Title: His Daughter’s Father

Email: tirel@pcnuthut.com

Site: https://www.angelfire.com/tv2/firebird_ascending/

Author: Constant Vigilance

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is God. I own nothing.

Distribution: Sure. Just lemme know where my baby’s going.

Spoilers: Up to GoF. Book 5 never happened. *Growls at Rowling*

Summary: Christmas in England.

Dedication: To my Nummytreats listsibs who stated that they’ve recently converted to the HP fandom partly because of me.

December came and all the Gryffindors were planning trips home, or in Hermione’s case to the Burrow, to spend the holidays with their loved ones. Harry smiled and laughed and talked about how great it was that they were going to get to see family again. Then he made his way to the owlery and sat with the only family he had. He held his burgeoning stomach with one hand as he stroked Hedwig’s feathers with the other. He had just about worked himself into tears when he heard the door open.

Quickly dashing tears away, he turned to see who intruded. Draco smiled down at him, his cheeks reddened in the cold air. “What are you doing up here?” he asked, kneeling beside Harry. “It’s too cold out here for you.”

Harry tried a smile. “You’re the one who’s always telling me to get some fresh air.”

Draco rolled his eyes and reached down to clasp Harry’s uncovered hands. “You’re supposed to take that advice with a bit of common sense,” he pointed out. “You’re freezing out here. Come with me.” Draco imperiously pulled Harry to his feet and led him down the stairs. He kept a hand at Harry’s elbow the whole way down and Harry couldn’t decide if it irritated him…or made him feel comforted.

“So, you never said what you were doing up there,” Draco pointed out when they were on flat ground again. Harry shrugged and passed on answering again. Draco looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “I think you were out here dwelling in loneliness. You’ve seen all your friends off to their happy homes and you’re stuck here, alone and pregnant and feeling like no one loves you.”

Harry stopped dead in the middle of the walkway. He stared at Draco in shock. “How--?”

Draco smiled sadly. “I don’t exactly have a Weasley Christmas going on either,” he said.

Harry looked down at his shoes. “At least you’ve got your mum,” he whispered.

Draco moved forward, into Harry’s space. “And you’ve got me,” he whispered back. Harry looked up, a question in his eyes. Draco smiled at him. “Mum and I would like to invite you to stay with us in the dungeons during the hols. It’s pretty lonely for us too and this gives us the opportunity to keep an eye on you.” Draco grinned. “Well, for me to keep an eye on you and for mum to spoil you horrendously.”

Harry stared in confusion. “But why would you want me to intrude on your family?”

Draco sighed and tugged Harry into walking again. “I’m coming to understand, Harry, that family is what you make it. I suppose my family proper consists of my parents and grandparents and I could always suck up my pride and go crawling back to the Manor for an appropriate family Christmas. But I’d rather spend a special holiday with special people; people with whom I enjoy spending time.”

He tucked Harry’s hand under his arm, trying to warm it. “I’d like to spend Christmas with my mum and you, because you’re the family I want, not the one forced on me.” He glanced up at Harry and was surprised to see tears in the other boy’s eyes. Harry blinked rapidly to force the tears back and Draco carefully looked forward again and afforded him a small amount of privacy.

“So, will you spend the hols with me?” he asked instead. He received no verbal reply, but the tightening of Harry’s hand on his arm and the way he fell into step with Draco said yes much more than mere words.

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Harry had never felt more pampered in his life. Or more lazy. Draco made him sleep in every day, waking him up with a smile and bringing hot chocolate to him in bed. Draco would allow Harry to get up only to make his way down to the prefect’s bathroom and soak for a good hour in warm, cinnamon scented bubbles. Draco turned away while Harry got undressed, but as soon as he heard Harry sit down, he was sitting at the edge of the pool, feet dangling in as he washed Harry’s hair for him.

They spent a lot of time talking about random things that Harry was sure he should have felt uncomfortable discussing while sitting naked in a pool of bubbles. But he didn’t. Draco’s hands in his hair felt so good. And the sound of the aristocratic drawl echoing through the room as he lounged was pure bliss. When Draco would finally let him out of the bath, Harry would dry off and shrug into his clothes and then wait while Draco carefully dried and combed his hair.

Afterwards, Draco would drag Harry down to the Great Hall and ply the pregnant boy with good, nutritious food, making gagging noises at Harry’s choices of craving combinations. Sometimes Narcissa would join them. Strangely enough, Harry enjoyed these times as much as his alone time with the younger Malfoy. Narcissa would regale Harry with tales from Draco’s childhood, sharing stories and tips on parenting.

Even had Harry not been holding on desperately to every word a real mother would share with him, the embarrassed looks on Draco’s face were well worth every second spent with the lovely woman. The day would progress to their room again where Draco and Harry would play chess or exploding snap or just sit and talk. Snack time came promptly at 10:30 and was delivered by Dobby, who was as delighted to see Harry, as Harry was to see Dobby.

He tried to beg honey sandwiches off of Dobby at every chance, but the small house elf just looked at him with a pained expression and shook his head. Apparently, Draco had gotten to him first. After snack came a walk around the grounds. Well, actually, after snack came the 15 minutes of swaddling Harry in enough warm clothes that he could hardly move and then came the walk, followed by lunch in the Great Hall with all remaining staff.

Harry loved lunches during the hols. For the first time in his life, he was watching Severus Snape act like a human being. Lunch seemed to be a required meal in Narcissa Malfoy’s mind and therefore Severus Snape was required to partake in it. He enjoyed watching Narcissa pile food on Snape’s plate and look disappointed when he didn’t try something.

Once, Snape caught Harry watching with a smile. He scowled at the younger boy’s snicker when Narcissa plucked up a napkin and wiped a smear of custard from his chin. Harry thought it was the most amusing thing in the world…until he felt a duplicate napkin wiping at a dribble of pumpkin juice on his jumper and looked to see Draco frowning in concentration as he scrubbed the spot.

When he looked back up, the scowl was replaced with something akin to shared understanding. From that meal onward, Harry and Snape passed long suffering looks at each other, but let their respective Malfoy partners tidy them up at will.

Lunch was followed by a two-hour nap. At least for Harry. Draco took these moments to visit with his mother alone, take a flight around the pitch (which he refused to let Harry do) or just read lying by Harry’s side. After naptime, came another snack…Draco-approved, and Harry’s choice of activity. The first day was comprised of pouting as Draco put his foot down on flying. After that, Draco was very careful in his wording. Mostly, Harry chose to go visit Hagrid and help the half giant with whatever animals Draco would let him near.

Afternoon activity completed, dinner was taken either in the Great Hall or in their room with Narcissa. The third night that they shared dinner with her, she flushed and informed them that she’d invited a guest. Harry felt a sinking feeling in his gut that was confirmed by the appearance of a clean and well-dressed Snape. He bit his tongue for the first 15 minutes of dinner, but after that, the atmosphere lightened up. Harry found he actually had some things in common with the potions professor…the fact that they were united against the Malfoy determination to mold them.

Sharing a common bond, the relationship between Harry and Snape carefully moved out of the dining area and into the regular day. It wasn’t uncommon by the end of the first week for Harry to choose his ‘afternoon activity’ as helping Snape down in the potions lab or asking Narcissa and Snape to join them on a walk around the grounds. And dinnertime became quiet time that the four of them shared whether in the Hall or in the dungeons.

As a matter of fact, Snape offered to escort Harry to do his Christmas shopping when Narcissa asked Draco to take an afternoon to do the same with her. Thus, the day found Harry and Snape wandering through one end of town while Narcissa and Draco took over the other.

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Draco balanced the bags accumulated through 4 hours of nonstop shopping as he held the door for his mother. She smiled fondly at him and stepped to the side so that he could enter the restaurant. The hostess helped him carry the bags to an alcove off to the side of her podium and them seated the two Malfoys near a window overlooking the moor.

“So, baby, what did you get your new little friends?” Narcissa asked before taking a sip of her water.

“Well, I picked up some new brushes for Dean, a book on Irish poetry for Seamus,” he grinned, “he never struck me as a romantic guy, but he gets really serious about his poetry. I got some more stuff for Trevor’s tank for Neville and a necklace for Ginny.” Narcissa nodded and smiled a thank you at the waiter bringing her a wine list. ‘I picked up a gift certificate at Flourish and Botts for Hermione and a miniature Quidditch pitch setup for Ron done in Cannon’s colors.”

Narcissa’s eyes widened. “Well, weren’t you just the busy little shopper?” Draco shrugged, a small smile on his face.

“I’ve never gotten to buy for any…friends before. Its kind of fun, getting stuff that doesn’t have to be appraised before being wrapped.”

Narcissa nodded in understanding. “And what did you get Severus?”

Draco grinned. “I picked up Lunar Astrology and Potion Creation.” Narcissa looked confused. “It’s a book on how the phases of the moon can increase or decrease the effectiveness of certain potions and ingredients. He really wanted it, but didn’t want to be caught dead buying something that Trelawney might have chosen.” Narcissa giggled a bit.

“And what did you get your young man?” she nearly purred.

Draco flushed. “He’s not my young man, mum. And I got him a pregnancy journal and a Baby’s First Year book. I’m going to fill up part of the journal and the book with quotes I’ve been collecting from his friends and pictures I’ve gotten Colin to take.”

Narcissa smiled delightedly. “That’s brilliant, sweetie!”

Draco took a long drink of water to cover up his embarrassment. Then he smiled slyly. “So, mum. I’ve noticed you’re becoming very close with Professor Snape.”

It was Narcissa’s turn to blush as she twisted a ring on her index finger. “I-is that a problem?” she asked softly.

Draco reached out and clasped her hand in his. “It’s most definitely not a problem. I care very much for Severus. He’s a good man and he’s good to you. As long as you’re happy, then so am I.”

She squeezed his hand back. “That’s just how I feel about you and Harry,” she smiled.

Draco nearly choked. “Mum, I’ve told you…it’s not like that between Harry and I. I’m only helping him out because…”

Narcissa raised an eyebrow mockingly. “Because?”

He sighed. “Oh, mum. I’m so confused. I feel for him. I really do. But he’s gone through so much.” Narcissa wanted to reach across the table and hug him like she’d done when he was little. The sad, woebegone face twisted at her heart. “He’s been…violated. He’s going to be a father. His whole life is a total mess right now and the last thing he needs is me trying to coerce him into a relationship.”

Narcissa patted his hand gently. “I understand, sweetie. And I’m proud of you for thinking of him first.”

Draco snorted. “I’ve always thought of him first. I’ve thought of nothing else for years.”

Narcissa’s eyebrows darted up to her hairline. “Really? I thought you always hated him?”

Draco chuckled. “Mum, how can you hate Harry? He’s brave and beautiful and kind. He’s perfect and he always has been.”

“How long have you felt this way about him?” was his mother’s next question.

“End of fifth year. I started having these horrible warm fuzzy feelings whenever I saw him. It got to the point that I had to be near him or I felt empty.”

“You’ve been harboring a crush on him for two years?” she asked in astonishment.

He nodded. “No one knows.”

Narcissa giggled slightly. “Well, I think they do now.”

He looked disturbed. “What do you mean? How?”

She smiled gently. “Draco, honey, you changed sides in the war for him, love. You cursed a fellow student. You thwarted Voldemort’s plans and you moved out of the Slytherin House. I think that says something.”

Draco frowned. “What was I supposed to do, mum? How could I just sit there and listen to Blaise talk about hurting him?”

Narcissa shushed him. “You did the right thing, love. You followed your heart. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Eventually, Harry will see that he can’t live without you.”

Draco smiled sadly. “But he can, mum. He can make it through anything. I’m just scared that I can’t live without him.”