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The baby Demiguise was precious. Harry had been watching over it (him?) for the past hour and he was glad Hagrid had thought to ask him if he would be up to it. He couldn't imagine missing the baby's first week. In the last ten months, Harry spent most of his time with Hagrid, keeping a watchful eye on Lindra, one of the few female Demiguise that Hagrid had befriended. Unlike humans, Demiguises had a gestation period of 11 months (well, 11.5 months). Harry, too, befriended them – or more like, they befriended him. Hagrid told him that the Demiguises considered him one of their young which flustered Harry.
Cosmo was born seven days ago with wide, bright eyes that stared at Harry in wonder and a sharp smile filled with teeth. Harry had watched it crawl to its mom, clinging to her.
“She's weak from giving birth,” Hagrid had told him.
Harry knew he worried she wouldn't survive. He too, worried but there was a baby to be concerned over. Lindra was resting, too weak to do anything else, even feed herself, nevermind her offspring. Male Demiguises did not look over their young so Cosmo was left to the care of Hagrid. Harry helped out whenever he wasn't in class.
He bit his lips to hide the grin that appeared on his face when the baby climbed over his lap to cling to him. The boy glanced from the baby to the pot filled with leaves, twigs and buds and then at Hagrid who was tending to an injured Hippogriff. Alright then...
The 5th-year Gryffindor grabbed a leave and brought it to his lips. He knew from experience that simply handing him food would not work with Cosmo. Baby Demiguises, much like Sloths, feed from their mothers' mouths. Weird, yeah but they weren't humans, they didn't have to worry about the same kind of things.
Harry sighed and leaned forward:
“You be'er no' kich me,” he said, carefully holding the leave between his teeth. (1)
Of course, Cosmo didn't reply. The baby Demiguise clung to him, reaching for him. Harry leaned a bit more, holding the young Demiguise He knew to be patient; Demiguise ate slowly, they digest even slower than other animals.
“Ish okay... Com' on.”
Of course, that was the moment the baby took to go invisible. He almost sighed in relief when he felt a tug, meaning that the young Demiguise was feeding even if Harry couldn't currently see him.
“What are you... doing?”
Harry's left eye twitched at the sound of a familiar deep voice. Of all the times he had to appear, he chose that moment? Really?
Careful to not move too much, the Gryffindor tilted his head to look at the newcomer.
“I'm feeging de baby,” he said slowly.
“The... baby?”
The remaining leaf fell from his lips and Harry grinned, straightening even as he felt the (still invisible) creature settle in his lap. Adrian Pucey stared at him with a raised brow and Harry felt his cheeks heat up. It wasn't fair! Pucey wasn't even doing anything! How was it fair to be so effortlessly attractive while doing nothing?
“The baby Demiguise. Cosmo. He was born last Tuesday.”
Harry glanced down at his lap and his lips twitched before he looked back at the Slytherin boy.
“He's a bit shy right now.”
Adrian knew Harry well enough by now to know (or at least suspect) when the other boy was playing a trick on him or not. Harry wasn't usually a mischievous boy but he had his days. At least, he wasn't usually a little minx when the Weasley twins were not involved although sometimes, the other male surprised him.
The older teen cautiously approached the pair and knelt down in front of Harry.
“Cosmo?”
“I named him.”
He looked so proud that Adrian didn't try to hide the grin that formed on his lips.
“That's a nice name.”
“Right!? Oops, sorry, Cosmo.”
It took a while but eventually, Cosmo stopped hiding behind his invisibility and allowed himself to be seen by the Pucey Heir. Adrian watched, mesmerized as Harry took care of the small creature. If he was this careful now with a baby Demiguise, he thought dazed, how would he act with children? With, let's say, their children? Adrian would bet his family fortune that Harry would be a wonderful parent. It was there in the way he acted with the Demiguise, and with how patient he was with the twins when they were in “Chaotic mode”. It was in the way he interacted with his less mature classmates and how he handled situations when he himself was uncomfortable.
“Adrian? What are you doing?”
Adrian blinked. How long had he been staring for Harry to take notice?
“Just looking.”
“Looking?”
The older male hummed in confirmation, a hint of a smile still visible on his lips.
“You look nice like this. I mean; you always look nice but...”
A small giggle interrupted him before he could make more of a fool of himself. Gods, why did he open his mouth?
“Thanks. You look nice too.”
Adrian felt his cheeks heat up. It wasn't fair! How did Harry manage to say this most naturally without ending up a blushing mess? Adrian was a cool, laid-back kind of guy. You wouldn't expect him to become flustered at the prospect of spending time with his crush and yet... yet, here he was. He watched as Harry cuddled and showered the baby Demiguise in his lap with praise and affection and he felt stupid for being jealous of the little guy. He was though. Jealous, that is. He was jealous. It was so stupid.
“-you think? Adrian?”
“Hm?”
The older boy blinked back to reality and gave Harry an owlish look that made him snicker.
“I asked you if you were done with your lessons for the day.”
“Oh. Yeah. I'm done. Why?”
Harry tilted his head to the side, giggling when the Demiguise tried to suck on his index finger.
“Stop it, it tickles,” he muttered, freeing his hand and using it to pet the baby. “I was thinking... If you had some time, we could feed the Augurey together? There is a pair of them hiding deeper in the forest. They sometimes venture out of it but, for the most part, they stay near the family of Nifflers we found the other day.”
Adrian hummed in thought. To be honest, he was a bit behind in his homework. Usually, he would have finished his homework for the next week by now but in the past few days, he'd been too busy doing nothing but daydreaming that he had... forgotten to do some homework. He wasn't done with his Potion essay due next week and he had to correct a mistake in his Charm homework due the next day but...
“Yeah, sure. I'd like that.”
… But Adrian was completely whipped for the boy sitting in front of him and he was smitten beyond belief.
To be fair, this thing between them had been going on for a while. Harry himself was aware of it, Adrian was certain of that. They both were into the other. They just... didn't make a move, yet. Adrian... He wanted to do that right. He didn't want to mess up. Yet, in moments like this, when it was only the two of them, he couldn't help but want to rush things between them. He wanted him. Badly.
Something about the way Harry looked at him though, told him that it was alright. It wasn't a one-sided thing.
“Adrian?”
The Slytherin raised his face to look at the Gryffindor. Cosmo had somehow managed to climb Harry and was clinging to his neck. Adrian didn't even know that Cosmo was old enough to move around so easily.
“Yeah. Let's go,” he said, rising to his feet and grabbing Harry's hand.
Everything would be fine.
In fact; everything would be more than just fine.