Harry Potter:Bonds of Hope

When Draco started struggling for breath both Harry and Snape couldn't help but panic. Dobby, thankfully, didn't panic and managed to get the oxygen mask over Draco's tiny nose which helped soothe the panicked cries and harsh breaths coming from the tiny baby in Harry's arms.

It didn't soothe the tears in Harry's eyes, however. Seeing his son, his baby, with an oxygen mask on because his lungs weren't quite fully developed when he was forcefully taken from Harry's body hurt more than anything else. The emotional pain in his heart in some ways hurt more than the contractions that still raced through Harry's stomach and torturously forming birth canal.

He knew Dumbledore didn't care for him the amount that he pretended to in front of others, and in front of Harry himself most of the time. He knew that he was just a weapon to the old man. But for the old man to harm an unborn baby, no matter who the baby was before, because he thought it was a wonderful idea to birth a baby a month before it's due date, without knowing if the baby was okay, was just irresponsible, and a bigger betrayal than any the old man had done to Harry before.

Snape wrapped his arms around them both and pulled them towards him. Harry rested his forehead on Snape's shoulder as he looked at the baby resting against his chest. His baby. The warm water still lapped around them, somewhat easing the pain Harry was physically experiencing.

Harry relished in the comfort the arms provided, even as he groaned from the contraction he was experiencing. Snape rubbed his lower back gently and whispered soothing words into Harry's ear, and despite all the varying levels of pain coursing through his body, heart and mind he couldn't help but smile knowing that he finally had a person, a human person, who was there to support him, to help him, to eventually love him.

"Do either of you needs anything, Master Harry?" Dobby said as he stroked Harry's hair. Harry and Snape were close enough to the edge of the pool for Dobby's arms to be able to reach.

"For this to stop, would be nice," he muttered, "Are there any grapes, and chocolate, and pistachios? Some water would be good also, please? Professor, do you want anything?"

"Call me Severus, please? When we're not in class anyway,"

"Okay, P-Severus," Harry smiled, "Would you like anything?"

"Water, please,"

"Are you not hungry? We haven't eaten since dinner yesterday, and it is now after lunch time," Harry said, a worried hint to his voice.

"I'm fine, I will eat when we have stopped your contractions. You are more important at the moment, and I would rather be able to help you through this than be eating," Severus said, a small smile on his face.

"Are you sure?" Severus nodded, "Okay, but you can help yourself to some of my snacks, and you had better eat when Healer Greyclaw is able to stop this," Severus nodded again, his smile a bit bigger than before.

Dobby popped away and came back a few minutes later, when Harry was in the midst of another contraction with three bowls filled with the snacks Harry asked for and two glasses of water.

"Dobby, you should eat and drink, too," Harry said between breaths.

"Master Harry, I had some water earliers. And if it makes you feel better I will takes some of your snacks since there is more than enough for all of us. Ands I will have something bigger when you are healed," Dobby said, a bright smile on his face.

"You had better eat something more substantial after this," Harry said, sighing shakily.

"I will, Master Harry. You shoulds also,"

"I will," Harry's lips twitched into a small smile.

Harry drank some water and snacked on his snacks between contractions, thankful that Severus and Dobby were also eating and drinking. But also that they were helping him and Draco through what was happening.

It was another few painful hours before Healer Greyclaw came back to them. In that time the contractions got worse, Harry was crying through them and between them due to the burn that the water only slightly eased, Dobby taught Harry and Severus how to change Draco's nappy, Draco mostly slept, but when he was awake Harry and Severus talked to him and held his hands. Harry fed Draco again. And Severus and Dobby helped Harry through the pain as much as they could.

"I am sorry it took me so long. It took a while to find the book in the archive. But I have learned the spell so we can get this over with. However, I do have to warn you that it may take a couple of hours for your birth canal to close. As well as that, as your body is adjusting you may still receive the occasional contraction. This may last anywhere up to a few months, however, when I say occasional, I mean, they won't be too frequent. The most frequent recorded was one contraction a day,"

Harry groaned at the thought of having more contractions, "Wonderful," he muttered.

"We will need to get you back on the bed so that I have good access to your abdomen for the spell, is that okay?" she said kindly.

Harry nodded, only to cry out from another contraction, groaning into Severus' shoulder.

When the contraction ended Severus ended up having to carry Harry to the bed, after Healer Greyclaw re-transfigured the covering on his lap into shorts, because Harry couldn't walk. His whole body was just too shaky. He laid Harry gently on the bed and sat next to him, holding his hand and letting Harry grip it tightly, even as his other hand was on Draco's tiny back, keeping him on Harry's chest.

"Now, Harry, this may feel a bit weird, okay, but your contractions will be over soon," Healer Greyclaw said soothingly.

Harry nodded and watched as she waved her wand over his stomach and chanted words that Harry didn't understand, "Ko'tarishga chek qo'yish, ochilishni tugatish, og'riqni tugatish, chunki bu vaqt emas, tug'iladigan babe yo'q, hozirgi vaqtda emas,"

She chanted it three times, it was a weird feeling, tingly magic that washed over him, and at the end of the third time Harry breathed a slight sigh of relief as the pain in his stomach started to dissipate. The burning of his birth canal didn't, however. Though he could feel the slight weird tingling of the canal slowly starting to knit back together.

He shifted slightly to try and get used to the feeling.

"How is the little one doing?" Healer Greyclaw asked when she was done as she settled down next to Harry on the bed, Dobby sat in front of her.

"He struggled breathing for a while but Dobby managed to get the mask on him to help. He seems to be doing better now, I think. He has been changed, and fed. He seems to be sleeping a lot, is that normal for new-borns?" Harry was worried, he didn't know anything about babies so he didn't know what was normal for them, or not. And sleeping all the time… he just didn't know.

"It is normal for new-borns to sleep a lot. A lot of what new-borns do is eat, sleep and poop. Though, when he is awake, and not eating or pooping, you both should spend some time talking to him, playing with him, holding his hand, and such. Especially these first few months you all need to remain close to each other as much as you possibly can. He also may be more tired due to not being quite fully developed, especially in his lungs. But we will all be here to help you figure things out. You will probably be here for a while. Especially since all of your magics need to calm,"

"Thank you," Harry yawned, though he was deeply relieved that Draco was somewhat okay.

"Why don't you get some sleep, you have been through a lot these last few hours and your body needs to rest?" Healer Greyclaw suggested.

"Okay, but you two had better get something to eat," he said, staring at Severus and Dobby in turn, "And Dobby, when you are done eating, could you take some money from my trust vault and grab some of the basics for Draco please? And some owl order catalogues so we can pick out some stuff when I wake up,"

"Yes, Master Harry. And I will make sure that we both eats,"

"Thank you,"

Harry fell asleep trying to ignore the weird, tingling, burning feeling from his birth canal. He barely noticed him and Draco being covered over by a thin, warm blanket.

…

Harry awoke a few hours later to the sounds of quiet chattering between Severus, Dobby and Healer Greyclaw. Draco seemed to be wriggling around on Harry's chest making sucking sounds and some instinct told Harry that his baby boy was hungry. He rubbed the tiny back gently as he moved to sit up with Draco in his arms and he gently guided the small head to his nipple. He smiled down at Draco as he latched on and started drinking, stroking the tiny head gently as he watched.

"How are you feeling?" Severus asked him, a worried look in his eyes.

"Better. And yourself? Did you eat?" Harry said.

"Yes, I ate. And I am okay, thank you. You should eat, yourself. Is there anything you fancy?"

"Erm, some beef stew, and nice fresh bread, please?" Healer Greyclaw wrote a note of what he wanted and waved her wand at it, causing it to disappear in a small flash.

Draco finished feeding and Dobby placed a cloth over Harry's shoulder so he could burp him. Harry grinned at the little burp that came out of the baby's mouth. His baby. He watched as Draco snuggled into his chest and slowly fell asleep again.

"So, what were you all talking about?"

"I was just getting to know your soulmate," Healer Greyclaw grinned with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

Harry groaned, "I'm sorry, Severus. Whatever she threatened you with, she didn't mean it,"

"Yes, I did," she growled, humour shining in her eyes.

"No, you didn't," he growled back, his mouth twitching into a grin, "You're just a tad overprotective of me,"

"Well, someone has to be," she muttered and Harry smiled at her.

Griphook and King Ragnok chose that moment to storm into the room, folders in their arms and snarls on their mouths.

"Lord Prince, Lord Malfoy is being held in an office and he refuses to leave until he speaks to you. He also wanted to speak to Harry, however, I told him that Harry was healing and therefore couldn't. I couldn't say the same about you. Dumbledore is there also, he also created a scene and refuses to leave until you speak to him. Both of them refused to listen to us when we discussed the situation with them," Griphook said.

Severus looked shocked, "Lord Prince?"

The goblins stare at him in shock, "You are Lord Prince. Your grandfather left everything to you, and a letter explaining everything. Dumbledore brought you here when your grandfather died to claim everything,"

"I have no recollection of that," Severus muttered.

The goblins growled again. Harry was angry also.

"Right, Lord Prince. I will take you to speak to the two morons, then when we get back we can do an inheritance test and make sure all is well. Though I doubt it given everything else," Griphook muttered the last part, but they still heard it.

Griphook led a still shocked looking Severus out of the room just as Harry's food arrived. Dobby held Draco as Harry ate as Harry was worried about trying to eat one handed, or accidentally spilling hot food on his son.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" King Ragnok said, worry on his face.

"I am tired, and my stomach is sore from the C-section. But other than that, I am okay, thank you. How are you?" Harry said between mouthfuls.

"I am good, thank you. Annoyed that they dared to make a scene in my bank, but at least we were able to let out some information about what they have done to the public. Not a lot of course, only some minor bits, but enough for the public to realise that they are not as great as they pretend to be," he grinned, Harry grinned also.

"Ooh, great. I can't wait to tear Dumbledore a new one, or Lucius for that matter. This is going to be great,"

"It will indeed, especially with the added treats that Lady Magic will throw in for them trying to interfere with her ritual," he snarled, glee in his eyes.

"Wonderful," Harry said, his eyes also glittering with glee.

…

Severus entered the office behind Griphook and as soon as he saw the two there he snapped, his anger seeping out of him along with some of his magic. He was powerful before the Bond but now he was more so, and he knew they knew it too, if the looks on their faces were anything to go by.

"Severus, you have to give me back my son," Lucius said as if he was talking to a child.

Severus growled, "He is my son now, Lucius. Magically and biologically. All traces of you have been erased. You have no claim over him. And if you even try then we have memories that we can use to show what an unfit father you are. I mean, you did order some of the older Slytherins to rape and hurt him for you. Why did you do it, Lucius?"

"Come now, Severus. You don't know how to be a father. Let me take him off your hands,"

"You think I would just give up my son? Just like that? Just hand him over to you after what you did to him before he was de-aged? I think not. There is nothing you could say, or do, that will make me hand my son over to you. You may have been his father, but you aren't anymore,"

"Severus, be reasonable," Albus started, Severus glared at him, "You can't continue to spy if you have a child. Especially if you have a child with Harry. You promised to protect Harry, and yet this will just put him in more danger,"

"Oh, and you telling Pomfrey to give a male bearer a C-section without permission wasn't putting him, or Draco, in more danger," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Poppy checked them both over and they are fine,"

"No, they aren't. First of all, no one gave Harry any pain relievers. So he is in pain, despite the pain relievers he has been given by me and the goblins. When we arrived here Harry went into labour, because his body was rather confused, you see, due to him being pregnant and then very suddenly not being pregnant. So, what you did to ensure he wouldn't experience childbirth so young actually made him experience it sooner than he should have, and more painfully, and there wasn't a child at the end because he had already forcefully birthed Draco. Healer Greyclaw had to spend hours finding and learning a spell that would stop and reverse what was happening to him,

"Never mind the fact that Draco's lungs aren't fully developed, and so he has difficulty breathing and needs the aid of an oxygen mask sometimes to help. So no, they aren't fine. And, you have just ruined my chances of being a spy anyway, because you have just told the Dark Lord's right-hand man that I am a bloody spy, you absolute fucking idiot. Not that I want to be one anymore, anyway. I would much rather spend time with my family, protecting them from you, and Lucius, and everyone else,"

"There is no need to talk to me like that, Severus," Albus sounded so disappointed.

"Really? Because you are the reason Harry is in pain that he shouldn't be in. You are the reason that our magics are unstable because you decided to separate us as soon as Draco was born. You are the one who wants to give Draco back to his abusive father, who gave me back to mine, and who placed Harry back with his abusive relatives time and again. You are the one who tried to interfere with a Bond created by Lady Magic herself. You are the one who went above your jurisdiction in regards to the C-section, and the placement of Draco-"

"I am Harry's magical guardian-"

"No, you aren't. You stopped being Harry's magical guardian the moment the Bond took place and Harry became pregnant. And you should know that, you probably do know that and you just decided that you would overstep anyway, because you always know best. Never mind the fact that you have apparently hidden my inheritance from me somehow. I mean, it was rather a shock when King Ragnok called me 'Lord Prince',"

Lucius snorted, "Oh, come off it, Severus. As if you could ever be a Lord, let alone a father,"

Severus punched him, grinning when he heard the satisfying crack of his nose, and as he watched Lucius hold his nose, not quite well enough to stop the blood from flowing slowly through the gaps of his fingers, "That's for Draco, my son,"

"Now, both of you should leave. Draco is not going anywhere with the two of you. Neither of you have any say in his upbringing. And if either of you try to interfere again then on your head be it. I am going back to my family now," his magic burst out in an angry wave, but it didn't hurt them, just ruffled their feathers of sorts.

Griphook led him back to Harry's room, both of them grinning, Severus basking in the feeling that came from punching Lucius Malfoy in the nose.