Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: I want to thank my reviewers: kayle, morixharuhi4ever, annon, Kaisliana, mhaj78, Dark Topaz, so-jealous, AllyPhobia, livin-in-a-cardboard-box, ILOVERWHPDM, MoreThenMyself, Queen of Scoubies, Panther Eyes, The Names Potter-Harry Potter (I LOVE THAT NAME BY THE WAY) and Dramoine90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hermione Granger wasn't one who liked attention directed on her, which was probably why she liked being the best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived, because no one noticed her. Their eyes were always on Harry, and sometimes on Ron, but never on the fuzzy haired muggle born girl that kept both males from flunking each year.
But now, definitely, the attention was on her.
Then again, she was possibly having The-Boy-Who-Lived's child. So there was reason for it.
Then again I could be having Neville's, Malfoy's or Snape's child.
She shivered at the thought.
At least with Harry she had a strong, solid friendship.
Looking at the four men congregated in Dumbledore's office, Hermione tried to imagine what her child would look like with said fathers. Her heart clenched with fear. She couldn't see her features or colorings going well with any of the men present! The only that came closest to her was Neville, and honestly, Hermione was praying to all the gods that he wasn't the father. She'd much rather be having Snape's crooked nosed infant than Neville's blunder babe!
"Everyone knows why you've been asked to come here." Dumbledore seemed to be enjoying this more than healthily possible as he watched the squirming men. "One of you is the father of Miss Granger's baby."
"Headmaster?" Harry asked from where he'd taken the seat to Hermione's right.
"Yes Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Can't we just have a DNA exam done?" He wanted to know. "That way we'll all know who the father is and the rest can leave."
"You sound pretty sure that my kid is yours Potter." Draco Malfoy growled from his seat in the corner.
Hermione's eyes widened, as did everyone else's as they turned to the one they'd least expected to assume paternity if proven he was the father. "M-Malfoy?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What Granger? You think that any of these specimens can be the father?" He snorted in disgust. "In the letter Dumbledore sent us it clearly states that the blood of both father and mother is the main ingredient."
"So what Malfoy?" Harry snarled, taken back by Malfoy's attitude but not enough to keep the hostility between them gone.
"Please Potter. My blood is the dominant one here." Malfoy snickered. "You're the least likely of all FOUR of us to be the father, you're a half blood. At least Longbottom and Professor Snape are Purebloods." Sneering at a shivering Neville, Malfoy snorted. "You really think a bumbling idiot like Longbottom would have blood stronger and more dominant than mine?"
Neville made a face at him.
"And while Professor Snape is pureblooded, I'm purer." He ignored the glare his godfather sent him and continued, baffling Hermione more and more. "So, common sense dictates that I am the father of Granger's baby." With that he stood, pushed Neville out of his sat next to Hermione, and sat down next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder possessively, smirking at a glowering Harry.
Hermione froze when he touched her. Why the hell was Malfoy willingly touching a mudblood? Why did he seem insulted at the fact that people thought the others could be the father of her child? And why was he so adamant in the belief that it was his?
And the million dollar question…
Why did he seem so smugly pleased that it was his?
"He does have a point." Professor Snape pointed out. "Due to the nature of the Parvulus Formator I highly doubt that Mr. Longbottom is the father. Not only does blood purity count, but dominance, and frankly, Longbottom is as dominant as a French poodle."
Neville blushed.
Hermione felt bad for Neville, but she was so relieved at the fact that there was little chance that she might have a little Longbottom. I mean, truthfully, who wanted their name (or that of their child) to be LONGBOTTOM? No wonder Neville had such self-esteem issues!
"And so Potter, being half-blood, shouldn't be a candidate either." Malfoy strengthened his hold on her, snickering at Harry over her head.
Hermione only caught onto the fact because she'd turned to look at him in horror. Why was he touching her? It was, like, a hug or something.
"Actually---."
That was enough to drain the smirk from Malfoy's face as he turned to glower at his godfather.
" Mr. Potter has a very good chance of being the father." Professor Snape pointed out neutrally. "The Parvulus Formator ALSO has to do with the power in the blood, and with his past suicidal misadventures Mr. Potter has proved himself to be powerful—for a Gryffindor half-blood."
Hermione nodded her head vigorously, clinging onto the hope that she would be able to stand her baby's father. "Yes! I mean, Harry has to be the most powerful wizard after Dumbledore himself!" She ignored Dumbledore's obvious blush at that praise. "Who else has faced Voldemort so many times and lived?"
Neville whimpered at her mention of The Dark Lord's name.
Malfoy growled menacingly in her ear at being so obviously hopeful that her child was Harry's.
"You also are a likely candidate, Serverus." Dumbledore told him, enjoying Serverus' turning paler at the remembrance that he too was one of the maybe fathers.
"Dear Merlin, I need some Firewhisky." Snape groaned, forgetting that he was in the presence of students.
Hermione groaned in horror at the thought of sharing joint custody with Snape. She could just see it, her child coming back home after spending the weekend with his father, the boy bloody traumatized by Snape's bachelor pad and loose potions.
He'd probably accidentally ingest a potion Snape left lying around and turn into a rat—and Snape, drunk on Firewhisky, would end up seeing him, getting a rat trap—and--.
She covered her eyes in terror at the thought.
No joint custody for Snape!
No!
Feeling Malfoy squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, Hermione removed her hands from her face and looked up at him wide-eyed. She blinked when he smirked at her—a nice smirk.
Okay. Who is this polyjuice copy and what has he done with the real Draco Malfoy?
"What about my question on DNA testing?" Harry asked once more, sending Malfoy an irritated glance.
"We have paternity tests, but due to the complexity of this potion it might hurt Miss Granger and her child." Dumbledore thought about it for a moment. "There is another way to test, but it can only be used once every two months."
"Great." Malfoy announced chirpily before turning to look at her. "Test me so we can get this over with."
His assurance of his paternity being proven correct left her speechless, and she could only lose herself in his silver eyes. Malfoy was supposed to rant and rave at anyone even thinking that he could have a child by a mudblood—not look ready to hex anyone who doubted that he was the father!
"S-s-s-sir, I want to be the f-f-f-first." Neville squeaked from his seat.
"Is that okay with you, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione gulped and nodded, eyes still connected with Malfoy's—who was still smirking at her. "Yeah—yeah. Do Neville first."
She'd never seen that smirk before.
It was actually—sexy.
She shook her head, blush tinting her cheeks. I didn't just think ANYTHING of Malfoy's was sexy!
Dumbledore reached for his wand and called Hermione and Neville to stand forwards.
"Watch where you point that thing, old man." Malfoy warned darkly from where he sat. "That's my baby she has in there."
Hermione turned to look at Malfoy once more as Dumbledore cast the spell. Both Neville and her looked up when they heard a baby crying above them, crying hysterically as if it was being tortured, before the sound stopped.
What the HELL?
Malfoy was laughing his arse off. "See? Even the kid was disgusted at the question!"
Hermione frowned. "What's he talking about, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore tried hard not to look amused, yet was failing horribly. "It's an ancient spell that allows us to momentarily communicate with the child. If the child is crying then the male is not the father."
"And what happens when I do the spell with the father?" Hermione asked, intrigued beyond measure. She was also worried. That had been her child? He or she was going to have killer lungs!
"Well, Granger," Once again Malfoy spoke, standing. "When you do the spell with me, the baby will coo or gurgle."
"Then Malfoy, you're going to be vastly disappointed when I do it with Hermione and it coos!" Harry shot up from his seat, face turning red in anger.
"Coo?" Malfoy made a face at that. "It'll probably choke with laughter that you think you could be its father!"
Hermione turned to look at Neville, surprised that he looked disappointed.
"Mister Longbottom, you may be excused." Dumebldore waited until he'd left before turning to smile brightly at Hermione. "Well, Miss Granger, now you'll only have to tell your parents that one of THREE men could be the father of your child!"
"Yipee." She mumbled sarcastically, ignoring Harry and Malfoy, who were still screaming insults at each other behind her.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draco growled as he watched Potter sitting on the sofa with Hermione. A couple of days had passed, and while both Hermione had opened up to him a lot during that time, Draco knew that they'd have advanced a lot more if Potter didn't keep interrupting their 'Mommy and Daddy time' (as Draco called it).
And Snape? He'd been acting odd. He let Hermione answer all of the questions in class, and he gave Gryffindor points when she did! The bloody old git was trying to obviously gain points with Hermione, and what was worst? Draco had heard Hermione commenting to the Weaslette that Snape wasn't half as bad as she'd thought he was!
Gnashing his teeth together in anger, Draco had to at least admit that it was good that no one was thinking that Longbottom was the father of his child!
…A fact the Weaslette had seemed more than pleased to discover.
…hhhhmm…
Had Potter's ex lost interest in him in favor of Longbottom?
Draco snickered at the thought and decided to point this out to Potter the first moment Hermione had to go to the bathroom.
Hearing his mudblood giggling, he looked up from the homework he was doing in the common room to keep an eye on them, and growled deep in his throat when he saw Potter placing his ear on Hermione's stomach, his face almost buried in her lap.
How dare he?
And why hadn't Hermione written to her parents as yet to tell them about what was happening?
Seeing Potter kiss Hermione's still flat stomach, Draco's quill broke in two. He quickly got a new one, a fresh piece of parchment, and began to write. He'd wanted to play fair, but dammit, he was a Slytherin! It was expected of him to play dirty!
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Granger,
He wrote in his elegant cursive, smirk in place.
My name is Draco Malfoy, son of Lord Lucius Malfoy of the First House of Malfoy, and of Lady Narcissa Malfoy of the First House of Black.
He paused to examine the letter so far. He didn't know much about muggles, but he knew that in the Wizarding World, one let one's ranks and nobility mesmerize (and if need be—intimidate) the lower classes into submission.
Your daughter, Hermione Jane Granger, and I share the duty of Head Girl and Boy of Hogwarts, which you of course know, is a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Yeah. Let them know that not only was he nobility, but he was responsible as well. Parents went for that sort of thing.
It is my duty, as Heir to the Malfoy fortune, and future Malfoy Lord, to let you know that your daughter is pregnant with my heir.
He paused, sending an evil smirk in Potter's direction.
It is my full intention to marry your daughter, and I would have done so before now if it weren't for Mister Harry Potter. You must have heard about him from Hermione, heard of how he is a friend of hers.
But has Hermione told you how dangerous his company can be? Not only does he have a Dark Wizard trying to kill him and all of his friends—but he's not the smartest wizard. And despite the fact that Hermione and I are going to have a child together, he has tried to turn her against me due to our past differences.
He couldn't help but grin madly at his stroke of genius.
Make Potter the villain in their minds and Hermione's parents would rally to his cause quicker than they would have if Hermione had written to them first.
So I am asking you for your help to secure your daughter's hand in marriage once we have graduated from Hogwarts.
He winced. Him, Draco Malfoy, asking muggles for help.
How low the mighty have fallen.
Waiting for your response,
Faithfully yours,
Draco Malfoy of the First Houses of Malfoy and Black
Looking over his letter, Draco folded it and placed it in an envelope, sealing the envelope with the Malfoy family seal. He went to find his owl and told it to find Hermione's parents.
Going back to the Common Room, he kept an eye on Potter, a maniacal smile on his face the whole time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DRACO MALFOY!" Hermione screamed as she stormed the room, letter in hand. The one she wished to murder wasn't in the Common Room or in his bedroom, so she just plopped on the sofa with a growl. He was probably out practicing Quidditch for the game they had with Ravenclaw next week.
Good. He'll be extremely tired when he gets back and it'll be easier to kill him that way!
Fuming, she reopened the letter and looked at its contents with a wince.
Hermione,
It said in Computer cursive.
First of all, your father and I want to tell you how utterly disappointed in you we are. Not about your pregnancy mind you, but it saddens us that you wouldn't TELL us about it! We are your parents my love, and while being grandparents at this age had NEVER crossed our minds, we're here for you.
She sighed in relief. That had been her biggest fear about telling her parents the truth.
But it also is insulting that we had to learn of this through the father. You'd made him sound so HORRIBLE when you'd speak about him when you were home on vacation—but his correspondence proves him to be nothing short of a gentleman, in both breeding and manners.
When she'd first read this she'd been dumbstruck, trying to figure out who they were talking about. Who had written to her parents without telling her?
Draco Malfoy has written us a brief yet utterly revealing letter telling us of the child you two will be having, and letting us know of his intentions concerning you.
She blinked.
Malfoy had intentions?
He wishes to be wed to you to legitimize your child before it's birth, and your father and I cannot help but commend him for being such a responsible young man.
Utterly SLYTHERIN is more like it!
This Harry Potter friend of yours, on the other hand, sounds quite immature and not very dependable. Our advice is to ignore HIS advice and give Draco a chance. He IS the father of your child, so you MUST have found him AGREEABLE long enough to CONCIEVE our grandchild!
But I don't know if he's the father! Hermione wailed to herself, and then turned utterly red when she realized what her parents were insinuating. It didn't happen like that! I swear! I'm a virgin!
But she realized how her parents would take that.
That said, your father and I want you to invite Draco over to spend Christmas holidays with us. We want to get to know him better, for he seems like such an agreeable chap.
Hermione snorted.
You are lucky that you have someone who worried enough about you to take it upon himself to 'face the in-laws' on your behalf. Your father nearly pissed his pants when he had to meet my parents—and we were only going out!
Well, they did have a point there. Neither Snape nor Harry had done anything to alleviate her situation despite the fact that they knew she was terrified at the thought of telling her parents about what was going on.
Why had Malfoy done that?
He couldn't even be completely sure that the baby was his!
…Why did he want it to be his?
Give him our love and tell him that we are grateful for his honesty and are anxious to make his acquaintance and that of his family.
Mom and Dad
Shit!
Hermione's eyes widened as she remember yet another reason why it'd be wrong for Draco to be the father of her child.
Draco's family!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...pouts... please? Review? ...more pouts...
