2

Chapter 2 The Punishment

"You want me to what?"

"Now, now Harry. You have to take it very easy." The Headmaster seemed to find this situation comical, "Things could have been worse. The Malfoys are the richest wizarding family in England. Even you have to agree that they are quite a catch."

Now Harry found this very unbelievable with the Headmaster's choice of words. Either the Headmaster was crazy or his ears failed him. "But, Professor, they were Dark Eaters, not to mention that I'm a boy, and I don't feel that guilty."

"There's a potion to help you," a voice interrupted the argument. Harry turned to see the Potions Master come in with Malfoy senior.

"And if you refuse, I'm rich enough to sue The-Boy-Who-Lived and put him into Azkaban for hurting my only heir." If it was possible, Harry's face got paler and paler as the words spoken to him.

"Harry, my boy. You need to sit down. What you are about to hear is confidential. If one word is let out of this room, we are all in danger. Understand?"

"Let me, Albus," Lucius approached the still shocked Harry Potter, "You must know that we, The Malfoys, are the richest family here in England, as well as the most powerful and influential. But we are not dark. You might not believeit, but your father used to be my boyhood friend."

When there was no reaction from Harry, he just continued. "When Voldemort gathered supporters, he wanted the Malfoys' power and influence to get more and more faithful follower. And to get what he wanted he put a curse on my family. I could only have one child and Voldemort get a hold on him. If I didn't do what he wanted, he'd kill my son."

Lucius saw the disbelief look on Harry's face, "Draco is the only one that can continue the Malfoys' line. If anything happen to him, and I couldn't get any little Malfoys… know what I mean."

"Lucius, please. You'll scare the little boy." Severus couldn't hide the glee in his low voice.

"But… but why me?"

"You defeated Voldemort even when you were a baby. I'm sure you are strong enough to protect the baby."

Harry got a very comical look upon his face.

"Just another protection, Potter, since he can't get a hold on you. And it will be your fault if anything happen to the baby."

"What… what will Sirius say… what will my uncle and aunt say if they…"

"Oh, come on, Potter. Black will only find this amusing," Severus was tired of Harry's unintelligent burble. "And what the muggles have to do with this anyway."

"How about Mal… I mean Dr..aco. Will he agree with this?"

"Then, Harry, my boy, you have nothing to worry about." It was always Dumbledore who got the honour to say the last word.

The Infirmary

Harry finally got the chance to see Draco three days later. He stormed to his bed with determined look on his face.

"This is all your fault, Malfoy."

"What? You hit me, send me to the infirmary and I'm to be blame? What a Gryffindor you are." Sure Draco looked healthy enough for someone who got hit very hard on his head.

"You should have avoided it. And… and…" When the Gryffindor just stopped in mid-sentence, the realization hit him.

"I see. Are you scared? I'm not that ugly, right. And I'm pretty sure I can make a good father."

"Not a word about it, Malfoy."

"Oh, come on. You are actually not bad looking either, Harry, we could have a wonderful son."

"It could be a girl, Malfoy."

"It could be a girl, Harry. But I want a son."

"And your wish is my command?" Harry didn't lose his sarcasm.

"Pretty much like that. Hey, I like it that way." Draco managed to sit up and pulled Harry to sit on the bed next to him.

"I bet you do," And now Harry couldn't help himself blushing, "Why don't you find a female to do this job, Malfoy? Like you said, you are not that ugly. Sure you would find one."

"Well, thank you, Harry." And all Harry could do was roll his eyes.

They heard someone talking to Madame Pomfrey, asking permission to visit Draco Malfoy. Harry jumped off his bed, he saw Draco wink at him once than go back to the 'paled-tired-looking-I-need-the-rest-boy' mode.

"Draco, I heard Madame Pomfrey say that you are better," Blaize walked to him, but then saw something more interesting, "Harry, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I came to apologize but maybe he's not up to it." Harry couldn't look at him.

"Well, don't worry too much. I bet Draco will be OK." Blaise absolutely focussed all of his attention at Harry.

"I guess I'll come back later. See you, Zabini." Harry turned to leave but Blaise stopped him.

"I'll walk you out."

"Didn't you come to see him?" Harry nodded his head to Draco, who had obviously heard all of the conversation.

"I'll come back later when he's awake. Oh, and Harry, you may call me Blaise." Blaise put his hand around Harry's shoulder and led him to the door.

Harry looked behind his shoulder and saw the very awake and irate Draco Malfoy.

"What's all the noise…" How could he fake his voice as if he's just awake from the slumber?

"Oh, Blaise and Potter….?" This proved to be interesting.

"I came to say I'm sorry. Bye." Harry said it in one breath and then left the stunned Slytherins.

The Headmaster's Office

"You should quit Quidditch, Harry." The Headmaster informed him carefully.

"What? Why? I thought bearing the baby is the punishment. Why should I give up Quidditch?" Not very carefully, then.

Severus initiated to finish this very, very soon.

"First off, flying and Quidditch don't actually agree with pregnancy. Even an idiot knows that. Something could happen and you lose you baby. Which we will prevent. And second, we can't let anyone, particularly Voldemort, find out about you carrying the next Malfoy. And quitting Quidditch will be the right option. The world saw you hurting the Malfoy's heir. You can't get away with it. Either you get expelled or you quit the Quidditch team." This silenced the great Harry Potter.

"I'm glad that you understand." Understand was barely Harry's state.

"Well, Harry, I will officially pull you from the team, today at dinner." Was there really sympathy in the old wizard's voice? "You may visit Draco again. Or better yet, you may have dinner with him. It will help you to understand each other."

So, Harry was sent back to the Infirmary to have a dinner with the soon-to-be father of his soon-to-be son. Draco had been moved to a secluded room, and he got the room to himself so they could have a conversation without the worry of eavesdropping.

"Mother and Father will come in the next three days to witness our bonding. You can have your godfather and the werewolf too. It will be quite safe, I think."

"What… bonding?"

"It's a wizarding marriage. You know, vowing and stuff. Just like the muggles, I suppose." How could Draco make it conversational is beyond belief.

"But I thought I would just have to bear the baby and…"

"I'm not that stupid, Potter. You'll have my name, and the baby will be legally mine. You see what a gentleman I am? I even marry you before I get you pregnant."

"What about Ron and Hermione? They will find out and be furious if I don't tell them."

Draco just sighed. "Fine, they can come but not a word about my family or Voldemort. I don't want anything happen to my child."

"They are trustworthy, and I'm not even pregnant now." Harry got angry with himself when he felt his face hot and blush.

"Sure they are, being Gryffindors. But things could happen, Harry. You should know by now that not all people are nice."

"Yeah, but what's the rush. In three days?"

"It's not like you need the white wedding gown with a dozen flower girls. And in three days, it will be Valentine's Day," Draco couldn't help smirking now. "The students will be out having dates and being soppy and pathetically romantic fools, they won't notice us missing. They won't even notice a Death Eater and a fugitive in school." This should sound logical because he, Draco Malfoy, not a romantic fool.

Sigh. "I guess you are right." Damn, Harry once again lost his appetite.

1 February 03, 10:16 pm