Formidable

Chapter 9

"I'll leave you two for a moment." She whispered, Draco acknowledging her and nodding his thanks with an appreciative smile as he continued to rub Harry's back.

"Here, here. Lay down with me." Draco said, slipping Harry's wand out of his pocket and enlarging the "bed" he was laid on to accommodate both of them. Harry manoeuvred himself so he was on his side, one arm bent at the elbow supporting his head and the other on Draco's stomach, running light fingers over and around his bellybutton. He sniffed wetly, Draco's fingers massaging his head as he closed his eyes.

"Can't fall asleep here, you know?" Draco chuckled.

"Yeah'know." Harry said, "just resting my eyes for a minute. Just..." he trailed off.

"Just what?" Draco asked softly.

"Thinking." He said after a moment. "We're really having a baby. Our baby."

"You're happy?"

"Extremely so." Harry wrapped his arm around Draco's waist, not so comfortably, considering the bed they'd created but it'd have to do.

"Hermione'll be back in a moment." Draco said after a moment.

"Yeah, I'd better get up." He buried his face in Draco's neck, again.

"Yeah." He whispered, not making any effort to let go of Harry. Only when the door clicked open softly did they break apart, Harry sitting up and Draco charming the bed back to normal.

"Is it alright for me to come in?" Hermione asked from behind the door.

"Yes, of course." Draco said.

She came out from behind the door, smiling at Harry's wet, tired eyes, and picking up her clipboard again. She collected the ultrasound scan with her wand and stored it in a tiny vial which she then slipped into a rack in a cabinet, labelling the vial, "Draco, 12 weeks."

"Would you like photos? Of the baby?" She asked.

They looked at one another. "Yes! Yes absolutely!" Harry said eagerly.

"Perfect! I'll get those for you in just a moment, I'll allowed them to process before I pick them up, meaning I can talk to you about quite a serious matter." Her tone became serious, a faint smile still on her lips nonetheless.

"O-okay?" Draco hesitated, grasping Harry's hand, squeezing and not letting go.

"You're due to get your wings in a couple of days by the looks of it."

"Wings? Oh yeah!" Harry'd forgotten about the wings part, what with everything else going on at the time.

"These wings will mean you'll both have to adapt a different lifestyle to accommodate them. From what I know, these wings are big, and can be hard to control at first. You're both supposed to be going on a trip to Italy within the next few weeks, is that right?" Hermione said.

They nodded, eyes blown slightly wider than they were before.

"Right, I see. You two are going to have to be very careful on this trip. You can charm them to be hidden, and eventually you'll be able to wordlessly and wandlessly prompt them to retract and come back out whenever you please." She explained, Harry and Draco reviewing this information silently.

"You'll both be absolutely fine, I'm sure of it. But, if you ever do have any issues, please pop round either here or to my house, I'm always here to help you." She leant forward, putting a hand on Draco's shoulder and looking between them both. She smiled kindly and sighed.

"Now, on a non-medical note, perhaps you'd like to come for dinner before your trip? Maybe after you've got your wings? Ron can do that pie you both like, and he's managed to come up with a new recipe for his cherry tart!" She said eagerly.

"That'd be lovely, Hermione." Draco said.

"Yeah! Thank you!" Harry followed.

"Of course! Let us know when you'd like to pop over, we're not doing much lately so things should work out nicely." She said. "We've got loads to tell you!" She spoke eagerly.

As Harry and Draco got up to leave, Hermione seemingly remembered to mention something, spluttering before forming a coherent sentence, making Harry chuckle.

"I-I meant to say- you can find out the gender if you'd like in six weeks?" It was more of a question rather than a statement.

"That'd be wonderful!" Draco smiled brightly, grasping Harry's hand and squeezing it tightly.

"We'll find out if you're having a baby boy, or a a baby girl." She smiled, pottering about the room and handing them the ultrasound photos that had been printed, before waving goodbye and kissing them both on the cheek.

"Goodbye!" They both called as they exited the room.

a/n: I'm on tumblr! Come say hi! Same username as on here (gaeilgelupin)