This was my entry for the 2017 Dramione Duets Round 9 hosted by Ningloreth. My Duet Partner was Mister_Otter thank you so much for the story that you wrote me!
Written for the prompts; 1. Draco and Hermione go exploring. It doesn't end well.
and;
3. Hermione and Draco as parents. Extra brownie points if Ron and Harry
are cool uncle figures and spoil the kids, which may not make Draco happy
Thank you again to SandraSempra for her Beta work and being so amazing the Easter eggs are for you xxxx
Thank you to Ningloreth for hosting this fest for us so we could have a safe place to show our work before we posted! I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next one.
Twelve years had passed since the war, and it had been a struggle for all parties. Hermione often looked back at the past and wondered how she had ever made it out alive. How she didn't see that Draco was as scared as they were. He didn't want to do what he had been tasked with, but with his father caught, he had to be punished and was forced to fix the vanishing cupboard and kill Dumbledore.
So much had changed since then, and so many people had decided they couldn't hack the new world where there was no good side or dark side. They were all in harmony so the ones that couldn't left and went into hiding.
Draco had often said how he missed his friend, Theodore Nott, but couldn't find him to help him through whatever he was dealing with in that head of his.
Lately, Draco's frustration with not being able to help his friends had been taken out on her; they were fighting more and more at night when Scorpius, Alara and Alya were asleep. They hadn't been the dynamic duo everyone thought they were for a while now, and Hermione wanted so desperately to have her husband back. So, she did what any wife would have in her position: she looked into ways of finding Theo and getting him back to himself and her husband's side. But first, they needed some time to themselves. Unfortunately, it would cause more tension between the couple. Hermione's selection on who she asked to babysit their children could potentially start another round of arguments, but they were going to have to deal with it.
Draco only disliked Harry and Ron because they spoiled the children rotten. One blink from the little devils, and they would have anything they ever desired. Draco wasn't happy as it was his job to be their favourite man, but as soon as Harry and Ron came into their house Hermione and Draco were forgotten. It was a pet peeve of his and he made it known quite frequently.
Hermione looked forward to seeing how he would react when they came over the day of the couples anniversary. Draco was under the impression they were going to some fancy motel resort and was looking forward to it. Hermione had kept their actual location a secret, but had gotten the appropriate equipment for the mountain hike she had organised.
Five weeks until their anniversary and Hermione imagined it would take her that long to track down Theodore Nott, she had received permission to track him through his magical signature and this was going to be her anniversary present to her husband. He would get his best mate back and she her husband.
She would only have to keep it secret until then. It wouldn't be so hard to stay silent, Draco hardly wanted to know anything about her these days anyway.
Looking down at the paperwork on her desk that had been sitting untouched since Katie Bell had sat it there, Hermione frowned, If this didn't work and they continued to have problems, she could only see one option. It was a last resort, she would hand him these papers and see what he did after that. Hopefully he would want to stay married and work through their problems, but they couldn't keep going through the arguments the way they had been as it was starting to affect the children as well and that didn't sit right with Hermione.
xXx
Though hiding in her office to avoid her husband while she got the beginning of the search underway was hard, all she wanted to do was talk through their issues and try and get their marriage back to the way it was. But she knew that wasn't going to happen with her husbands cantankerous moods.
He had been trying to get her to come out for hours after he had put the children to bed, but she didn't want to accidentally say something about what she was doing. She was a lioness at heart, and though married to a snake, she wasn't as cunning as her husband. So she remained, and he was pacing outside the door, beginning to mutter and making his mood worse.
Hermione snapped her eyes up as he barged through the door, breathing deeply and erratically. She didn't realise how frustrated he had become with her before, and now she faced her irate husband. She was beginning to question whether it had been a good idea to avoid him.
"What is your problem? Why have you tucked yourself in here?" Draco yelled.
Hermione quickly flicked her hand, making the door close and erecting a silencing charm so his anger didn't wake their kids again.
"Would you think before you talk? What if you had woken the kids? Then we would have upset and crying children on top of you being angry! Think about what you do, Draco!" She retaliated, her countenance mirroring his own.
Draco stalked toward her trapping her against the desk, the mood of the room instantly changing her breaths came in gasps, and he seemed nullified for a moment. Pushing his hands into her bushy hair he moved his lips over hers, and when she relaxed pliantly into him, and was pliant he pulled back and smirked.
"What are you doing, Hermione? Why have you been avoiding me? I don't like it," he whispered into her ear.
It took a moment before she realised he had gotten her aroused and had planned to use it get her to talk to him. She wanted to be angry, but his hands had moved down her body and making circles on her hips. When had he hiked her shirt up enough to be touching skin?
"Hermione… answer me! Why have you been avoiding me?" He said as he started to softly kiss down the length of her , she arched her neck to the side to give him better access.
"Hmmm..?" she said, not really listening to what he was saying, concentrating more on the feeling of his lips on her skin and his hands moving further up her stomach toward her breasts.
Draco stopped and pulled his hands away, a small whimper moved through her throat and released without her control. Smiling, he said, "I said, why have you been avoiding me, love?"
"Ahhh… work is a bit hectic right now?" Her statement coming out as a question rather than simply stating it. Draco scowled at her.
"Stop that crap about work. You've had days that are hectic before and never acted like this. What are you up to?"
"Bare with me please? It's not work, but that's all I can tell you…" Before she could continue he tried to interrupt her, held her hand up to stop him from speaking, "at the moment! I will tell you soon, I promise, but for the moment it has to be a secret, please trust me Draco."
"I don't like this! I don't like it one bit!"
"I know but it won't be long, I promise." She said slightly begging him to leave it..
Draco nodded and moved back to framing her, holding her to the desk, "now where were we?" He asked her whilst he moved his hands back under her shirt. He slanted his lips back over hers and she melted into him.
He glided his hands down her ribs, against her hips, and moved to cup her arse. Lifting her up onto the desk, he stepped forward so his length fit perfectly at her core.
Hermione let out a loud, keening moan at the feel of him, collapsing her head against his shoulder as he worked her, seering her over the edge. She no longer thought of the research, or Theo. She could only think of her husband and his expertly moving hips, and the way she molded over his hard length.
xXx
Three weeks until their anniversary and Hermione had not found Theodore Nott. She had picked his magic signature up in many parts of the world, but none had actually shown up any leads on where the hiding Slytherin was currently residing.
She was wondering if she would be able to come through for Draco or if she would have to settle on finding something more mediocre for their anniversary. She had wanted to do this for him but it was proving to be impossible.
Hermione had enlisted the help of her two best friends, Harry and Ginny, and still nothing. They had given up after the first two weeks and the last week, Hermione had turned to Ron to ask if he would help and found that he was coming down with some kind of bug. so she left him to get better and hoped Harry could help his boyfriend back to health before they had to babysit the children.
Draco had been getting more and more suspicious about what Hermione was doing as she was having to travel more, and her excuse of work was wearing thin. As much as she missed her family and hated the secrets, she had been away from home for over a week, determined to complete her search.
Hermione looked out the window of the latest hotel and saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up, and thought of how much she wanted Draco, Scorpius, Alara and Alya to see this view, Maybe one day, when everything had stopped and calmed down, they could come here and see the sights. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to explore the countries she had stopped by on her mission, but she had seen enough to know she wanted to return to each one with her family.
Draco had sent many owls to her, asking her if she even planned on coming home to them. The hurt in her heart was unbearable, his moods were becoming catastrophic and it was going to explode someday soon. Knowing of his fears of her not coming home, she knew she would have to visit home soon and had planned a portkey for the weekend. She could return to the search on the Tuesday.
Packing all of her belongings, she walked to the Australian Ministry and went to the Transportation Department, ready to go home and put another country's failure out of her mind. Would she ever be able to find her husbands friend or would he be lost forever?
The portkey lit up and she was pulled through the tunnel, back into her office. She headed straight home, walking into the house, seeing her husband drunk and she knew she was in for a fight.
xXx
Draco regretted instantly what he had accused Hermione of. She would never cheat on him, and he knew that, but all the time she spent at her office and going out for days at a time was taking its toll so he had snapped.
In the last three weeks she hadn't been home more than five days. The secrets of whatever she was doing was detrimental to his mind as well. Why was she all of a sudden so busy at work that she couldn't spend more than a day with her family.
The anger had festered, and he had gotten drunk when Harry and Ron had offered to baby sit the kids for the night. Reluctantly, he had allowed them and had taken to drinking whenever he got frustrated.
Hermione had come home, expecting everyone to be asleep, he had lost it and now, now she was in her office again and throwing hexes.
Draco approached the door and knocked, "please, Hermione, come out and talk. I didn't mean what I said. I know you would never cheat on me, come out and talk with me please?"
"Go away Draco, I'm not in the mood to talk right now," her voice laden with tears sent a pang through his heart; he hated when he was the reason she cried.
"Please Hermione, I'm not going to let you sit in there all night." Hermione snorted within, like he could stop her, he would be hexed before he even tried to enter the room.
When her emotions were high she couldn't be reasoned with lightly.
"Draco, leave me be or I will leave for the night until I've calmed down!"
Knowing if he pushed her she would definitely leave he accepted, "Fine. I'll leave you be for a while, but please come out soon. They promised to never go to bed angry with each other in our vows.
"It's early yet, I'll make sure to come out before it's time to go to bed, I need to calm myself first."
Draco went to walk away and then turned back, placing his forehead on the door, he said, "I love you, Hermione."
"I love you too, Draco, now leave." Deciding he didn't want to push his luck, he moved to the wall opposite the door and slid down, resting in a seated position. Not long after he drifted to sleep, hoping she would come out soon.
xXx
Looking down at the letter that had been delivered, a smile spread across her features and her eyes lit up. Ginny had followed a lead to Paris and had found Theodore. she was following him and keeping him in her sights until Hermione could get there to bring him home.
Even though Ginny said he seemed to be in a bad way, Hermione still held hope this could help her get her husband back and wasn't going to give up.
Walking over to the fireplace she chucked some floo powder into the fire and called for Malfoy Farmhouse. The flames turned green, engulfing her until she reappeared into her home. Sticking her head through, she called out for her husband happily.
When he came into the room with a scowl on his face at being dragged away from whatever he was doing, Hermione's mood depleted slightly, "What's up, Love?"
No matter how grumpy he was, he always called her love when talking to her. "I've been called away to Paris and have to leave urgently. I'm not sure how late I'll be or if I'll be able to make it home tonight, but I wanted to let you know early so that you knew, darling" she said the endearment with a bite to it and his features melted into a frown.
"Why do you have to go to Paris? Can't someone else go?" He questioned her and she knew all of her late nights and constant work trips were starting to make him suspicious. But she held strong, knowing at the end of this, he wouldn't have to be anymore.
Flicking her eyes down so she didn't have to look him in the eyes when she told him yet another lie she stated, "Ginny ran into some trouble with some rowdy ministers and needs my help negotiating as she lost her temper."
When she looked back up she could see quite clearly he didn't believe her. But he didn't argue. Surprised by not fighting her on it, he nodded and said "well I hope you can make it back tonight and the ministers don't give you much trouble."
"I'll let you know. I love you Draco," hoping he believed her on that at least.
"I love you, Mione, come back quickly. I do miss you when you're away, even if we don't see eye to eye a lot anymore." She nodded, blew him a kiss and pulled back into her office, a tear leaking down her face at the mistrust she saw in his eyes every time they saw each other lately. A mistrust she has caused. She hoped all this deceit would be worth it in the end. She held onto that thought.
She packed what she could and apparated into the designated Ministry Officials apparating area. Mentally, she prepared herself for the fight she was sure would happen with Theo. If he was anything like Draco he wouldn't stand down easily.
Dialing Ginny's cell phone she waited for her friend to pick up, anxious to finally make some headway. She received the directions quickly, lest they lose him again.
Arriving at the dilipatated pub on the outskirts of Paris she screwed her nose up in distaste. Of course he would come here. Ginny was waiting inside the door, watching the bar and the exit to make sure she didn't miss Hermione and didn't lose the wizard they had spent so much time looking for.
"How long has he been here?" Hermione asked Ginny not taking her eyes off Theo.
"He's been sat there since yesterday according to the bartender. Hasn't moved once. Apparently he was in a cantankerous mood when he came in and was mumbling something about Slytherins and not knowing how to leave him alone. I don't have a clue who he's talking about though." Ginny reported, arms crossed over her chest.
"Okay, thanks Gin. Can you stay so if I need help I've got someone I trust?" Flicking her eyes to her friend she saw her nod and slink into the shadows so no one could see her.
Hermione took a fortifying breath and released it as she took her step towards him. This was what she had spent months trying to do and now that it was finally here she was nervous.
"Hello Granger. To what do I owe the glorious pleasure of being in your company?" Theo spoke in a sarcastic tone as she approached him.
"As you well know it's Malfoy now and I'm here to bring you home. You need to pick yourself back up and join your friends." He scoffed and shifted slightly toward her.
"Why do you care if I come home? We aren't friends and we never have been." he slurred into his tumbler.
Scowling at the obvious drunk state he was in she replied, "it's affecting my husband's moods and all of your old friends. So, yes, I do care when my husband is taking his frustrations out on me!"
Rolling his eyes he took another sip and peered over to where Ginny was hiding in the corner and snarled. Hermione wished her friend had been better at hiding when trailing him. This was going to make it worse.
"Brought the Weaslette for backup did you? The famous war hero can't handle one Slytherin?"
"I can handle you, but she's here to help if I need to force you to come back with me. I'm not leaving here without you." She stated calmly and with conviction in her tone.
"You aren't the only one trying to get me to go back you know. Bulstrode recently tried pulling me back with her, but gave up when I showed her what I've become." He swished the amber liquid around in his glass, a bit spilling over the edge of the canter, and she wondered if his moods were like the firewhiskey in his glass - smooth until you give it a bit of a flick and then it bubbles over. He could be a lot worse than he was at the moment, Hermione was sure of that.
Stepping forward she sat on one of the barstools and tapped the bar for the same as her drinking partner. She knew she was going to need some liquid courage when she tried to take him on.
When the barkeep placed the beverage in front of her, she picked it up and swallowed it in one gulp. Theo next to her gave her an impressed look at how she didn't even flinch at the burn as it went down.
"How is my absence affecting your marriage exactly?" He questioned her finally breaking the silence.
"Draco wishes he could help you and with you running around the world and avoiding everything and everyone he feels like he has failed you." Being blunt with him was going to be the only way to get through to him and hopefully get him to come home on his own.
"Again, why do you care either way?" Theodore drawled.
"He isn't in his right mind and he doesn't realise he's taking his frustrations out on myself. You will come home one way or the other so why not come willingly?" Hermione pleaded with him so she didn't have to do anything that would cause any animosity with her and Draco while she was helping him and his friend reunite.
"What's coming home going to serve me? I'm not welcome there anymore. Not since the war."
"You will be welcome by your friends. They all miss you, Theo. Please come home?" Hermione considered when she should take matters into her own hands and peered down at her watch. An hour had been and gone and she was still getting nowhere.
Nodding towards Ginny, giving her the signal that they would have to do this in a timely manner, she wasn't going to sit around all day talking to Theodore and trying to get him to return home. She would take whatever repercussions there was to come.
"Last chance Theo. You either come willingly or we take you forcefully now." She warned.
"Let's go then. I won't be forced to do anything."
At his words Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, and once Ginny had came fully over standing in a defensive manner Hermione said, "Theo has decided he'd rather come home on his own accord. Let's get home so I can see my family."
Hermione lead the way back to the French Ministry and procured a Floo network pass, flooing into her home office. "Now wait in here until I've told Draco what to expect."
"Hermione is that you?" Draco's voice sounded from the hallway, getting closer to the study.
"Yes, love, I'm coming out now!" She rushed out of the room before he could enter and do anything stupid, like hexing his best friend.
"I thought you said you were going to be gone until at least tomorrow?" He questioned her immediately.
"My work took less time than I planned and I knew I couldn't stay there any longer. I have something to tell you." Hermione said, trying to lead him to the living room, knowing Ginny could handle herself for a few moments.
"What's wrong?" Draco said immediately, jumping to the conclusion something had gone wrong.
"Nothing's wrong, everything's alright! Now, sit down would you." Draco sat down reluctantly and waited for her to speak.
"You know how I've been busy working on a top secret project for the last month and a half?" He nodded and she continued, "I was attempting to locate Theodore Nott and bring him home. And I found him, Draco."
Draco sat, wide-eyed in shock for a moment before speaking, "Where is he?"
"In our study with Ginny." Before she had finished the sentence he was up and moving to the study.
Opening the door, Draco gaped first at the sight of one of his best friends standing with Ginny's wand pointing toward him and then back at his wife, who was standing in the doorway watching him.
Draco was conflicted for a moment, then rushed to Hermione, pulling her into his arms and slanting his lips over hers, "Thank you, my love, this means everything!"
"I know, you can thank me properly later." She said with a wink and pushed him back toward his friend.
Smiling at how Draco and Theo were standing there silently, she knew she had done the right thing keeping this a secret for so long. She only hoped it was the perfect anniversary present to bring them back to who they once were.
xXx
Harry and Ron knocked on the door. The kids could be heard inside, playing carelessly and free. The two waited impatiently for a response to their loud pounding on the wooden door, but none came. Exchanging a glance, they nodded and simultaneously barged through the main entrance, taking it upon themselves to invite them inside.
When they popped their heads into the lounge room, they saw Scorpius, Alara and Alya playing with the legos they had bought them and Theodore Nott was sitting on the armchair by the kitchen door scowling down at them, looking as if he couldn't figure out what he was seeing.
"Hey Nott! Where's Draco and Hermione?" Harry questioned, getting the man's attention.
Pointing toward the back of the house, he rolled his eyes and said "Ever since the Weaslette and Granger brought me back this morning they've been back there yelling at each other. I don't think they are ready to go yet. The Weaslette said she's going to take care of me!"
"Thanks. I'll go check on them and see if I can get them moving." Harry said as he turned around back out of the room.
Ron stood in the doorway staring at Theo before Alya came up and tugged on his pant leg, "is that bag for us, Uncle Ron?" She said in her sweet little voice.
"Certainly is, but hide it quickly before your father comes out. He won't like it" he said, ushering her away after giving her a cuddle. The other two came and got a hug and ran off to check what their uncles had brought them.
"That had better not be more stuff you are giving my children Weasley and Potter." Draco said from behind Ron.
Harry gave Ron a look as if to say he should have waited until the couple was out of the house.
"Sure it is, we wouldn't be their favourites if we didn't buy them things, Malfoy" Ron said with a smirk.
Draco turned to Hermione and scowled, "Let's go and deal with this later. You will be here when we get back won't you, Theo?" Looking over at his friend, he saw him nod and flick his eyes to the kitchen where Draco knew Ginny was waiting for him to try and go anywhere.
Grabbing onto his wife's hand, he gave his children a hug and kiss goodbye then pulled her out of the house. It was time to celebrate their sham of a marriage and he wanted to get it started so he could get back and relax.
Their friends left behind considered whether the couple was going to last much longer with the way they were constantly fighting, and hoped their hike would help them work through things for the sake of the children and each other.
xXx
Hermione rolled her eyes at her husbands repetition of the fact she should have told him what she was doing. He reminded her many times that Theo was dangerous and she shouldn't have put herself at risk like that.
"You know, I thought that bringing him home to you would stop the fighting, but if anything, you have gotten worse!" She shouted over her shoulder. Stomping up the mountain with him, trailing behind wasn't her idea of how their anniversary was going to go.
Once he had seen Theo was okay and she wasn't hurt, he had turned on her, becoming furious. The children had been woken up from the fighting and Scorpius Floo'd Harry, who had instantly dropped everything to come over.
When Harry had arrived he had seen the arguing couple and grabbed the kids, leaving a note to them saying where they were so when the couple calmed down they would know their children were safe.
Ginny had then dragged Theo out of the room, closing the door behind her and erecting a silencing charm, waiting them out in the kitchen.
It had taken hours for them to emerge from the room, even then the tension between the two was palpable.
"If you had of told me what was going on and not put yourself in considerable danger, I might be slightly less angry about the whole thing!" He yelled back at her.
Hermione whipped around to glare at Draco and as she did, her footing was lost on some loose shrub. The moment she felt herself careening over the edge would be etched into Draco's memory for years to come.
Pure fear crossed over her face and he tried to catch her before she fell, but the moment of hesitation because of the fear on his wife's face was all it took for him to not get to her in time.
Hermione hit the small ledge at the bottom of the cliff and let out an excruciating scream, and then nothing. Draco heard the crack of something from where he was above her and knew something had broken.
"Hermione! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Panicking slightly when he got no response, he peered around and found a thin and treacherous path to where Hermione was and instantly went over to it, "Hermione! Love! I'll be down in a minute, please hang on!"
Getting down the path was difficult, grudgingly taking his time to be cautious, knowing he had to be calm to avoid the same fate as his wife's.
Reaching the ledge and seeing Hermione lying unconscious was enough to break him, but he knew he had to be strong. Strong for her. Inhaling a deep fortifying breath he ran over to her and knelt beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders before checking her pulse. In the face of fear for his love, he had forgotten his wand and continued to check her with his hands, wondering how he was going to get her back to the top of the cliff and back down the mountain to safety.
"Come on, 'Mione! Please wake up!" Slightly putting pressure on her shoulders, not willing to move her an inch, until he figured out what had cracked.
This trail was always a popular one, but the one weekend he needed people around there was no one in sight.
Behind him, Draco heard groaning, he spun around, catching the brown eyes of his wife, "What happened?"
"You don't remember falling? Can you feel everything? Where does it hurt?" Draco shot question after question at her.
"Oh right, I slipped on some brush. Yes I can certainly feel everything and Good Godric does it hurt!" A flash of agony crossed her face and Draco wondered exactly how bad she was hurt and whether he was going to be able to get help in time.
"Do you know exactly where you've hurt?" Hoping it wasn't her spine because then he'd have no hope of getting them out of there.
"I don't know exactly, how could I tell when I'm in this amount of pain!" Yelling the last part to empathise how close she was to snapping.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been yelling at you, especially when we are so far up and anything could go wrong if I distracted you"
"News flash Draco! Something did go wrong! I fell down a cliff what more could be wrong!?" Draco could see the pain was getting worse and with it, her mood. He shifted, trying to make them both more comfortable as he tried to think of a solution. As he did, he felt something jab his thigh.
Reaching into his pants pocket, his fist closed around his wand. How could he have forgotten that crucial item! He'd been a wizard since he was born and in the one moment he could have saved them both some struggle he forgot about his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!" Casting his patronus, he gave his wand another flick, relaying his message, and sent it off to Theo.
"Hermione, stay awake!" Draco called to his wife as he had turned to her. Her eyes dropping slowly, and he was uncertain if she had a concussion. "We won't be here long and then you can sleep all you want, I'll even sleep with you!"
"Okay Draco.. I'm really cold, can you get me a blanket?" Her words slightly slurring together, Draco hoped Theo got help fast. She wasn't doing well.
Waving his wand over her, he cast a warming charm, "there you go, love. You'll warm up soon and Theo is on his way with help so we will be out of here."
Draco continued to talk to her, even though she was no longer responding to him, telling her of what they were going to do when she felt better time passed slowly.
"Draco! Hermione!" Draco breathed a sigh of relief hearing the voices of his friends.
"Down here guys! Be careful!"
Theo was the first one down the slope, followed by Millicent and two St. Mungo's Healers. They worked slowly to stabilise Hermione and placed her on a stretcher, strapping her in so she couldn't move.
The male healer spoke directly to Draco, "We are going to apparate her straight in, this was close! You can follow straight away and we will have the paperwork for you to fill out when you arrive."
Draco nodded, leant down and kissed her on the cheek, "I'll be there soon, love, you hold on!"
Hermione grunted and said "I love you, Draco!"
"Love you, my Sweet Hermione!"
The healers spun on the spot and took his light with them. Theo waited a moment before speaking, "what went on mate? You've been gone hours why did it take you so long to get here?"
"It didn't take us long, we were arguing the whole way up the mountain. She spun in retort and lost her footing." Pausing, he breathed in deeply, exhaling as if a weight had been lifted when she had been taken to get treatment, "I could have gotten her help earlier, but I forgot about my wand when she fell."
"Oh Draco! Don't let this hurt you, this must of scared you! Anyone would have been the same in your situation," Milli spoke softly.
"Let just get to St. Mungos!" He said and started up the ridge so he could safely apparate.
When he arrived he didn't have to wait long for a healer to come and see him and tell him exactly what was wrong with Hermione.
Broken ribs, a cracked pelvis, a fracture in her tailbone and hips and a severe concussion. She would have to stay for a while and there would be a lot of recovery time needed, but she was going to be fine.
Draco followed the healer to a room situated across from the healers station and walked to her side, grabbing up her hand.
Hermione's eyes instantly opened and locked with his, "hey."
"Hey yourself, you gave me quite the fright!" His voice cracking slightly.
"I gave myself a fright, but that's over now, come here I want to kiss you but the healer said not to move!" A smirk moved across her face as he leant down and slanted his lips over hers. When she tried to deepen the kiss he chuckled and pulled back shaking his head.
"Soon, love! Rest, I'll be here when you wake!"
Hermione nodded and gestured for him to join her in the bed. If she was going to be forced into rest he was going to join her.
Draco pulled out his wand, waving it about to widening the bed. By the time Theo and Milli came into the room the two were asleep clutching onto the other.
xXx
Draco peered out over the ledge of the balcony, watching as his children and wife run around kicking a football, and couldn't wait until he could join them. Afraid at any moment everything was going to come crashing down on him again, he had never spent so much time messing around with his family.
Since their disastrous anniversary where Hermione had fallen down the cliff, they had been making leaps and bounds with reconciling and their three little loves couldn't be any happier,. The struggles they had to overcome in the past two years had made them stronger and had brought them a sense of closeness that had not been present since they had first started dating.
Yes, there were still fights, but they were about menial tasks, and never left to fester. They shared no secrets after Hermione had brought Theo home and her near death experience, she still held onto the argument she wasn't close to death, but Draco had seen how close she was by the healer's reactions.
After that trip to the hospital Draco had been overprotective of Hermione and their children, quite often being told to leave her alone when he was fussing. Draco couldn't take the pain of losing his only light, so he didn't risk her being in a situation that would be potentially be harmful.
As Draco went to joined his family, Theo and Milli wandered out onto the patio, "We didn't think you would mind us letting ourselves in." Milli spoke first.
"Not one bit, it gave me a bit more time to watch them without them realising." Draco said glancing back at his family.
"If I didn't know any better, mate, I'd think you'd gone soft in your old age!" Theo said, punching him on the shoulder.
"No not soft. I've seen what I can lose and don't want to be in that position again. Thank you for coming by the way!"
"It's okay, how's she doing?" Milli smiled.
"Not as much pain now, but you can still see it in her eyes when she overdoes things. She is just stubborn."
Scorpius came running over and pulled at Dracos pant leg, "Daddy, mummy says that you, Aunt Milli and Uncle Theo have to come play with us for a bit while she goes inside!"
With a slight inflection of panic in his tone, he rushed to Hermione. "Are you okay? You didn't over do it did you? Come on let's get you inside! I knew you shouldn't have been running around yet," He brushed his hands over her, checking she wasn't hurt in any way.
"Draco!" Hermione shouted and waited until he had stopped, "I'm fine! I need to go to the toilet and take my medications is all!" Draco frowned slightly, walking with her to help her in the house, "I am not an invalid, Draco! Stop fussing over me! Play with the kids and I'll be back soon with lunch. Watch out for Harry and Ron, they shouldn't be far off. Oh, and Ginny will be coming as well." Laying a small kiss on his lips, she walked into the house.
Draco stood there for a moment not knowing what to do with himself. For the last five months, all he had done was look after his wife and watch as their friends took turns to helping with the kids.
"Wait a bit and then go in. Let her go to the toilet and take her medications in peace before you be the doting husband. Just let her get back to being herself." Ginny said as she walked around the corner.
Draco nodded and watched Theo, Milli and Ginny start a game of chase with the kids, waiting until Harry and Ron arrived before he went inside. He found Hermione sitting at the bench, staring off into nothingness.
"Hermione? Are you alright?" He questioned, laying a hand on her shoulder to jolt her out of her state without scaring her. Even though he hadn't snuck up on her, she still jumped slightly at his touch and words. "Hermione! What's wrong? Why are you sitting here all jumpy?" He asked her again.
"I'm pregnant," looking shocked at her own words.
Draco stood with his mouth agape for a moment before shaking himself, "you're what now?"
"I said I'm pregnant, Draco."
They both stared blankly at each other, then Draco moved to pull her into his arms, taking care not to hurt her. He was ecstatic they had another chance to show another child their love.
Gasps rang through the room, Draco turning he saw their friends and children standing with smiles spread across their features. Draco knew then everything was falling back into place, and things were going to only get better for him and his family.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had writing it xxx