Disclaimer: All credit is owed to J.K. Rowling, I own nothing. Cover art is from youneedone2 on tumblr.
Summary: Hermione had managed to withhold the truth of her pregnancy for months before Draco found out about it. Although it had only happened one time, Draco knew instantly it was his. How will parenthood befit them? One-shot with a series of drabbles of parenting/children/etc. Lots of romance, humor and angst centered around family. Post War, EWE.
Together
Hermione examined her stomach in the mirror from every angle, but for someone who was definitely pregnant, she certainly didn't look it. At first, she was so shocked she quickly ran back out to the tiny convenience store below her flat and purchased three more devices. Just to be sure, she told herself. But there was no mistaking it, Hermione was pregnant with Draco Malfoy's child.
Did she tell him? She had to, right? But no matter how many times Hermione started to put her quill to new parchment, there were no words. How do you casually tell someone by owl that they will be expecting a child with a one-night stand?
Hermione knew that the guilt might gnaw at her if she didn't tell him, but she was terrified of how he would take the news. Besides, they hadn't spoken to each other since they'd fucked each other's brains out and hadn't exactly left off on good terms. Hi Draco, sorry I left in the middle of the night after the most intense and incredible sex I've ever had with absolutely no explanation or further communication. Not an easy pill to swallow.
Ginny had tried to drag Hermione out to a bar on several occasions, but this time she could not come up with an excuse good enough to miss her best friend's bachelorette night. Hermione was Ginny's Maid of Honor and, although the role of planning this occasion typically fell to someone in her position, Ginny was understanding of Hermione's distaste for drunken nights at the bar, so she allowed her work best friend, Neema, to take over.
Ginny was properly drunk after hours of drinks and shots with Neema on the same level, while Hermione struggled to finish her third drink. She was really starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, growing more and more confident.
Draco Malfoy was a frequent flier of this particular bar in London and was utterly shocked to see a particular bushy haired Muggle-born ordering a drink at the bar. The bartender turned his attention from Hermione to Draco the moment he entered the room. Malfoy's were good business and were generally treated as a priority.
"What are you drinking?"
Hermione was skeptical for a moment about engaging in conversation with Draco Malfoy. She hadn't seen him since the war, but nonetheless she replied, "Gin."
Draco gave her a crooked grin and signaled to the bartender to make two gin and tonics. They talked casually at the bar and continued to order another round, both a bit uneasy but becoming remarkably more comfortable around each other as the drinks worked their magic. No pun intended.
"Hermione!" Ginny slurred from the booth in the corner. "We have to go!" Neema motioned for Hermione to stay, that she would be able to handle getting Ginny home safely on her own.
She glanced nervously at Draco, but a devilish glint in his eyes made her stomach turn and hands shake in a way she'd never felt before. "You two go on, I think I'm going to stay for a bit."
Ginny sagged a bit, but shrugged, following Neema, who shot Hermione a thumb's up from behind Draco's head and stumbled out of the bar.
"Feeling brave are we, Granger?" Draco taunted.
"I'm not afraid of you." She raised her eyebrow and leaned closer to him.
Without breaking eye contact with her, Draco ordered another round of drinks for them.
The rest of the night had been a blur for Hermione. She could remember everything, she most certainly was not that intoxicated, but it did move rather quickly. The two had walked the three blocks to Draco's flat and were unable to keep their hands off of each other the minute he locked the door behind them. His hands were tangled in her hair, pulling it back to expose her neck to him. Her nails were digging into the skin on his back as they both climaxed.
Hermione was exhausted, but restless. Draco had fallen asleep on her stomach in seconds, but she patiently waited until he was in a deep enough sleep to roll over to the other side of the bed before she crept out from beneath the covers and retrieved her clothes and shoes from their scattered locations on the floor.
It was too good to be true. They had amazing chemistry, but there was no way he'd feel kindly towards her in the morning, right? Rather than take the risk of facing Draco's rejection, Hermione had left in the middle of the night with no explanation.
Neither had spoken or seen each other since.
Draco perused through Diagon Alley with every intention of visiting Borgin and Burkes for a new piece of furniture when he spotted a familiar face in the oncoming crowd. It had been a few months, but Draco would never forget how much it hurt to wake the morning after one of the best nights of his life and feel for the woman he'd fallen so quickly for only to find empty sheets.
But there was no avoiding her now, she was too close to him that she would notice him desperately trying to go any other direction but towards her. Draco took a deep breath and prepared for the awkward small talk he was sure he would be forced to endure, but as he was examining how much she'd changed in the few months, how much more she glowed, he saw it. The bump.
"What the fuck?" He swore again in his head for letting those be the first words he said to her.
Hermione winced and her eyes widened, but she took Draco by the forearm and dragged him into a side alley.
"I'm sorry." She blurted when they were alone, away from the bustling main street.
Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to explode. How dare she?
"How long?" He sighed, unable to take his eyes away from her stomach.
"Three months."
"For fuck's sake, Hermione!"
"I meant to tell you, I really did, but-"
"But what?" He protested, cutting her off. "All of the owls got lost? Went on holiday?"
Her lips trembled. She kept muttering how sorry she was until Draco finally started to calm down. He tentatively put a hand out, "May I?". Yes, she'd responded. Draco offered to buy her a cup of tea, or whatever she was allowed to drink, he added, so that they could continue talking. Hermione accepted.
She confided in him about how awful the first few months were and how grateful she was to longer be puking her guts out in the toilet three times a day. Draco's eyes were focused, sparkling; he leaned closer to her throughout her recap of the three months they'd been apart intent on taking everything in, every single detail.
"When is your next appointment?" He pressed when the conversation had come to a natural lull. Hermione bit her lip, hesitating to let him in. "Please," He took her hand across the small café table. "I have already missed out on so much, no more. Let me join you. Let me help."
Hermione squeezed his hand before pulling hers away to rest on her tiny bump. "Very well."
Next week, Hermione was scheduled to determine the sex of the baby. Originally, Harry and Ginny were going to accompany her and plan a fun reveal party for the gender of the baby, but Hermione had messaged them that she was going to go with Draco instead and that, if they still wished, she would send them the gender so that they could plan a party. They'd agreed. Harry had secretly been hoping that Draco would find out he was the father. Ginny, as drunk as she'd been the night of her bachelorette, couldn't forget the telltale platinum blonde with his hand around Hermione's waist at the bar. She'd told Harry what had happened, who was fated to hear it from Hermione anyway as her best mate.
Draco and Hermione quickly fell into a routine of weekly healer's appointments, dinners on Tuesday night's, and Sunday's at the library. Hermione liked to read about pregnancy and motherhood while Draco read nursery rhymes to the unborn child. It was comical, really, Draco attempting to fit his tall, lean frame in a toddler-sized chair and lean as close as he possibly could to Hermione's now-protruding bump. She was growing by the day to the point where by the end of the sixth month she could no longer see her own feet or get out of bed in the morning without Draco's help.
Draco had worked painstakingly hard to convince Hermione that it was best for the baby that they move in together, but deep down they both knew it was becoming so much more than that. It was the easiest excuse for neither of them to admit how they truly felt about each other.
"Seven months, how do you feel?" The healer asked.
Hermione replied with a story of how she had perfected the pregnancy waddle with a majority of her body weight shifting to throw her center of balance off. The healer smiled at Hermione and Draco as she examined Hermione through the ultrasound. When she found the perfect spot to highlight both babies, she froze the frame and turned the screen towards the eager parents.
"Are there…" Draco squinted harder to make sure he wasn't simply imagining things. "Two heads?"
"Well, yes," The healer's brows furrowed. "It's exceptionally normal for twins to each have their own heads and bodies."
Hermione coughed for several minutes while Draco patted her back, both still reeling and trying to comprehend what they'd just been told.
Draco pulled out a chair and helped Hermione sit down before pulling out his own chair at the dinner table of Harry and Ginny's house. Ron was also present with his fiancé, Margaery, whom he'd met at work. There were several guests at the house to celebrate the joint baby shower for Ginny and Hermione. Harry and Ginny had only been married for six months, but Ginny was already four months pregnant. As soon as the women had both realized they would be pregnant at the same time, Ginny had urged Hermione to hold off on her baby shower so that they may have one together. Hermione had obliged, reluctant to celebrate at all.
"Harry!" Hermione threw a tart at him from across the table. "Why the bloody hell didn't you tell us that we were expecting twins! We gave you the card with the gender reveal on it nearly four months ago!"
"I'm sorry, Hermione," She threw another tart at him. "No, really! I am!" He put his hands in front of his face and caught the next tart she threw.
"We thought it might be cute to reveal both genders and surprise you at the party!" Ginny exclaimed.
"And give us practically no time to prepare for an entire other baby?" Hermione puffed.
"That was before we decided to have a joint shower!" Ginny protested.
"So, let me get this straight," Draco interjected. "You knew we'd be expecting twins and, after rearranging the shower plans, still withheld this information from us for months?"
At this, Ginny bit her lip and looked at Harry for help, but he was too busy avoiding making eye contact with Hermione to be any help to her. Ron was dying of laughter in the corner and nearly fell out of his chair.
The rest of the shower went rather smoothly, Harry admitted to himself. He was a bit worried to be hosting so many families, but it turned out to be loads of fun. The games that Ginny and her work friends had come up with for the expecting fathers and mothers were decidedly a bit ridiculous, but that was part of the fun he supposed.
The reveal itself was quite interesting. Ginny and Harry stood, hand in hand, underneath a cloud created by the wands of onlookers. Hermione, who had been entrusted with the gender of their child, sat in a chair opposite them, and at the opportune moment, waved her wand to prompt the cloud above them to burst and rain down blue confetti. Harry beamed and lifted his wife in the air to twirl her around. A baby boy.
Following the happily married couple was Draco and Hermione. She wasn't at all nervous, surprising even herself, but Draco seemed exceedingly pale. Even for him. Hermione stood from her chair, with the help of both Ron and Draco, and positioned herself in the center of the crowd in her usual stance of late: one hand on her lower back and the other resting atop her very enormous bump. Twins, she thought to herself, that explains the size.
Hermione freed the hand on her stomach to hold Draco's. He looked sideways at her and kissed her cheek as thanks. She always knew when he was worried or stressed. Before they knew it, Hermione and Draco were covered in confetti, just as Harry and Ginny had been, except this time it wasn't only blue. It was blue and pink. A boy and a girl.
Hermione screamed in agony. Childbirth was brutal. Draco brushed aside loose strands of her hair and dabbed her neck and forehead with a damp washcloth, urging her to keep pushing, much to her disliking. She'd like to see him push a baby out of his arsehole. It'll be over soon, he promised. And it was, for a moment.
"A boy." The healer announced, passing the newborn to the nurse who placed the swaddled baby in Hermione's outstretched arms. Draco and Hermione peered down on their precious newborn son.
It was far too soon that Hermione had to hand her son back to the nurse and prepare for the next child. Twins were a bitch, she groaned. This birth was harder, and Hermione knew then and there that she'd be in for trouble with this one. But it was all worth it when the healer proudly stood up with another newborn in his arms, "A girl."
Draco slumped his head in relief, two healthy, happy newborn twins. He placed his forehead against Hermione's temple and spoke sweetly and confidently, "I love you." Hermione cupped her hand around his cheek and leaned into his touch, overwhelmed with emotion, echoing back her love for him.
Hermione and Draco slept in the tiny hospital bed. Well, slept was a bit of an exaggeration since they opted to have the newborn twins spend the night in the room with them instead of in the nursery wing. They adored their children and couldn't stop beaming at each other and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.
Draco opened the door to their house and helped Hermione to the nearest sofa before running back to the car for the twins who were sound asleep in their carriers in the backseat. Draco had insisted that they upgrade from their humble flat to an enormous house fit for a family upon hearing that they'd be expecting twins. The couple slumped against the couch and admired their children in silence, appreciative of the momentarily quiet before one of them woke up.
They had agreed on continuing the Malfoy tradition of carrying a constellation name. Hermione reasoned that since they'd given the twins his last name, that they should at least be able to have a different first name and have the constellation name as their middle names. Draco agreed, wholeheartedly. He hadn't planned on Hermione wanting them to take his last name, but he was grateful for it, although he did plan on also offering that same family name to Hermione soon.
Rhaegar Lucius Malfoy.
Korra Andromeda Malfoy.
Hermione and Draco got very little sleep over the next couple of months, but soon they were getting the hang of being new parents and were able to return to work, leaving the twins and Harry and Ginny's newborn son, James Sirius Potter, with a sitter. Hermione prayed for the sanity of their sitter.
"Ok, now you have to blow out the candles, sweetheart." Hermione coaxed, trying to get her son to participate in his own birthday celebration. It was hard to believe the twins were already three. Hermione exchanged a glance with Draco, who was busy trying to hold their daughter back from stuffing her hands into the cake and ruining it for everyone. She was a handful, especially compared to her brother who was currently sucking on his thumb not making a sound and trying to burrow into Hermione's loose hair.
Rhaegar was the most well-behaved toddler Hermione had ever come to known. He was outgoing when he was with those, he felt most comfortable around, such as his twin sister, Korra, and their best friend, James.
The twins were especially adorable, taking after their father with his sleek platinum hair and sparkling eyes. Rhaegar, a near mirror-image of his father, even with his silver eyes, however, took after his mother. He was thoughtful, reserved and constantly asking his parents questions about the world around him. Even before he could mumble incomplete sentences, which is what he currently did, Hermione had been quick to pick up on his social cues and explain anything young Rhaegar pointed at. The car? It brought Mommy and Daddy to work. A hard, bump that had appeared in his mouth? A shiny, new tooth.
Korra, conversely, was almost an exact replica of her father, down to the bold and adventurous attitude. The only claim Hermione had to her daughter was the beautiful, brown eyes that helped her get away with, quite frankly, anything. She needn't need nor want for anything, because her father would soon be there providing her with just the thing. Hermione recalls having to scold Draco for considering buying her a broom for her third birthday. But how could he not, he argued, look at that smile! Korra had twirled and beamed on cue. Hermione sighed and settled for a plush broom instead, watching as Draco hoisted Korra up onto his shoulders and "flew" around the store with her.
"I'm in desperate need of a vacation." Hermione nudged her hip against Draco and watched as the twins ran off with their new presents, intent on showing them to every guest in attendance.
"Well, then it's a good thing we have our first anniversary holiday coming up." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple.
Draco rested his chin atop Hermione's head and watched as their son and daughter were chased around the entertainment room by their Godfather, Harry.
"I love you." Hermione said.
"As I love you." Draco replied.
A/N - Thank you for reading! This first chapter is the one-shot universe around which the drabbles stem from.