5 years ago.
This was crazy.
They were crazy.
"Hermione," the woman took a deep breath, clutching the hand of her pensieve husband. "We want you to be the mother of our child." Unwittingly, Hermione's eyes flickered to the man and drunk in his facial expression. He looked very unhappy to be sitting in that chair, and wouldn't meet her gaze however many times she tried to make eye contact.
It would make sense, of course.
He wanted to have a child with the woman he married, not some stranger.
"Please Hermione," the woman vied for her attention, sucessfully dragging it away from her spouse. "This is a desperate matter. Draco and I have visited countless doctors, and they all say the same thing. My womb is barren. I won't be able to have kids." She broke off into a sob, that seemed to pain her husband more than her. He instinctively clutched her leg, and focused all his energy in kneading it with his bare palm.
Hermione had two seconds to collect herself together.
This had been quite an ambush.
"Astoria, I feel your pain but there are many avenues to go down. Adoption. IVF. In this day and age anything is possible-"
"Or find a surrogate mother," Astoria said, staring at her intently. "You."
Once again, Hermione was reduced to spluttering and trying to catch the eyes of Draco. He still refused to look at her. "This is a stupid idea," he muttered, withdrawing his hands completely. "I don't know why I let you convince me."
"Because it's practical, Draco," Astoria turned to her husband. "Her genes are perfect for a smart baby. Hopefully she or he will take after you in looks, but in every other way, she's the perfect candidate. No family history of illnesses. No sexual partners to worry over-"
Hermione would've said something, but Draco beat her to it.
"But it will be a half-breed," he hissed, like it was the most revolting thing on Earth. "You've asked me a lot of ridiculous things in the past, but this is up there. How do you expect me to sit comfortably in my grave, knowing some impure bastard is running around my estate, sullying it's title?"
"Draco-"
"Enough!"
Both heads snapped up to meet her, when Hermione slammed her fists on the table and stood up. They looked like a pair of children who'd just been caught theiving. Extremely mischievous but guilty at the same time. Well, that was more Astoria. Draco looked like he wanted to beat her head in with a hammer.
"You're having this discussion with the wrong person, I'm sorry." Hermione sat back down. "Plus I'm at work. I know my office is open to all kinds of wizards, but this is taking it too far. I'm not equipped to deal with this kind of situation. If I can refer you to-"
"You have a working set of ovaries, don't you?" Astoria sniped.
"I don't see how-"
"Astoria, we're going back home," Draco growled, bodily lifting his wife from the chair and dragging her across the room to the exit. The plaque winked at them on their way out.
Department of Magical Maladies.
xox
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