As Good As Mine
Chapter 4
A/N: Hi. Anyone still reading? Sorry its been so long, but the medical treatments I mentioned at the beginning of this story have really been taking it out of me. I promised Harry's reaction in this chapter but honestly it's fighting me and I'd rather get what I have nownout and save the rest for the next chapter. As usual this is unbetaed and all mistakes are my own. Be sure to let me knownwhat you think!
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Madame Pomfrey was happy to see her, even if it was getting late. Her escapades with Harry and Ron had lead to Hermione spending quite a bit of time in her company, and she was sure the fondness she felt for the older woman was mutual.
"Ah, Miss Granger. A bit early in term for our usual visits isn't it?" the mediwitch laughed. "Going for a new record?"
"No of course not," Hermione said with a slight blush. It was vaguely embarrassing to have needed patched up so often in just four years. "I needed to tell you, that is, well... Merlin this is hard than I'd thought." Just spit it out Hermione, you'll need her help!
"My dear, are you quite alright?"
"Mprgnit"
"A bit louder love, I didn't catch that."
She took a deep breath before trying again. "I'm pregnant."
Madame Pompfrey had held her composure through the nastiest of quidditch injuries and through the bout of students turned to stone by the Basilisk, but apparently teen pregnancy was something she wasn't prepared for. The look of shock on her face was priceless, however fleeting. She snapped straight into healer mode, looking through her cupboard for various potions.
"Do you know roughly how far along you are?"
"Exactly 13 weeks along."
"Just coming out of that horrible first trimester then, no doubt you're glad to be past that." She was still sorting though vials of Circe knows what and Hermione had a feeling that she was using as distraction. "And you're quite sure of the date? Have you seen a healer yet?"
"Not yet, but I'm positive of the date. I've seen a muggle doctor at a clinic but that was more of a confirmation than check up."
"And the father?"
"He's not here." she said in a small voice.
Madame Pomfrey looked up then. There was no pity on her face thankfully, but the sympathetic look still grated slightly. It shouldn't, the woman was only being kind and this was definitely an instance where sympathy wouldn't go amiss. But Hermione's self sufficient nature and perhaps her pride bristled at the idea.
The older witch didn't press though, and simply asked, "Have you considered your options? You're too far along to consider termination but there is always adoption."
"No, I'll be keeping the child." It wasn't that she hadn't considered it all. She'd debated terminating the hardest. She was only 15 years old for crying out loud. Did she really want to be a parent? Was she only considering it to keep a part of Viktor alive? The weight and stress of the decisions she had to make had her concerned her body might take the choice out of her hands. But it hadn't and the more she thought on it, the more she felt like it wasn't for her. It wouldn't be easy of course, but she could handle it.
"In that case, I suppose we had best call Minerva down." She handed Hermione a thin sheet and told her, "What I need from you dear is to disrobe from the waist down, lie back on the bed, and drap this sheet over your lower half. There are a few diagnostics we need to do just to check on the both of you, and I'll need you to take these potions. This one you'll need to take daily, it's a prenatal vitamin supplement to help both of you stay healthy. This one is a variant of blood replenishment, it'll strengthen your uterine lining and help prevent miscarriage. And this one here will take around 15 minutes to work through your system but when it does, we can see a projection of that little one. How's that sound dear?"
Her no nonsense manner was so comforting in its familiarity that she got a bit misty eyed. "Of course, thank you Madame Pomfrey."
The witch walked off to her office to floo call Mcgonagall and Hermione set about following her instruction. The prenatal potion went down tasteless while the modified blood replenishing potion tasted like wet pennies smelled. The third, which she was mentally referring to as a sonogram potion, tasted like spring water and left a cooling tingle in its wake.
She had just finished arranging the sheet to preserve her modesty when a tap on the door was proceeded by two stern witches. Professor Mcgonagall had always been her favorite teacher, and the look on her face broke Hermione's heart. There was no judgment or anger, but the disappointment was clear.
"Well Miss Granger, I can't say I thought this was a discussion we'd be having."
"Really? You never pictured me being a mother before I've even taken my OWLs? Believe me professor, this wasn't something we planned." It was a bit out of line perhaps, but the disappointment of a woman Hermione admired so much was a jagged pill to swallow.
Maybe it was the somewhat bitter tone or maybe there was something playing on her face, but Mcgonagall let out a deep sigh and with it, the tension she'd been holding around her mouth and eyes. "No, I should think not. Will you tell me how this came about?"
"Well when a man and woman lo-"
"Do not get cheeky with me, miss Granger." The words were sharp but held no real reproach.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I feel like my temper is completely out of my control, I'm becoming practically Malfoy in my snark."
"Yes well, pregnancy has been known to do that to a woman. Will you tell me what happened?"
So she did. Hermione told her favorite professor about what she and Viktor had shared, how it wrenched her apart to watch him die, the panic she felt when the two little lines sealed her fate. She even told her how Draco had offered his unflinching support, seeing as how he would likely be coming to these appointments with her.
"Ah, that explains that." At Hermione's confused look, the transfigurations teacher elaborated. "I had wondered if mister Malfoy was the one behind the wee one, seeing as how he is currently loitering outside the doors."
"Merlin no," she laughed. "Draco and I have gotten very close as friends since his father's arrest, he's been wonderful with this."
Madam Pomfrey chimed in then with, "Shall we bring him in, then? The projection potion should be active soon."
She considered it for a long moment. Would Draco even want to be in here? He had said he would be there for her and the baby but that very well could have meant in the "fun uncle" sort of way, not the sit through an ultrasound way. In the end she decided to leave it up to him, and asked madam Pomfrey to tell Draco he was welcome to come in if he wanted.
Hermione was only a bit surprised when the blond walked in and stood by her bedside. He had his eyes averted, as if he wasn't sure whether or not she was decent, but he finally met her eyes when she grabbed his hand.
"Thank you for being here."
"One of these days you'll stop underestimating me, Granger," he told her will a gentle smile. "I'm a man of my word."
She would've replied but her abdomen started to glow at that point. Unlike the hazy black and white fuzz of muggle methods, the projection was clear and colored.
"Fuck, that's a baby..." she faintly heard him whisper, but her eyes were locked on the replica of the baby she was growing.
At this point, it was shaped more like a baby than the blob she'd seen at the muggle clinic. It made it so much more real. That was her baby. She, Hermione Granger, was having a baby. It struck her like a rouge curse and she didn't even attempt to quell the unexpected tears rolling down her cheeks.
She gave Draco's hand a squeeze as she said, "Hello, little one. I'm your mum."
A/N: According to the Harry Potter Wiki page, the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament took place on June 24th. I initially thought it took place earlier in the month. If I kept with that date, it would put Hermione at 10 weeks the day she returned to Hogwarts, which is still in her first trimester. So instead of changing all of that around, I'm just changing the date of conception (basically) from June 24th to June 3rd, which puts her at 13 weeks. It bothers me when people write unrealistic gestation times lol so I figured I'd clear that up here.
