A/N: After the last dark chapter, here is something light. And by the way, Annie Weasley is named after my very dear fan dracos annie who stuck with me through thick and thin. I just wanted to make that an official statement!

Even days after that class, Harry was feeling the raw emotions both from his students and himself. So it was with some relief that he and Draco flooed to the Weasleys for the weekend.

"Are you sure you have everything?" said Hermione. She pushed back through the doorway and rummaged in the kitchen.

Harry looked sidelong at a plaintive Ron. She's driving me mad, he mouthed to Harry. "Come along, Hermione," Ron said aloud. "Everything is under control. Let's go!"

"Okay," she said in a rush. "But if you need anything or if anything happens you'll Firecall us immediately, right? And don't forget, she needs her potion-only two drops-right before bed. And-"

"Merlin's bollocks, Granger," said Draco with a snort. "We got it, all right?"

She stared at him as if only just realizing he was there. Harry had little Annie in his arms and he took one of the baby's fat little wrists and waved it. "Bye-bye, Mum. I'll be fine with Uncle Harry and Auntie Draco."

Draco gave Harry a scathing look before he pushed the Weasleys out the door and leaned out into the porch. "Everything will be fine. Go!"

"It's just that it's our first weekend away-"

He closed the door in her face and waved his wand, locking it. He looked at Harry. "What a raving bint."

Harry smiled. "She's just nervous."

"You're the effing hero of the Wizarding world. What does she think will happen?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said moving into the lounge that was scattered with baby toys and things. "That we'll put formula on her bum and a nappy in her bottle." He sat down and held her. She felt warm and snuggly against him and he rested his face on the top of her head. He inhaled and had to agree; babies did smell good…when one wasn't on the nappy end of things, that is.

He and Draco had visited plenty of times in the last three months with no further feelings from his scar. Harry felt safe in getting comfortable in his position as godfather and found himself adept at feeding little Annie and even changing her.

Draco had yet to touch a nappy, clean or otherwise.

Said husband looked around at the chaos of the room. He scowled. "Now what?"

"Now," said Harry. "We have little Annie all to ourselves!" and he punctuated that by making growling noises into her belly. She made a guttural laugh. Draco frowned.

"And that's it?"

"Well, what did you expect?"

"Well…I thought we'd shag in the Weasley bed. Give them something to think about when they got home." He waggled his brows at Harry.

Harry chuckled. "Has it ever occurred to you that some good-old fashioned hetero love has been going on on those very sheets?"

Draco pulled a face to match any Lucius Malfoy could have conjured. "Thanks for that, Harry! Now I'll never be able to go in there!"

"Oh yes you will. I know you…and your libido." He repositioned Annie on his lap and rattled a wooden toy Hagrid had made. She reached for it, cooing and drooling.

Draco threw himself into an armchair in frustration. "Fine! This is going to be a great weekend."

Harry sighed but ignored his husband. "Why don't you make yourself useful and whip us up some dinner. I'm starved."

Draco drummed his long fingers on the chair arm a moment and then launched from the seat. "All right! Can't they even have the decency to get a house elf?" He grumbled all the way to the kitchen.

"You know how Hermione feels about house elves." He bounced Annie and she laughed again. Harry grinned. He never realized how much he would like taking care of a child. He knew it would be a piece of cake.

* * *

At three am, Annie was still crying. Draco lay sprawled in the armchair in the lounge, a pillow over his head. Harry was pacing back and forth with her, his feet dragging with each weary step. "Come on, Annie," he whined. "Please go to sleep."

The pillow over Draco's head rocked from side to side. "She'll never go to sleep," said his muffled voice. "None of us will ever go to sleep ever again. We're doomed."

"Instead of just bitching, you can help, you know!"

The pillow flung away. "And do what? Make a sleeping draught for her? That's a bloody good idea!" He jumped up, looking hopefully toward the kitchen.

"You can't give a sleeping draught to a baby."

Draco's shoulders sagged. "Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry. What the hell are we going to do?"

"I've changed her, I've fed her, I've burped her, I've given her her potion-I don't know!"

"Firecall Mrs. Weasley."

"No! If we do we'll never hear the end of it and Hermione will never let us do this again."

"Oh, yes! Because this is so much fun I can't wait for a repeat!"

"Maybe I can take her for a broom ride-"

"Are you mental?"

"No, just dead tired. Please, Annie! Sleep!"

"Try walking in the other direction."

Harry glared at Draco's bloodshot eyes. "What the hell difference would that make?"

"I don't know. I'm just tired of watching you walk in the same pattern."

Harry scowled and suddenly thrust her at Draco. "You take her!"

"No way! I never agreed to do this. It was you."

"Draco, please! I have to go to the loo."

"I'm not taking her."

"Draco!"

"Oh all right!" He grabbed her and rested her red and wriggling form against his chest. Harry turned to go to the toilet when he heard something he hadn't for hours: Quiet. Horrified, he spun back and looked.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" He looked down at the sleeping baby and then looked up at Harry with a self-satisfied grin. "She just likes me better."

At this point, Harry didn't care. He rushed to the loo, did his business, and rushed back. But Annie had fallen into blissful repose on Draco's chest, and Draco had settled into the armchair, and he, too, was fast asleep. Harry stood over them and just stared.

Uh oh. Once, a naked Draco had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But Draco with a baby in his arms had suddenly become just as gorgeous.

This was not good.

* * *

The Weasleys were pleased with their wonderful weekend away and Hermione was especially pleased that everyone was still alive and well at home.

"See, Hermione," said Draco handing over the baby. He smiled at Harry. "It was a piece of cake, right Harry?"

Harry nodded. Draco noticed that Harry had taken to nodding for almost the whole rest of the weekend, seldom offering any advice or comments. Draco had taken over Annie's care as she seemed to be the calmest in his arms. He felt a bit awkward at first, but after a few scary moments, he got the hang of it. He was a bit worried about Harry though, thinking that he was perhaps jealous that Draco had taken over the babysitting duties, but he wasn't exactly acting jealous. He had a stupid grin on his face most of the time, in fact, and Draco was beginning to wonder if his husband hadn't broken into the firewhiskey stores.

They exchanged a few pleasantries, but Draco could see that the Weasleys wanted their happy little trio unadulterated again, so he urged Harry to the fireplace and they flooed back to Hogwarts.

Harry said little as they readied for bed that night, and even gave Draco a distracted kiss as they slid under the covers.

"All right, that's it! What the hell's wrong with you, Potter?"

"Hmm? Wrong? Nothing wrong."

"There is something, because you are acting very strangely and I won't have any more of it. You call that a kiss?"

"Oh. Sorry." He leaned over and offered another distracted peck on the lips.

"HARRY! What the bloody hell is going on!"

Harry sat up and waved his hand. The candles by their bed instantly lit. Draco was almost as powerful as Harry, but it galled him that he was still incapable of non-verbal wandless magic.

Harry looked earnestly at Draco and took his hand. "Look. I've been really thinking about it. I mean, this weekend seemed to put it into focus for me, but I don't want you to get mad."

There was nothing worse to Draco than someone telling him not to get mad. It was a surefire way to make him instantly angry. But he controlled his face and the invective he was about to hurl and sighed deeply instead. "I won't," he said softly, "get mad. Just…tell me."

"Well…I thought the weekend was brilliant."

"Which part? The staying up all night part, or the dirty nappy part, or the drooling part…"

That goofy grin was back. "All of it."

"All of it? Potter, you must be mental."

"Especially the part when you were holding her. And you looked so beautiful."

"I look beautiful all the time. I don't need some baby-" Ah, but it was all falling into place. The goofy grin, the quiet, the faraway look in his eye.

"Harry. NO!" He blew out the candle and turned over, but the candle relit and Draco was staring into the vivid flame.

"Come on, Draco. We've got to talk about it sometime."

"What happened to 'this conversation is years away'?"

"I think that was you."

"Nevertheless. I don't want to talk about it." He rolled over but that damned flame refused to go out, even when he muttered "Finite!"

"But Draco. Don't you think it's so amazing? And wouldn't you like to continue the Malfoy line? You said so, remember? We need more Purebloods, right?"

"But not this minute! Gods, Potter! What is your problem? If you wanted all this why didn't you stay a happy hetero instead?"

"But you said-"

"Bollocks to what I said. I was on my bloody honeymoon. I would have said anything to you to shut you up."

"Do you mean you lied to me?"

He sat up and scooted up against the headboard. "No, I didn't lie to you. But I thought this was years away. We've only been married a year."

"So what? Shouldn't we do this when we're young and have the stamina for it?"

"I thought we'd reserve our stamina years for sex."

"Draco, is that really all you think about? Isn't there any room for anything else?"

"Yes. Cuddling. I like cuddling."

Harry leaned closer to speak which Draco decided Harry really mustn't do if he was trying to talk earnestly. He really mustn't look so sexy either, because it was entirely too distracting. The duvet was barely covering his lap and Draco was making out the outline of his cock in the sheets. It wasn't hard yet but that didn't matter. A few licks and Draco could muster it to full strength. And Harry's stomach was looking good lately, too. He'd been doing something he called 'crunches', whatever that was. Sounded Muggle. His chest was filling out as well. He guessed Harry was becoming quite a man, not that he wasn't before but-

"Are you even listening to me?"

Draco snapped his head up. He felt a slight warmth in his cheeks. "Ah…didn't catch that last bit."

Harry scowled. "Fine, then. Never mind. Go to sleep." He waved his hand and the candles went out. Harry turned over, giving Draco his back…a long, sinewy, naked back, and the place where it swelled to his buttocks was entirely too enticing-No. Mustn't do that. It already got him into trouble and now there seemed scant chance of a good buggering tonight. Damn. Honestly. Harry was such a woman sometimes. Draco scooted closer and just barely touched his hand to the back of Harry's neck. Harry shivered but tried to hide it. Draco got even closer and dropped his lips to that same spot.

"Harry," he purred. Harry shivered again. "Harry love. Do you really want this now? Think of the sleepless nights. Think of the mess. Think of this new superhero thing Dumbledore's got you on." That did it. Harry turned back, blinking his green eyes at Draco in the near darkness of the moonlit room. "I see you haven't considered that."

"That…that will always be with us. Waiting won't make any difference. But if you don't want to, then there's nothing left to say." He rolled over again and settled into the pillow.

Draco stared at the back of Harry's head, at that messy black hair he so loved, and considered. He hated to admit it. He really hated to. But he had snatched peeks at Harry holding little Annie and he had been completely gob-smacked by the sight. Harry was hot with a baby in his arms. He looked sexy and royal and somehow so powerful with that tiny bundle. How could he have? But he did. So in control. Not that Harry was anything but that. He was always in control. Always. Even during that Unfixable incident, Harry managed never to look like the victim. How was this possible? Maybe it had to do with the most-powerful-wizard-on-the-planet thing. Or maybe not. Maybe it was just a Harry Potter thing. He'd always had it. Exuding confidence even when he claimed he didn't have it. Didn't people follow him, even when they thought he was a lying bastard who made up stories to appear important in that fifth year when he'd started Dumbledore's Army? Draco had asked Hermione about that. She told him that she had suggested to Harry to do it in the first place, but that Harry didn't believe that people would follow him. What a prat. Didn't he know? Didn't he realize? They would always follow Harry, because he was…Harry. Hell, if Draco hadn't been so bloody wrapped up in Voldemort all those years, he probably would have followed him too. Or at least he'd like to think he would have done.

Harry had looked so natural with a baby. It was just a normal extension of his Harry Potterness, he guessed. And Harry wanted it. Not even his own, but Draco's. What kind of an idiot was he? Wanting to be the mother to his lover's child? Who but Harry Potter could get away with that and still appear as the most masculine thing on earth?

"You really piss me off, you know that?"

Harry turned over again and stared at him. "What have I done now?"

"You. With your 'I look so good holding a baby' posture. You, with this…this naturalness about you. It's unnatural! You, with those big puppy dog eyes; that father thing you exude. You, and your utter sexiness that should really be outlawed because it is surely used more for evil than good."

Harry sat up and waved his hand again. The candles lit and he grabbed his glasses, the better to glare at Draco. "What the hell are you on about?"

The longer he stared at Harry, the more swelled his heart became until it constricted his throat. "You just…when I looked at you, you just…" Draco lowered his face and swallowed past that hard lump. "Why do you have to be so right all the time? I really hate that. It's not fair."

"Right about what?"

He raised his face and kissed Harry. "You looked so right holding little Annie. Like she was your own. And I couldn't help thinking what you would look like holding your own baby. And it really pissed me off!"

Harry froze. "So…what are you saying?"

Draco sighed dramatically. He really didn't know any other way that was as affective. "If you really want it that badly, I guess…now is as good a time as any."

"For what?"

"Honestly. Do I have to spell it out? Let's have a baby!"

Harry's face slowly broke into a smile. There it was. That beautiful, beautiful smile. Draco would kill for that smile. Easily. That smile that was directed to him alone.

Harry clasped him and kissed him.

And besides. That meant Draco was in for some fine buggering tonight, after all.


On to Chapter Five
"Surrogate"

Back to Chapter Three
"Hogwarts At Last"

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