It's hard to find the perfect time to say something you know is gonna change everything -- May 1998

I laughed slightly.  "Well, it'd be just the teen years if that," I assured him.  "I think every daughter hates their father at one point or another... especially during dating years."

In our case, Juniper hated our father practically since the moment she was born -- though, clearly, that was not the case, but it would have been.  I laughed nervously, trying to hide the discomfort at hte thought of that.  I was already so much like my father... would I end up just like him with our baby?  "Yeah, well, I will try not to let that happen, though," I said, trying to make myself feel better.

I could not help but chuckle.  "Well, it could always be a little boy, too," I pointed out to Draco.  "Would that help you sleep better at night if we pretended it was a boy instead of a girl until we knew for sure?" I teased.

I shrugged.  "I think that it might," I agreed honestly.  "He might end up appreciating me a little bit more than a daughter."  That was, unless I turned into my father.

I smiled and squeezed Draco's shoulder.  "I'm sure that they both would appreciate you... you'd just have to watch how you treated a daugther," I pointed out to him playfully.

I sighed, glad that Pansy thought this was highly entertaining.  "There is so much more than you realize, Pansy," I said softly.  I looked into the fire in front of us, wondering how I could pull this off.  How could I protect Pansy and our baby?

I furrowed my brow slightly, wondering what on earth he was speaking of.  I leaned my head on his shoulder.  "Draco, you'll be fine with all of this," I assured him.  "I don't think you have anything to really worry about..."

She could not understand what was going through my head at all.  But that was alright; she need not worry herself with those details quite yet.  "I suppose... if you say so," I conceded, knowing that I could nto tell her everything that was worrying me.  It was far more than the impending fatherhood.

Why could Draco not just accept things and be happy?  He always fought so hard against anything that would make him remotely happy.  I sighed.  "I do say so.  And everything will turn out fine," I added, feeling like I needed to inform him of this.

I sighed and looked over at her.  The smile on her face did make me smile slighlty.  "I believe you," I lied, though I hoped it was convincing.  I looked around the common room, grateful that it wa sa nice day and everyone was outdoors.

I was not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but I decided not to argue.  I sighed and stood up.  "I just can't believe that we're going to do this," I said, wrapping my arms around myself, pacing slightly in front of Draco.

I watched her pace, being reminded of my sister.  I smiled slightly and did not even try to stop her.  "We'll be good," I told her.  I would mae sure that they would be good anyways.  It was my duty as a father.

I stopped pacing and looked at him.  That was the one vote of confidence that I really heard from Draco.  Though, in all honesty, it was probably because I was reminding him of Juniper and he was just automatically going back to the way he treats her and not the way he normally treats me.  "Draco... I know we will be.  I'm just surprised that you are now starting to say that," I told him honestly.

I looked at Pansy.  "Is it really surprising that I'm trying to comfort you?  It's what I do," I said, thinking ofmy sister.

I sighed and shook my head.  "No... it doesn't," I said honestly.  "Because it is what you do for those you care for."  It touched me that he was doing this -- it meant he did care for me.  At times I thought he just used me, but it was not the case.