A/N: Sorry for the long wait I was getting a tattoo. It took me a really long time because I wanted something very specific. Now I have my Ninja turtle Raph and all is well in the world…lol on with the story!
Chapter 3
(January 6)
Draco groaned as he pulled himself out of bed, his head pounded from all the fire whisky he had drank the night before. He sighed heavily as he stumbled to his bathroom, tripping on his rug and falling on his face. Most people would have be swearing up a storm or even cursing themselves for getting so drunk. Draco however, did no such thing. He was quite used to the headache, the stumbling, the falling, and the being sick to his stomach. That was because Draco Malfoy was a drunk.
He wasn't the drunk you'd find in a pub or any other public place, he didn't believe in getting that drunk in front of people. He was an organized drunk, but a drunk none-the-less. His day always started with a hang over. He would drink hangover potion for breakfast to get ride of the hangover and then until dinner he was sober. If he was having dinner alone, which was 98 percent of the time, he'd have two bottles of fire whisky before bed.
Last night was no different than any other night. He did business all day. Then he visited with his Mother only to be told how disappointed she was in him. She also bombarded him with 'why are you not married?' question's. Next, there would be wild crying from his mother as she threw stuff, asking if she'd ever get a grandchild. After that he retired to his room for a good hard drink.
Draco had tried very hard for four years to find someone to share his life with. What he found was a lot of hate and gold diggers. He had started with a woman he fell head over heels in love with. She was everything he had ever dreamed of, but she was engaged and she worked for him. He never made any kind of move on her, just admired from afar.
The few times he did get to talk to her she always seemed like she was in a hurry. One day he found out she had ended her engagement and had gotten another job. He gave her time to heal form her break up before seeking her out and asking her on a date. Imagine his surprise when she laughed at him and said she would rather die, than be seen with a Death Eater.
He had acted like he could care less what she thought of him. He even asked another woman she worked with on a date, right in front of her to make it look like he was just looking for some action and not a lifetime comment. It had hurt badly when that girl let him know just how much she hated him. He had never been so hurt by anyone in his life.
After that, he made damn sure the girl he liked would at least date him before falling for her. The only thing was that each woman he dated seemed only interested in his money. He still found lots of woman that hated him, but he wasn't in love with them, so it didn't hurt as much. After four years of finding nothing but haters and users, he had given up. He told his mother that if there was someone out there for him he'd find her someday. She had screamed to high heavens about wanting a grandchild and the family name dieing out with him. To make her happy, he came up with the contract.
Shaking his head, Draco stepped out of the shower. Something his mother screamed at him was still ringing in his head. 'Are you telling me you're so pathetic you have to pay a woman to give you a child!?' She had screamed it yesterday when he told her Granger had signed the contract. He knew she wanted a grandchild more than anything, she just wasn't happy about how her son had to get her one. That too, was something he had gotten used to: her screaming about him being a disappointment.
Draco pulled on his clothes and fixed his hair as his hangover potion was delivered to him. Olivia was dashing around to fix up his room before heading over to Granger's room. 'They looked so happy' Draco thought to himself as he pulled gently on his aching fingers. Yesterday, he had gotten it into his head that maybe he and Granger could be friends.
He was a very lonely man with almost no one to talk to. The last time he had been hugged was 6 years ago. Sure, he had sex with women, but that was different. They were mostly one night stands. There was the very rare occasion where he dated someone, but those women had been like one night stands. They didn't touch him unless they had to. So being as he was so lonely, his fingers ached with loneliness whenever he thought about it. Draco sucked it up and went to make friends with Granger.
He had gotten to her hallway when he heard her and her boyfriend laughing up a storm. He had stopped and listened, enjoying the sounds of laughter in his house once more. He didn't get to enjoy it long when he heard what was so funny. 'Him' or more exacted 'his life style' was what they were joking about. He was mad that they would make fun of him, but he wasn't mad because what they said was all true. Stuffing his hurt feelings away, he had walked into the gym.
He had picked a moment when he thought he could maybe make them laugh. He didn't manage to do so; instead, he managed to mess up their good time. It had appeared as soon as they knew he was there, enjoying themselves was not allowed. He got more than one of those 'please go away' looks from both of his guests. He was down right friendly he thought, but they couldn't wait for him to leave. He wasn't sure what it was he felt when Granger had looked at him the last time. He didn't know if he was hurt or just disappointed. He made some lame excuse for being there before leaving as fast as he could. Once alone, he had cursed himself for even thinking they might want to have dinner with him.
After thinking about the past few years and last night, Draco wasn't in the mood to do any business. "Gods I could use a beer," he said to himself, looking at his refection one last time. Draco knew he would have to give up the bottle by the time his child was born, but that didn't make it any less easy to not reach for the damn thing.
"Drinking this early in the morning?" Hermione's voice came from his living room. Draco stepped out to see her in her work cloths. She gave a little wave. "I've given my two week notice." She said when he went to say something about it. "I need the address of the place we're going, since I am going to have to come straight from work."
"Oh, I'll have Mrs. Ritz owl it to you, I am afraid I don't know it myself," Draco said, feeling uneasy at that moment. He didn't want Granger to find out he was a drunk. Not many people knew he was and he'd like to keep it that way. She nodded, turning as if about to leave, but stopped and turned back to him.
"I don't mean to pry," She said, making Draco think she was about to ask him about the needing a beer statement. "But I heard your mother was ill, is she doing better now?" Draco was relieved to hear that question.
"My mother is heather than a 27 year old." He gave her a little smile "I don't know who told you she was ill, but the only illness she has had in the past four years is lack of grandchild sickness…All her friends have grandchild, so naturally she needs one too." Hermione smiled, giving a little laugh at what he said. It was the nicest laugh he had heard in years. It made him smile a little.
"Well, I glad the only thing that ails her is the lack of grandchildren. My mum is the same way…When I told her Mike didn't want kids, she said: well damn it, leave him and get me a grandchild." They both laughed, making Draco forget why he had needed a drink altogether. "She was joking, of course."
"Sir, did you wish to have a beer?" Olivia piped up from the door way. Draco turned to look at the scared little elf.
"No Olivia was just being…dramatic, I did not really need a beer." The little elf nodded before dashing off to do more housework. Granger said she had to go shortly after that, leaving Draco alone again. He walked down the halls to his office, thinking about Granger's laugh. 'Yes I most defiantly want my child to have that laugh,' he thought and kept on thinking until it was 2:45 and time to go. He made sure to look as muggle-like as he could. That wasn't too hard; all he had to do was leave his cape behind and wear his black jacket. He popped into the woods not to far from the address.
Granger was already there waiting for him, she wasn't alone though. An older woman stood with her. "Malfoy, this is my mother Jill Granger" Draco shook the woman's hand as Granger introduced him to her mother. "When my mother heard what I was doing she insisted on being here. I hope you don't mind, she just wants to be a part of this."
"That is quite alright Granger, I don't mind at all." Draco said as they stepped out on the blacktop.
"You two are so informal; you should be calling each other by first name!" Jill said as they walked down the side walk. "You're going to have a child together." She raised her hand as Hermione went to protest "It doesn't matter how or why the end result is the same, and parents do not call each other by last name."
"Well, she's got us there." Draco said, looking at Hermione as they came to the front door of Dr. Crow's office. Hermione gave him an odd look before shrugging. "Well then Hermione, Mrs. Granger after you." Draco said opening the door. Jill went in first, giving Hermione time to poke him in the gut.
"Thank you Draco." He knew she was somewhat annoyed that he had agreed with her mother, but only a very little bit. Once inside, the woman at the front desk handed them paperwork to be filled out. Draco was fine with paperwork; most the time, but that was when he didn't have to lie while doing it. He was a stickler for doing any and all paperwork as honest as possible; only because the more you lied, the more there was for someone down the line to pin on you.
Hermione and her Mother went in first as Draco finished up his paperwork. Just as he handed it over, a short fat woman called him in. He followed her only to be poked and prodded like a wild animal; then came the questions. She would ask, 'Do you drink? Do you do drugs? Do you smoke? Do you wear boxers?' Each time she asked him a question; he either snapped out an annoyed 'no' or sat there, wondering why it mattered.
"Mr. Malfoy how long have you and Hermione been trying to have a baby?" Draco felt uneasy as this question was asked. "And when was the last time you two slept together?"
"We haven't…I mean we don't…" He stumbled through the words, making the nurse look at him for a long time. "We've known each other for years, but we never, ever tried to have a baby by…doing it." He couldn't believe it, he was blushing! "Hermione 'husband to be' can't have kids…and I don't have anyone in my life to…be with...What I mean is Hermione and I want a child and this was a way…" He covered his face, feeling quite foolish.
"Alright," The woman said before handing him two cups. Draco looked at her unsure of what they were for. The woman point to one as she said "Please pee in this and return it to this room." She then pointed to another, explaining that the room behind him was set up so he could fill that up with his sperm. If he wasn't blushing before he most certainly was now. Once alone, he half slinked into the backroom to look at his cups.
"Bloodly hell this is embarrassing." The woman had explained he would have to do this again, right now they wanted a sample of his sperm to see if there were any problems with it. Clearing his head, he tried to relax and do what he had to do. No matter what he thought of it wasn't helping. Suddenly, a soft laugh came through the wall behind him. He knew that laugh, it was Hermione's. After making sure no one was watching, Draco listened to her laugh again.
He felt calm enough to relax and do what was needed of him. But somehow, after handing over his fluids Draco felt a deep loneliness. His fingers ached from the pain, causing him to pull gently on them. Walking out into the waiting room, he found Hermione and her mother looking at something muggles called a shot. They turned to him, both giving a weak smile and asking how it went. Draco's answer went something like 'I don't remember much it's all kind of a blur.'
"Me too," Hermione said before holding up her shots. "Hormone shots." She explained, "in a few days I'll be back to do the…" Draco's mind was drifting off a bit as he saw the nurse coming his way. She asked him to make an appointment within the next two days for his next donation of sperm. He made the appointment as quick as he could, not wanting to look back as they left the place. "Draco, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for dinner tonight." Hermione called out to him, making him stop a bit lost.
"I…I can do that." He said feeling very lost as to what was happing. "What…time?"
"Say maybe 6:30 in my blue dinning room" Hermione said, hailing a cab for her and her mother "I'll see you then?"
"Yes… yes I'll be there" He called as the cab drove away. He wasn't sure why Hermione had decided to have dinner with him, but he was happy she had.
