Snitches get Stitches

December 10th

Dudley was bored.

He went to school with Harry and Mandy that day, sat through all of his classes. It was surprising to Dudley that he wasn't confused in his classes - some of it was actually dead easy.

Harry made it sound hard, but Dudley didn't go to a mental school for magic that was filled with monsters and crazy shite. Dudley went to Smeltings, where he'd been a little below average in most of his classes. It was kind of nice, feeling like he wasn't an idiot in his new classes.

Mum would be proud… if Mum knew. Which she couldn't and wouldn't… but Dudley would still probably save any report cards he got for her. Dudley wasn't exactly sure where his parents thought he was and he couldn't bloody ask because Lupin was the one who did the magic just before he skipped out on Harry.

It was a good thing Dudley was there, honestly. At the rate people were leaving his cousin he'd be left with just Dudley soon enough.

Did the wizards have some different rule book on taking care of kids who were too skinny and tried to kill themselves? Was Dad a little right when he said they were all bloody bonkers?

Dudley shook his head to himself on his solo walk back to Harry's place. Aside from Harry, and maybe Hermione, Dudley hadn't heard one good thing about any of the wizards Harry knew.

The normal folks were alright, some of them.

Dudley liked Mandy well enough when she decided not to get rid of Dudley's niece or nephew. Their neighbor, Ian, he was alright too. Dudley felt sort of bad for him, it made him feel sick to think about some kid being preyed on by a grown man for sex. Course then Dudley felt bad for Mandy because it happened to her too, by her own dad.

It made Dudley wonder if awful shite happened back home too. It probably did… his own parents locked a kid in a cupboard and beat him when the mood struck.

Christ. Dudley had to sit on the porch and think about that for a minute. He saw half of a cigarette on the ledge and figured it was Harry's so he grabbed it and the little plastic lighter behind the empty flower pot so he could smoke while he thought.

Bad shite probably happened to kids all the time, all the time. People kind of closed their doors and closed their eyes, but Dudley wondered who else on Privet Drive had something bloody awful happening when nobody could see?

Harry was abused, Mandy was raped, Ian was groomed…

Maybe it wasn't wizards, maybe it was parents in general. Maybe almost all kids had something fucked up happening where nobody could see.

Dudley's parents spoiled him, but Dudley was starting to think he was the exception when it should be the rule. Maybe - maybe not a rule to encourage kids to beat up their cousins, but a rule to not starve, beat, or hurt their kid anyway.

It would be Harry who would also become the exception, Dudley was as sure of that as anything. Dudley knew Harry wanted to be a dad, he wanted that baby more than anything. Harry was going to be the best damn father there was… and Dudley would be the best Uncle Dudley he knew how to be.

So maybe Harry's kid wouldn't be fucked up and it would one day have more kids and raise them right and maybe the rule and exceptions would start to change.

Or maybe Dudley wasn't getting enough sleep and it was making him a little nutty.

Dudley stretched out on the porch and wondered how the doctor's appointment for the baby was going, if Harry was losing his marbles over seeing his kid or not. Dudley grinned and thought he probably was - and wasn't that weird? Little H having a little H of his own.

Babies were probably a lot of work; changing nappies, making bottles, dressing them in teeny tiny little outfits…

And they probably cried a lot, like the baby that began crying just when Dudley started thinking about how much work they were.

Dudley looked around until he found the little baby that was crying. There was a girl pushing a stroller at the other end of the sidewalk and Dudley could see her fussing with a baby, trying to hold the bottle and push the stroller and carry a big brown bag in her arms.

"Need a hand?" Dudley hopped up and walked toward her with a friendly grin. He thought he recognized the girl, she lived in the house with Kevin and Veronica - two more people in the neighborhood that Dudley liked.

Kevin was strange, but he liked Harry and let him sleep there and gave him drinks at his pub. Veronica was - she was… bloody hell, she was hot. She was loud too, but she also patched Harry up back when Sirius was kicking his arse so Dudley tried to not look at her boobs when he saw her out of respect.

"That would be lovely." The girl smiled at Dudley and it made Dudley's smile turn a little stupid, she was pretty. Dudley was quick to take the brown bag from her and then he waved at the baby boy she had. He was a little cutie, all pink cheeked and big blue eyes that stopped crying when he saw Dudley.

"This is Jonah, I'm Ethel," the girl said. Dudley heard about her, from Harry. Ethel was in a cult or something - another sick situation where she was married to an old man and had a baby when she was fourteen. She was Kevin and Veronica's foster daughter, Harry said she was nice but that she cleaned a lot.

"I'm Dudley," Dudley said. "I'm Harry's cousin."

"Oh, great!" Ethel smiled again and had a much easier time feeding Jonah while Dudley carried the bag for her. "Where is Harry?" she asked.

"Doctor's appointment." Dudley screwed his face up at Jonah, hoping to make the little fella smile. When he did, Dudley lit up in triumph. See, he'd make a great uncle.

"For the baby?" Ethel asked. She hummed happily when Dudley nodded. "That's wonderful, babies are such a blessing," she said. "I've started making a blanket for them. I'm making it yellow, just in case it isn't a girl."

"I hope it is, Harry's really wanting a girl," Dudley said. They walked up to the house beside Harry's, the one where Ethel lived, and Dudley set the bag on the porch so he could lift the stroller up the steps for Ethel.

"As long as the baby's healthy, I think Harry will be happy," Ethel said wisely. She watched Dudley wiggle his fingers at Jonah again and held him out toward Dudley. "Would you like to hold Jonah? He's a little fussy, but it would be good practice for when Harry's child is born."

Dudley wasn't sure how to hold a baby and he took Jonah kind of awkwardly. He tried to mimic how Ethel had him on her hip though and it stopped feeling strange after a few seconds.

"You're a natural," Ethel said, smiling big at Dudley. "Jonah likes you, he hasn't cried since he saw you."

"Is that right?" Dudley grinned at Jonah and bounced him lightly. "Are we gonna be friends, little fella? I can teach you all sorts of stuff… you wanna be a little boxer?" Dudley took Jonah's hand and curled it in a tiny fist. "There you go, Jonah, just like that!"

Ethel laughed and it made Dudley feel a little taller, a little funnier than he probably was.

"Would you like to come inside?" Ethel offered. "I need to start dinner. Veronica said it wasn't my job, but I like to cook."

Dudley didn't know how to cook, which was Harry's fault when they were being funny and his parents fault when he wasn't.

"Sure." Dudley hefted little Jonah more securely on his hip and then opened the door for Ethel when she carried the bag inside.

Lupin left, Harry was drinking too much and probably still suicidal. Mandy was pregnant and didn't want to raise the baby. Hermione was fine, but she wasn't going to be living with Harry permanently.

Dudley probably needed to learn how to change nappies and cook meals…

"Thanks, Ethel," Dudley said genuinely.

Maybe Dudley could teach little Jonah things and Jonah would teach him how to take care of a baby.

Blimey, Dudley's baby cousin having a baby… Harry was mental.

*****

It didn't matter if Harry's head ached and his body felt like he'd been hit by a massive truck. It didn't matter if the clock ticking on the wall was making his blood pressure spike or that all he wanted was a cigarette to calm his nerves.

All that mattered was Mandy's hand in Harry's, both of their palms so sweaty that Harry couldn't tell who started it - though he suspected it was him. Mandy looked at a magazine in her lap, but her leg was bouncing nearly as fast as Harry's was.

By the time the nurse opened the office door and called Mandy's name, Harry actually jumped from his chair he was so wound up.

"You really don't have to go back with me," Mandy mumbled while she stood more slowly, her eyes wary as they glanced toward the nurse in her pink uniform. It was probably the fifth time that Mandy had said something like that since they made the appointment and Harry reassured her again that he wanted to go with her.

Harry wanted to hear with his own ears, maybe even see with his own eyes, that Mandy and the baby were both healthy. Even if Remus was gone - gone, just gone - Harry didn't forget the horrifying list of things that he had gone over with risks of pregnancy.

If Mandy was sick, if there was something wrong with her or the baby, Harry wanted to know as soon as he could. Also, Mandy couldn't seriously expect that Harry would make her go to an appointment alone.

"I want to," Harry reminded her. They held hands while they passed the nurse and felt Mandy clutching him a little tighter when they were pointed to a room. The nurse told Mandy to change into a flimsy gown and Harry felt a bit awkward while she did it.

Harry knew that Mandy was his friend, possibly his best friend in the world. Harry knew he loved Mandy and that she loved him, even if they hurt each other and had been hurt by each other. Harry knew that Mandy kept the baby because he wanted it.

Harry did not know if he was still allowed to see her chest if she changed in front of him and so he looked up at the ceiling just in case.

"You put this thing inside of me, I think you can check out my boobs," Mandy said deadpan when she must have noticed Harry not looking at her.

Harry grinned self-consciously and shrugged at Mandy once she was in her gown. "I wasn't sure if I should," he admitted. Mandy took the bed, Harry sat in the hard plastic chair beside it. "It's weird, right?" he asked her.

Things were weird. Harry didn't know where he fit in Mandy's life - they lived together, she was pregnant with his baby. She didn't get the abortion that Harry gave her his card to pay for, she said that she was going to keep the baby and they were officially past the point where she could abort it. Harry loved her, but Harry knew when the baby was born that Mandy would leave.

Mandy would want to move out of Harry's house, away from the baby she didn't want, away from Harry himself.

Every relationship that Harry had with his friends in Chicago had somehow become so complicated that he didn't know how to detangle. Every single person that Harry interacted with, he felt like things were off which meant that it had to be Harry himself who was off.

Harry wanted to say that it was the medicine Dudley gave him, the medicine Hermione made him refill after his own doctor's appointment on Monday. Harry wanted to blame the antidepressants, he wanted to blame the frigid weather, he wanted to blame it on anything except for Remus leaving.

Because, after nine days, Harry had to accept that he was gone. Harry opened his mouth, took advantage of Remus being there through so much, and Remus left.

Harry should have expected it, and he had sort of, but it still hurt. It was easier to pretend Remus had never swore to stay, that he didn't call Harry his son and that Harry didn't have a moon tattooed on his arm for Remus right beside the stars he had for Sirius.

That tattoo was permanent - Remus and Sirius's involvement in Harry's life clearly wasn't.

"Things aren't weird," Mandy said, taking Harry's hand firmly and crushing his fingers until Harry had no choice but to focus on her. Mandy was something - someone - good to focus on. Dudley told Harry to forget about Remus, forget Sirius, forget everyone who wasn't there and focus on who was.

Which mostly meant Dudley, Mandy, Hermione… and Harry's baby inside of Mandy.

Harry thought that things between him and Mandy were still difficult to walk around. Harry didn't… Harry was thrilled that she kept the baby, Harry had probably never been happier in his life than he was when she said she kept the baby. But Harry knew she didn't want the baby, she didn't want to be pregnant, she would have been fine killing it or selling it to Lip and never seeing it again.

And all of that information, all of that knowledge mixed with the girl Harry loved so much, did make things weird.

Harry wasn't going to bring it all up though, Mandy knew it was difficult for them both. If she wanted to get through the appointment together, stay best friends even if they wouldn't ever be together again, then Harry could do that too.

The nurse returned a few minutes after Mandy changed and she had her get comfortable on the bed. Harry stood up and moved so that he could see the little computer screen that the nurse pulled up with a little stick thing on Mandy's stomach.

"Here in a second we'll be able to see… there they are!" The nurse pointed the stick on the stomach and Harry looked at the monitor at his child for the first time ever.

It was definitely a baby… a little tiny baby on the screen floating around in lines made of white.

"I'm going to check them over now," the nurse said as she began moving the stick around and changing the image that had Harry's complete attention. "You're due on June 25th?" she asked Mandy.

"Yeah, that's what Planned Parenthood said," Mandy told her.

"The baby is the perfect size," the nurse said, snipping one of the weights off Harry's chest and letting it float away. "They're a little small, nothing to be concerned about. You're young, small, they're still a healthy weight."

Perfect. Healthy.

Harry smiled in amazement as the nurse continued her scan, commenting each time on everything that was right. The baby's brain was good, their heartbeat was normal. The placenta - the tube thing that connected the baby to Mandy and fed the baby and gave it oxygen - was in the right place.

Everything looked great - that was what she said. She was going to send Mandy's blood and amniotic fluid (Harry must not have made it to that section in the book he bought because he had no idea what that was) to be tested, to make sure of Mandy and the baby's health. But she said everything looked great - perfect, healthy.

"Would you like to have the fluids tested for gender?" the nurse asked once she finished her scanning and printed off a dozen photos of Harry's baby. Harry had the photos in one hand, Mandy's hand in his other.

It was Harry's perfect, healthy, great baby.

"Fuck yes," Mandy answered when she saw Harry still grinning at the photos. Did the baby's head kind of look like his? "He needs to know what color to paint the room and shit."

"Would you like us to call you or is there someone else who we should call when we get those results?" The nurse was smiling politely at them and Harry furrowed his brows at the strange question. Why would they want her to tell someone else?

"Don't ask me, it's his kid." Mandy pulled on Harry's hand, getting his attention. "You wanna do one of those gender reveal things?"

"I have no idea what that means," Harry said. It might have been the hangover or the photos of his actual child in his hand, but Harry started to sweat again. He didn't know what amniotic fluid was, he didn't know what a gender reveal was, and Remus was gone and Harry had Hermione and a stack of pregnancy and parenting books.

It was all Harry had ever needed before, but it wasn't foolproof. It didn't keep Harry from a dungeon, it didn't keep Harry from being branded.

"Like they'd call Hermione or someone when they find out if it's a boy or girl then they'd buy a cake or something and you cut into it and if it's pink then it's a girl, blue it's a boy," Mandy explained. She only let go of Harry's hand long enough to start pulling her clothes back on. "So everyone finds out together."

Oh. That sounded kind of fun, actually.

Harry gave the nurse his number but told her to ask for Hermione when she called. She said that it might only take a week and Harry almost changed his mind - in one week he could know if it was a boy, his son, or a girl, his daughter.

"What are you gonna name it?" Mandy asked when they left. They were walking hand-in-hand back toward the bus stop and the freezing air actually made Harry's headache feel a little better.

Harry needed to quit drinking, he really did. Every time something bad happened, he couldn't just drink about it. He needed to be responsible, for his child… who would probably grow to hate him like everyone else around Harry did.

"I have no idea," Harry said honestly. He hadn't thought about it much. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"I'm not naming it, it's your kid," Mandy said. She waited until they were on the bus, comfortably situated beside each other, to say anything else. "Don't name it Harry though and don't fucking name it after Sirius, Harry, I swear to God you better not."

Harry opened his mouth, closed it.

"What's wrong with my name?" he asked, grinning when Mandy relaxed. She swung her legs over his lap and they weren't the same, but they were friends before they were dating and Harry really wanted his friend back. If Harry followed the nurses example and only listed the things that were right, there would be so much about Mandy that was right.

"It's boring," Mandy teased him. She put a hand on her stomach and leaned her head back against the headrest where they sat. "Name them something badass, you know? A tough name so nobody fucks with them."

Harry didn't really think anyone in their neighborhood had a tough name. Mickey was a cartoon mouse, Lip was Lip. Fiona was kind of a tough name, not Debbie though.

"Like… Switchblade?" Harry said, grinning when it made Mandy laugh.

"Only if it's a girl," she said seriously. "If it's a boy, name him Brass Knuckles."

Harry laughed for what seemed like the first time in days and they kept it up on the rest of the trip back to Harry's house. It was fun, easy. Harry could feel the connection he had to Mandy patching itself up with every ridiculous name and laugh they shared.

It wasn't until they were nearly back to the house that Mandy became momentarily solemn enough to remind Harry that they weren't just being silly, she was pregnant, it was Harry's.

"Maybe if it's a girl you could make her middle name Amanda," Mandy said quietly, her hand on her stomach and her eyes peering over at Harry. "And maybe you could like think of something nice to tell her about me."

Harry swallowed down the pained noise and reached out for Mandy to pull her in for a hug. Harry hugged her tightly and she hid her face on his shoulder while she hugged him just as fiercely.

"I'm going to tell her that you're brilliant, beautiful, and I hope she's just like you," Harry said thickly. "I'm going to tell her all the best things about you."

And… and Harry had to hope that maybe, when Mandy was ready, their child could meet the woman who gave up so much so they could live.

Harry never could, but his kid didn't have to have that same regret.