December 2006
As Hermione paced back and forth in her office, biting the nail on her thumb that she always defaulted to when she was stressed or nervous, Harry sat in her guest chair, fighting a bad case of the giggles that had come over him rather suddenly.
"Are you sure you don't want tea, 'Mione?"
"Fuck tea," she snapped back, her hair sparking, "I need a fucking bourbon, but that's not going to happen any time soon, is it?
The renewal of his poorly fought giggle fit made her sigh in frustration. "Fine. Tea. Yes." She stopped pacing suddenly, pointing a finger at Harry. "Herbal only, Harry. Can't have caffeine when you're pregnant, apparently."
To his credit, Harry managed to summon and pour the tea without too much chuckling. All things considered, Hermione was surprised at how well he was taking the news - better than she was, in fact.
She took the teacup he offered, moving back behind her desk, though not sitting.
"And you're sure-"
"Not just sure. Certain. There's no one else, Harry. Ron and I - well, you know how things were towards the end. There wasn't much room for that funny business." Her tone dropped from high-strung to solemn, her eyes meeting Harry's with a slight frown. "I need to tell him - right? It's the proper thing to do, isn't it?"
Harry raised his eyebrows at the question, sputtering. "Well, I mean - yes, in a moral sense. At the same time, 'Mione, this is your body. This is something that is going to change everything for you - you need to be sure about what you want to do. Me and Ginny will support you no matter what you decide."
She sighed again, finally relaxed enough to take her chair. "I have thought about this. Hard, and long, and until I made myself over it. Fact is, I can't justify anything other than this. That and, with my luck Draco Malfoy would be the only white-blonde, grey-eyed human in existence to carry those genes as dominant traits, and once this child is born it would be obvious."
Harry nodded, and before he could speak again there was a knock at her door.
"Miss Granger," came her secretary's voice, "Mr Malfoy is here to see you."
Throwing Harry one last, almost desperate look, she stood. "Thank you, Mrs Norberry, you can send him in."
Leave it to Draco Malfoy to walk in right when a bout of morning sickness came over her. He entered, finding her kneeled over the garbage can beside her desk, Harry dutifully holding her hair back. His reaction almost comical, he jumped up on the chair Harry had occupied only moments ago, cursing under his breath at the witch.
"Merlin Circe and Morgana, witch, I don't want to catch whatever violent illness you've found yourself!"
It was Harry that snapped back, his green eyes narrowing on his childhood nemesis. "Shut up and sit down, Malfoy, Hermione's not sick."
"Could have fooled me," he muttered back, stepping down from the chair. He brushed a footprint he was responsible for from the upholstery, settling into the chair as Hermione finally pulled herself from the floor, falling back into her own chair, clearly exhausted.
"Well I'm here - what was so important you felt the need to expose me to this contagion for?"
Hermione sighed. "It's not a contagion, Malfoy. This isn't something you just bloody catch. I'm fucking pregnant."
.oOo.
A/N: What? Two updates in one day? Honestly I just kind of want to get the posting caught up to where I am on tumblr, because keeping track on where I am between here, Tumblr and ao3 is too much for me right now. Thanks for the support guys!