"Missus, please," the little house elf squeaked, the only part of her visible above the height of the bed being the tips of her ears.
"Where is he?!"
"Daisy has not been able to get ahold of Master, but Daisy will keep trying. Daisy does not like seeing Missus upset."
"I'm not upset," she gasped out, her hands gathering the sweaty sheets around her into fists as she clutched them desperately.
"Missus is yelling like she does when she is angry with Master."
"That is the wonder of labor, Daisy." She let out another gasp of pain as another contraction hit. "Where the bloody hell is he?" she screamed, her head arching back into the pillow.
"Missus certainly sounds upset," Daisy muttered beneath her breath.
"I heard that," Ginny hissed, panting as she tried to recall her breathing exercises.
"Can Daisy get you anything?"
"Get me Malfoy," Ginny pleaded, the wave of pain alleviating for the moment. The contractions were coming quicker together now, and she guessed she only had a minute or two before the next one hit. She turned her head to rest her cheek against the pillow. "Or alcohol," she was only joking, and she knew Draco had forbidden Daisy to let her drink. Well, not for much longer, Ginny thought with a pathetic laugh. She definitely missed firewhisky.
The fireplace in the corner of the room flashed a bright green, and then a figure tumbled out, covered in soot from the other end of the network. "Blasted flooing," he cursed as he stood and brushed down his robes.
"Master!" Daisy squeaked. "Daisy has been trying to get ahold of you for ages. Something is wrong with Missus."
"What?" he asked distractedly, his attention still focused on the soot. "Blast it all," he snapped, retrieving his wand and whisking away the mess.
"Something in wrong with Missus," Daisy repeated, tugging on his robe and pointing toward the bed.
"Take your time, I've got all day," Ginny snapped from the bed.
"Stars, Weasley, why didn't you come get me?" he exclaimed when he finally got a look at her.
"Hence the urgent messages from the house elf."
He approached the bed, sweeping his robe to the side as he sat down next to her. Reaching forward, he brushed sweaty hair out of her face. "There was a near fatal poisoning at the hospital, I only just got the messages. Came as quick as I could. I thought you said it would be another week at least."
"Well, I guess the baby thought better of what I assumed, Malfoy," she snapped. From the look he gave her, she could tell she wasn't the only one who would be relieved when her hormones got back to normal and she was only angry at him half the time.
"Where's the midwife?" he asked as he massaged her temple.
"Don't know, Daisy couldn't get ahold of her either. We've been trying for an hour."
"Need I remind you that we do know of another midwife we can call upon."
Ginny grabbed his robes and yanked his face to within centimeters of hers, "I would rather die of complications than call her."
"Be that as it may, I am not willing to take that chance."
"I swear, if she comes here, I will kill you. Kill you!" She struggled to push herself into a sitting position as he moved to the bowl of floo powder atop the mantle. "I swear it, Malfoy!"
"Missus says she's not upset, but Daisy doesn't know." The little house elf played with the hem of her skirt as she glanced back and forth from Draco to Ginny.
"Shut up!" Ginny yelled at the house elf. "Don't. You. Dare." She snapped her attention back to Malfoy. But he had already dropped a handful of powder into the fireplace and was poking his head in.
"Just kill me now," she groaned as she settled back into the bed and pulled the covers up over her head.
"Yes, good to see you too, Arthur. I was wondering if Molly is about." Ginny could hear the words through the sheet. She momentarily wondered if she would be able to smother herself with a pillow. "Yes, Molly, good to see you… well, actually, we have a bit of a situation… no I'm afraid we won't be able to make it to dinner tonight, as Ginny has gone into labor and our midwife is nowhere to be found… yes, well, we were rather hoping you would say so. Right then."
"Your mother is just collecting some items and then she will be on her way. Daisy, be a dear and get Ginny a damp cloth, would you?"
With a quick curtsy, Daisy scurried off into the bathroom as Draco dropped his robes to the floor and reclaimed his spot on the bed next to her. "It would be no use to kill me now," he told her as he gently pulled the sheets back, "I'm afraid the deed is already done."
Daisy reappeared in a flash, handing the washcloth to Draco. He folded it twice, then placed it on her forehead. "Relax," he told her as he held the cloth against her forehead. "You've already survived eight months; what's one more day?"
"Tell me to relax one more time. Go ahead. I dare you."
Leaning down, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her squarely on the lips. He ruined the moment, however, when he pulled away and said, "Relax, Weasley."
"Relax my arse." Then the pain built again and slammed into her all at once. She bit down on her bottom lip until it bled, then let out a clinched scream as the contraction ran its course. She felt his hand moving towards her and she snatched it up, her fingers clamping down on his like a vice.
"You are such a prick, Draco Malfoy," she gasped in between pants. "I cannot believe," she paused to breathe and squeezed his hand even tighter, "you did this to me."
"You didn't seem to mind at the time."
He was saved from her following death threat by a sudden pop and the appearance of a plump, middle aged witch. "Oh, Ginny," her mother exclaimed as she assessed the situation. "How far along are you?" she asked, dropping her bag at the foot of the bed and rushing to join the pair on the side.
"Far enough along I assume it's too late to change my mind." Molly chuckled as she worked on pulling the sheets to the foot of the bed. Draco rose and stepped aside until she had cleared his area, then returned to his spot. They had never really talked about starting a family, though they both knew her family assumed it would be inevitable. After all, Weasleys had a tendency to breed like rabbits. But she certainly hadn't expected to find herself in this situation, at least not this early in her life. At twenty-five, marriage and children had been the furthest things from her mind. And yet, they found themselves here. As much as she missed firewhisky, she swore to never drink again.
"Let's just take a look see, shall we?" Molly asked, plopping herself down at the center of the bed as she pushed Ginny's legs up, forcing her knees to bend.
"I am going to be scarred for life," Ginny groaned as her mother smacked her outer thigh and commanded her to lift her butt up off the mattress. Grudgingly, she obeyed. Humility filled her as her mother stripped her of her knickers. She squeezed Draco's hand until she thought she heard a bone snap.
"Let's spread these legs a little, shall we?" Molly asked as she moved her head into position to check the dilation.
"I can't do this," Ginny begged, turning to face Draco. "I can't."
"Oh dearie, you know I've done this once or twice. You'll be fine, sweetheart."
Her mother's words were far from comforting. Her eyes bore into Draco. "Me mum is staring at my vagina. My vagina, Malfoy."
"Jealous as I am, we ought to just let her do her thing, don't you reckon? Aaaaahhh," he called out as she tightened her hold on his hand so hard that he had to pry her off to massage the joints.
"Goodness gracious, looks like you are already at 4 centimeters."
"I have no idea what that means, Mum."
"It means it's time for a little bit of magical assistance, hmm?"
"I like the sound of that," Draco replied, offering his other hand to Ginny this time.
"For the mother only, I'm afraid," Molly retorted as she scurried from the bed and grabbed her large bag. Dropping it onto the foot of the bed, she began a mad rummage through it.
"Ah yes, here's one to start." She pulled a small bottle out of the bag, dusted it off with her hand, studied the label carefully to double check, and then moved to Ginny's side. "Haven't used this since James was born."
"That was only last year," Ginny replied as Molly handed the bottle off to Draco.
"Daisy, my dear, could you be so kind as to retrieve a tablespoon for us please?" Molly asked the house elf before returning her attention to her daughter. "Yes, well, you kids certainly have been busy lately."
Ginny choked on her reply. Draco readjusted the cloth on her forehead and kissed her temple. He dropped his forehead against the cloth, his nose brushing against hers. "This is happening," he stated, and she could hear his voice hitch on the words as if the realization was suddenly dawning on him for the first time.
"Don't you dare pussy out on me now. You're the one that talked me into this in the first place." She hadn't been ready when she got the news. He hadn't been for that matter, either, but he had taken it far better than she had. She had wanted to end the pregnancy before she even told him, but she knew it would have been a selfish decision. He had freaked, disappeared for three days, then returned from work dead on his feet when his boss forced him to take time off. In his delirious state, he told her they would figure it out, but that they had it keep it. He had looked so dazed but sounded so sincere. In that moment, she would have agreed to just about anything he had said.
"I'm right here," he swore, kissing the tip of her nose.
Tears began to form, and she wondered if she could just fall asleep and wake when it was over. "I still don't think I can do this," she confessed.
"You're the toughest witch I know. You're gonna be fine."
"My mum is going to deliver this baby. Do you know how much that is going to cost me in therapy?" she cried.
He laughed, readjusting the cloth so he could kiss her forehead. "We'll manage."
He turned when he felt the familiar tug of his pants leg. Daisy handed him the tablespoon, and he looked to Molly, "How much do I give her?"
Molly, who had been watching them in silence, shook herself alert. "One tablespoon will do just fine."
He pulled the cork from the bottle. Cringing at the smell, he carefully poured the liquid into the spoon. "Open wide, Weasley."
"That's what got me into this mess in the first place."
He dissolved into a coughing fit as she leaned up to take the medicine.
"Oh dear," Molly commented quietly to herself.
"You know how you get a tad upset," the understatement of the century, to be sure, "when I make those… inappropriate comments at your family gatherings when I get uncomfortable?"
"Yes, I reckon I remember an instance or two where that might have happened."
He gave her a knowing look, tilting his head in her mother's direction for good measure.
Ginny scoffed him off. "I'm pretty sure my mum knows where babies come from."
"All the same," he suggested, swiping his hand across his throat.
"Oh, bloody hell!" she screamed, her grip seizing his hand in pure agony as unfiltered pain coursed through her body.
"Well that worked quicker than usual," Molly commented as she returned to her bag and searched through it again.
"Working?" Draco gasped, baring his teeth as Ginny worked to break every single bone in his hand.
"The potion helps induce labor. We wouldn't want to wait around all evening like Muggles do. That could take hours, and I'm rather excited to meet my new grandchild."
"Malfoy," Ginny grunted in anger through the pain. There was no way a child could be worth this amount of pain.
"Molly, a hand here if you don't mind," he managed to get out as he grabbed ahold of the edge of the mattress with his other hand and squeezed. His joints ached in protest.
"The pain will pass in another moment or two. Just give it a second, then we can get to the good part."
Ginny's head arched off the bed with the final wave of pain. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it went. She dropped her head down, panting, still trying to catch her breath.
"Daisy, dear, could you fetch us some towels? I daresay this next part is going to get a bit messy, and this duvet looks nicer than what we can afford." Molly lifted Ginny's shirt – or rather, Draco's oversized shirt she had stolen since her stomach had grown too large for her own clothes - to expose her engorged belly. "Just a little while longer, Sweetheart," Molly promised, touching the tip of her wand to the bottom of her daughter's belly as she spoke a soft spell. "That will help ease the pain away, and then it's all smooth sailing from here."