Memory Loss (Harry Potter Drarry slash)

38: [Rape 4] Imprisonment

Harry did not know how to react to it all. Too much was happening at once, and he could not fully grasp it. Timothy had obviously been channelling Joz's rage again and been real close to strangling him to death this time, and afraid for his husband's life, Draco had called Jonas, who performed some sort of time magic and miraculously brought him back to life.

Then Draco dropped this bomb.

And as if that was not enough, Timothy claimed that it was impossible for them to have more children because Draco was supposed to have an accident that made him barren.

To top it all off, James was probably being taken to Azkaban this very minute.

"So ... does that mean you're pregnant again?" he asked the blonde, who was squirming nervously on the edge of the bed.

"Yes."

He would not meet Harry's eyes. Oddly enough, his shrunken posture made him look small and ashamed. As if he believed himself to have done something incredibly wrong.

Harry sighed and rubbed his exhausted eyes for a moment. "And when were you planning on telling me this?" he inquired, perfectly aware that he sounded angry and was probably only making things worse between them. Draco had (however indirectly) just saved his life; he should be thankful. But none of the epiphanies he had had during his near-to-death experience were great enough to erase his disappointment.

"I don't know." The blonde sounded so small and vulnerable he wanted to hug him.

"Okay ... how long?"

"What?"

"How far along are you?"

"Thirteen weeks."

"Thirteen weeks and you didn't tell me?! That means you're past the abortion stage and you've already made the decision to keep it for both of us. You didn't think that maybe I would like to have a part in that decision, Draco?"

"I know you would, Harry. I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to tell you ..."

Harry sat down beside the blonde and took him in his arms. Draco immediately pressed closer to him and buried his face in Harry's robes. "It's all right," Harry assured him soothingly. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just exhausted from everything that's happened tonight. But it surprises me that you felt you couldn't talk to me about this. Have I really been that lousy a husband lately that you can't even talk to me anymore?"

Draco patted his chest. "No, it's not that. Yeah, you've been kind of busy and absentminded, but not as much as you used to be. It's just ... I wasn't even sure myself if I'd keep it, and I didn't want to get your hopes up in case ..."

Harry silenced him by putting a finger over his lips. He did not need to say it.

A daughter. A daughter to make up for Joz? That must have been what had gone through Draco's mind when he found out, hence his hesitancy about keeping the baby. If they would only see this new daughter as a substitute for Joz and every hope, dream, and expectation they had once harboured for her ... then how would they be able to love her for who she was?

Harry could more than well understand the blonde's ambivalence in the case.

Before them, Timothy sank down into a chair, suddenly too weak to stand. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. "It is not possible ..." he was whispering to himself, slowly shaking his head.

Jonas knelt beside him and put one hand on his knee, using his other hand to gently stroke the side of his pale face. "Honey, are you all right?" he asked with concern.