Title: Time's Ebb & Flow

Author: ZelgadisGreywood

zelgadisgreywood@chez-vrolet.net

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: R to NC-17.

Pairings From this point on: Harry/Draco Ron/Hermione.



Time's Ebb & Flow
by ZelgadisGreywood

-Teaser-

Harry stared at the letter he'd been sent from Gringots. The goblins had discovered it during their inventory of his vault. James had been its recipient, but he had kept it hidden from Lily. And from what he was reading, Harry didn't blame his father one bit.

James Potter,

After all my admonitions against the Dark Arts and those who practice them! I cannot believe you took Lucius Malfoy into your bed! I'd send a howler, but that would only add trour shame.

The signature was too faded to read, but Harry was sure it had been from one of his grandparents.

His father and Lucius Malfoy? It was absurd. Someone had to be pulling his leg. He didn't find the joke funny, though.

The red envelope that was dropped in font of him that same morning had the whole Hall whispering guesses about it.

"Five galleons says its from You Know Who." A third year Ravenclaw wagered.

"What?" Draco called out. "You mean a singing curse-a-gram? Didn't know you were so..."

The rest of Draco's words, however, were drowned out by the enraged bellowing of Lucius Malfoy.

HARRY POTTER,

THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU I SHALL PERSONALLY CASTRATE YOU!

Here many of the wizards crossed their legs.

The howler kept up its tirade as if nothing had happened.

HOW DARE YOU GET DRACO PREGNANT?!

"WHAT?!" Harry sprayed pumpkin juice all over Neville, but he was too shocked to notice. "I NEVER LAID A HAND ON DRACO."



-Part One-

Harry glared at Draco as he approached the Slytherin table.

"You've gone too far this time, Draco." he told his rival. "I'm sure you have a dozen pictures of your dad screwing you after taking polyjuice potion to
look like me. But you made one mistake. Boys can't get pregnant."

"*Muggle* boys can't get pregnant. But wizards can." Draco explained.

"Fine. You're pregnant." Harry snorted. "But it's not mine."

He stormed back to the Gryffindor Table where he saw Hermione staring at his father's letter with widening eyes.

He snatched it from her and stormed outside

Both he and his father had been accused of bedding a Malfoy in the same day. Why couldn't they have left his father out of it? Its bad enough seeing him in my reflection.

He stopped abruptly.

Why would Lucius think Harry was the father? Because Draco had told him. But Draco, come to think of it, had looked as stunned he had.

"You look so much like James."

"You remind me of your dad."

Harry ran back inside. "I can prove its not mine." he said triumphantly as he grabbed the chain from around Draco's neck and yanked it off, revealing a time turner.



Chapter 2

"That timepiece was given to me by my parents." Draco exclaimed. "I mean what is you problem? You shagged me pretty good last week. Now you act as if I don't mean anything. And you think of me as evil. At least if I got someone pregnant I wouldn't abandon them when I found out. I'd do the right thing."

"I never shagged you." Harry argued. "Draco, calm down and listen carefully. That necklace isn't a timepiece. Its a time turner. At some point you must have gone back in time."

"I'm in love with you." Draco whispered.

"You're infatuated with the man who was your first sex partner. That is all. Draco, please. Forget him."

"It's not infatuation." Draco told him."I love you."

"That person you slept with wasn't me!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation. "Haven't you been paying attention? You went back in time, Malfoy. The person you slept with was my dad."

Draco shook his head. Harry had to be lying. He grabbed Harry and looked into his eyes. Then he let him go, grabbed the time turner, and smashed it against the floor.

"Not the same eyes." he whispered, sounding even more shattered than the time turner. "Yours are just pretty. His were beautiful."

Harry couldn't come up with a reply. There were no words of consolation he could offer this young man who he could now see had fallen completely in love with a man long dead.



Chapter 3

"Knut for your thoughts," Dean said to Harry during Herbology.

Harry stopped looking around and went back to spreading dragon dung around his fire-cactus. "Draco's not here." he noticed.

"He's been excused from Potions and Herbology until that bastard he's carrying is out." Goyle told him.

Harry glared at him.

"My dad offered to do an abortion spell." Goyle told him. "Draco said no. Of course my dad hates mudbloods, so he tried anyhow. Figured Draco's dad would help. Wouldn't want a mudblood in the family. But he protected it. Claimed the spell was dangerous. I'd rather my last heir die from an abortion spell than have a mudblood in the family."

The bell rang, so Goyle didn't hear Harry's reply, which was very rude.

Harry caught up with Ron and Hermione on the way to the Care Of Magical Creatures lesson and told them what Goyle had said.

"Lucius Malfoy's protecting it?" Ron asked skeptically. "Why?"

"I bet he wants to use the baby in some horrible spell." Hermione told them.

"And Draco will probably just hand it over to him." Ron accused.

"No," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I don't think he will. Draco fell in love with James Potter and that baby is all he has left of him."

"Draco must have heard his father making plans to do just that." Harry realised. That's why he was trying to get me to propose to him."



Chapter 4

"Lucius, you blithering idiot!" Voldemort roared as he raised his wand. "Crucio!"

Lucius writhed on the floor, screaming, until Voldemort lifted the Unforgivible from him.

"Now," Voldemort hissed, coldly, "Let me explain your mistake. It was in trying to betray me."

"Master!" Lucius fell to his knees before Voldemort. "I am your devoted servant!"

"Perhaps once I'd have believed you enough to allow that pretty mouth of yours prove that claim. But that day has long passed." Voldemort cast another curse that sent Lucius flying back into the far wall. He walked over to Lucius and squatted down beside him. "When you sent that howler to Harry Potter, you knew he would become protective of the the bastard in growing in Draco's body."

"My Lord," Lucius began, "I merely wished to humiliate..."

"Liar!" Voldemort cried out. "It is no matter. I thought you might get attached to the wretched mudblood. So I sped things up just a little. Your son's bastard becomes part of my newest potion in one month."

*****

Draco tossed and turned all night as sweat glistened on his face. His entire body felt as if were undergoing a mild version of the Cruciatus curse. The pain seemed centered in his abdomen and he knew he should see Pomfrey. He kept his distance, though, fearing what he was sure he'd be told; that the baby was dead.

Snape walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I knew this would happen the minute I heard." he said.

"The baby's dead, isn't it?" Draco's sobs intensified.

"No." Snape told her. "But your condition has been accelerated." He pulled Draco to his feet suddenly and urgently. "You have always been delicate, Draco. But now you must be strong. You must survive this for the sake of the child you now bear."

Draco dried his tears and got out of bed.

"That's better." Snape wiped away a stray tear. "Let's get you some breakfast."



Chapter 5

"My son is very weak. It is unlikely he will make it another week."

"He will live long enough to serve his purpose."

Harry sat bolt upright. the pain in his scar still throbbing. If the dream was any indication, then Draco was in more trouble than they'd originally
thought.

*****

Draco sat up with a groan as his unborn child kicked him. "Can't you wait until after you're born before you start nagging me?"

He got out of bed and put on his robes, thankful, though he'd never admit it, for the enlarging charm Mrs. Weasley had sent when she'd learnt he was expecting.

He'd cast the charm on his clothes for the third time that week. This was downright terrifying, but Snape was right. He had to be strong. He had a child to protect.

Waddling down the corridor, he gave a polite nod to Sir Cadogan who had been demanding the name of the scoundrel who'd dishonored Draco ever since word had got out that Draco Malfoy was pregnant.

Then, ignoring the pain in his abdomen, he joined his fellow Slytherins in the Great Hall at breakfast.



Chapter 6

Several pairs of eyes were focused on the rounded tum of Draco Malfoy that morning.

He noticed the stares and heard the cruel words.

"Nice wizards would have waited." Pansy scolded.

Draco glared at her. "Well, things just happened so fast the day he attacked me..."

"Harry Potter raped you?!" Pansy cried out as she leapt from her seat.

"No!" Draco told her. "Potter and I fell in love after my father beat me."

Comprehension dawned in Pansy's eyes. "You mean you fled to Harry for protection?"

"No." Draco shook his head, then winced as pain hit him once more. "My mother sent me away while I lie near dead on the floor. Potter found me and nursed me back to health. I realized when I was well again and could leave that I didn't want to. I told him and he told me how sorry he was that he already loved another.


--FLASHBACK--

"How could you lead me on this way?" There was a cold edge to Draco's voice which James Potter knew was there to mask his pain. "I'm in love with you. At least give me one night. Let me have that."

"Yes," James whispered in Draco's ear. "I will grant your wish." He lowered Draco onto the bed and undressed him as if he meant more to him than this simple one night stand. He would never truly love this sad boy. But he would, for a little while, let him know a little tenderness.

And so it was that Draco, with tears of mixed joy and grief, conceived the child, he believed, of Harry Potter, unwittingly fullfilling the pact his father had made with the Dark Lord.

--END FLASHBACK--



"He didn't love you and he took your virginity?" Pansy nearly exploded.

"I asked..." Draco doubled over in pain.

Dumbledore noticed and got to his feet. He made his way over to Draco with Pomfrey and McGonagall.

Dumbledore knelt by Draco. "I want to put a protection on your children." he said quietly. "But you must aswer me truthfully."

Draco nodded in agreement, in too much pain to realize exactly what the headmaster had said.

"Draco. Who is the father?"

Draco frowned, sadly. "Ja-"

"I am." Harry said, kneeling down by the boy who had once loved his father.

Dumbledore smiled. "Well, then," he said as Pomfrey handed a baby girl to him, and a baby boy to Harry, "It seems your aunt and uncle will be having some new family members to deal with."



Chapter 7

The students in Professor Binns' class all gathered around Draco and Harry, who were sitting at their desks holding their newborn sons.

Draco and Harry, who had been excused from the class, had been trying to get the babies to sleep for ten full minutes without success. Hermione had cast a levitation charm on a few stuffed amimals to make a mobile, but this only ended up scaring them and making them cry more.

In the end, they realized that the best place to get some sleep was in Professor Binns' class.

The other students had a lot of questions, mostly for Draco. Though a few of them wanted to make sure Harry knew how they felt about his responsibility.

Crabbe and Goyle had ducked out, but as they were often disruptive nobody cared about this too much.

"What are their names?" Seamus asked, as he looked at the babies with amusement and awe.

"The boy's name is Severus." Draco told them. He looked up at Harry. "Professor Snape's been more of a dad to me than Lucius Malfoy ever was."

Harry had no objections to this.

"And the girl," Draco resumed, "is Lilianna."

*****

"He'll kill us if he learns the truth." Crabbe told Goyle.

Goyle was fastening a letter to Lucius Malfoy onto the leg ot an owl. He turned to Crabbe. "He won't." he assured his companion, sending off the owl.

They headed down to the kitchens to get some snacks, patting themselves on the backs.

*****

Lucius Malfoy was having what could only be described as a conniption. His mansion was in flames with several Death Eaters trapped inside along with their insipid Master.

A Death Eater meeting had been at going on at the Malfoy manor for ten minutes when the owl had arrived from Crabbe and Goyle:

Mr. Malfoy,

Draco died in childbirth. The babies did, too.

Gregory Goyle.

The Death Eaters had laughed at how they wouldn't miss a boy who let himself get pregnant while the Dark Lord whined about his ruined plans.

In that moment, Lucius Malfoy became something he had never been before.

A father.

Now, watching his ancestral home burn to the ground, he regretted only one loss. Draco.

Narcissa had fortunately been away. She did not know her son was dead. Nor would she ever know.

Lucius dropped Goyle's letter into the flames. When his wife got home, he would tell her that Draco had run off with his boyfriend and that he had lost his temper when he learned that Draco was gay.

*****

Draco sat on the train with Harry and the babies the following day with his children asleep in his arms.

"I read the paper," Ron said as he and Hermione joined them. "I'm really sorry. I guess I had your dad figured wrong."

"No," Draco shook his head. "He just changed when he was told that I had died. So, what are you planning to do this summer? I'll be spending it with Harry, getting yelled at by his aunt and uncle."

"I'll probably just spend a little time with my family, visit London with my dad, you know how he is about Muggle stuff, marry Hermione, see about working for Fred and George after graduation..."

Hermione, who was, after all, a good listener, pounced on him.




end part 7