Unexpected Problems - Harry Potter - Draco/Hermione - 4/??
Title: Unexpected Problems
Part: 4/??
Authors: sayyida_jaida and ashleyfanfic
Summary: The third chapter in this sequel, Ron is even more of a prat and makes the lovers' lives difficult...
Hermione really hoped that the morning sickness ended soon. It was getting old. More than that, it was getting hard to function. She'd already had to adjust her hours at work to accommodate her tummy, working from eleven in the morning until eight or nine at night. Fortunately, as a researcher, she had that option. Otherwise, she didn't know what she'd do. She wasn't ready to quit and let Draco support her, although on the mornings that were particularly bad, it was quite tempting.
Ten weeks down. Thirty to go, she thought, as she pulled out clothing for the day, noticing that her once favorite jeans were beginning to be a bit snug in the waist.
She sighed at that, and wondered what it would herald for her ever-dynamic relationship with Draco. At this point, he was quite solicitous of her needs, both in and out of bed. But she had to wonder if that would change along with her waistline. She was fairly sure that he wasn't going to stray. Fairly sure. But then, she'd been fairly sure Ron loved her, and clearly she'd been way off base with that assumption. And that was the real problem. If she'd been so wrong about Ron, someone she'd been friends with for years, then how wrong might she be about Draco?
With those lingering worries bouncing around in her brain, she once more made the familiar dash to the bathroom to purge her stomach of breakfast. She just wished it was as simple a matter to purge her doubts.
Draco walked into the bedroom they were now sharing with a bottle of ginger ale to help soothe her stomach, and found that she was once more in the bathroom. Her morning sickness only seemed to be getting worse. He had to admit that she was dealing with it much better than he would. There was nothing he hated more than vomiting, but she had insisted this was normal and ginger ale was enough.
He walked into the bathroom and found her with her head in the toilet. "I brought this for you," he said softly, and reached for a wet flannel.
She looked up and gave him a tremulous smile. "Thanks," she said softly, taking the glass and the flannel from him, and sipping the ginger ale before pressing the flannel to her forehead.
At least the bathroom in the new flat was bigger and made it possible for her to spend ever increasing amounts of time with her face in the toilet. The healer had assured her that while her symptoms were severe, they were still well within the normal range. If everything went well, the vomiting should begin to abate within the next two or three weeks.
She took a deep breath and flushed the toilet before swallowing another mouthful of ginger ale and standing slowly.
"I think I'm going to lay back down for a bit before I try to eat breakfast." She hoped he'd join her. She often ended up lying back down for a few minutes, and some of their best conversations had occurred during that time, especially since they'd moved to the new flat together. They'd lie in bed, her head pillowed on his shoulder, and read through the Prophet together, laughing over the idiocy of the Ministry or the slander of the Skeeter bitch.
He helped her from the floor and guided her into the bedroom. He slid onto the bed beside her, the Prophet sitting on the bedside table, as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "How much longer did the midwife say you'd have to go through the morning sickness?"
"Probably a couple more weeks. It usually stops around the start of the second trimester, when the hormones shift again. Although some women have it much longer, and some don't have it at all." She curled into his side and used his shoulder for a pillow while she waited for him to open the paper for them.
He sighed and reached for the paper, "I hope for your sake that it's soon," he said, as he opened the paper. The headline made him want to vomit. Ron Weasley: Draco Malfoy has Hermione Granger Under the Imperius Curse. He'd never hated anyone more at that moment than he did Ron Weasley.
"Merlin," Hermione said, blinking hard in her complete astonishment. "I'm going to kill him. No. I'm going to have Harry kill him. If I do it, they'll say it only proves you had me cursed. That... goddess, I can't even think of a term vile enough." She was shaking in her rage and she felt her stomach beginning to tighten, heralding the onset of another purge. She bolted from the bed, cursing the whole way. "Owl Harry," she called from the bathroom, vomiting again. "Ask him to come over."
Draco moved to the fireplace in their bedroom and tossed Floo powder into the grate. His head was in Harry's living room seconds later. "Potter," he called.
Harry exited the kitchen still in his pajamas. "What?"
"Hermione needs you."
Harry set his mug down, "I'll be there in just a second."
Draco moved out of the fireplace, grabbed her ginger ale, and took it to her.
The Floo sounded in the flat. "Hermione?"
"I'm in here," she called, still leaning over the toilet. "Draco, show him."
Draco exited the bathroom and stopped Harry, directing him to where the Prophet was currently laying on the bed. He held it up to show Harry. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill him."
Harry sighed and shook his head as he read the headline. "That idiot," he said angrily. "He's only made things worse."
"I'd kill him myself, but I'm afraid they'd use it as proof against Draco. Harry, you have got to talk to him," Hermione said, coming out of the bathroom. "And I think that it's time that I go on the offensive. Enough is enough. Skeeter has to be stopped. This is ridiculous. I'm at a complete loss. I mean, do we contact the Ministry? The editor? My midwife? What the hell do we do now?" she asked as she began to get hysterical, in large part due to the hormones coursing through her system.
Draco walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her, "Calm down. I think with that article, though, the Ministry might be in touch with us," he said with a sigh. "As for Skeeter, once we get this cleared up, we ask for Skeeter's resignation or sue them for slander."
Just then there was a booming knock on the front door. Hermione sighed and left the warmth of Draco's embrace to answer it.
She was unsurprised to find Moody on the other side of the door.
"Come in, Moody," she said quietly. "I think we know why you're here. Would you like anything? I assume not, but I thought I'd ask anyway."
"Granger, I'm here on official business. Seems you forgot the one lesson I ever really wanted to instill in you."
"No, sir, I didn't. Constant Vigilance."
He nodded. "Now, I'm here because we both know this is most likely a waste of time. I am well aware that you and Potter could throw off the Imperius Curse before you finished your fourth year. That said, it's a serious accusation, and the Ministry wants a full investigation. They don't take the Unforgivables lightly, after all."
Hermione nodded her understanding, feeling a bit better that at least it was Moody here.
"So, is the twitchy little ferret here, then?"
Hermione choked at that.
"Ah, yes. Draco's in the living room with Harry."
Moody nodded. "Well, what are you waiting for, girl? Lead the way!"
Hermione jumped at his impatience and walked through to the living room, Moody right on her heels.
"Potter. Ferret. Let's get this over with."
Draco sighed. "Whatever I need to do to prove that Weasley is full of shite, I'll do. He's nothing more than a sore loser."
Moody raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Hermione. "I thought you and Weasley ended it amicably."
She rolled her eyes. "We did. And it stayed that way until I found someone else."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Wand," he said curtly to Draco.
Draco reached into his pocket and handed over his wand. He rarely used it except for Apparation, which wouldn't probably look good for him.
Harry decided to speak up. "Moody, this really is just Ron being a prat."
"Potter, shut up or get out. This doesn't concern you."
Hermione shot Harry a look over Moody's head and rolled her eyes. She knew Harry would pick up on the old code that this meant procedure. He nodded, getting the message.
Moody took the wand from Draco and tapped it with his own, running a series of diagnostic scans on it that he could have done in his sleep. In fact, he had done them in his sleep on more than one occasion. He noticed that there were only about five or six spells done with any frequency with the wand and raised his eyebrows almost to his hairline as he recognized the signatures. Most wizards Apparated frequently, but the other most common spell on the wand was Obliviate. That was much less common.
There was no evidence of Unforgivables on the wand, though.
"I have two questions for you, Malfoy. First, is this your only wand?" he asked, his voice gruff as he stared at the young man with his magical eye.
He nodded. "Yes, my one and only."
Moody's eyes narrowed. "All right. Then care to explain to me whom you've been Obliviating so frequently and why?"
Draco closed his eyes briefly before he opened them. "Muggles. More specifically, Muggle women."
Moody leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, still contemplating the boy. "That's the 'who'. I'm still waiting for the 'why'."
Hermione took a deep breath, wondering who would go berserk first, Moody or Harry, based on Draco's explanation.
He sighed and looked at Harry then Moody. He wasn't thrilled about either of them finding out this information. It was bad enough that Hermione knew "Because I'd meet them in bars, take them home and shag them, and then, because I didn't want any sort of attachment, I'd Obliviate them and send them home." Now, he was waiting for the fallout.
"I... see." Moody sat there for a moment, staring at the young man.
Harry was looking back and forth between Hermione and Malfoy, his eyes narrowing as he rapidly digested this new information. Hermione's lack of response told him all he needed to know to launch himself across the coffee table at the blond prat who'd been the bane of his existence at school.
"You worthless piece of shite!" he yelled, as he scrambled to get at Malfoy.
It was Hermione who stopped him. "Harry!" she said, getting between him and his target. "Stop!"
"He did that to you, too, didn't he?"
"No, Harry. He didn't do that to me."
"Then how did you get pregnant? It's not like you to be careless. He must have Obliviated you at least enough that you forgot until it was too late!"
"Harry! I said he didn't. Enough!"
"Potter!" Moody barked.
That finally seemed to be enough to keep Harry from doing anything immediate and irreversible. Taking a deep breath, he retook his seat. "So, what did he do to you, then?"
Hermione looked at Moody, who nodded.
She sighed and reseated herself next to Draco. "I went to the bar wearing a glamour. He didn't know who I was. After we... shagged... he tried to Obliviate me. But I ducked and disarmed him. And... yelled at him. I Apparated home and was a bit upset, so I forgot to cast the contraception charm." She shrugged. "Not my finest moment. But not the worst thing that's happened to me, either." She thought she noticed a twinkle in Moody's good eye, but she wasn't sure.
"Boy," he said, his voice threatening and quiet. "While it's not precisely illegal, you have to know that actions of that nature are heavily frowned on. Since I see that you haven't done it in more than two months, based on your wand, I'm not going to make a stink about it now. For Hermione's sake, not yours. But, that said, there is a reason that the Ministry frowns on people Obliviating Muggles. It's very, very easy to damage the mind. Lockhart was a prime example of that, not that he had much mind to damage. I trust that it won't be happening again? She doesn't deserve that," he said, nodding in Hermione's direction.
Draco shook his head. "It won't happen again. Ever."
Harry looked at Draco. "Why the hell should we trust you? Why should we believe that? You said yourself that you're not in love with her, so you won't care if you hurt her," he growled.
Hermione was shocked to see Harry that red, a color that she'd only ever before seen on Ron, but for once she didn't protest his statement. He hadn't gone for a wand, after all, just words, and it was so close to the way she'd been feeling....
Draco looked over at Potter, "I don't owe you an explanation. I'd give Hermione one, but that's it. I said I wouldn't do it again, and I won't," he spat. He didn't like being questioned by Potter in front of Hermione. It was bad enough that Weasley hated him, he didn't need Potter questioning his motives as well and making Hermione doubt him.
Hermione looked between the two most important people in her life and felt a momentary surge of panic followed quickly by a surge of nausea so intense she knew she'd never make it to the loo. She felt her face flush as she broke out in a sweat and swallowed hard, twice, laying her head on the back of the couch. After a moment, the wave passed, but she didn't move.
Moody noticed this and cleared his throat.
"All right. I'm through here. There's no evidence that Malfoy's used any Unforgivables at all, much less on Hermione. The investigation is closed. If you wish to pursue legal actions against Mr. Weasley, Miss Skeeter, or the Prophet, the report will be on file. I highly recommend you take care of her," he said, nodding at Hermione. "I'll show myself out." And with that, he got up and left the flat, the door closing with a thud.
Draco folded his arms over his chest after he put his wand back in his pocket, "I'm going to the Prophet to get Skeeter's head on a platter," he said to Harry, before he looked over at Hermione. "You don't look well," he commented softly. "Want me to Floo the Goblins and tell them that you won't be coming in today?"
"No. I'll be fine in a bit. I think I'm just going to lay down for a few minutes first," she said, as she slowly got up off the couch and wandered into their bedroom in a daze, collapsing on the massive king sized bed.
Draco watched her walk away, then looked back to Harry, who was still glaring at him. "Don't look at me like that."
"I'm serious, Malfoy. If you hurt her, I will kill you."
He rolled his eyes. "Back off. I'm not the one that's been hurting her lately, am I? It's that ponce you call a friend. Tell him that if he likes breathing without any medical assistance, he should stay out of our lives," he said, before he walked toward their room. He found her lying on her side and joined her. "I'm sorry."
"Why? Ron's the one who should be apologizing. Not you," she said, her voice hesitant and quiet.
He sighed, "Yeah, but it has you even more stressed out than you were before, and I know that my past... isn't exactly our favorite topic of conversation."
She shrugged. "As long as it's in the past, it doesn't matter." She rolled over and looked at him. "I thought you were going to the Prophet?"
He nodded. "I am. I wanted to check on you first."
"Why? I'm not the grand gesture type. I said I'll be fine. I meant it." She sighed. "I think I'm all right now." She sat up slowly and moved off the bed. "I'll be home around eight, I think. I look forward to hearing about your trip to the Prophet."
He watched her for a moment, and then stood. "I'll give you a full blow-by-blow." He walked over to the Floo and stepped into the grate, giving her a wave before he was gone.
***
Hermione watched Draco leave for the Prophet's office and Flooed to work.
As usual, she was greeted by several goblins as she made her way to her office. Arriving in her lab, she found a note that they had brought in a heavily cursed box and wanted her to oversee its cleansing.
She made her way to the workroom in question and let herself in, noticing that it was Marshall sitting in the chair by the hearth, not Bill.
"Where's Bill?" she asked the junior curse-breaker.
"He got called back to Egypt. Griphook sent me to do the casting."
Hermione nodded and looked at the solid gold box.
"Shield yourself and start with standard diagnostics."
Marshall nodded and began swishing his wand, making multiple passes over the box.
Hermione watched him, but felt her eyes glazing over as she thought about Draco. He said he wouldn't be Obliviating Muggle women anymore, and he'd agreed to marry her after she'd given him a bit of an ultimatum. She knew he'd come to care for her. But Harry was right. He didn't love her. She knew he was only marrying her so she'd carry the baby.
That made some things easier, really, but it made some things so much harder.
Especially one thing.
She loved him. More, she was in love with him.
It made her want to vomit, that she'd come to such a pass.
And she was the smartest witch in an age. Everyone said so. She knew how men of Malfoy's class treated their wives. Granted, he'd be hard pressed to find a mistress in the wizarding world. His reputation was still trash, and few witches would want to try to have an illicit affair behind her back. But he'd already overcome that obstacle once, finding his partners in the Muggle world.
And as her pregnancy progressed, as her body changed, and afterwards when she couldn't have sex while her body healed, when she no longer had a great arse, then what?
Lost in thought, she wasn't paying much attention to Marshall, and so she didn't notice when he pronounced a 'short a' instead of a 'long e' in his incantation until it was too late.
Bolts of vibrant orange light shot from the box.
Marshall, working behind his personal shields, was singed, but relatively unharmed.
Unfortunately, Hermione hadn't cast personal shields, considering this part routine, and was hit hard by a bolt, collapsing to the floor in a scream of pain and losing consciousness.
***
Draco raced through St. Mungo's hospital having received a Floo that Hermione had been hurt at work. He knew something like this would happen, he had just been hoping he was wrong. After the crap morning they'd had, he couldn't actually expect the day to get any better. He reached the desk and said, "My fiancee was brought in. Hermione Granger."
The woman looked over her list and nodded, "She's in the maternity ward."
He furrowed his brow. "Maternity? She was hit with a curse."
The woman nodded sympathetically. "I know, but it says here that because she was pregnant when it happened they wanted to make sure both she and the baby were okay. You can go back and a mediwitch will take you to her.
Draco made his way to the maternity ward, nearly running, and stopped when he found a mediwitch. "Hermione Granger," he said anxiously. He hoped they were both okay. It would be horrible to lose the baby, but to lose Hermione too wasn't a reality he was ready to face.
"Room three. We gave her a pain draught when she first came in, so she might not be awake."
He licked his lips before he asked, "Is... Are they okay?"
She walked around the desk and looked over the chart, "You are family, right?"
"I'm her fiancee."
She sighed. "Well, you're family of the baby," she said as she looked over the chart. "Everything seems to be okay. We did a full scan to make sure there was no damage to her or the fetus, and while Miss Granger was in a great deal of pain, there's no immediate threat."
He felt like his heart had just jumped back to its proper place in his chest.
"We're going to keep her overnight for observation, however, just to make sure, and we'll run scans through the evening to make sure everything is still okay."
"Thank you," he said, as he turned and walked to room three, where he found a pale, sleeping Hermione. He pulled the chair from the corner beside her bed, as he took her hand in his and kissed the back of her fingers. He looked down at the ground and thought about what he'd almost lost. He stroked his fingers over hers and realized that he'd yet to buy her an engagement ring. He'd fix that first thing. He frowned as he looked at her and realized how close he'd come to losing everything. Hermione was the only bright spot in his bleak life these days. He looked forward to every second he spent with her, and to their future together. Up until that morning, things had been going wonderfully. He learned something new about her every day that only made him fall...
He blinked several times as he realized he'd been thinking that he'd fallen for her. As he looked at her peaceful face, he knew the truth. He had. He'd fallen hard. He'd never been in love, but realized that being in love with her seemed almost natural. She was his silver lining. The question is, do I tell her?
***
Hermione awoke to the all-too-familiar smell of Hospital.
She sighed and blinked, feeling the crusties matting her eyelashes, trying to remember what had happened this time to land her in Mungo's.
Yawning, she looked around and gave a start of surprise to see Draco dozing in a chair pulled up next to her bed, her hand clutched tightly between his.
She felt a brief surge of hope that maybe he did love her, after all. The only person to ever sit beside her in hospital before had been Harry, and he loved her. As a brother, but he did love her.
Then she realized that she was probably presuming too much. He was probably worried about her, yes, but he'd be more worried about the baby.
She thought about waking him, but decided against it. Instead she contented herself with watching him in the moonlight, the way his eyebrows glinted silver, or his lashes splayed in a crescent on his cheek, his chest rising and falling.
He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. It was a feeling he couldn't shake. He sat up and locked eyes with Hermione, and brought her hand to his mouth. "Don't ever do that to me again."
She closed her eyes a moment. "I'm sorry I worried you," she said quietly. "I know how much the baby means to you. I'll ask them to transfer me in the morning."
He shook his head. "The baby? What about what you mean to me? I was so scared that I was going to lose you."
"What about it? I have no idea what I mean to you. As far as you've ever said, the only reason you're here is the baby. What else am I supposed to think?"
He sighed. "So you think I'm only here because of the baby. All the time we spent together has nothing to do with the fact that I care about you, but simply because I see you as a baby producing machine, is that right?"
"I didn't say that. I know you care about me. I just don't know how much of your concern is for me and how much is for what I'm carrying. I'm not sure how separate that is in your mind. Our relationship started because of the baby. Without the baby... well... I don't know that you'd want anything else to do with me," she said quietly, as once more a tear made its way down her cheek. She silently cursed hormones.
He moved from the chair and sat beside her on the bed. "Hermione, the baby isn't here yet. The time you and I spend together is just us. No interference, prying eyes, or problems from outsiders. It's allowed us to get to know one another. Can you say that you only care about me because of the baby?"
"No. If anything, it's the opposite. I care about the baby because of you," she whispered.
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "And I feel the same way." He sighed. "I know it's probably hard for you to believe that, given my stance on the baby to begin with, but it's going through all of this with you that's making this...what I want."
"I asked you once what you wanted, and you weren't sure. So I'll ask you again. What do you want, Draco?"
He sighed. "I want...to be with you. I'm crazy about you."
She smiled, the first real smile she'd felt cross her lips in ages. "Good. Because I... think I'm falling in love with you." She was quiet a moment while she searched his eyes. "And it was killing me, thinking that you might lose interest in me once I gave you what you wanted, that you'd move on and leave me behind."
He took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."
"Promise?" she asked quietly, hardly believing the relief she felt thinking that he might actually want her, realizing that on some level she'd believed Ron, and wondered if he was right about her.
He nodded. "Promise." He smiled as he took her hand once more, "The mediwitch said they're going to keep you overnight to run a few additional scans, to make sure both you and the baby are all right. Do you want me to Floo Potter and send him to our place to get some things?"
"I think I have everything I need right here," she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Did she say if I could go back to work tomorrow?"
He titled his head at her. "I think you can take a day off," he said, as he stroked over her hand. "It won't hurt you to miss a few days, and it would make me feel better if I can see you when I need to."
She chuckled at that. "Are you going to be my keeper, then? Hold my hair back while I am sick, and get me wet flannels and more ginger ale? Well, if I take a few days off, I suppose we could go shopping and you can carry the bags. I need to get some new clothes. Part of my distraction has been increasingly restricted airflow from too snug pants," she said with a grin.
He smiled. "Or we could go with my favorite option, and you could just wear nothing at all," he said, as he placed a kiss in the palm of her hand. "But I suppose if you feel like you need new clothes, then I should be a gentleman and take you shopping for anything your heart desires."
She grinned. "Well, I doubt the goblins would even notice if I came in to work nude, but I have a feeling the other wizards I work with would, and somehow I don't think a naked pregnant woman would help the work environment much."
He shrugged. "It would work for me. All kidding aside, we can go in a few days once you spend some time resting."
She gave him a hard look. "Draco, you're not going to get all over-protective now, are you? You do know that I've been hurt much worse in my time, right? Hell, they only had to give me one pain draught. If it weren't for the baby, I would be going back to work in the morning."
"That's right, there's a baby to think about. There's you and the baby. I don't want something to happen to either of you, so you'll have to forgive me if I get a bit over-protective."
Seeing the determined look on his face, Hermione burst out laughing. "All right, you win. Protect your family. You have to admit, though, that it's incredibly ironic that you're trying to protect me. If someone had told us back in school that we'd be at this point, we'd both have hexed them."
He nodded. "That's for sure. But I'm happy. Are you happy?"
Hermione cocked her head to the side, pretending to consider it. "Hmm. Weellllll. Yes, Draco. I am. At least, I am now that I know you want me for more than my uterus."
He grinned. "I don't think of you as a baby making machine. Although, I do enjoy the process of making the baby," he said with a chuckle.
"Then next time you can be the one to be pregnant. I'm already a bit tired of it, and I still have thirty weeks to go," she said with a sigh, "although that's probably the morning sickness talking." She considered her words a moment. "Draco, I want to ask you something, and I don't want you to get mad. I just want to be clear about something, all right?"
He nodded. "Ask away."
"I'm well aware that men of, say, your father's social standing, have a different... relationship with their marriage vows... than many people have. So, what do marriage vows mean to you?"
He sighed. "You know, when I was growing up, I had no idea why my mother spent so much time with me. I told you that she seemed to dote on me and give me lots of attention, because I didn't get a lot from my father." He ran a hand through his hair. "But I think she was lonely. As much as she was invested in their relationship, my father had only seen it as a business deal. He had women on the side and... I knew by the age of thirteen, so I'm almost positive she did, too. Whenever he'd say he was going out of town for business, she'd get this sad look on her face, and it just seemed like the more he pulled away the more she seemed to... die a bit. His affairs hurt her, and after years of watching her suffer in silence I realized that I could never do to another person what my father did to her."
He looked at her and stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. "I would never do that to you. Our marriage vows are going to be something that I respect, just as I respect you."
She leaned against where he was sitting on the bed, pillowing her head against him, and sighed. "Even when I'm covered in stretch marks and my hips spread and my tits sag and I have dark circles under my eyes from being up all night with your son?"
He brushed his fingers through her hair. "Yes, love. Even then. I'll even be doting enough to rub your feet."
She smiled at him. "Good. I'll try to remember that and not be worried about it then, although I can't promise. Hormones are the scourge of the pregnant woman. They make us do crazy things like eat pickles and ice cream. Or worse, chalk. Which is just gross. Although apparently we also can look forward to a dramatically increased sex drive in the second trimester. I don't know how you will survive that, but I suppose all you can do is try your best."
He tilted his head at her and grinned. "I think you might have hit your head, because I'm Draco Malfoy. Not Ron Weasley. I'm sure I can keep up with you," he said with a smile. Then he shrugged. "But I'm willing to put it to the test anytime you feel like."
She grinned. "Well, I can only go with what I've been told, but apparently men actually complain about how much sex their partners want at that point. Personally, I find that hard to believe, but that's what I've been told. Speaking of sex, did the mediwitch say anything about if this accident puts us in any risk categories that will restrict normal activities?"
He shook his head. "I didn't even think to ask. Shows you how concerned I was, huh?"
She reached up and cupped his face in both hands. "It does," she said softly, drawing him down to kiss him, tasting him as if for the first time, and sighing softly as their tongues met.
He pulled back, gently nibbling on her lower lip. "Mmm, Hermione," he murmured, kissing along her jaw, "too bad we're not home. We could make use of our bed right about now," he said with a teasing smile.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're in a bed. But... we should probably wait until I see the Healer first." She sighed and laid her head against him, burrowing into his warmth, oddly content for being in a hospital.
He smiled. "Yes, while that's true, this is also a public place, and I think we've had enough of the press butting into our lives."
She looked up at him. "Speaking of, what happened at the Prophet?"
He grinned at her. "We'll read about it tomorrow, but it seems that in a fit of concern for their own welfare, because they don't want their publication shut down, the Daily Prophet has fired Rita Skeeter because of her slanderous lies. You should have seen her, Hermione. She looked like a Chinese fireworks display."
Hermione smiled. "You know, I shouldn't be so excited by someone else's misfortune, but that woman's had it in for me since our fourth year. Don't make me wait. I want details. Please?" she said, batting her lashes at him.
"I dropped by the Ministry first to wait on the report from Moody, to have proof, and then I went to the Prophet. I'm telling you, you could hear a pin drop it got so quiet. Skeeter was talking to the editor. She looked so smug, like she'd won something, so I walked over to the editor and showed him the report. I said, 'Either she no longer works here, or I'll own the Prophet and shut it down'." He shrugged. "I have no interest in a rag like that, so the logical thing would be to shut it down. Anyway, the editor, Bailey something, ushered me into his office along with Skeeter and said there must be another way to resolve this situation. I said that there wasn't, and if he liked his job and didn't like paying hefty fines to cover our pain and suffering, then he'd fire her on the spot. And should she ever start working for the Prophet again, I would sue him and anyone that took part in printing that story." He grinned widely. "Skeeter was green. Bailey apologized to me and said there would be a special edition printed tonight with a full retraction and an apology, then turned to Skeeter and fired her."
Hermione smiled happily. "Good. Now I just have to figure out what to do about Ron. I honestly am at my wit's end over him."
"Tar and feather? Maim? All are options I like."
She sighed. "I don't think I can ever forgive him for this. Before this, I didn't think there was anything that would ever, really, permanently end the friendship between the three of us. But I just don't see us ever moving past this. I wonder what Harry is going to say. If he'll side with Ron. He usually does, when it's over something minor. But... well, this isn't minor."
Draco frowned. "I wish I could tell you that everything was going to right itself, but I can't. While Potter isn't my biggest fan, especially now, he was there when Moody examined my wand and knows that I'm not casting the Imperius on you. He realizes that Weasley has hurt you, and while he's tried to be loyal to you both, I just can't see Potter siding with him on this one."
"True. Like I said, this isn't minor. But he's also with Ginny, and I'm sure she'll defend Ron. Well, in the end, it doesn't really matter. You didn't do it, you love me, I love you, and we're having a baby. Let's just hope that this special edition of the Prophet will make Ron look like the idiot he is." She yawned. "I must be more tired than I thought. When are you going home?"
He shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, I've always thought Weasley was an idiot. And I'm going home when you go."
"You do know that you don't have to stay with me, right? I'm not going to be good company, seeing as I'm falling asleep."
"I'm sure you feel that way. But I'm staying."
She looked at him curiously. "Why?"
He smiled. "Where else would I be? You're here, and I want to be with you."
She reached up and traced a finger down his nose. "I must have really scared you," she said quietly. "I don't think I've ever seen you or heard you quite so... mushy," she finished with a grin.
He raised an eyebrow. "I can be an arse if you like. However, I came very close to losing you and you're right, I was scared, terrified really."
She could see the lingering fear in his eyes, and she wondered if it was fear over what had happened or something else. "Draco, I'm not going to lie to you. I have spent more time in hospitals that I care to think about, and I've almost died with frightening regularity. I don't think this leopard is ever going to change her spots, either. Every time I think that it will be my last time putting my life on the line, something else always seems to come along. But that said, I have two someones counting on me now, and I have no intention of letting either of you down. I love you," she said quietly, the first time those three words had passed her lips arranged in that order to him.
He smiled widely. "Do you?" Then he sighed, "I suppose it would be terribly clichee of me to tell you now that I love you, huh?"
She smirked at him. "It would, actually. That's the benefit of being a brave and impetuous Gryffindor. Of course, being a hormonal, sentimental girl, clicheed is perfectly welcome."
He kissed her softly. "Well, what do you say, when you get out of here, that we start planning our wedding? It can be as big or small as you like."
Hermione kissed him back, closing her eyes and feeling the tension slowly leaving her. "I'd say that sounds wonderful."
He smiled. "Good." He began to move to sit back in the chair. "I'll be right here when you wake up."
Hermione was beginning to doze as a Healer knocked softly on the door.
"Oh, we thought she'd be awake by now," she said quietly.
"I'm awake," Hermione said.
"Oh, good," she said, as she came fully into the room. "I just wanted to run a scan to check your general health and a diagnostic scan of the baby."
Hermione nodded her permission, and the Healer came into the room, rolling the sheet down and pushing up Hermione's pajama top.
The scans didn't take long, but Hermione was thrilled to see the diagnostic scan of the baby. It looked less of a lima bean than she remembered, and she smiled when she heard its heartbeat once more.
Draco watched the sleepy smile form on Hermione's face as they heard the heartbeat of the baby and saw him once more. He took her hand in his again and smiled at her as he placed a kiss on her knuckles.
"He's grown," she murmured sleepily.
The Healer grinned.
"He's doing fine," she said with a smile. "You are a very lucky witch, Miss Granger. I see no damage at all. If your scans are clear in the morning, then you can resume all normal activities. Are you in any pain?"
"No, just tired."
"Well, that is completely normal for this stage of your pregnancy. You might want to start taking some afternoon naps."
Hermione nodded slowly. "All right. I'll try. But right now I am already working a different shift because of the morning sickness."
"Well, if you feel tired, try."
"I will."
With that, the Healer stood from her stool and left the room.
Hermione turned to Draco. "I feel much better now."
He brushed his free hand over her cheek. "You'll feel much better once you go to sleep."
Sighing, she closed her eyes. "Fine," she said as she rolled over on her side to get comfortable and let herself drift off to sleep.
Draco took a deep breath as he watched her finally succumb to sleep. The baby was fine, Hermione was fine, and aside from the disaster this morning, everything seemed to be going okay. He still had to deal with Weasley, but he thought he should probably leave it to Hermione, as she might enjoy it more.
Unexpected Anger
Part: 4/??
Authors: sayyida_jaida and ashleyfanfic
Summary: The third chapter in this sequel, Ron is even more of a prat and makes the lovers' lives difficult...
Hermione really hoped that the morning sickness ended soon. It was getting old. More than that, it was getting hard to function. She'd already had to adjust her hours at work to accommodate her tummy, working from eleven in the morning until eight or nine at night. Fortunately, as a researcher, she had that option. Otherwise, she didn't know what she'd do. She wasn't ready to quit and let Draco support her, although on the mornings that were particularly bad, it was quite tempting.
Ten weeks down. Thirty to go, she thought, as she pulled out clothing for the day, noticing that her once favorite jeans were beginning to be a bit snug in the waist.
She sighed at that, and wondered what it would herald for her ever-dynamic relationship with Draco. At this point, he was quite solicitous of her needs, both in and out of bed. But she had to wonder if that would change along with her waistline. She was fairly sure that he wasn't going to stray. Fairly sure. But then, she'd been fairly sure Ron loved her, and clearly she'd been way off base with that assumption. And that was the real problem. If she'd been so wrong about Ron, someone she'd been friends with for years, then how wrong might she be about Draco?
With those lingering worries bouncing around in her brain, she once more made the familiar dash to the bathroom to purge her stomach of breakfast. She just wished it was as simple a matter to purge her doubts.
Draco walked into the bedroom they were now sharing with a bottle of ginger ale to help soothe her stomach, and found that she was once more in the bathroom. Her morning sickness only seemed to be getting worse. He had to admit that she was dealing with it much better than he would. There was nothing he hated more than vomiting, but she had insisted this was normal and ginger ale was enough.
He walked into the bathroom and found her with her head in the toilet. "I brought this for you," he said softly, and reached for a wet flannel.
She looked up and gave him a tremulous smile. "Thanks," she said softly, taking the glass and the flannel from him, and sipping the ginger ale before pressing the flannel to her forehead.
At least the bathroom in the new flat was bigger and made it possible for her to spend ever increasing amounts of time with her face in the toilet. The healer had assured her that while her symptoms were severe, they were still well within the normal range. If everything went well, the vomiting should begin to abate within the next two or three weeks.
She took a deep breath and flushed the toilet before swallowing another mouthful of ginger ale and standing slowly.
"I think I'm going to lay back down for a bit before I try to eat breakfast." She hoped he'd join her. She often ended up lying back down for a few minutes, and some of their best conversations had occurred during that time, especially since they'd moved to the new flat together. They'd lie in bed, her head pillowed on his shoulder, and read through the Prophet together, laughing over the idiocy of the Ministry or the slander of the Skeeter bitch.
He helped her from the floor and guided her into the bedroom. He slid onto the bed beside her, the Prophet sitting on the bedside table, as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "How much longer did the midwife say you'd have to go through the morning sickness?"
"Probably a couple more weeks. It usually stops around the start of the second trimester, when the hormones shift again. Although some women have it much longer, and some don't have it at all." She curled into his side and used his shoulder for a pillow while she waited for him to open the paper for them.
He sighed and reached for the paper, "I hope for your sake that it's soon," he said, as he opened the paper. The headline made him want to vomit. Ron Weasley: Draco Malfoy has Hermione Granger Under the Imperius Curse. He'd never hated anyone more at that moment than he did Ron Weasley.
"Merlin," Hermione said, blinking hard in her complete astonishment. "I'm going to kill him. No. I'm going to have Harry kill him. If I do it, they'll say it only proves you had me cursed. That... goddess, I can't even think of a term vile enough." She was shaking in her rage and she felt her stomach beginning to tighten, heralding the onset of another purge. She bolted from the bed, cursing the whole way. "Owl Harry," she called from the bathroom, vomiting again. "Ask him to come over."
Draco moved to the fireplace in their bedroom and tossed Floo powder into the grate. His head was in Harry's living room seconds later. "Potter," he called.
Harry exited the kitchen still in his pajamas. "What?"
"Hermione needs you."
Harry set his mug down, "I'll be there in just a second."
Draco moved out of the fireplace, grabbed her ginger ale, and took it to her.
The Floo sounded in the flat. "Hermione?"
"I'm in here," she called, still leaning over the toilet. "Draco, show him."
Draco exited the bathroom and stopped Harry, directing him to where the Prophet was currently laying on the bed. He held it up to show Harry. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill him."
Harry sighed and shook his head as he read the headline. "That idiot," he said angrily. "He's only made things worse."
"I'd kill him myself, but I'm afraid they'd use it as proof against Draco. Harry, you have got to talk to him," Hermione said, coming out of the bathroom. "And I think that it's time that I go on the offensive. Enough is enough. Skeeter has to be stopped. This is ridiculous. I'm at a complete loss. I mean, do we contact the Ministry? The editor? My midwife? What the hell do we do now?" she asked as she began to get hysterical, in large part due to the hormones coursing through her system.
Draco walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her, "Calm down. I think with that article, though, the Ministry might be in touch with us," he said with a sigh. "As for Skeeter, once we get this cleared up, we ask for Skeeter's resignation or sue them for slander."
Just then there was a booming knock on the front door. Hermione sighed and left the warmth of Draco's embrace to answer it.
She was unsurprised to find Moody on the other side of the door.
"Come in, Moody," she said quietly. "I think we know why you're here. Would you like anything? I assume not, but I thought I'd ask anyway."
"Granger, I'm here on official business. Seems you forgot the one lesson I ever really wanted to instill in you."
"No, sir, I didn't. Constant Vigilance."
He nodded. "Now, I'm here because we both know this is most likely a waste of time. I am well aware that you and Potter could throw off the Imperius Curse before you finished your fourth year. That said, it's a serious accusation, and the Ministry wants a full investigation. They don't take the Unforgivables lightly, after all."
Hermione nodded her understanding, feeling a bit better that at least it was Moody here.
"So, is the twitchy little ferret here, then?"
Hermione choked at that.
"Ah, yes. Draco's in the living room with Harry."
Moody nodded. "Well, what are you waiting for, girl? Lead the way!"
Hermione jumped at his impatience and walked through to the living room, Moody right on her heels.
"Potter. Ferret. Let's get this over with."
Draco sighed. "Whatever I need to do to prove that Weasley is full of shite, I'll do. He's nothing more than a sore loser."
Moody raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Hermione. "I thought you and Weasley ended it amicably."
She rolled her eyes. "We did. And it stayed that way until I found someone else."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Wand," he said curtly to Draco.
Draco reached into his pocket and handed over his wand. He rarely used it except for Apparation, which wouldn't probably look good for him.
Harry decided to speak up. "Moody, this really is just Ron being a prat."
"Potter, shut up or get out. This doesn't concern you."
Hermione shot Harry a look over Moody's head and rolled her eyes. She knew Harry would pick up on the old code that this meant procedure. He nodded, getting the message.
Moody took the wand from Draco and tapped it with his own, running a series of diagnostic scans on it that he could have done in his sleep. In fact, he had done them in his sleep on more than one occasion. He noticed that there were only about five or six spells done with any frequency with the wand and raised his eyebrows almost to his hairline as he recognized the signatures. Most wizards Apparated frequently, but the other most common spell on the wand was Obliviate. That was much less common.
There was no evidence of Unforgivables on the wand, though.
"I have two questions for you, Malfoy. First, is this your only wand?" he asked, his voice gruff as he stared at the young man with his magical eye.
He nodded. "Yes, my one and only."
Moody's eyes narrowed. "All right. Then care to explain to me whom you've been Obliviating so frequently and why?"
Draco closed his eyes briefly before he opened them. "Muggles. More specifically, Muggle women."
Moody leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, still contemplating the boy. "That's the 'who'. I'm still waiting for the 'why'."
Hermione took a deep breath, wondering who would go berserk first, Moody or Harry, based on Draco's explanation.
He sighed and looked at Harry then Moody. He wasn't thrilled about either of them finding out this information. It was bad enough that Hermione knew "Because I'd meet them in bars, take them home and shag them, and then, because I didn't want any sort of attachment, I'd Obliviate them and send them home." Now, he was waiting for the fallout.
"I... see." Moody sat there for a moment, staring at the young man.
Harry was looking back and forth between Hermione and Malfoy, his eyes narrowing as he rapidly digested this new information. Hermione's lack of response told him all he needed to know to launch himself across the coffee table at the blond prat who'd been the bane of his existence at school.
"You worthless piece of shite!" he yelled, as he scrambled to get at Malfoy.
It was Hermione who stopped him. "Harry!" she said, getting between him and his target. "Stop!"
"He did that to you, too, didn't he?"
"No, Harry. He didn't do that to me."
"Then how did you get pregnant? It's not like you to be careless. He must have Obliviated you at least enough that you forgot until it was too late!"
"Harry! I said he didn't. Enough!"
"Potter!" Moody barked.
That finally seemed to be enough to keep Harry from doing anything immediate and irreversible. Taking a deep breath, he retook his seat. "So, what did he do to you, then?"
Hermione looked at Moody, who nodded.
She sighed and reseated herself next to Draco. "I went to the bar wearing a glamour. He didn't know who I was. After we... shagged... he tried to Obliviate me. But I ducked and disarmed him. And... yelled at him. I Apparated home and was a bit upset, so I forgot to cast the contraception charm." She shrugged. "Not my finest moment. But not the worst thing that's happened to me, either." She thought she noticed a twinkle in Moody's good eye, but she wasn't sure.
"Boy," he said, his voice threatening and quiet. "While it's not precisely illegal, you have to know that actions of that nature are heavily frowned on. Since I see that you haven't done it in more than two months, based on your wand, I'm not going to make a stink about it now. For Hermione's sake, not yours. But, that said, there is a reason that the Ministry frowns on people Obliviating Muggles. It's very, very easy to damage the mind. Lockhart was a prime example of that, not that he had much mind to damage. I trust that it won't be happening again? She doesn't deserve that," he said, nodding in Hermione's direction.
Draco shook his head. "It won't happen again. Ever."
Harry looked at Draco. "Why the hell should we trust you? Why should we believe that? You said yourself that you're not in love with her, so you won't care if you hurt her," he growled.
Hermione was shocked to see Harry that red, a color that she'd only ever before seen on Ron, but for once she didn't protest his statement. He hadn't gone for a wand, after all, just words, and it was so close to the way she'd been feeling....
Draco looked over at Potter, "I don't owe you an explanation. I'd give Hermione one, but that's it. I said I wouldn't do it again, and I won't," he spat. He didn't like being questioned by Potter in front of Hermione. It was bad enough that Weasley hated him, he didn't need Potter questioning his motives as well and making Hermione doubt him.
Hermione looked between the two most important people in her life and felt a momentary surge of panic followed quickly by a surge of nausea so intense she knew she'd never make it to the loo. She felt her face flush as she broke out in a sweat and swallowed hard, twice, laying her head on the back of the couch. After a moment, the wave passed, but she didn't move.
Moody noticed this and cleared his throat.
"All right. I'm through here. There's no evidence that Malfoy's used any Unforgivables at all, much less on Hermione. The investigation is closed. If you wish to pursue legal actions against Mr. Weasley, Miss Skeeter, or the Prophet, the report will be on file. I highly recommend you take care of her," he said, nodding at Hermione. "I'll show myself out." And with that, he got up and left the flat, the door closing with a thud.
Draco folded his arms over his chest after he put his wand back in his pocket, "I'm going to the Prophet to get Skeeter's head on a platter," he said to Harry, before he looked over at Hermione. "You don't look well," he commented softly. "Want me to Floo the Goblins and tell them that you won't be coming in today?"
"No. I'll be fine in a bit. I think I'm just going to lay down for a few minutes first," she said, as she slowly got up off the couch and wandered into their bedroom in a daze, collapsing on the massive king sized bed.
Draco watched her walk away, then looked back to Harry, who was still glaring at him. "Don't look at me like that."
"I'm serious, Malfoy. If you hurt her, I will kill you."
He rolled his eyes. "Back off. I'm not the one that's been hurting her lately, am I? It's that ponce you call a friend. Tell him that if he likes breathing without any medical assistance, he should stay out of our lives," he said, before he walked toward their room. He found her lying on her side and joined her. "I'm sorry."
"Why? Ron's the one who should be apologizing. Not you," she said, her voice hesitant and quiet.
He sighed, "Yeah, but it has you even more stressed out than you were before, and I know that my past... isn't exactly our favorite topic of conversation."
She shrugged. "As long as it's in the past, it doesn't matter." She rolled over and looked at him. "I thought you were going to the Prophet?"
He nodded. "I am. I wanted to check on you first."
"Why? I'm not the grand gesture type. I said I'll be fine. I meant it." She sighed. "I think I'm all right now." She sat up slowly and moved off the bed. "I'll be home around eight, I think. I look forward to hearing about your trip to the Prophet."
He watched her for a moment, and then stood. "I'll give you a full blow-by-blow." He walked over to the Floo and stepped into the grate, giving her a wave before he was gone.
***
Hermione watched Draco leave for the Prophet's office and Flooed to work.
As usual, she was greeted by several goblins as she made her way to her office. Arriving in her lab, she found a note that they had brought in a heavily cursed box and wanted her to oversee its cleansing.
She made her way to the workroom in question and let herself in, noticing that it was Marshall sitting in the chair by the hearth, not Bill.
"Where's Bill?" she asked the junior curse-breaker.
"He got called back to Egypt. Griphook sent me to do the casting."
Hermione nodded and looked at the solid gold box.
"Shield yourself and start with standard diagnostics."
Marshall nodded and began swishing his wand, making multiple passes over the box.
Hermione watched him, but felt her eyes glazing over as she thought about Draco. He said he wouldn't be Obliviating Muggle women anymore, and he'd agreed to marry her after she'd given him a bit of an ultimatum. She knew he'd come to care for her. But Harry was right. He didn't love her. She knew he was only marrying her so she'd carry the baby.
That made some things easier, really, but it made some things so much harder.
Especially one thing.
She loved him. More, she was in love with him.
It made her want to vomit, that she'd come to such a pass.
And she was the smartest witch in an age. Everyone said so. She knew how men of Malfoy's class treated their wives. Granted, he'd be hard pressed to find a mistress in the wizarding world. His reputation was still trash, and few witches would want to try to have an illicit affair behind her back. But he'd already overcome that obstacle once, finding his partners in the Muggle world.
And as her pregnancy progressed, as her body changed, and afterwards when she couldn't have sex while her body healed, when she no longer had a great arse, then what?
Lost in thought, she wasn't paying much attention to Marshall, and so she didn't notice when he pronounced a 'short a' instead of a 'long e' in his incantation until it was too late.
Bolts of vibrant orange light shot from the box.
Marshall, working behind his personal shields, was singed, but relatively unharmed.
Unfortunately, Hermione hadn't cast personal shields, considering this part routine, and was hit hard by a bolt, collapsing to the floor in a scream of pain and losing consciousness.
***
Draco raced through St. Mungo's hospital having received a Floo that Hermione had been hurt at work. He knew something like this would happen, he had just been hoping he was wrong. After the crap morning they'd had, he couldn't actually expect the day to get any better. He reached the desk and said, "My fiancee was brought in. Hermione Granger."
The woman looked over her list and nodded, "She's in the maternity ward."
He furrowed his brow. "Maternity? She was hit with a curse."
The woman nodded sympathetically. "I know, but it says here that because she was pregnant when it happened they wanted to make sure both she and the baby were okay. You can go back and a mediwitch will take you to her.
Draco made his way to the maternity ward, nearly running, and stopped when he found a mediwitch. "Hermione Granger," he said anxiously. He hoped they were both okay. It would be horrible to lose the baby, but to lose Hermione too wasn't a reality he was ready to face.
"Room three. We gave her a pain draught when she first came in, so she might not be awake."
He licked his lips before he asked, "Is... Are they okay?"
She walked around the desk and looked over the chart, "You are family, right?"
"I'm her fiancee."
She sighed. "Well, you're family of the baby," she said as she looked over the chart. "Everything seems to be okay. We did a full scan to make sure there was no damage to her or the fetus, and while Miss Granger was in a great deal of pain, there's no immediate threat."
He felt like his heart had just jumped back to its proper place in his chest.
"We're going to keep her overnight for observation, however, just to make sure, and we'll run scans through the evening to make sure everything is still okay."
"Thank you," he said, as he turned and walked to room three, where he found a pale, sleeping Hermione. He pulled the chair from the corner beside her bed, as he took her hand in his and kissed the back of her fingers. He looked down at the ground and thought about what he'd almost lost. He stroked his fingers over hers and realized that he'd yet to buy her an engagement ring. He'd fix that first thing. He frowned as he looked at her and realized how close he'd come to losing everything. Hermione was the only bright spot in his bleak life these days. He looked forward to every second he spent with her, and to their future together. Up until that morning, things had been going wonderfully. He learned something new about her every day that only made him fall...
He blinked several times as he realized he'd been thinking that he'd fallen for her. As he looked at her peaceful face, he knew the truth. He had. He'd fallen hard. He'd never been in love, but realized that being in love with her seemed almost natural. She was his silver lining. The question is, do I tell her?
***
Hermione awoke to the all-too-familiar smell of Hospital.
She sighed and blinked, feeling the crusties matting her eyelashes, trying to remember what had happened this time to land her in Mungo's.
Yawning, she looked around and gave a start of surprise to see Draco dozing in a chair pulled up next to her bed, her hand clutched tightly between his.
She felt a brief surge of hope that maybe he did love her, after all. The only person to ever sit beside her in hospital before had been Harry, and he loved her. As a brother, but he did love her.
Then she realized that she was probably presuming too much. He was probably worried about her, yes, but he'd be more worried about the baby.
She thought about waking him, but decided against it. Instead she contented herself with watching him in the moonlight, the way his eyebrows glinted silver, or his lashes splayed in a crescent on his cheek, his chest rising and falling.
He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. It was a feeling he couldn't shake. He sat up and locked eyes with Hermione, and brought her hand to his mouth. "Don't ever do that to me again."
She closed her eyes a moment. "I'm sorry I worried you," she said quietly. "I know how much the baby means to you. I'll ask them to transfer me in the morning."
He shook his head. "The baby? What about what you mean to me? I was so scared that I was going to lose you."
"What about it? I have no idea what I mean to you. As far as you've ever said, the only reason you're here is the baby. What else am I supposed to think?"
He sighed. "So you think I'm only here because of the baby. All the time we spent together has nothing to do with the fact that I care about you, but simply because I see you as a baby producing machine, is that right?"
"I didn't say that. I know you care about me. I just don't know how much of your concern is for me and how much is for what I'm carrying. I'm not sure how separate that is in your mind. Our relationship started because of the baby. Without the baby... well... I don't know that you'd want anything else to do with me," she said quietly, as once more a tear made its way down her cheek. She silently cursed hormones.
He moved from the chair and sat beside her on the bed. "Hermione, the baby isn't here yet. The time you and I spend together is just us. No interference, prying eyes, or problems from outsiders. It's allowed us to get to know one another. Can you say that you only care about me because of the baby?"
"No. If anything, it's the opposite. I care about the baby because of you," she whispered.
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "And I feel the same way." He sighed. "I know it's probably hard for you to believe that, given my stance on the baby to begin with, but it's going through all of this with you that's making this...what I want."
"I asked you once what you wanted, and you weren't sure. So I'll ask you again. What do you want, Draco?"
He sighed. "I want...to be with you. I'm crazy about you."
She smiled, the first real smile she'd felt cross her lips in ages. "Good. Because I... think I'm falling in love with you." She was quiet a moment while she searched his eyes. "And it was killing me, thinking that you might lose interest in me once I gave you what you wanted, that you'd move on and leave me behind."
He took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."
"Promise?" she asked quietly, hardly believing the relief she felt thinking that he might actually want her, realizing that on some level she'd believed Ron, and wondered if he was right about her.
He nodded. "Promise." He smiled as he took her hand once more, "The mediwitch said they're going to keep you overnight to run a few additional scans, to make sure both you and the baby are all right. Do you want me to Floo Potter and send him to our place to get some things?"
"I think I have everything I need right here," she said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Did she say if I could go back to work tomorrow?"
He titled his head at her. "I think you can take a day off," he said, as he stroked over her hand. "It won't hurt you to miss a few days, and it would make me feel better if I can see you when I need to."
She chuckled at that. "Are you going to be my keeper, then? Hold my hair back while I am sick, and get me wet flannels and more ginger ale? Well, if I take a few days off, I suppose we could go shopping and you can carry the bags. I need to get some new clothes. Part of my distraction has been increasingly restricted airflow from too snug pants," she said with a grin.
He smiled. "Or we could go with my favorite option, and you could just wear nothing at all," he said, as he placed a kiss in the palm of her hand. "But I suppose if you feel like you need new clothes, then I should be a gentleman and take you shopping for anything your heart desires."
She grinned. "Well, I doubt the goblins would even notice if I came in to work nude, but I have a feeling the other wizards I work with would, and somehow I don't think a naked pregnant woman would help the work environment much."
He shrugged. "It would work for me. All kidding aside, we can go in a few days once you spend some time resting."
She gave him a hard look. "Draco, you're not going to get all over-protective now, are you? You do know that I've been hurt much worse in my time, right? Hell, they only had to give me one pain draught. If it weren't for the baby, I would be going back to work in the morning."
"That's right, there's a baby to think about. There's you and the baby. I don't want something to happen to either of you, so you'll have to forgive me if I get a bit over-protective."
Seeing the determined look on his face, Hermione burst out laughing. "All right, you win. Protect your family. You have to admit, though, that it's incredibly ironic that you're trying to protect me. If someone had told us back in school that we'd be at this point, we'd both have hexed them."
He nodded. "That's for sure. But I'm happy. Are you happy?"
Hermione cocked her head to the side, pretending to consider it. "Hmm. Weellllll. Yes, Draco. I am. At least, I am now that I know you want me for more than my uterus."
He grinned. "I don't think of you as a baby making machine. Although, I do enjoy the process of making the baby," he said with a chuckle.
"Then next time you can be the one to be pregnant. I'm already a bit tired of it, and I still have thirty weeks to go," she said with a sigh, "although that's probably the morning sickness talking." She considered her words a moment. "Draco, I want to ask you something, and I don't want you to get mad. I just want to be clear about something, all right?"
He nodded. "Ask away."
"I'm well aware that men of, say, your father's social standing, have a different... relationship with their marriage vows... than many people have. So, what do marriage vows mean to you?"
He sighed. "You know, when I was growing up, I had no idea why my mother spent so much time with me. I told you that she seemed to dote on me and give me lots of attention, because I didn't get a lot from my father." He ran a hand through his hair. "But I think she was lonely. As much as she was invested in their relationship, my father had only seen it as a business deal. He had women on the side and... I knew by the age of thirteen, so I'm almost positive she did, too. Whenever he'd say he was going out of town for business, she'd get this sad look on her face, and it just seemed like the more he pulled away the more she seemed to... die a bit. His affairs hurt her, and after years of watching her suffer in silence I realized that I could never do to another person what my father did to her."
He looked at her and stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. "I would never do that to you. Our marriage vows are going to be something that I respect, just as I respect you."
She leaned against where he was sitting on the bed, pillowing her head against him, and sighed. "Even when I'm covered in stretch marks and my hips spread and my tits sag and I have dark circles under my eyes from being up all night with your son?"
He brushed his fingers through her hair. "Yes, love. Even then. I'll even be doting enough to rub your feet."
She smiled at him. "Good. I'll try to remember that and not be worried about it then, although I can't promise. Hormones are the scourge of the pregnant woman. They make us do crazy things like eat pickles and ice cream. Or worse, chalk. Which is just gross. Although apparently we also can look forward to a dramatically increased sex drive in the second trimester. I don't know how you will survive that, but I suppose all you can do is try your best."
He tilted his head at her and grinned. "I think you might have hit your head, because I'm Draco Malfoy. Not Ron Weasley. I'm sure I can keep up with you," he said with a smile. Then he shrugged. "But I'm willing to put it to the test anytime you feel like."
She grinned. "Well, I can only go with what I've been told, but apparently men actually complain about how much sex their partners want at that point. Personally, I find that hard to believe, but that's what I've been told. Speaking of sex, did the mediwitch say anything about if this accident puts us in any risk categories that will restrict normal activities?"
He shook his head. "I didn't even think to ask. Shows you how concerned I was, huh?"
She reached up and cupped his face in both hands. "It does," she said softly, drawing him down to kiss him, tasting him as if for the first time, and sighing softly as their tongues met.
He pulled back, gently nibbling on her lower lip. "Mmm, Hermione," he murmured, kissing along her jaw, "too bad we're not home. We could make use of our bed right about now," he said with a teasing smile.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're in a bed. But... we should probably wait until I see the Healer first." She sighed and laid her head against him, burrowing into his warmth, oddly content for being in a hospital.
He smiled. "Yes, while that's true, this is also a public place, and I think we've had enough of the press butting into our lives."
She looked up at him. "Speaking of, what happened at the Prophet?"
He grinned at her. "We'll read about it tomorrow, but it seems that in a fit of concern for their own welfare, because they don't want their publication shut down, the Daily Prophet has fired Rita Skeeter because of her slanderous lies. You should have seen her, Hermione. She looked like a Chinese fireworks display."
Hermione smiled. "You know, I shouldn't be so excited by someone else's misfortune, but that woman's had it in for me since our fourth year. Don't make me wait. I want details. Please?" she said, batting her lashes at him.
"I dropped by the Ministry first to wait on the report from Moody, to have proof, and then I went to the Prophet. I'm telling you, you could hear a pin drop it got so quiet. Skeeter was talking to the editor. She looked so smug, like she'd won something, so I walked over to the editor and showed him the report. I said, 'Either she no longer works here, or I'll own the Prophet and shut it down'." He shrugged. "I have no interest in a rag like that, so the logical thing would be to shut it down. Anyway, the editor, Bailey something, ushered me into his office along with Skeeter and said there must be another way to resolve this situation. I said that there wasn't, and if he liked his job and didn't like paying hefty fines to cover our pain and suffering, then he'd fire her on the spot. And should she ever start working for the Prophet again, I would sue him and anyone that took part in printing that story." He grinned widely. "Skeeter was green. Bailey apologized to me and said there would be a special edition printed tonight with a full retraction and an apology, then turned to Skeeter and fired her."
Hermione smiled happily. "Good. Now I just have to figure out what to do about Ron. I honestly am at my wit's end over him."
"Tar and feather? Maim? All are options I like."
She sighed. "I don't think I can ever forgive him for this. Before this, I didn't think there was anything that would ever, really, permanently end the friendship between the three of us. But I just don't see us ever moving past this. I wonder what Harry is going to say. If he'll side with Ron. He usually does, when it's over something minor. But... well, this isn't minor."
Draco frowned. "I wish I could tell you that everything was going to right itself, but I can't. While Potter isn't my biggest fan, especially now, he was there when Moody examined my wand and knows that I'm not casting the Imperius on you. He realizes that Weasley has hurt you, and while he's tried to be loyal to you both, I just can't see Potter siding with him on this one."
"True. Like I said, this isn't minor. But he's also with Ginny, and I'm sure she'll defend Ron. Well, in the end, it doesn't really matter. You didn't do it, you love me, I love you, and we're having a baby. Let's just hope that this special edition of the Prophet will make Ron look like the idiot he is." She yawned. "I must be more tired than I thought. When are you going home?"
He shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, I've always thought Weasley was an idiot. And I'm going home when you go."
"You do know that you don't have to stay with me, right? I'm not going to be good company, seeing as I'm falling asleep."
"I'm sure you feel that way. But I'm staying."
She looked at him curiously. "Why?"
He smiled. "Where else would I be? You're here, and I want to be with you."
She reached up and traced a finger down his nose. "I must have really scared you," she said quietly. "I don't think I've ever seen you or heard you quite so... mushy," she finished with a grin.
He raised an eyebrow. "I can be an arse if you like. However, I came very close to losing you and you're right, I was scared, terrified really."
She could see the lingering fear in his eyes, and she wondered if it was fear over what had happened or something else. "Draco, I'm not going to lie to you. I have spent more time in hospitals that I care to think about, and I've almost died with frightening regularity. I don't think this leopard is ever going to change her spots, either. Every time I think that it will be my last time putting my life on the line, something else always seems to come along. But that said, I have two someones counting on me now, and I have no intention of letting either of you down. I love you," she said quietly, the first time those three words had passed her lips arranged in that order to him.
He smiled widely. "Do you?" Then he sighed, "I suppose it would be terribly clichee of me to tell you now that I love you, huh?"
She smirked at him. "It would, actually. That's the benefit of being a brave and impetuous Gryffindor. Of course, being a hormonal, sentimental girl, clicheed is perfectly welcome."
He kissed her softly. "Well, what do you say, when you get out of here, that we start planning our wedding? It can be as big or small as you like."
Hermione kissed him back, closing her eyes and feeling the tension slowly leaving her. "I'd say that sounds wonderful."
He smiled. "Good." He began to move to sit back in the chair. "I'll be right here when you wake up."
Hermione was beginning to doze as a Healer knocked softly on the door.
"Oh, we thought she'd be awake by now," she said quietly.
"I'm awake," Hermione said.
"Oh, good," she said, as she came fully into the room. "I just wanted to run a scan to check your general health and a diagnostic scan of the baby."
Hermione nodded her permission, and the Healer came into the room, rolling the sheet down and pushing up Hermione's pajama top.
The scans didn't take long, but Hermione was thrilled to see the diagnostic scan of the baby. It looked less of a lima bean than she remembered, and she smiled when she heard its heartbeat once more.
Draco watched the sleepy smile form on Hermione's face as they heard the heartbeat of the baby and saw him once more. He took her hand in his again and smiled at her as he placed a kiss on her knuckles.
"He's grown," she murmured sleepily.
The Healer grinned.
"He's doing fine," she said with a smile. "You are a very lucky witch, Miss Granger. I see no damage at all. If your scans are clear in the morning, then you can resume all normal activities. Are you in any pain?"
"No, just tired."
"Well, that is completely normal for this stage of your pregnancy. You might want to start taking some afternoon naps."
Hermione nodded slowly. "All right. I'll try. But right now I am already working a different shift because of the morning sickness."
"Well, if you feel tired, try."
"I will."
With that, the Healer stood from her stool and left the room.
Hermione turned to Draco. "I feel much better now."
He brushed his free hand over her cheek. "You'll feel much better once you go to sleep."
Sighing, she closed her eyes. "Fine," she said as she rolled over on her side to get comfortable and let herself drift off to sleep.
Draco took a deep breath as he watched her finally succumb to sleep. The baby was fine, Hermione was fine, and aside from the disaster this morning, everything seemed to be going okay. He still had to deal with Weasley, but he thought he should probably leave it to Hermione, as she might enjoy it more.
Unexpected Anger