I do NOT own any characters. All are created by J.K. Rowling.
Three days. That's how long she had been away from her and Draco's house. Well, three days, seven hours and twenty five minutes if she was being exact. It was their biggest fight yet. Both of them standing in the living room, red faced, screaming and neither of them backing down. Threats and bitter words we're thrown at each other and several mentions of divorce we're thrown in by Draco mostly. Until finally the last straw was drawn. Hermione had screamed loud and clear that she was pregnant. The look of hatred and hurt on Hermione's face, mixed with Draco's look of guilt and anger were enough to drag even the best relationships apart. Then that was it, Hermione left and now she was silently returning home. It was nearly midnight as she quietly closed the door and entered the living room. Desperate to not let Draco hear her.
Draco was sat in the armchair in the living room, hidden in the darkness. He'd barely moved from that spot since Hermione left, catching odd bits of sleep here and there. He hadn't ate, hadn't slept properly for over three days now, and he didn't even care. All he cared about was /her/. His damn stubborn, infuriating Granger. His head was bent forward, and he was snoring quietly.
Hermione tiptoed up the steps, hoping to skip over the squeaky one. One... Three.. Five... Damn, she missed it. Her foot hit the step, sending a loud sound throughout the house. She sighed softly and looked down, checking to see if he had woken or not.
Draco's head snapped up, and he was fully awake in an instant, his eyes scanning the room. "Who's there?" He asked loudly, his voice croaky and uneven. He scowled at how weak his voice sounded, and felt ashamed to have been crying. "Who is it?" He asked, standing up as he snatched his wand off the table.
Hermione tried to make her way to their room without him noticing. She got to the top step, hoping he hadn't gotten up or followed her. His voice kept running through her mind; he had been crying and she knew it. She felt a tug at her heart, having just left like that. She turned around to go back down.
Draco moved slowly through the room, checking every corner for an intruder. A small part of him hoped it was Hermione, but surely she wouldn't be sneaking around her own house? He had no idea where she'd gone, and he swallowed thickly, forcing back the fresh tears that threatened to fall. "Who's there?" He asked again, poking his head out of the door. It was pitch black, and he gave up trying to see. "Lumos," he muttered, and a burst of light shone from the end of his wand. He moved into the hallway, using the light to guide his way.
Hermione put her hand up over her eyes, covering them from the blinding light. "Merlin, Draco, put that out!" She said softly, her heart beating quickly in her chest. It was like the first time they talked all over again. Her cheeks were red, her heart was pumping, and her hands were shaking.
Draco froze in the middle of the hallway, partly believing he'd finally gone mad and begun to hallucinate. He could've sworn that was her voice, but he was afraid he was imagining it. He turned slowly, so he was facing the stairs, and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw her. She really /was/ there, and he could hardly believe it. "Hermione?" He breathed quietly, not trusting his voice.
"Yeah..." Hermione did the same, breathing out her words. "I'm here." She said, only managing to say that aside from everything else she had wanted to say. She wanted to apologize, to tell him how sorry she was. Tell him how much she missed him, how much she loved him. She was angry with him, yes, but the love she had for him covered it.
"You're back," he stated simply, like he could hardly believe it. In all honesty he hadn't expected to see her again. It'd been their worst fight, and that was saying something, he didn't think she'd ever want to take him back. "Why did you come back?" He wanted to move towards her, /run/ towards her, and pull her into his arms and hug her small body against his own, and never let her go again. But he couldn't. He couldn't make his feet work, and so simply stood there, staring at her with a mixture of disbelief and relief.
"I-I don't know..." She shivered at the breeze that blew over her. "It would be easier to tell you if my brain wasn't frozen. Come inside." She said, taking his arm and walking back in, letting go of it as she closed the front door. With a click of the lock, she turned around and sat on the love seat in the living room. "I came back because my head told me it was the right thing to do, and my heart agreed with it for once. I-I missed you, and yes, I'm still mad at you, but every other feeling I have for you makes up for it. Once I left, I realized the mistake I made and I wanted to come home. B-but then I thought you might not have wanted me home, and that's why you didn't come after me... And for once I realized I was wrong. Me, I was wrong." She said, looking at her feet as she brought them to hang over the side of the couch.
Draco stood in front of her, his eyes fixed on her face whilst she spoke. He found himself memorizing all of her facial features, still not fully believing she was really there, and just in case she decided to leave again so he wouldn't forget anything about it. "I didn't know where you'd gone," he admitted quietly. "I'm..." he swallowed, clearing his throat, "...sorry. I shouldn't have treated you so badly."
Hermione looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. "It wasn't just you, Draco. I over reacted. /I/ was emotional and /I/ over exaggerated the situation." She said softly, biting on her lips. She thought of the next thing she was going to say; it being the hardest for her to think about. As she thought about it the clear tears rolled down her cheeks, "A-A-And, if you still w-want a d-d-divorce, then... t-then I-I'll leave if t-that is what will make y-you happy." She said shakily, stumbling on some of her words as she cried. Angrily, she wiped at her eyes.
Draco knelt down in front of her, a look of determination on his face. "Are you mad, Granger?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at her. "I said some things in anger that I didn't mean. I /don't/ want to divorce you, Hermione." His expression softened as he reached over and brushed the tears away with his thumb. "Anything but that."
Hermione looked up at him with her glossy eyes and leaned into his touch, "Sometimes I can be rather peculiar..." She smiled at him. She let out a small laugh and shook her head, "I think that might be why I was in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw." That's how the Granger-Malfoy relationship worked. They fought, they got upset, they got over it. And which each fight their love grew stronger. They knew what it felt like to miss each other.
The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a small smile, as he brushed away the remaining tears. "You're smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, but you have the ridiculous self-sacrificing, stupidly courageous nature of a Gryffindor," he scoffed. He moved from kneeling in front of her to sitting next to her on the seat, his hands clasped together in his lap.
Hermione rolled her eyes at his view on Gryffindors, but she couldn't deny the truth. She glanced over at him and set her hands over his. "I guess the truth should come out in a more loving way then screaming..." She said, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "I'm pregnant with a boy. There is a little boy in there-" She said, pointing at her lower abdomen, "-who's going to look just like you... I just have that feeling."
Draco looked over at her, and her words sent him into a mini panic. His father had been a terrible father figure, and he was afraid of having children of his own, in case he made the same mistake. "I-I..." He was speechless and simply blinked several times and swallowed, trying to form a sentence in his mind. "What if I-"
"I already know what you're thinking Draco... Just follow me." She said, standing up and making him stand in front of the mirror in the bathroom. "What do you see?"
Draco scowled at his reflection. He looked more like his mother than his father, but he knew he had several of his father's traits, and that frightened him. "Is this really necessary, Hermione?" He huffed, squinting at the mirror. He looked /terrible/. His eyes were red and swollen from crying, and his face was a little thinner than usual, due to his lack of food. "What is this supposed to prove?"
"Dammit, Draco, just answer it. I'll tell you what it proves in a second." She said, glaring at him, "Just answer the question, please."
Draco sighed, but he didn't argue further. He'd learnt it was best to do as he was told most of the time with Hermione, even if he didn't particularly like being told what to do. It prevented a lot of fights, after all. "I see myself," he replied bluntly. "What else do you want me to say?"
"There. See? You see Draco Malfoy, not Lucius Malfoy. You're Draco, my Draco. And that's what makes you different from your father. You married a muggleborn, against his arguments and constant request to marry a pureblood." She looked up into his eyes and reached her hands up, cupping his cheeks with her hands. "You aren't your father, Draco, and it's completely normal for you to be scared. I'm scared too. Just think about the first time you'll get to see our son. The first time you get to hold him, the first time he says your name, or smiles at you." She said, gently, waiting for the smile to appear on his face.
Draco couldn't stop the smile that worked its way onto his face, and he didn't argue with her anymore. Maybe she was right, he thought, hopefully. He would prove he could be a better father than his own, that he could be a better person. "You're certain it's a boy?" He asked quietly. Images of a young boy filled his head, a mini /him/, and he didn't feel so afraid anymore. He knew Hermione wouldn't let him become like Lucius, and that made him relax. "I can only hope he doesn't get your stubbornness," he muttered, brushing a stray curl behind her ear.
"Oh hush, I hope he doesn't become a prat like you." She laughed, hitting his chest playfully. She looked up at him and smile, nodding, "Yes, I'm positive it's a boy. Well, at least I think it is, either way he or she will love you. Draco, they will love you so much." She said, kissing his cheek.
"Me? A prat?" Draco asked, smirking at her. "I'm far from it." He rested his forehead against hers, and sighed quietly. He had everything; Hermione Granger, and a child on the way. He'd never thought a family, or at least a genuine loving family, was a possibility for him, but now he had it and he refused to let go. "You can't leave me again," he said quietly, mostly to himself, but he knew she could hear him.
"I promise you, I won't." Hermione whispered before kissing him gently. She fell for him over an over again; each time she fell deeper and deeper in love. Hermione Granger loved Draco Malfoy, and that was enough for her. She didn't need money or fancy things. She needed him.
Draco kissed her softly, and wrapped one of his arms around her waist to pull her closer. If someone had told him back when he was a student at Hogwarts that he'd fall in love with Hermione Granger, and defy his father to marry her, he would've had them sent to St. Mungo's. He didn't care that his father had practically disowned him, and cut him off from most of the family money. Just having her was enough, because she made him happy. Far happier than he'd been in his entire life, or ever dreamed he could be.
Hermione pulled away and grinned at him, giving him her playful look. She stood up quickly and ran away into their bedroom, Draco right on her tail.