InsaneJournal

Unexpected - Chapter 3: St Hedwig
Title: Unexpected
Authors: slashpervert and aveeno_baby.

Betas: brknhalo241, asm614, Mini Mouse, and Indie.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: ADULT!
Genre: Fluff, Smut, Hurt/Comfort
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Length: 94,000 words (40 Chapters)
Warnings (Mark to Read): Language, Explicit, M/M Sex, Masturbation, Oral, Rimming, Anal, Mpreg, and mental health issues such as anxiety attacks. (Characters in this fiction are over 18.)

Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy have lived together for four years in their country house surrounded by a magical menagerie of unwanted animals Harry rescues. Yet, Harry wants more. He dreams of a family that includes children.

Notes: Post-war, AU after HBP, not DH compliant. Sequel to Undesirable, though can be read separately. Whereas, Undesirable was very dark, this one is very fluffy with some angst. Thanks to corvusdea for help with Latin for spells. Icon adapted by slashpervert from Passion by dirty_darella.
Disclaimer: This is a non-commercial work of fan fiction intended for adult audiences only. No copyright infringement intended. (Full Disclaimer!)

Chapter Number/Total: 3/40
Chapter Title: St Hedwig
Words: 2577 Words



Saint Hedwig’s Home for Children was an older orphanage, affiliated with a church, of course, and run by nuns. None of that bothered Harry. He had chosen it, quite simply, because of the name. The same name as his first owl who had died during the war. And the nuns seemed to like the polite young man who came to visit, even if he did look a bit odd with his glasses and long hair. They didn't know he was partnered to a man and he didn't tell them. Harry had been surprised to learn that St Hedwig was the patron saint of orphaned children.

He was greeted by a few of the younger children, immediately followed by a nun who smiled and waved hello. "How are you today, Harry?" Sister Margaret asked.

"I'm all right, thank you," Harry replied. "How is everyone doing?"

"Sarah has a cold, which, of course, means the others probably will have it soon," Sister Margaret explained. “The others are in the day room.”

“Thanks,” Harry told her. He decided to check on Sarah first. He stepped into the girls' dorm room and quietly walked over to Sarah's bed, sitting down on the edge of it. She sneezed, blowing into a tissue. "'Lo 'Arry," she said, sounding like she was holding her nose.

"Hi, I can see you're not feeling so well," Harry said softly, reaching over to brush the hair off her face and cup one cheek. He always hated when one of the children got sick, since he knew he couldn't do anything to really help them.

"Me too," she admitted. "But I don' have to take my test."

Harry knew she had been worried about a math test. "You will eventually," Harry told her, smiling softly. "You still need more help?"

She shrugged. It wasn't her favourite topic but, like some of the other children, she enjoyed studying with Harry.

"We'll leave that for when you're feeling better, though," Harry said, patting her cheek gently.

***

Harry made his way into the large front room where the children played inside on rainy days. The orphanage was also a school and Harry usually arrived in time for and stayed through the various playtimes. Right now it was the middle age group, which consisted of about two dozen children, A large group of them were gathered around a table playing a board game. Harry looked around and found one of his favorites, Elijah, sitting off to one side staring out the window. The nine-year-old was perched on a chair with his feet drawn up onto the seat, arms around his knees and chin resting on top.

Harry tilted his head curiously at the boy before he made his way over to him, pulling a chair up next to him. "Why aren't you playing with the rest of them?" he asked softly, hating to see the boy looking so sad.

Elijah's hair was getting too long, brown strands falling into his eyes. He startled at the sound of Harry's voice, glancing sideways at him before continuing to look out the window, though it was unclear as to whether he was looking beyond the glass or watching the water trickling down the surface. He mumbled something Harry couldn't understand.

"Eli?" Harry said, reaching to tuck a bit of his hair back. "Talk to me?"

"Nobody likes me," Elijah insisted.

Harry bit his lip softly, quiet for moment. "I like you," he reminded the boy.

Elijah did turn then, blue eyes looking pleadingly toward Harry. "Really? You don't just talk to me ‘cause the nuns tell you to?"

"Of course not," Harry said, shaking his head. "I talk to you because you're nice. And funny. And because I want to." Harry hadn’t really thought about how much he liked the boy before, but he realized it was true. He cared about Elijah.

The boy looked near tears and looked down quickly. "B-but n-no one else does," he whispered. "The others ... they make fun of m-me."

"Oh, Eli, don't cry," Harry murmured, moving to get down on his knees in front of him.

"I'm not," Elijah claimed, glancing worriedly behind him, apparently afraid someone would hear.

"Come sit down with me," Harry said, folding his legs underneath him.

Elijah gave a small sniff and moved out of the chair and onto the floor with Harry.

Harry shifted closer and slid his arm around Elijah's shoulders, letting the boy rest against him. "I wish everyone was nice to you," he started softly.

Elijah tensed and then let out a shuddering sigh. "Me too," he whispered.

"I know how you feel, though," Harry told him. "Kids used to make fun of me, too."

The boy looked up, clearly surprised and then almost smiled. "You?"

"Yeah. I was a lot like you. Except I had messier hair and ugly glasses," he replied, tapping Elijah's nose.

"Uglier than those?" Elijah asked, frowning at Harry's current pair.

Harry chuckled, taking off the pair of wire-rimmed glasses to look at them for a moment. He thought they were nice. "Uglier than these."

Elijah looked impressed. "Benjamin dumped my milk in my lap and then told everybody I pissed myself. Did they do stuff like that?"

"Oh, yeah. Worse than that," Harry said, reminding himself to find Benjamin and have a chat with him.

Some laughter drifted to them from the table where the game was being played. Elijah glanced over there and then back to Harry. "They didn't want me to play with them. I don't like being made fun of and left out of stuff."

"That's their loss," Harry replied. He paused for a moment before he continued, "When I was younger, I had this cousin. He hated me, just plain hated me, for whatever reason. And we were about the same age. Like you, it was hard to make friends, so once I finally made one, my cousin thought I didn't deserve it. He beat him up and told him to never be friends with me. And my friend stopped talking to me."

Elijah's frowned. "What happened then?"

"I didn't have anyone to talk to," Harry said softly. "But I managed to make it. Eventually, I did find friends. Things are a lot better now."

"But you had a family?" Elijah asked.

"Not, really. I lived with my aunt and uncle and they didn’t like me," Harry explained. "I was pretty much an orphan, too."

"What about your mommy and daddy?" Elijah asked.

Harry paused, wondering if he should say. "I didn't have my mommy and daddy. I had my aunt, uncle, and cousin."

"My mommy and daddy are dead. What happened to yours?"

"Mine died, too," Harry said once he saw that Elijah was okay with that word.

"So you are all alone, too?" Elijah asked worriedly, fingers curling around Harry's hand.

"No, I am not alone anymore. I have people who love me. And you aren't alone anymore," Harry said, resting his other hand on top of theirs. "I promise."

"I wish you were my daddy," Elijah said, resting his head against Harry's shoulder.

"Really?" Harry asked softly, running his fingers through Elijah's hair. "You'd want me to do that?"

Elijah beamed at him. "Oh, you would be great dad."

Harry thought about that, wondering if he really would make a good dad. It was no secret that he wanted a family, he just didn't know if he would be able to after everything that had happened.

They sat that way for several minutes, Harry holding Elijah. "I hate the rain," Elijah finally said, looking out. "There's nuthin' to do."

Harry actually loved the rain, but he understood Elijah. Especially being left out. He sighed and pushed the boy’s hair away from his face, leaning in to kiss his forehead. “Let’s you and me play a game, huh?”

Elijah’s face lit up. “Can we? What can we play?”

“Do you know how to play chess?” Harry asked.

Elijah didn’t. Harry found a set in the shelf with games and set it up. It was missing a couple pieces but they substituted checkers markers for them and played anyway. He was tempted to let Elijah win but the boy wasn’t bad for someone who hadn’t played before. After a couple games, Harry realized it was getting darker and the storm worse. "I have to head out," he said, even though he really didn't want to go.

"No," Elijah said, clutching Harry's shirt.

Harry wanted to stay longer, but he knew Draco would worry. "It's okay, I'll be back." He smiled at him, thinking for a moment before he reached behind Elijah's ear, pulling out a two pound coin. He had actually quietly Transfigured it, but the boy didn't have to know that. "Here."

Elijah's eyes grew as round as the coin. "Wow, you do magic?"

Harry moved to get up. "Maybe I'll show you how sometime," he said. "How about you try and figure it out first?"

"Then you'll show me?" the boy said, getting excitedly to his feet, too.

"I'll show you," he said, pulling the boy into a hug. "Later, okay?"

"That would be brilliant!" Elijah said, already looking curiously at the coin, apparently trying to figure out how one would do that.

"I'll see you," he told him, waving, and then turning to say goodbye to all the children.

Once they realised he was leaving, several of them crowded around, complaining that he should play the game with them.

Harry had a feeling it would happen, but he just smiled, ruffling a few of the boys, hair. "I have to go, but I promise I'll play with you next time. You should play with Elijah in the meantime. "

Some of the kids made faces but one of the girls pulled up a chair at the table for Elijah.

"He's just as fun as I am," Harry told them all, not wanting the boy to be left out anymore. "So go have fun."

There were a few more goodbyes and then the children returned to their game, Elijah with them.

Harry watched them for a moment, smiling before he walked out, wondering if he'd have the time to say goodbye to the nuns.

Sister Elizabeth was watching the children in the room and came forward to walk Harry to the door. "They do love your visits, Harry."

"And I do love coming here," Harry replied with a smile. "I love the kids."

She smiled indulgently. "Most of the time they only see nuns, so it's nice to have another adult who visits."

"I'm glad to have time with them," Harry said with a nod.

Harry spoke to the nun for a few more minutes before he had to go, waving goodbye.

***

Draco gathered his notebooks and then went out to the back patio to collect the hutch. He had promised to take it with him to the lab. Oberon followed him. The Kneazle was the only beast Draco trusted not to get into trouble in the lab, so Oberon usually kept him company.

By mid-afternoon, he had the phials filled and ready to go in a special carrying case and brought them up the stairs. He called Sherlock down and tied the shipment to the owl’s leg. "Get this there safely and I will have a nice steak for you when you come back," he told the bird and sent him off.

Oberon meowed plaintively, reminding Draco that he would like steak. Or at least lunch. So, Draco went about feeding him and the rest of the animals. Then he made himself lunch too and returned to the lab to prepare a shipment for Hogwarts that Sherlock could deliver the next day.

Harry came through the front door, shaking off the rain. He had been thinking about his day. He grinned as Snuffles and Wags almost immediately ran for him. "Draco?" he called out as he petted the dogs.

Draco was in the bedroom, having just cleaned up from working in the lab all day. "Up here," he called down, towel wrapped around his hips while he used another to dry his hair.

Harry went up the stairs to see him, raising an eyebrow and looking him over. "Hey, you," he said, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

Draco tossed his damp hair back from his face as he reached for his lover. He noticed the drops of rain on Harry's long black hair. "Looks like you could use a towel too. Forget a Drying Charm?" he asked with a grin.

"You know I don't care about the rain," Harry reminded him, grinning back at him. "Did you miss me?" He asked this almost every time he came home, and Draco always replied the same.

"Always," Draco answered, voice filled with affection as he wrapped an arm around Harry and pulled him against his own body.

Harry sighed happily against Draco's chest, kissing the skin before he looked up at him. "What did you do today?"

"I finished an order for Hogwarts and made a new batch of Wolfsbane for Remus," Draco said, still amused to have a werewolf part of his circle of close friends.

"Ahh, I didn't have to remind you," he said with a smile.

Draco arched an eyebrow in mild reproach but nudged Harry's nose with his own. He rubbed against him, mostly naked while Harry was still clothed.

Harry settled down on the bed with Draco, kissing his lips a few times before he sighed, resting his head against Draco's chest again. "The kids were okay today," he started, reaching for the other man's hand. "Mostly."

Draco leant back against the headboard, arms around his lover. "Mostly?"

"Yeah. They were making fun of Elijah again," Harry started to explain, taking off his shoes.

"Children do that," Draco chided.

"I know," Harry said, raising an eyebrow up at Draco, silently reminding him of how the other man acted.

Draco huffed. "You already know why I was the way I was," he insisted. "With both of us, the past had a way of shaping what happened. So, what is it about Elijah or about the other kids that makes them pick on him?"

"He's like me," Harry replied, looking thoughtful. "Like I was when I was his age. Awkward, the odd one out ...."

"And you don't want him to go through what you did," Draco finished.

Harry looked up at him, realising that he didn't want Elijah to go through that. "Yeah ... how'd you know?"

Draco gave him a wry smile. "Because I know you," he whispered, kissing his forehead. "And I think it's natural to not want anyone else to have to go through that."

"But what can I do for him?" Harry asked, looking into Draco's eyes.

Draco always felt like he got a bit lost in the those intense green eyes, especially when they looked at him with pleading in them. Problem was he didn't know the answer. "Well, being his friend is probably a good start. Maybe if he knew it might get better later?"

"Yes, I told him, and of course he's my friend," he said, reaching to pull the hair band out of his hair so could shake it out. "I just want to give him so much more ...."

Draco stroked Harry's hair, fingers sliding through long silky black strands and nodding sympathetically. “Let’s go make dinner.”

[Children do bring up our pasts.]

Chapter 4

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