As always, thank you to my Martee98 for her beta help.
Chapter 4: Worse Nightmare
As Draco opened this morning's Daily Prophet, he spat out the tea he just sipped.
Headline shouted: "War Hero pregnant from former Death Eater by Rita Skeeter, read more inside". The frontpage picture was him catching a fainted Hermione in his arms.
"Fuck!"
"Son, mind your language." Narcissa reprimanded.
"Read for yourself, Mother." Draco shoved the newspaper abruptly towards her. "Tell me what you think."
"Must inopportune." Narcissa's mouth set in a hard line. "Miss Granger will not like to see her secret so publicly smashed." She cross-read the article, "Skeeter fishes after a possible wedding, underlining that no Malfoy heir has been born out of wedlock."
"The bitch has no say in the matter."
"Miss Skeeter is the first of thousands to wonder the same thing, Draco," Lucius spoke up, after perusing the article from afar. "Our good reputation will be smeared, we were finally getting some of it back."
"Not a word about reputation, Father. You ruined it." He pushed his plate away from him, hunger had left his system. "I fear Granger's reaction."
"Can't you contact her? You should talk to each other."
"I'll use the Library's Floo, see if I can make her agree to meet me."
-oOo-
Harry snatched the Prophet out of Hermione's hands, as her face grew paler by the second. "Oh, shit."
"The whole world knows…" Feeling nauseous again, she ran to the nearest bathroom.
Ginny followed her with a wet cloth, "You should talk with the ferret about this. It's gotten out of control."
"He proposed, Ginny. I declined him. There's nothing left to say."
"You shouldn't face the backlash alone. The baby is half his."
"I know. I don't want to keep him away, I just don't want to marry him because we have to. I live in the Twenty-First Century, not in the Middle Ages. We would kill each other after the first night."
"You should shag your husband before making yourself a widow, sister."
"Shagging the ferret is not a burden."
"Hermione, too much information." Harry followed the whole conversation. "I agree with Ginny, this should be handled between the two of you."
"I'll floo-call him." Ginny helped her get on her feet, founding steady ground after a sway. She headed to Harry's hearth, fixed her hair and initiated the call.
On the other side, it was Narcissa and Lucius who met her.
"Miss Granger. What a very expected yet not so pleasant surprise." Lucius was himself. He flinched when a shoe struck his shine.
"Miss Granger, please. You're most welcome to come over, I guess you want to talk with Draco." Narcissa tried to undo her husband's damage
"I wanted to floo-call him."
"Nonsense, it's not healthy in your state, to be sitting so long on your knees. Come forward, the wards will accept you. My dearest Lucius will warn Draco of your arrival." One mystery solved, the Malfoys knew. "You're carrying the youngest Malfoy scion, that's the reason you sought about the wards, I think." Narcissa motioned once more to enter.
Hermione retreated, asking Harry for advice.
"Go, this is not a subject to talk between flames. If you need me, I'm only one patronus away." He eyed her, "Be reasonable but don't let them walk over you, promise?"
"I can take care of myself." She left Grimmauld Place, to enter the infamous Manor, Draco already waiting with an extended hand.
Her pale face concerned him the most, "Hello, Granger. Still not feeling well?"
"Let us say, it has been a very intense twenty-four hours. I sleep profoundly but wake up as if I haven't slept at all."
"It's normal in the first three months." Narcissa approached Hermione. "Welcome to our home. I truly hope it will bring you more happiness, this time." Lucius mumbled something, but Hermione decided to ignore. It didn't sound very accommodating.
"Have you eaten something?" Narcissa beat Draco in speed. "I can have Tibby prepare something light for your stomach." Hermione's hesitation sealed the deal, the older witch holding her elbow and bringing her towards the breakfast table, still covered with this mornings' meal.
"Tibby!" Hermione startled from Narcissa's command. "Miss Granger, my house-elf is being paid, and as you can see, she wears her own choice of attire."
The elf swung around with a smile, "Tibby is dresses todays as a maid." She sank lightly in a bow. "Missus, what can Tibby do for yous?"
"Can you bring a light herbal tea for Miss Granger and some biscuits?"
The elf eyed Hermione, the smile faded into a look of reverence. "Missus is having a baby?" Closing in with tiny steps, her hand reached out pleading. "Can Tibby feel?" It all felt so surreal to the brunette, but she nodded. A little hand rested on Hermione's flat belly. As in slow motion, the little creature's face brightened in delight, "He's a strong little baby. Master Draco's baby is a strong little boy." A full tear appeared on the elf's face, "Tibby much happy. Tibby will take good care of missus."
"See, another mystery is solved, House-elves magic is infallible. At least one Malfoy tradition that isn't broken." Lucius broke the magic, sneering behind the newspaper. It didn't go unnoticed the yelp he released, from an unseen hex. Narcissa's doing.
Tibby reappeared with the requested tea, biscuits and a bowl of cut fresh fruit, "Vitamins are very important, Missus looks very tired."
Uneasy, Hermione couldn't resist taking a slice of green apple, munching with small bites.
"Do you feel nauseous too in the morning?" Hermione nodded at Narcissa's gentle question. "Have dry biscuits on your night table. I had to get out of bed in three acts, more rolling out of it. It settled down when I reached the fourth month, I hope for you it doesn't take too long."
"Aren't there any potions against morning sickness?" Draco wondered, "We do have access to an extensive herbal knowledge, there must be something to help."
"I haven't given it a thought yet." Hermione kept bringing piece after piece. It did look inviting.
"Lucius, we will give these two young people privacy." The wizard wasn't all too happy about being shoved away from his breakfast. He hadn't finished reading the financial section. "Lucius!"
There was something about seeing the man follow the orders of his wife, that Hermione found hilarious to watch. Clearly, Narcissa wore the pants.
"Mother threatened him with a week time-out if he didn't follow her orders today," Draco explained once the coast was clear.
"Do I want to know what type of time-out?"
"Not even I need to know." He sat straighter in his chair, "I guess you read the Prophet."
"Impossible to ignore the front page. I need to have a chat with the insect, about publishing my private life without consent."
"The insect?"
"Skeeter is an unregistered animagus. She transfigures into a beetle. Probably how she got a whiff on our issue, I didn't see her yesterday."
"I did, unfortunately."
"Well, I'm sorry for what they published."
"Which part? I read no lies, only assumptions based on gossip."
"I hate the part of a former death eater."
"I've been one, unwillingly. No, I'll rephrase. I took the mark because it seemed the only option left."
"I know why you did it, in your place I would have done the same. I wouldn't have testified on your behalf if I believed otherwise." The tea felt like a blessing, it tempted her to ask Tibby about which blend she used.
"Do you want to move to the sofa? It's more comfortable there to speak." His stomach was churning, utterly adrift on what his next move should be. He relaxed slightly as Hermione accepted and followed him. His hand was eager to touch her lower back, but he refrained.
Giving up, she sat head leaning against the rest, "How stupid can we be, forget the anti-conception charm."
"At least, you're not blaming me."
"That is another kind of stupid. It takes two to tango. You didn't make this baby alone." The hand flew unconsciously to the belly.
"How? I mean, what…"
"You mean how I feel about this pregnancy? Malfoy, I didn't plan this. You and I, we are like cat and dog. The thought alone is hilarious. I thought for a second, if I'm honest, about getting rid of it." Draco tensed. The words that followed relaxed him, seconds later, "I couldn't. It felt wrong, even if it's your baby. I can't accept the thought of aborting him. Somehow, this little being inside my body claimed his spot inside my heart."
"Thank you." He meant it.
"You don't have to thank me, Malfoy."
"Draco." He continued after her confused look, "Call me Draco."
"Alright, if you call me Hermione in return. As I was saying, you don't need to thank me. We need to find a way to collaborate and make the life of our son as comfortable as possible. Damn it, it's a boy. Are you sure the elf is right?"
"If my father says so." He rose a hand to appease her silent comment. Draco drew a deep breath, "Are you sure you don't want to do the right thing?"
"What right thing? You don't love me, I certainly don't love you. I don't want to be shackled for life to a man that in the best of possibilities will learn to tolerate me." Her face scrunched, "It goes both ways. You are a git."
"You're the swot, and the mother of my first born." It surprised him how she calmly spoke to him. This last jab was the first, and not even meant to stab. "Listen, I'm leaving the idea of marrying you for what it is, an idea. Can you meet me in the middle here? You don't know me inside out, neither do I, you." She listened, "We need to know each other better."
"We had the shagging already. It's not happening again." Cross some dots.
"Woman, I'm not thinking on a roll between the sheets. Plus you can't be sure it won't happen again, unless you're developing a talent for divination." Her silence was meaningful, "I thought so." He straightened an invisible crinkle on his pants. "Will you at least let me take you out, for dinner? Somewhere in Muggle London, where the chance of being caught is less probable than in Diagon Alley?"
"Can we do lunch instead? By eight o'clock it's like I'm hit by a sledgehammer, completely empty batteries."
"Of course. Tomorrow?"
"You know a place?"
"I was hoping you did." She nodded, remembering her favourite spot not far from her parents' place. "Is there something I can do to help?"
"Can you be tired in my place?"
"I would gladly." Draco chuckled, "But the puking, that I can't."
"Believe me, it's not my choice of activity either." She rose to take her teacup, but he brought it to her hands. "Your father is pissed off."
"Don't worry about him, he's my burden. Plus I have an ally, my mother."
"It surprises me how friendly she acted."
"It's not an act. It's a longtime dream coming true, she's been nagging my head to settle down and start a family."
"Then I show up!" Her chest shook in laughter. "The mudblood who beat you at school. Oh god!"
"Don't call yourself that."
"It doesn't phase me."
"Even then, you're a talented witch. My son couldn't have a more powerful mother."
"Big words there, Draco. You almost sound as if you respect me."
"I'll stop before your ego inflates more than your bump."
"What bump?" Hermione rose her blouse, "It's still flat as a pancake." She rubbed the skin back and forth. Looking up, she noticed his transfixed stare. Wordlessly, she took his hand and placed it right under the belly button, hers on top.
Draco felt a lump in his throat, closing his eyes so she couldn't read the emotions in it. He didn't loathe the idea of being a father. Neither did he hate the fact that she was his son's mother.
He only didn't know how to move forward.