VII

In the end neither Harry, nor the twins went to beds early, and Malfoy also remained on the premises, all of them sitting at the kitchen table for a long discussion of their future plans.

"So, Mr. Potter, I recon you are not going to abandon my Lord now in view of the current affair?" Malfoy inquired.

Harry shuffled in his seat uncomfortably.

"You'd recognised him, then?" he mumbled.

The Weasleys meanwhile looked at each of them in turn with wide eyes, before simultaneously looking back at the now closed door to the bedroom.

"That's the Dark Lord in there?!" one of the twins pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the bedroom door. "Blimey, Harry, that's wicked!"

Harry shook his head tiredly.

"I hoped this won't come out like this," he muttered. "Thank you, Lucius," he drawled drily with a pointed glare towards Malfoy. Then turned to the twins, "Are you going to squeak on him now? Turn him to the Order?"

"Of course, no, Harry! That's just too hilarious! 'The Boy-Who-Lived knocked up the bloody Dark Lord!' The Minister and Dumbledore would have a field day with this!" One of the red-heads exclaimed.

"Don't you dare – !" started Harry in unison with Malfoy.

"Calm down!" the other red-head raised his hands in placating gesture. "We've said we won't talk of it to anyone! That's a promise!"

"I'd like to see his face, though," his twin mused, smirking, "when he sees the diagnosis," he snickered.

Harry let out an unamused and strained laugh.

"We'd probably get a Crucio for our efforts, though," Malfoy admitted. "He's not known for his patience and calmness. And does not take kindly to peeking into his personal affairs."

Harry winced.

"I hope he remembers our other problem, before getting his hands on a wand," he muttered darkly.

"What other problem?" chirped one of the twins curiously.

"I'm not telling," Harry mumbled, sending a look at Malfoy. "He won't be pleased as it is, he doesn't need another reason to Crucio me." He sighed. "Even if it won't work again, as usual," Harry added in an undertone.

"I still insist you should move to my place as soon as he wakes up," Malfoy interjected. "This place is too unguarded. And is frequented by those, who certainly won't hold on offensive spells just because of this," Malfoy poked at the rolled-up scroll, lying on the table in front of them, with his finger.

Harry chewed on his lip minutely, his expression pensive, before suddenly straightening his back up and looking at Malfoy questioningly.

"Say, Malfoy, do you have a Healer among your ranks, per chance?"

"Yes, we do, actually. Why?" Lucius inqured.

"Well, there's this place we can stay at. But I doubt he'd be pleased with us if we bring a random St. Mungo's worker over there. On the other hand, if it was the Healer he trusts, though – " Harry was interrupted by Malfoy shaking head.

"He does not trust anyone in these matters, I am afraid. Not with his own health. That will not work."

Harry rubbed his face with his hands tiredly.

"Bloody paranoic!" he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Then I am out of ideas. We certainly need a Healer for his 'little problem', at the very least. And there is another pressing matter, for which a specialist would be nice to have around, too." Harry frowned in thought. "Though, come to think of it, these issues can very well be related to one another," he mumbled under his nose. "Hey, Malfoy! And you, guys, too, where can I find books, or anything, on the male pregnancies?"

"I am not very sure," mused Lucius, "Maybe, we have a one or two books in the family library at the Manor, but it is highly unlikely that they have anything in your usual bookstore at Diagon Alley, or even in Knocturn," he admitted. "It is trully very rare even among our kind."

Harry winced.

"Thought so," he grumbled. "Then what should I do? I can't allow him to kill the Healer simply for his help, even if the guy is a Death Eater. But – "

"So, Mr. Potter, are you inclined to help my Lord in this endeavor?" Lucius inquired with surprise.

"Yeah, Harry, it seems, you've taken this all too close to heart, no?" Fred asked. "Why do you care so much?"

"What's wrong with helping a bearer of your child?!" Harry huffed.

"That's the Dark Lord we're talking about, bro," George contradicted. "The very same man, who'd murdered your parents and lots of other people!"

"Point? He is still a 'mother', so to speak. Of my child, I repeat!" Harry retorted with passion.

"Fine, fine, don't you start on us, mate!" Fred threw his arms in the air. "It's just surprising, that's all. We'd help. Right, George?" he turned to his twin, who nodded fervently.

"Yeah! If only to see his face when he learns of this all," he smirked.

"What about you, Malfoy?" Harry turned a heated glare at Lucius. "Are you in?"

"I believe, I had been for a long time already," with a mild smirk of his own replied Lucius. "And I had already earned myself a round of Crucio over the Diagnostic Spell, anyway, so it is too late to back out now," he added with a slight grimace of displeasure.

"So, back to business," Harry clasped his hands to get the attention of the other three persons at the table. "Where do we start looking for information?" There was a sudden knock at the front door, startling all of them. "Are you expecting anyone?" Harry looked at the twins, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

They both shook their heads agitadely.

"No!" Fred replied, while George went to answer the door.

He returned to the kitchen almost immediately, accompanied by none other then Remus Lupin, who widened his eyes in shock upon seeing the surprising combination of people sitting at the kitchen table.

"Harry! We've searched high and low for you! Where have you been all this time? And what is Lucius Malfoy doing here?" His wand was out in a heartbeat, pointed at Lucius.

Harry groaned and tried to slide from his chair on the floor and under the table.

"Just what wee need!" he muttered annoyed under his breath. "Hello, Remus! Please, don't curse Malfoy, I still need him intact," he pleaded. "At least let me explain some," he added, as Lupin didn't immediately hide his wand.

"How do I know you're really Harry Potter?" the werwolf narrowed his eyes.

Harry shook his head.

"You don't. And I suppose these clothes don't help either," he yanked on the sleeve of the woman's blouse he was still wearing and shuffled his foot to demonstrate the skirt and half-torn stockings. "You can ask me something only I can know," he suggested.

"Fine," Lupin grumbled. "What form is yours if mine is a full moon?" he suggested cryptically.

Harry looked up in thought, trying to decipher the code, than his face has brightened:

"For me it's the essence of the thing!"

Lupin furrowed his brows, then raised one in silent question.

Harry motioned towards Malfoy with a pointed look.

"What? I am not admitting the thing in front of a potential opponent, Moony! We may be allies of sort for now," he added in reply to the hurt look on Malfoy's face, "but this can change in a blink of an eye, Mr. Malfoy, or in a wave of that wand," here Harry pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, towards the closed door to the bedroom. "So, Remus, you can sit and listen to my story, or conduct your business here and leave," he grumbled.

"Aren't you a touchy one?" Malfoy drawled with a smirk.

Harry just scowled at him and returned his gaze to Lupin, who still stood couple of feet from the table, looking in turns at Harry, Malfoy and the closed door with suspicion.

"Who's in there?" he asked quietly, finally approaching the table, and pointed towards the bedroom.

"I'll explain in a minute," Harry let out a long breath. "Would you mind if I'd hold onto your wand for a while?"

Lupin shook his head.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I am taking Lucius' wand, too, by the way," saying this, Harry held out his hand to Malfoy, palm up, "Please, can you trust me in this? Both of you?"

When neither Remus, nor Lucius surrendered their wands, Harry let out a frustrating growl.

"Fine, but then I'm putting myself on the line of the potential fire," he snapped, moving his chair into the position between Remus and the bedroom door. "And secondly, before you start asking questions, look here, please!" He took the scroll with diagnoosis off the table and slightly opened it, showing the most important part to Remus. The werwolf scanned the line he was offered to look at: 'Pregnant, five weeks' and raised his questioning gaze at Harry.

"I am one of the parents," Harry confirmed, not elaborating on the matter, and reclined back in his chair, the scroll tightly rolled up and clutched in his fist. "The other parent is in that room, unconscious after some troubles we've run into. The second parent belongs to the other side, as you've probably already understood. Before you ask, none of us was against the act itself, though we'd not anticipated this outcome."

"Judging by these precautions one might think you hide a Dark Lord behind that door," Remus snorted. His amusement was cut short by Harry's pointed glare and a nod of confirmation. "What?! You seriously have the Dark Lord in your bedroom?!" Remus exclaimed.

Harry winced.

"You may want to lower your voice a bit, Moony. You possibly just woke him." Harry grimaced. "I don't think any one of us would be glad if that was the case. We don't need the Dark Lord in a pissy mood, while there is no place to fight or hide. Especially, given the circumstances." He waved a scroll with the diagnosis with a pointed look.

"Sorry," Remus mumbled almost sheepishly in a lower tone. "That's all just too – " he shook his head at a loss for words.

"Wild?" Harry suggested with a hint of a tired smile and slightly swayed on his chair.

"Hey, Harry," one of the twins interrupted, "looks like you need that bed, too, mate. I'd say we leave the talks for the morning. What d'ya think?"

Harry just shook his head stubbornly.

"Harry," Remus chastised him in a mild tone, "George is right, you look like you need the rest."

"You wand, Moony."

"Alright, I promise not to attack him but – "

"No 'buts', Remus. Either you surender your wand or I am staying guard like this," Harry muttered. "And yours', Lucius. Pardon me, but you have that agreement with the twins, not me. I cannot simply trust you after only half-hour of peaceful talking. And I doubt the Dark Lord trusts anyone at all," he added.

Malfoy just nodded with an understanding look and taking out his wand from his customary place in a cane held it out to Harry handle first.

"Thank you," Harry murmured and looked with anticipation at Lupin. "Moony?"

"Fine," the latter sighed and also produced his wand to Harry. "Here you go. I won't say I like it, but have it your way for now. You really need to rest, Harry."

Grabbing both wands in one hand and a still clutching a diagnoosis scroll in another, Harry retired to the bedroom to the still unconscious Dark Lord, after murmuring short 'good night' to others.

~8~8~8~

Harry was planning on keeping watch, while the Dark Lord slept, but instead he fell asleep, too, the moment his head touched the pillow.

He was woken from his deep slumber by a familiar drawl of "What do you have here?" and a feeling of other's fingers trying to pry open his palm, wich was tightly clutching the scroll. His other hand with a bunch of wands was safe for a while, as he held it under the pillow.

"Don't," Harry slurred still half asleep.

"You do not order me around, boy!" Voldemort snapped. "Give it here right this instant!"

"Are you sure?" Harry snorted with a raised brow, looking suddenly very awake, and shoved the rolled up scroll into the waiting hand of Voldemort. "Here."

"What's this?" turning suspicious, asked Voldemort, his brows furrowing.

"It's yours anyway, you can have it," Harry retored in dismissal, shrugging his shoulders.

Still frowning pensively, Voldemort opened the scroll and trew a glance inside, then raised his eyes back at Harry:

"What is this?" he repeated his earlier question.

"Diagnostic spell, or rather the results scroll," Harry replied with a hint of amusement. "Yours."

"What?!" Voldemort exclaimed afronted. "Who dared – ?!"

"The twins. In their defence, they didn't know your identity and only wanted to help, when you passed out."

"I do not – "

"You did, too. Don't deny it, but better look carefully," Harry advised with a straight face, only the slight twitch under his right eye betraying his emotions.

"What could be so – ?" Voldemort started, "What is this nonsence?!" he roared, when his eyes fell on the line at the very bottom. Next moment his hands went for Harry's throat, scroll falling on the bed between them, forgotten. "Are you playing me, boy?!" He thrashed Harry roughly by the throat, his hold tightening painfully.

With a strangled gasp Harry tried to break free, scratching Voldemort's palms with his free hand and involuntarily demonstrated his wand bouquet, when tried to use the other hand to wrestle the Dark Lord's grasp.

"Give them here!" Voldemort barked, grabbing the wands and pointing them toghether with his own at Harry. "Crucio!!!"

In a heartbeat he let out a loud outcry of pain, echoed by Harry's own, doubled over and collapsed on top of him, clutching his stomach with both hands.

Harry tried to hold onto his own sliding consciousness, but a second later blackness was engulfing him after a new wave of pain, transmitted through mental link from Voldemort, and a feeling of enourmous amount of magic, taken from his core with such violence against his will.

Some time later Harry woke to the feeling of stinging pain in his cheek, the second rough slap to his other cheek delivered immediately after the first.

"Explain to me this madness right now!" Voldemort ordered harshly, his eyes narrowed and wand digging painfully into Harry's windpipe, which was still sore after their earlier confrontation.

"Wh-what madness?" Harry coughed out in scratchy voice.

"This!" Voldemort shook the scroll infront of Harry's face. "That is not possible!"

"Not my problem!" Harry responded rudely, "You want explanations? Go find them yourself!" He shoved Voldemort, who was towering over him, in the chest, succesfully dropping the man onto his back, and crawled on top. "Just for your information, Lucius is here, too, and he also knows. As is Remus. These are their wands, by the way. I suggest you return them to me before you loose us our magic completely," Harry wrestled the wands from the Dark lord without much trouble, as the man fell very silent and very subdued all of a sudden, and was simply looking up at Harry with widely opened eyes, his pupils blowing bigger and bigger with every second. "Oh, no, you don't!" Harry exclaimed, seeing where it all went. "You're not going emotional on me!"

The Dark Lord grasped a big gulp of air, shock slowly creeping into his features, his breathing quickening to the frightening speed from a panic attack.

"Hey!" Harry called out. "Are you with me?" Voldemort's eyes rolled up and he passed out with a quiet sigh. "Shit!" Harry swore. Threw a desperate look towards the closed door, then looked back at Voldemort: the man was still white as Death, his breathing was hardly noticeable, and he showed no signs of consciousness. "Bloody hell!" Harry shook his head in exasperation. "I'm so regretting it later," he muttered, then bent over Voldemort's face after taking in as much air as his lungs allowed, and pressing his mouth to the Dark Lord's in attempt to artificially resuscitate him. The first try was unsuccessful, but the second time Voldemort made a half-hearted intake of air from Harry's mouth, and after the third try he was finally breathing again and glaring a hole in Harry's forehead with a pointed look.

"Please, say it was all a stupid joke of your imbecile red-headed friends?" the Dark Lord pleaded seriously.

"Unfortunately, it was not," Harry returned, wincing simpathetically. "They even went to such lengths as bringing Mafloy here to perform a second scan, so I would believe them."

"Here – where?"

"Their place. Probably, flat above their shop in Diagon, but I am not sure. Never had the chance to look out the window," Harry replied, shrugging. "Are you done panicking?"

"I don't do panics," Voldemort retorted immediately.

"Tell it to someone else," Harry snorted. "You fainted, for goodness sake!"

"Who wouldn't?" the Dark Lord responded darkly.

"True," Harry nodded. "I almost did myself, when saw the scan results," he admitted. "Oh, and I hadn't told Remus yet who of us is the mother, so to speak. So don't blow my story up, please."

"Why?"

"So he wouldn't try to coax me into killing your weak self, you moron!" Harry huffed. "Not that he'd succeed, mind you, but he'd nag at me until I boot him out, for sure. And we need all the help and brains we can get!"

"We don't need a dirty wolf sniffing out our secrets," Voldemort grimaced and received a half-baked smack on the head from Harry.

"He is not a dirty woolf, he's my godfather!"

"I thought that was Black," Voldemort commented.

"Technically, yes, but Remus is a honorary second godfather. Nevermind!" Harry waved a hand. "Now give me your wand!"

"Whatever for?"

"For safekeeping, you twit! As if I don't know you! The moment that door opens you'd be giving out torture curses like cookies, forgetting all our problems at the sight of 'blood-traitors', 'dirty wolf' and your 'imbecile' right-hand man!" Harry tried to wrestle Voldemort's wand from his tightly clenched fist, slowly prying open his fingers, one by one, while speaking. "Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly at last, wriggling the last finger and snatching the bone-white wand. "Anyway, there is no magic left for your entertainment," he informed the Dark Lord sourly. "Your last Crucio left me dry to the core," Harry scrunched his nose in discomfort, "It even burned something fierce for a while," he admitted.

"And how do you feel now?" Voldemort inquired with a hint of an interest.

"Sore. And bloody thirsty, so let's go greet everyone," Harry exclaimed, jumping to his feet and yanking Voldemort by the hand to follow him. "Whoa!" he caught the taller man, when he swayed on unsteady feet. "Sorry," Harry chirped, "Here," he brought Voldemort's hand around his shoulders for support, "Hold onto me, I'll help you," he offered.

Voldemort huffed and straightened his back stubbornly, removing his hand.

"I'll manage myself, thank you," he drawled, grimacing. "I am not an invalid."

"No, you're not, but allow me," Harry insisted, "You're still my child's mother," he muttered under his breath.

Voldemort shuddered.

"Do not say it like this," he gritted, his face turning slightly green in color.

"Fine-fine, sorry," Harry murmured. "Let us go already, hm?" he motioned towards the door.

~8~8~8~

When Harry and Voldemort went out of the bedroom they came upon rather disturbing sight of Weasley twins, Malfoy Sr., Lupin and, surprisingly Hermione Granger, all peacefully drinking tea and talking in hushed voices.

"Harry!" Hermione immediately lept to her feet and rushed to him, enveloping Harry in a bear-hug. "You're alive! I was so worried! I didn't believe the twins, when they said you've returned!" She sniffed, then reclined back, not releasing her hold on Harry's shoulders. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, 'Mione, I am fine," Harry tried to interrupt her. "But I really appreciate a cup of tea, too, if don't mind. Really thirsty for some reason," he admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, of course! Sorry, I am just so glad," Hermione ushered him towards the table, "I'll make you tea, Harry!" Then her gaze fell on Voldemort. "And you're – ?" She looked at the Dark Lord with a frown, unasked question in her eyes.

"That's Tom," Harry butted in. "Don't mind him, better tell me, how you ended up here suddenly," he suggested. "I never took you for the twin's joke stuff fan – " he raised a curious brow.

"Oh, George just brought me here about half-hour ago. Woke me in the middle of night and gave my parents a real scare, this moron!" Hermione pursed her lips. "I almost cursed him, too. If not for the possible letter from the Ministry – !" she shook her head and send a pointed look to one of the twins. "Are you sure, you're altight, though, Harry?" she scrutinised him thoroughly. "You look like shit. And those bruises – " she made a sharp turn on her heels towards Voldemort. "Are those your fingers, mister?!" her wand was in the Dark Lord's face immediately. "Don't you dare say, that they are! I'd curse you from here to the Moon, if that's the case!" Hermione narrowed her eyes threateningly, slightly poking the Dark Lord's nose with her wand with each word. "That's not how you treat your dear ones!"

The last phrase threw Harry into hysterical laughing fit, succesfully distracting furious Hermione from the equally irked up Dark Lord.

"What's so funny, Harry Potter?! I am protecting you, by the way, and you laugh?!" Hermione looked offended.

"Sorry," hiccuping from laughter, managed Harry. "It's just that phrase – " his mirth returned full force, "the smugglers – " he groaned, pointedly looking at twins and Malfoy in turn.

One of the red-heads snorted, clearly remembering the scene from earlier, although Malfoy was looking at Harry worriedly, and the other twin was frowning and shaking his head disapprovingly.

"What smugglers?" it was Hermione's turn to frown and look at Harry with worry.

"Long story," Harry breathed out, trying to calm down, "Tea, please?" he forced out in between his slowly receeding laughs.

"Ah, yes, of course," Hermione shuffled to the kitchen area. "So, the bruises?" she reminded.

"It was accidental," Harry muttered.

"How this can be accidental? It definitely looks like you were strangled!" Hermione brought Harry his cup and returned to the counter to prepare tea for Voldemort.

"Don't spit in his cup," Harry pleaded half-jokingly. "He might choke on muggle-born saliva," he snickered, but quickly turned to Voldemort. "Don't you dare curse her!"

"I was not going to," the Dark Lord gritted.

"I've felt that wandless try," Harry muttered in an undertone. "Tone it down, will you? I've said I'm spent dry," he hissed lowly. Then turned to the twins, "George, why did you bring Hermione here?"

"She is good at research?" George suggested with a nervous wave of his hands. "I just thought she might help, you know. The books, all the stuff. And she is the girl, too," with a meaningful look added George.

"So?" Harry blinked in surprise. "How can that help?"

George shifted his gaze to the side, where the Dark Lord stood, and cleared his throat pointedly.

Harry shook his head in disbelief:

"Her help him?" he mouthed, after made sure none of the discussed persons saw his face.

George nodded fervently.

Harry brought a finger to his temple and knocked on it in a clear doubt of George's mental health.

The twin shrugged and lowered his own head sheepishly.

Harry sighed and shook his head, then went up to the table and plopped on the empty chair in front of the cup Hermione poured him.

"Sit, please," he looked up at the Dark Lord. "They won't bite."

"Not today," agreed Lupin with unamused smile and a nod. "I guess those were the reaction to the news?" he pointed to Harry's bruised throat.

"Aha," Harry sipped at his tea carefully.

"I expected something more – violent, I suppose," Remus admitted.

Harry smirked crookedly.

"He attempted that, too," he admitted, not elaborating further.

"Attempted?" Malfoy raised a brow in surprise.

"Not mine story to tell," Harry muttered and sipped more of his tea.

"What are those news you're laking about?" Hermione interjected curiosly.

"Not mine story, again," Harry repeated. "Not sure I won't be strangled for my efforts," he scoffed and sent a meaningful look Voldemort's way.

Hermione huffed.

"If you want my assistance I need to know how I can help you," she said. "So start talking. Both of you," she turned to the Dark Lord. "You, mister, better have a very good explanation, seeing as harry refuses to cooperate."

"I don't need your 'assistance'," with a grimace of distaste drawled Voldemort. "I am perfectly capable myse– "

"No, you are clearly not!" Harry interrupted him angrily. "All you do is curse and manhadle me! I can very well toss you out on the street and be done with you! You do realise, I hope, that I can manage even with our little problem, but I am certain you would not! So I suggest you stop threatening and insinuating anything and start really cooperate, like Hermione said just now!" He shook his head and tiredly closed his eyes for a brief moment. 'If I had even an ounce of magic left in me I'd be throwing a fit right now as well,' he added mentally. 'But you don't see me blowing a casket, do you? So would you stop fighting and start helping our common case?'

Voldemort just glared at him angrilly, but finally sat at the offered chair and even moved the cup with tea closer to himself, looking at it in contemplation.

"I am sorry," he suddenly let out quietly, seemingly surprised by his own words. "That's just nerves, I suppose, and shock, too," he admitted even quieter, lowering his head as if trying to drown in his cup of tea.

"There is chamomile and mint in there," Hermione supplied, frowning, and motioned towards his cup. "I'd thought they'd be appropriate for the case."

"Thank you," now surprise was written not only on Voldemort's face, but on the others', as well.

Harry snorted, seeing their looks. 'I suggest you talk before either of them collapses from shock,' Harry quipped inside their minds. 'Lucius certainly looks like he'd faint any minute.'

"You know, Harry, that's rude to discuss those present behind their backs," Voldemort chastised him in mild tone. "Can you return Lucius his wand for a moment, please?"

"Why?" Harry tensed immediately.

"He shall perform the necessary secrecy spells and such," Voldemort explained calmly.

"Hermione here can do those perfectly well," Harry offered. "I am not giving the highly ranked Death Eater his wand in yur presence." His posture remained tense.

Voldemort sighed:

"Oh, very well. Ms. Granger, will you, please, perform a necessary spell?" he gritted through his teeth.

"Of what spells we are talking about?" Hermione clarified. "I am not doing anything illegal or dark!"

"Nothing of the nature, I assure you. You should know, I hope, the necessary incantations for Unbreakable Vow and Secrecy Veil?" Voldemort raised an unimpressed brow at Hermione's affronted huff. "You are welcome to show your skills, then," he made a reluctant inviting gesture.

"I understand the necessity of the Secrecy Veil, but Unbreakable Vow – ?" Hermione trailed unsure.

"All of those present, bar me and Harry, shall come into magical contract peraining keeping certain information from reaching certain individuals as well as broad magical masses," the Dark Lord explained.

"Why not you and Harry, too?" Remus interrupted along with Hermione's nod of support of his question.

"I hardly think that either myself or Mr. Potter here would endanger ourselves in such a way. I have no death wish, and, I believe, Harry has neither," Voldemort responded with a shrug. "So, Ms. Granger, please – ?" he motioned to her wand, now out in the open.

"Fine," she winced. "How should I word the Vow exactly?"

"All of you shall vow not to release the information you hear here today from me or Mr. Potter to anyone beyond those present during this conversation, namely, Messirs Fred and George Weasleys, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, Mr. Remus Lupin and you, Ms. Hermione Granger, cannot discuss this conversation and anything peraining to it with anyone else, except for aforementioned Messirs Weasleys, Mr. Malfoy Sr., Mr. Lupin, Ms. Granger, Mr. Harry Potter and me, Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Hermione blanched, hearing the tail of the Vow, but nevertheless waved her wand in a complicated pattern, encircling all of them and spoke the necessary incantation in a shaky voice, ending it with the recital of the vow and the customary phrase: "So mote it be", repeated by others after her.

Harry added his own words to the chorus, as did Voldemort, and felt a tiny surge of magic spalshing from his core in attempt to add to the spell, followed by the second miniscule spark going to the Dark Lord. Harry swayed slightly in his chair and clutched the table edge to steady himself. Voldemort gasped lowly and became white as sheet, certainly also feelling the spark of Harry's magic bypassing his system and going into the spell for the Vow in the Dark Lord's stead.

"And now explain!" in a tense, though still shaky voice ordered Hermione, her wand pointing exactly into the center of Voldemort's forehead and not quivering even a notch, even if her other hand was trembling when she motioned for Harry to talk.

Harry sighed and rubbed his face.

"Deja-vu," he muttered under his nose. "Oh, very well!" he stood and went back to the bedroom to retrieve the scroll. "Here," he muttered, tossing it in front of Hermione, "bottom line."

Hermione quickly read the thing over, not missing a word of the diagnosis, until she finally reached the most important part and looked up at Harry with a blank stare: "Whose is this?"

"His," Harry pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at the Dark Lord. "We've ran into Albanian smugglers on our way home, so he needed medical help. Twins discovered this," Harry knocked at the bottom line about pregnancy, "they thought I might not believe them, so brought Malfoy here and he did the second scan in front of my eyes. Then Remus came," Harry turned to Lupin, "why exactly had you come, by the way? You never told."

"I was checking on the twins by Molly's request," Lupin replied.

"In the middle of the night?" Harry raised a surprised brow.

"I passed by on my way to the 'Cauldron' and saw the light," Lupin shrugged. "At first I thought to come by in the morning, but decided on the late visit at the end, when sensed your smell," he smiled. "I was hoping without hope that it's not a mistake and they really found you."

Harry smiled back at him: "Thanks, Moony."

Voldemort cleared his throat accidentally echoing the similar act by Hermione.

"So you try to say that You-Know – V-Voldemort is – pregnant – ?" she clarified, thowing a horrified look at the man in question, when heard his yet another pointed cough. "What business do you have with this?" now she looked at Harry with the same terror written all over her face.

"I am the father," Harry deadpanned with a strait face.

The Dark Lord emitted a low angry hiss at the implications of him being the 'female' of their interactions.

Hermione jumped in her chair with a violent startle.

Remus gasped, hearing his suspicions unconfirmed but not at the same moment.

Lucius acquired another nervous tick under his eye, rightly, as usual, guessing his master's murderous mood.

The twins looked as though they would be very glad to have a camera right now to document the historical moment.