than anything. But if that's all that matters, why do I feel like there's something missing?

Harry

~

'Harry, what the hell are you doing?'

I turned towards the doorway where Draco was standing, silhouetted in the moonlight like some kind of lunar deity. Except they were all female, so it's probably a bad example.

'Writing,' I replied. 'You should know that by now.'

He smiled slightly and folded his arms. 'I know, but at three in the morning? It's the middle of winter and it's bloody freezing in there.'

'I was just finishing,' I said somewhat indignantly, putting my glasses down on the desk and a personalised locking charm on the diary before walking back to our bedroom.

I slipped my arms around him and breathed him in and wondered exactly what I had to be afraid of.

~

15/12/01

Diary,

Ron and Hermione got back from their honeymoon today. I still haven't told them about Draco and me: it's been three years - I know, it sounds amazing written, doesn't it? - three whole years and I've been hiding this from my best friends in the whole world. The thing is, though, I know they're going to do what Luna did and think I'm going to get over it. It's not hard to guess, really. We've been sharing a flat for most of that time - being work partners as Unspeakables, it makes everything a whole lot easier - and they're okay with that, but I don't think either of them will take more than that well.

Besides, what am I meant to say? 'Ron, Mione, you remember my rival, colleague and flatmate Draco Malfoy? Well, I've been sleeping with him since we graduated, I just thought you should know.' I'm sure they'd take that well.

I'm having dinner with them tonight, going over their expansive photo album and listening to their stories: it's going to be the first time in weeks that we'll have been able to just chat, and I can't wait.

I've gotta run or I'll be horribly late.

Harry

~

'My God, you two have changed!' I exclaimed as I climbed out of the fireplace of their flat. It was amazing what had happened in those two short weeks: Mione was tanned beyond belief and radiating happiness, and Ron had actually filled out a bit, which I didn't think was possible with a Weasley metabolism. The living room was filled with trinkets from all over Africa, where they'd decided to do a whistle-stop tour for their honeymoon, partly because of Hermione's fascination with African magics and partly because Bill had colleagues out there who'd managed to get them discount tickets.

Even with the decoration and the unpacking, Hermione had somehow managed to have a full dinner prepared, thankfully without an excess of African delicacies, and when Ginny and Luna had arrived we sat down to eat and chat.

Talk stayed light, thank goodness, and the happy couple were too busy finishing off each other's descriptions of their accommodation in Botswana - 'They call them tents, but they're really just...' '...houses, great, spacious houses, and some of them even had...' '...little pools outside for bathing and relaxing, it was...' 'bloody brilliant!' - to ask any more of me than 'How's work?', for which I was very grateful.

But of course, as usual, something had to break the moment, and then it was Draco. He stepped through the fireplace, dusted down his robes and sauntered into the dining room as if he'd lived there all his life.

'Evening, Weasley, Granger-Weasley...' He smiled politely, and I was glad to see that the weeks hadn't reversed all his progress in friendship with them, 'I trust you had a lovely trip?'

They both nodded dumbly and watched as he walked over to me and placed a file in my hand.

'Wh--?'

'Last month's report, 7EKM5. Grant insists that we need physical proof. By tomorrow.'

'Physical proof? Can't he try it for himself? The theory's right here, and Merlin knows they've got more than enough Time-Turners down at the Ministry!'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at my sudden use of the word 'Merlin' - she and I both tend to say 'God' as a product of our Muggle upbringings - but I focussed my attention on Draco again.

'Yes, but he says that we have to fix two of them ourselves in comparison to check the magic and logistics between different sources.'

'But I thought that...'

'It doesn't make a difference whose magic, I know, but you know Grant, he's just...him.' We shared smiles. 'So I was wondering whether you returned that copy of 'The Use of Sand as a Magical Conductor', etcetera, etcetera, to the library already or whether it was still at the flat? Because there really would be no need for me to go all the way down there after closing time if I'm just going to arrive home and find it propping up the coffee table.'

I raised a hand to my temple. 'Umm...I think it's still at home somewhere, maybe...in the study, under the draft sketches for the report, or in the kitchen. Yeah, it's in the kitchen on top of the microwave.'

'Microwave?' asked Ron, bemused.

Draco wrinkled his nose. 'What on earth were you reading it in the kitchen for?'

'I'd just seen that passage about how different molecules react differently to the charms when I ran out of coffee.' I shrugged. 'See, it makes sense.'

'And you couldn't have just summoned in the coffee pot?' He rolled his eyes.

'It didn't strike me at the time, okay?'

He gave an exaggerated sigh, took back the folder from me and turned back to the living room. 'Have a nice evening, everyone,' he finished. 'See you later, Harry.'

A few moments after, I heard the fire crackle suddenly, and he was gone.

'I see you're still living with Malfoy, then?' asked Ron.

'Yeah,' I shrugged, helping myself to another slice of Molly Weasley's traditional pumpkin pie, which she'd sent with Ginny for celebration. 'Pass the cream.'

'Sure, here.' He handed it over. 'You ever give more consideration to joining the Aurors? Or Mione's Department?'

'Thanks. And no, I love this job. Having to live with Draco Malfoy is just a bonus.'

Luna choked slightly, making me spill some of my liberal helping of cream onto the tablecloth.

'Scougify!' Mione said. 'And that Time-Turner work sounds interesting, Harry. I sometimes wonder whether I should leave my job instead and join you.'

'That's an idea, mate!' added Ron. 'You two could change places. She can show off her immense intelligence and you can go talk to mermaids and all that.'

'I don't just talk to mermaids, Ronald Weasley, my job is much more important than that. And I wouldn't dare jeopardise it by letting Harry take over. No offence.'

'None taken. So what is it you do again, Mione?'

With a wide smile, she launched into a long discussion about wha her job entailed. 'Of course, as the new head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, it's not just about co-ordinating the capture of rogue trolls. My work is mostly about improving relations between wizards and other classified Beings. Including,' she added proudly, 'starting the first House Elf workers union.'

She could talk about the union forever, so I sat back and listened as she outlined the changes being proposed to it, trying to ignore the pointed looks Luna was sending me across the table.

~

16/12/01

Diary,

Was up till two o'clock this morning working. I got back from the new Weasley residence at about midnight, but Grant insisted that Draco and I prepare prototypes of the new Time-Turners. I can't even tell YOU what changes are being made, but they're going to revolutionise time travel, even though they're looking to be hellishly expensive.

The only problem with finishing the project is that tomorrow - or rather, later today - we'll have to go down to the Ministry to get our new assignment. I hate doing that.

When I first started working at the Ministry, I was in the Department of Experimental Charms. I'd really just picked it on a whim, because Draco had said that was where he started out at the Ministry, but I really loved working there.

In just over a month - slightly less time than it took Draco - I'd been offered a placement as an Unspeakable, working in the more dangerous (he calls it 'sophisticated', but I'm really not so sure) experimental charms division: you can't be an Unspeakable without rising through the ranks, they apparently only offer it to 'the especially talented individuals who would bring fresh ideas to there area of expertise'.

Unfortunately, that means I have to go down to the Department of Mysteries at least once a month for briefings, and after Sirius died, I swore that I'd never go there again. Thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere near the rooms where it all took place, Draco and I mostly see the labs and offices, but it still makes me shiver to approach that black door, where an Auror still stands guard most days, just in case.

I know I've told you this all before, Diary, but sometimes I just need to let it all out, y'know? I can talk to Draco, and I do, but sometimes I feel he can do even less than you can, because you have no expectations placed on you except to hold the ink from my quill, and he has to sympathise with me and help me and love me.

Anyway, it's even worse this time, because I haven't had to be at the Ministry for nearly two months, and apparently the new project is going to be especially important.

I'd better have a shower now, I'll write more when I know what we have to do.

Harry

~

'Nearly done there, Harry?' asked Draco, leaning against the wall and watching as I started the futile struggle to tame my hair.

'Why does this never work?' I whined, putting the hairbrush down in despair. 'You'd think someone would think to come up with a decent hair styling charm.'

'Sleekeazy seems to have got on the right lines, though,' he replied with a smile. 'Here, pass me that comb.'

I watched in the mirror as he steadily worked his way through my hair, biting his lip as he always did when he was trying to concentrate.

'There,' he said eventually. 'It's not quite neat, but it looks more 'pleasantly tousled' than 'dragged through a Biting Bush backwards'.'

'Thanks. Could you...?'

He rolled his eyes slightly. 'Visus clarus,' he recited, and I took off my glasses, able to see clearly.

'Now are you ready?'

'Let's go.'

As an employee, I no longer had to use the guest entrance to the Ministry building, and instead we went through the proper way, through the entrance to the abandoned School of English as a Foreign Language in Leicester Square. The Floo Network took us to the Leaky Cauldron, and from there we had a nice but chilly walk through Muggle London, admiring the decorations.

We bumped into Hermione in the lift - she couldn't get back to work too soon - and she spent a good five minutes asking what on earth I'd done to my hair to make it look vaguely normal for once.

She and Draco then got into an involved discussion about which was the best Sleekeazy product to use on dry hair - 'I've never actually had that problem, Gr- Weasley, but I think that it would have to be the number two potion with tea tree. My mother used to swear by it' - and by the time we'd been all the way up to Level Four with her and back, we were horrendously late.

I hardly noticed Tonk's cheery 'Wotcher, Harry!' outside the Department as Draco and I rushed through the maze of doors to Lab Seven, where Grant, head of our division, was waiting with a stony look on his face.

'What took you two so long?' he asked, snatching the folder and the box with the Time-Turners in from my hands.

'The lift went up before coming down,' Draco replied cautiously, resting against an empty desk. 'What's this all-important project you have for us, then?'

'Well,' he began, gesturing for us to sit down, 'It's not so much research work as me taking advantage of your many connections.'

'What?' I asked, but he held up a hand to silence me.

'The first thing you have to do is go over the incantations and check them with one of the Healers at St Mungo's. Then I need you to find a willing guinea pig for this experiment.'

'Guinea pig?'

'Yes, guinea pig. This isn't the kind of magic we can test on random artefacts or House Elves-' Draco snickered at this '-it needs real people to determine whether or not it will work in the long run. I know that you've both had your brushes with celebrity, and I need you to find a volunteer within the next week to test this on. By Sunday, you should have finished the charms work, and it should be ready to be tested.'

'O...kay then,' Draco replied eventually, picking up the folder from the table. 'We'll get on with this and we'll see you back here on Sunday with our...volunteer.'

On some mutual agreement, we both turned at left at that moment, racing out of the Department almost as quickly as we'd raced in. I spared a grin for Tonks as we rushed for the lift, and as soon as the grille closed behind us, we opened the folder.

I skimmed over the project outline on the front page, and we waited in silence for the lift to arrive back at the main floor.

'So, straight to the hospital, then?' I asked as we disembarked and headed for the door.

Draco just nodded absently and tugged my arm so I would follow him to the guest entrance, which comes out not far from St Mungo's.

~

16/12/01

Diary,

I've just got back from the hospital where Draco and I had to see Luna about our assignment. It's definitely the strangest thing we've ever had to do, and for some scary reason I'm quite looking forward to it.

The magic involved is actually quite straightforward: it's been a major project in the Department for nearly a year now, and all we really had to do was confirm it with Luna.

(Yes, Luna is a Healer, as I'm sure I've told you already; she turned the Quibbler over to Ginny, who revealed a talent for journalism, but she still writes children's stories in her spare time.)

What makes me so excited about this project, though, is what it is. I know I shouldn't even reveal it to you, Diary, but I have to: it's a spell for male pregnancy.

I know, it scared the life out of me, too, when I first saw it, and Draco was completely speechless, but since I first saw it I've been toying with the idea of volunteering to test the spell.

I sincerely doubt that he's going to agree, but it's just...I've always wanted to have children, always, so that I could watch them grow up and give them what I never had, and if I stay with Draco, as I intend to, that's never going to happen. Unless, of course, we adopt, but that wouldn't be the same, would it?

Diary, what should I do? I know that I wrote before that your beauty was in the fact that you weren't expected to reply to me or actually help, just listen, but I wish that you would tell me. I could ask Luna, but she's...Luna. As much as I love her, I don't think she would really do much to make up my mind.

Damn, I wish I knew what to do!

Harry

~

I slipped into the bedroom at about midnight, trying not to make a sound as I undressed and climbed into bed.

'Harry?' he asked as I pulled the covers over myself.

'Yeah?'

'Are you...I mean, do you...I mean...never mind.' He tucked his head into my shoulder and shut his eyes, but when Draco Malfoy became tongue-tied, he had something important to say.

'No, what?' I said, poking him lightly to keep his attention.

'It's just...about the assignment,' he began hesitantly, trying to avoid my eyes. 'I was wondering if you'd ever...maybe...consider...' Another pause, '...us having a kid?'

'What?!' I gasped, completely shocked. 'What did you just say?'

He sat up and started talking in earnest. 'Well, it's just that...I mean, we can exchange rings but it won't mean anything because of the stupid rules, and I thought that a child is...the greatest bond a couple can have, and I figured that maybe you'd want that for us. Of course, I can understand why you wouldn't, and I won't mind if you said no, but you have to admit that any child of ours will probably be the single most beautiful baby ever born, and I just...'

I cut him off with a hard kiss, too amazed by his thoughts to reply coherently.

'You really think that?' I asked when I could breathe again, flopping back onto the mattress.

'Of course I do, Harry. Did you seriously think that I would jeopardise my status as the single greatest orator the wizarding world has ever heard for something unimportant?'

'Oh, shut up,' I replied, sticking out my tongue in a moment of childishness.

'You know,' he said thoughtfully, ignoring my remark, 'we still have to decide who's going to be the mother. I vote you.'

I sat up again. 'Me?! Why me?'

He looked up at me with a superior expression. 'It's obvious. You're the girl in this relationship.'

'How did you figure that one out?'

'You keep a DIARY, for Merlin's sake! What's more feminine than that?'

'Your two cupboards' worth of beauty products, that's what! You pluck your bloody eyebrows at least once a fortnight and you watch Muggle soap operas!'

'Hey, you watch them too!' He paused. 'Dammit, Potter, I am NOT the sub here!'

I looked at him sitting there, eyes blazing and cheeks flushed with rage, and decided that if Draco was pregnant the world would be doomed. 'Fine, I'll do it.'

'No, YOU will...wait, did you just say...?'

'Yes.' I sent him a warning look and he suppressed the cheer I knew was coming. 'But only because you'd be twice as bitchy if you were pregnant and I don't know if I'd be able to stand living with you.'

'Right, Harry, whatever you say,' he replied condescendingly, and I half expected him to pat me on the head. Instead, he pushed me gently down onto the mattress and started to kiss his way down my chest, and I lay backed and thanked the world I was alive.

~

17/12/01

Diary,

Oh. My. God. I'm going to have a baby! Well, I have to take a couple of tests first to make sure it's okay and we have to do the spell and prepare the potions and everything, but this time next week, God willing, I'll be pregnant!

The process is really complicated, with a whole lot of potions to be taken at different time intervals: hormone regulation potions, potions to boost the baby's immune system...it's twice as many as it should have been because of the way in which the child has to be born.

Although the first spells will generate the correct organs for me to conceive a child and for it to start developing, it can only stay in there for between four and five months before it becomes too large for me to carry.

It then has to be taken out by the magical equivalent of the Muggle C-sections Aunt Petunia's friends used to discuss at great length - goodness knows why anyone would want to talk about childbirth over tea and biscuits, but I never felt any desire to ask - and then kept in a magical incubator until it's grown enough to survive as normal.

I don't know how the incubator or anything will work, but I know that the charms and potions are needed because a child that premature has to have a higher immunity than it would normally have at that stage, but still be at the same stage of physical development.

But when it's all done, Draco and I will have a son or daughter, and even though we can't get married or anything, this tie will keep us bound forever.

Of course, this leads me to the obvious problem of how the hell I'm going to break the news to Ron and Hermione without anyone drawing blood.

Harry

~

We arrived at the lab before Grant did that Sunday. The test results showed that I was okay to undergo the process, and Draco and I were hardly able to sit still: that night we were going to conceive our child.

'So?'

I snapped back to reality to see Grant standing in front of me.

'Sorry, what?'

'Where are your volunteers?'

Draco coughed quietly. 'We ARE the volunteers.'

'WHAT?!' He whirled round and stared at Draco.

'I said, we're the volunteers. We're willing to try the spell and the potions, etcetera, etcetera.' He waved a perfectly manicured hand in the air to illustrate.

'So you two are...?'

'You have a problem with that?' Draco countered, his tone now icy.

'No, I just...didn't expect it. I take it the plans were satisfactory?'

'They were all fine; we checked with a qualified Healer at St. Mungo's and she approved them,' I replied. 'We hope to be...starting the process tonight.'

'Good,' he said, seeming to have recovered from the shock. 'I want you to write a report on the effect of each of the potions administered, then, and their effects, so that we can further develop them if this experiment is a success.'

Draco glared. 'This 'experiment' is going to be our child, Grant. I'd thank you to remember it. Come on, Harry, we have to meet the Weasleys for lunch.'

He took my hand and I apologised quickly before we disappeared back into the main building.

'That is exactly why I'm not letting you take hormone regulation potions,' I said, removing my hand from his grasp. 'If you were pregnant you'd probably run round attacking people with sharp objects.'

'I would NOT!' he replied, shocked. 'I'm fairly certain blunt objects are more painful, especially for slow torture. Which is exactly why I threatened to decapitate Weasley with a rusty spoon rather than a shiny blade.'

'Can we please not talk about killing Ron right now?'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm just about to tell him that you and I are together and that tonight we're going to conceive a child, and I'm going to have enough on my hands with him trying to kill US to stop you.'

'Exactly,' he smiled. 'A perfect chance for me to finally--'

'Draco, leave that thought right there.'

We got out of the lift and were greeted by Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna, who exchanged hugs with me while Draco signed the two of us out of the building.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Luna handed a bag of potions. 'They're all labelled appropriately, and I'm sure he or she will be just fine.' She smiled and picked up a menu, oblivious, but the other three were staring at me as if I'd just grown a third arm.

'What...' asked Ginny softly, '...was that about?'

'Um, well...' I fumbled for a drink list and ordered some pumpkin juice, which I hadn't had since school. 'I'm kinda...going to be a father.'

Draco choked and I glared at him.

'Oh my God, really?' Hermione exclaimed, looking as if Christmas had come a whole two days early.

'Who's the lucky girl, then?' asked Ron with a grin, 'And why haven't we met her?'

I blushed and looked down.

'Merlin, we have met her, haven't we? Who is it?'

'Well, it can't be Luna, because she just brought it up, and it's not Gin because she didn't know...' Hermione marked them off on her fingers. 'Parvi married Dean Thomas, you're not Lavender's type...'

I knew I was as red as Luna's obnoxious coat, but I finally managed to choke out the words, 'There is no girl.'

Of course, just at that moment, the drinks arrived, and my answer was lost for the time being.

~

24/12/01

Diary,

Lunch yesterday went surprisingly well. No one tried to kill anyone else, although Ginny looked pretty close to strangling one or both of us. It seems she still has a crush on me, after all these years, but she eventually managed to say she was happy for us.

Ron wished us all the best in barely coherent non-sentences, and Hermione was concerned that I didn't trust her enough to tell her at the beginning.

Luna spent practically the whole meal in hysterics, as did Draco, which didn't help at all, but the food was delicious and everything was made up for later that night.

Before we performed the spell, I felt kinda shy around Draco, which was worrying in itself. I drank the two potions needed to conceive the child, and when we wanted the spell to begin, we had to say an incantation to trigger it before actually beginning.

I think we were both scared, but he's Draco, and he always seems to know what to say, however much I complain about him to you, so it was all good in the end, and the test I took this morning confirmed that I'm pregnant.

And tomorrow's Christmas Day, too! Which means I should really go and wrap my presents.

Could life get any better?

Harry

~

The one drawback to the whole male pregnancy plan was that, with the potion combinations and the charms behind it, there was no sex allowed until the child was born.

'Why on earth,' Draco groaned into the pillow when he woke up on Christmas morning, 'did I ever suggest this insanity? Five months without sex! FIVE MONTHS! I'm suffering withdrawal after one bloody day, for Merlin's sake! What the hell am I expected to do, jerk off to dirty fantasies while you sleep?'

'Merry Christmas to you, too,' I smiled, planting a chaste kiss on his lips. 'You want presents?'

He pouted but still nodded. 'They'd better be expensive, though. I need something shiny to ease the pain.'

~

26/1/02

Diary,

I haven't written here in ages because I've felt, quite frankly, like shit.

Unfortunately, the combination of ingredients in the muscle relaxation potion isn't conducive to a good night's sleep: I've been up sick for weeks, apparently I wasn't meant to eat chocolate while I was gulping down three cups of feverfew a day, but I'm pretty sure no one ever mentioned that minor detail to me.

I sometimes wonder if this whole thing's all worth it: Draco and I still have to work, and at the moment I'm finding it impossible to get on with figuring out how to enchant Time-Turners en masse: it takes emotional stability, and Draco suggested kindly that I wait until after my next dose of hormone regulation potion to help him.

He doesn't need to be so bloody patronising all the time; I'm not an invalid, and he knows damn well that I'm not going to be able to help with the charms for a few hours.

It's been just over a month, and I think we've made a huge mistake.

Harry

~

'Harry?'

'What?' I asked irritably, turning to glare at him as he walked in.

'I was just wondering how you were. You seem upset.'

Of course I was upset, how would he have felt in my situation? 'I'm fine,' I replied stiffly. 'Don't you have work to be getting on with?'

He frowned. 'Is that what this is about? Because you know that you couldn't do the magic; it was you who realised the emotional content in the first place. I couldn't have you ruining a crateload of Time-Turners because you were pissed off at the world.'

'I'm NOT pissed off at the world!' I snapped, and he chuckled softly.

'Shut up and take your damn potion already.' He walked over and started to massage my shoulders.

'You know,' I said eventually, 'I probably made the right decision not to put myself through your mood swings.'

'Sod off and take the potion; I have work to do.'

~

17/2/02

Diary,

See, there wasn't quite so long between entries this time, although I guess it was quite a while.

I have to take back a lot of what I said before: I've been warned about mood swings, if not about the chocolate, and it was probably pretty unfair of me to say most of that stuff.

Another thing I've been warned about is the fact that, since the pregnancy is advanced slightly, some traditional symptoms (if you can call them that) may start earlier than normal, including, to my horror, food cravings.

Today Draco and I went to the Burrow with Ron, Mione, Ginny, Luna, Fred, Angelina and George for Ron's birthday dinner. Molly made his favourite; Muggle-style barbecued chicken wings, and I insisted on smothering mine with strawberry jam. Some part of me was guaranteeing that it would complement the honey glaze, which I think it did, although I've been assured that it was only in my mind.

Molly was concerned that not even two months had gone by, but Luna, angel that she is, explained the whole process, and everyone focussed so much attention on shutting her up that they ignored my food preferences.

I'm looking forward to causing hell for Draco when he tries to cook for me in future.

Harry

~

'Harry, dear, I don't suppose you'd stay behind and help me clean up this mess, would you?'

Draco smirked and muttered something about me becoming domesticated already before Flooing out, and I headed back to the kitchen to help Molly levitate the dishes in.

'Now, Harry, I want to have a talk with you, mother to mother, or father, as it is in your case.'

'What about?' I asked dubiously, muttering a 'Scourgify' at a stack of plates.

'The responsibilities of parenthood,' she replied matter-of-factly.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her. 'I knew what it would entail before I volunteered for this whole experiment.'

'No, dear, I don't think you did.' I opened my mouth to argue, but she continued. 'You knew what PREGNANCY would entail; the pills and potions and whatever else they're doing to your body, but I don't think you're quite aware of the ordeal you're going to have to face when the child is out of hospital.'

'I don't really think this is necessary...'

'No, it is. Now, with Charlie and Bill, being our eldest two, we did different things, education-wise, to see which would be most appropriate, and I found that...'

I tuned out and grinned as I accio'd the chicken tray from the table.

~

9/3/02

Diary,

I had another checkup at the hospital today. Luna's been placed in charge of me as she was the Healer we first approached about the case, which is great, although she is still the same scatty girl she was at Hogwarts, and spent the first ten minutes of the appointment hunting around for a cup of coffee she'd left in the staff break room.

The baby's doing fine, and it's amazing to think that he or she's already nearly ready to come out: the due date is set for the fourteenth of April, nearly five months after conception, and only just over a month from now.

The potions for development are working fine, and if everything continues as it is, my baby - God, it's strange to see that written there - will be perfectly all right.

Apparently in about two weeks, with the enhanced (although to a lesser extent) physical development of the child, we may be able to find out whether it's a boy or a girl.

Luna said she can't guarantee that, but at this rate it's about a seventy percent chance, which is actually more scary than thrilling.

How on earth are Draco and I going to be able to agree on names?

Harry

~

'I like Holly,' I said, picking up the scrap of parchment we were writing on and adding it to the list.

'Holly?' Draco wrinkled his nose. 'Holly Malfoy? Holly Potter? Holly and Harry? It's a terrible choice, not to mention clichéd.'

'I just thought it would be appropriate, y'know? This kid is really our Christmas present, even if it is going to be born in the middle of April.' I paused. 'Oh, how about 'Christopher'?'

'No. If we're going to do Christmas, it's going to be nice and subtle.'

'Subtle?' I laughed. 'Draco, Christmas is the single least subtle holiday in the calendar. Except Halloween.'

'Exactly. I want something that can be linked to Christmas, but not instantly. What's Christmassy?'

'Tinsel?' I suggested, and he pretended to punch my arm. 'Okay, okay, Christmas...bells - and if you even think of suggesting Bellatrix, I will hex you - stables, holly, stars, trees...'

'Wait, stars... how about Stella? That means star. Or Estella; bright star. Or...'

'Estella? You're meant to be the one with the amazing education, have you even READ 'Great Expectations'?'

He waved a hand dismissively. 'Muggle literature, Potter. I was brought up on a diet of 'Dark Arts for Dummies', and other material of that ilk. Subject matter that had a purpose.'

'Tace,' I whispered, and he continued to gesture emphatically, although no sound came out of his mouth.

~

14/4/03

Diary,

I have a child.

I have a baby.

I have a daughter.

God, it's so unreal.

This morning I had the last of the immunity potion, which meant that today would be the day the baby would be born.

There was a complicated process for delivery, but I was too drugged up on anaesthetic potions to notice anything but the strange blue light that the spell emitted as my baby - I have a baby! - was removed. She had to be taken straight to the incubator, which I've been assured is far more sophisticated than the Muggle equivalent; and no less real than the temporary holding space inside of me.

Draco denies that he was crying when she was taken away, but I had recovered enough from my potion-induced stupor by that point to see the tear tracks down his cheeks.

'Fuck, Harry,' he said, 'we're parents.'

And I cried too.

Harry

~

'Now, you have to remember to take the new potions for two weeks to put your body all back in order and everything. And no sex until all those potions have been taken, for your own health!' Luna reiterated as Draco and I left the hospital.

I stayed there overnight, but because of the magic used on me I was okay to leave the next morning. We were told that there was no point in staying at the hospital for months until we could take our girl home, so Draco forcibly dragged me out of there to help him redecorate his room - no longer needed after we told our friends about us - for the baby.

'But first,' he said, 'I like the name Ivy. Don't you?'

His tone didn't leave much room for argument. 'Ivy Potter. Ivy Potter-Malfoy. I like it.'

He glared affectionately. 'Who said that your name came first?'

'Think about it. Potter-Malfoy or Malfoy-Potter. You're always the aesthetic one, you know it sounds better.'

'Fine.' He pouted. 'Ivy Potter-Malfoy. See, I told you Ivy was a good choice.'

'No you didn't,' I pointed out, 'you thought it was 'about as subtle as calling your pet reindeer Rudolph' and refused point-blank.'

'That was before I noticed that ivy grew on the front of our block of flats all year round.'

'Ah. So, what colour do you want the room to be? I was thinking gold.'

'Gold? Merlin, save me from you bloody Gryffindors!' We both burst out laughing as we walked down the street, getting weird looks from everyone around, but we couldn't care less.

~

17/5/03

Diary,

The room is finally finished! We eventually agreed on pink and gold, a combination which Molly insists we're going to regret.

'Ginny's room was pink, originally, but by the time she was seven she couldn't stand the colour and had temper tantrums for weeks until we painted it blue. Of course, in a year she'd outgrown that, too.'

But it's gorgeous, really. There furniture's all pale gold, and the cot is gorgeous: Ron made it for us, he's actually amazingly good at DIY stuff like that. Even Draco admitted it was an excellent piece of carpentry, and offered to buy Ron a Butterbeer sometime.

Ron was scared at the idea of a gay man buying him a drink, but a glare from me was enough to shut him up.

But anyway, it's all done, and the only thing left is for our daughter to come home.

Harry

~

It was on my birthday when we received the owl from St. Mungo's telling us that Ivy could go home.

We visited her at least once a week, often more, and as time passed we could tell somehow that she was nearly ready.

Luna chattered excitedly about how normal babies couldn't leave at this age, but the development enhancement charms had taken a month to wear off and she was therefore ready, after just over seven months, to leave.

We abandoned dinner and rushed down to collect her, refusing to Floo or Apparate in case something happened, and it must have been quite a sight for everyone at the hospital to see all twelve guests at my birthday celebration - Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Parvati, Fred, Angelina, George and Neville; nearly a complete Gryffindor reunion - burst in behind Draco and me.

We refused to put her down as we returned home, instead taking it in turns to hold her tightly and talk nonsense to her.

Draco was right, I thought as we laid her in her cot and watched her doze off, she is the most beautiful creature in the world, with gorgeous blonde curls and, as everyone joked, 'her mother's eyes'.

I wrapped an arm round my lover's waist and snuggled up to him.

That sense of union, that sense of peace, that assurance that we were together, at least for the moment: that was what was missing before, and now...now we have it, we have each other, we have our baby: we have the world.

~fin~