"Hermione, I'm home!" Draco Malfoy called out to the seemingly empty house. "Caelum? Ara? Where is everyone?"
"The kids are at Luna's place for the night." Draco turned to find his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, closing the front door. "I thought we could have a little adult time tonight."
Draco pulled her into his arms, laughing. "You know me, always up for some adult time." He leaned down to give her a heated kiss, his hand wandering away from her waist.
"Not right now," Hermione slapped his hand away from her bottom. "I have a lovely dinner planned, so go get dressed, the reservation is for six-thirty."
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The restaurant had high ratings and was one of Hermione's favourites. She and Draco had a semi-private booth and excellent service from the young waitress. Draco was impressed by the class and professionalism shown by the restaurant, it was not one he was familiar with and therefore was not in the circles of wizarding elite. The food was delicious, but Hermione urged Draco away before dessert.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Hermione took Draco's hand, leading him down the quiet street. They wandered off, meandering slowly back towards Hermione's small house.
"You've been there before." Draco mused as they walked.
"Yes, the food is to die for, plus kids are half price on Tuesdays." Hermione smiled at her memories.
"You have so many memories I wish I could have played a part in. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to be there for you, Hermione." Draco brushed his free hand down the side of her face.
"You just have to promise to be in every memory from now on. That way neither of us will have regrets." Hermione kissed his hand. "Plus, I have some news, but I'm not sure how you will take it."
They stopped in front of a small bungalow, neat and proper, with a small front yard. Paper hearts covered the front window, a child's display for the upcoming Valentine's Day. Most of the hearts were coloured with red, pink, and purple. A few spotted darker shades of black and blue. All the windows were dark, except for a pale glow in the kitchen window.
"Whatever the news is, I'm sure everything will be fine. We can handle anything together." Draco pulled her in close, kissing her red lips deeply before pulling apart to look into her eyes.
"Come with me." Hermione once again took his hand, this time to lead him into the house.
The two walked into the dimly lit kitchen. Instead of the warm glow of the candles on the table, as Hermione intended, the fireplace was a light green, indicating a message had been sent through the floo network. Hermione hurried to the hearth, pulling a slightly singed note out of the flames.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Draco tried to read the hastily scrawled note over her shoulder.
"It's from Luna. She says not to worry, but Harry and Ron were in a skirmish at work and are now at St. Mungo's." Hermione looked up at Draco, eyes frantic. Draco suddenly understood the seemingly mysterious relationship between the trio. It was the same look he got when he thought about his mother in the hands of Lord Voldemort. Her family was hurt, and she didn't know how badly.
He took the note out of her stiff hands. "What else did Luna say?"
"She'll keep the kids for as long as we need her to. We can spend some time at the hospital, as much as we need to." Hermione answered numbly.
"Let's go then."
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Hermione and Draco hurried into the Accidental Spells ward at St. Mungo's fifteen minutes later. They were greeted by a tear stained Ginny with a wailing baby boy.
"Oh thank goodness, you're here. You're the first ones, Mum's out collecting the rest of the family." Her spiel done, Ginny passed her two month old son, James, onto Draco before throwing herself into Hermione's arms.
Despite her worries, and the sobbing woman in her arms, Hermione had to smile at the sight of a petrified Draco holding Ginny's bawling son. He had no clue how to comfort the child or even how to hold him any differently then how he had been handed over. It made her even more excited to tell him her news.
"Let's have a seat and wait for everyone else. Have you heard anything from the Healers?" Hermione guided Ginny in to a chair in the ward's waiting room. Draco followed slowly, still trying to work out what to do with James.
"The- the healers only said that their injuries were serious, but that they would most likely survive. But that was awhile ago. Oh, what if something has happened and the Healers just don't want to tell me?" Ginny descended into uncontrollable sobs once more.
Hermione rubbed her back while motioning to Draco with her other hand. She mimed placing the baby up on her shoulder and patting his back. Draco looked down at the child in his hands before slowly shifting him up to his shoulder. James quieted quickly, soothed by the large hands of the man holding him.
Ginny had just settled down when Molly burst through the doors of the waiting room with the rest of the family. The sudden loud noise woke James, sending him into fits of tears. As everyone tried to talk all at the same time a tired looking Healer entered to waiting room.
"Excuse me." Nobody seemed to hear. "Excuse me!"
Everyone turned to look at the Healer. She was annoyed, she disliked dealing with large, loud families, but she always ended up with those families as patients. And she had known exactly what family she getting as soon as she had looked at her newest patients.
"Daphne?" Draco squeezed through the crowd of redheads to speak with his former schoolmate. Everyone else returned to their conversations.
"Draco?" Daphne Greengrass was stunned. "What are you doing here? With them."
"They sort of adopted me after…" Draco paused. It was too long of a story to get into now. "Well, I'm attached to someone here. I'm pretty much here for moral support."
"And the baby?" Daphne pointed to James, still on Draco's shoulder.
"Not mine, just holding him out of harms way." Draco gestured to the crowd. "Mine are at a friend's house."
"Yours?" Daphne quirked an eyebrow. "Tell me later, right now I've got work to do."
Daphne waded into the gaggle of Weasleys to find Ginny and Molly. Whatever news she gave them produced a relieved laugh and a understanding sigh. Ginny and Molly followed Daphne away to see their wayward Aurors.
The mention of his absent children sent Draco's mind into a tail spin. He thought about the reason they weren't there; they were with Luna. They were with Luna because he and Hermione had had a date. He and Hermione had gone out because Hermione had news. What was Hermione's news? She had seemed nervous and apprehensive about telling him. Maybe it was bad news. Maybe she was concerned about their relationship, or his relationships with their children. Draco resolved to talk to Hermione the first chance he had.
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Turns out, life was too busy for talking. Harry and Ron were sent home a day after being admitted to the hospital. Ron was still living with his parents and had lots of people looking after him. Harry, on the other hand, really just had Ginny, and she had to care for a two month old baby at the same time. Hermione offered to give her a hand, when she could between work and caring for her own children. This left Draco with most of the work at home, plus his own job. There was little time for lengthy discussions, only brief updates on kids or food or the schedule.
Draco continued to stew about Hermione's news. In his eyes, their relationship didn't seem any different. Sure, there was less time to be with each other, but that was life, right? Life was busy. Draco's thoughts spiralled down a decidedly dark path.
Hermione, meanwhile, had completely forgotten that she had never finished her conversation with her boyfriend. She worked as hard as she was able just to keep everyone going and happy. She was so busy she never noticed Draco's worsening mood, or when he started to put some distance between them.
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"Happy St. Patrick's Day, Draco!" Blaise Zabini yelled across the packed pub. He gestured to the waitress to bring another round for the table, plus one for Draco. Blaise, along with Theo Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, and Gregory Goyle, had a corner table reserved by Draco, just for this occasion.
"Where have you been? You should have been here forever ago!" Pansy shouted to be heard above the crowd.
"I had, family, things to attend to." Draco replied slowly. In truth, Hermione had been home late from work and Ara didn't want to go to sleep unless both her parents gave her a goodnight kiss.
"Something with you mom?" Theo asked, concerned.
"Or was it your mysterious children?" Daphne leaned forward, waiting for a reaction. A few other heads turned at the question. Children? Since when did Draco have children?
Draco glanced at Blaise and Theo. The former grinned at him while the later shrugged apologetically and said, "It's your story to tell, Draco."
"And do tell, Draco." Pansy nearly stood up in her seat to get closer. "Give us all the details."
"I just found out about them in December. I have a son and a daughter. Ara is almost six and Caelum is almost five. Their mom sort of kept them away while I went through all that stuff after the war and with my mother." Draco grimaced at those thoughts. "I'm living with them and their mom and I guess we got back together."
"You don't seem too sure there, mate. What's eating you?" Blaise slapped Draco on the shoulder.
Draco chugged his beer, and Blaise's, before answering. He told the whole story, except for Hermione's name. He voiced his fears about her news, and about her behaviour in the last few weeks.
"So, you think she's cheating?" Pansy asked, confused.
"Maybe, no. I think she's rethinking being with me, and I don't want to be without her." Draco dropped his head into his hands.
"Draco, she's not like that, she never has been. I mean, there hasn't even been anyone since, well, you." Theo spoke up, trying to reassure his friend.
"Theo, you know who she is? And her, um, lack of relationship status for the last few years?" Daphne asked incredulously.
"I only asked a friend of hers." Draco stared at Theo. "What? I was concerned for you."
"Right, for me. Who'd you ask?" Draco was happy to force the attention off himself.
"Well, Luna of course." Theo whispered.
"Luna? As in Looney Lovegood?" Pansy wrinkled her nose. "Draco, who are you shagging that would be friends with Looney Lovegood? I mean, that must be a mistake."
Everyone turned back to Draco, waiting for his reaction to Pansy's rude remarks. Draco was sick of the conversation. He had been hoping for some legitimate advice, not the gossip mongering of preteen girls. He looked at the time and all the empty beer mugs on the table.
"That's enough. I've been here long enough and drunk more than enough alcohol for one night. I do have responsibilities now." Draco wobbled his way out the door, thinking sadly about his family problems.
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"Where've you been?" Hermione's voice was quiet in the silent house. She watched Draco stumble into the living room, tripping over stray toys.
"You know where I was. At the bar, with my friends." Draco slurred, throwing himself onto the couch.
"You said you were going out for a couple hours, that was at seven o'clock, it's after three in the morning, Draco. I was worried about you." Hermione moved to sit on the coffee table in front of him.
"You don't worry about me, you almost never talk to me anymore." Draco tried to glare, but it turned into a sleepy frown. "You must not want me anymore."
"What brought this on? Of course I want you, I love you, you silly man." Hermione didn't know if Draco's ramblings were true fears or just drunken mutters. "Come on, let's get to bed, we can talk in the morning."
"We won't talk, we haven't talked in, in, in over a month. Ever since you tried to tell me I should go away." Draco stood up but immediately fell back down. He slumped over onto his stomach on the couch. "Not since half price Tuesdays."
At that Draco started to snore. Hermione gave up on getting him to their bed, he would just have to sleep it off on the couch. Shaking her head at her drunken boyfriend, she made her own way to bed.
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Draco woke with a pounding headache. How much did he drink last night? He only meant to go out for a couple drinks, something must have happened once he got to the pub. He stumbled up off the couch, grateful the children weren't awake yet. Making his way to the bathroom, he thumped in without realizing the shower was running.
"Good morning Draco." Hermione giggled when he jumped at the noise. "Did you have a good sleep last night?"
"Um, sure, what time did I get in last night?" He rattled around in the medicine cabinet for a pain relief potion.
"Oh, about three. I tried to get you to bed, but I can't exactly drag your sorry arse all the way down the hall." Hermione turned off the shower and reached for a towel.
"Why would you drag me? You're a witch, you could have levitated me away." Draco started brushing his teeth.
"But levitating you would have been too kind after you came home late, and rambled on about how I didn't want you anymore." Hermione stepped out of the shower to dry her hair.
Draco froze, toothpaste stuck to his chin. "I said that?"
"Yes, it came out of nowhere, at least I had no idea I was getting rid of you." Hermione wiggled around the still form in front of the sink, reaching for her moisturizer. "Unless you actually think I don't want to be with you anymore?"
Hermione stopped to look at Draco. She could see his mind racing to remember their conversation from the night before. Moving forward, she reached up to touch his face. He turned to look at her, leaning into her caress. His eyes roved her naked body, drinking in the sight of the woman he loved. He tried to memorize every inch of her, just in case it was his last chance.
Hermione studied him in return, trying to decipher the strange thoughts and emotions running across Draco's face. He obviously loved her, with the way he couldn't seem to look away, but there was sadness and some anger in there too. Those emotions conflicted with everything that seemed to be working in their life.
While Draco's eyes took in his lover's body, his hands started roaming as well. He wanted to feel her as much as see her. He traced her eyes, her nose and her mouth. He ghosted his hands across her shoulders and down her arms. He slid his hands down her back and over her stomach. There, he hesitated, this wasn't the smooth, flat stomach he remembered. It was slightly rounded, with a definite bump.
"Hermione?"
Hermione looked down at his question, finally understanding everything. Their weird conversation, the strange distance, and the fear of abandonment. She finally realized that they had never finished their conversation from just before Valentine's Day. She had never told him the news, just mentioned it in passing, and not in a very happy tone.
"Draco, this is what I was trying to tell you, this is my news." Hermione stepped away from his hands. "I didn't, and still don't, know how you will take this, especially since we just got back together, and you just met the two children you never knew you had."
Draco placed a finger to her lips. "Please, just tell me. I've been going crazy trying to figure out what you could possibly say that would upset me. I've waited almost seven years to be with you again, Hermione. Nothing is going to chase me away if you still want me."
"Okay, I'm pregnant."
"See, that wasn't so bad. Wait, what?" Draco's mouth dropped. His eyes flicked from Hermione's face to her stomach and back.
"I'm pregnant. I thought I had told you, but I guess with everything going on with Harry and Ron it slipped my mind." Hermione shrugged, blushing at her forgetfulness.
"Being pregnant, slipped your mind?" Flabbergast, Draco sat on the toilet, staring at Hermione's slight baby bump. "How long?"
"About three months or so. I have a appointment next week with the Healer. I should find out everything then." Hermione pushed her fingers through Draco's hair. With her other hand, she took his hand and raised it to her stomach. "You can't feel any movement yet, but this baby decided to make me fat early, so you can feel the bump."
"Don't be like that, you're beautiful. You are the mother of my children."
"Mama! Papa!"
Draco chuckled at the shout from the hallway. "All my children, awake or sleeping."
He gave her bump one more caress, and a quick kiss. Standing, he kissed her lips and left to track down his noisy son.
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Life carried on, but on a much happier note. Hermione and Draco broke the news to Ara and Caelum together, unsure of the children's reaction to another baby in the house. Ara's reaction was unexpected, she ran around the house yelling about having a little sister to play with. She was extremely excited, and was put out when she was told she would have to wait until the fall to see the new baby. Caelum, on the other hand, was quite upset at the prospect of another child in the house. He was used to only sharing his mama and papa with one person. That was easy, if Ara was with Mama, he could have Papa all to himself, and vice versa. Another baby would throw a wrench in the system. He had seen his mama go crazy over Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry's baby, and he didn't even live in the same house. Caelum made his parents promise that they wouldn't forget him when the new baby arrived.
The next week Hermione and Draco went to visit the Healer for their first check up.
"Okay Hermione, get ready for the cold." Healer Roscoe plopped a cold potion down on Hermione's stomach.
Hermione hissed at the contact then laughed. "You'd think I'd be used to this by now."
"Well, it has been a few years now, Caelum's what now, five?" Roscoe smiled smearing the potion around using her wand. She turned her smile on Draco. "And you, nice of you to show up this time around."
Draco didn't know if he should be offended or not. He was saved from answering by Hermione's gasp. She was staring at the slightly transparent image hovering above her potion smeared stomach. Draco starred too, trying to figure out what exactly he was seeing. It all looked like a blurry grey and black ink smear, with two slightly lighter splotches near the middle. Hermione grabbed for his hand, hugging it to her chest almost uncomfortably tight. This action pulled Draco's eyes to her face, the happy glow and look of wonder making him immensely glad this wonderful woman was back in his life. Her words brought him out of his daze.
"Are those what I think they are?" Hermione's excited whisper made the healer laugh.
"It would appear so." Healer Roscoe smiled at the young couple. "Congratulations, Hermione, Draco, you're having twins."