Disclaimer: This is a work of FanFiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, trademarked by none other than J.K. Rowling. Other names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products solely of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Warnings: Marriage/Adult Fic / OOC / Debatable AU / Fluffy / Profanity / Explicit sexual content
Timeline: Post-Hogwarts / EWE
Thank you so much to the awesome beta whose pen name is Rose Davis for looking over this fic!
"Hermione is going to hex my bollocks off," Draco muttered to himself. Hermione was in the bedroom breastfeeding Verity. It was early morning and he let Hermione stay in bed because there was pain in her stomach, and with the help of a nursing pillow, she managed to breastfeed without too much difficulty. He then suggested that he would make some breakfast and probably manage to fix breakfast for the two of them.
Not even ten minutes later, he ruined three eggs, burnt two sausages and broke that damn muggle juicer.
When he and Hermione watched Ginny worked in their kitchen she made it look effortless. What had he been thinking? The kitchen was completely in ruined. Hermione was going to freak.
He was desperate.
Now Hermione didn't have to know that he snuck into the Malfoy Manor and more or less kidnapped his parents' house elf. He also managed to avoid bumping into his parents who were in the sun room taking their own breakfast.
"Fifi," Draco told the female creature at his feet in ragged clothes. "I need you to make a big breakfast. Everything should be fresh and greaseless, you understand? My wife's breastfeeding so make everything healthy as possible. You can go back to the Manor and take everything you need. Mother and Father won't notice anyway."
"Yes, Master Draco."
"And be as quiet as possible. Make sure you can't be heard. My wife will kill me. And if she does, I will kill you."
Fifi's eyes widened. "Yes, Master Draco. Fifi is going to be very very very quiet," she whispered the last part. "So Master Draco won't kill Fifi."
He rolled his eyes with exasperation. "I won't really kill you, Fifi. I will give you a sock. Or a dress. Would you like that?"
Fifi shook her head frantically. "No, Master Draco. Fifi likes her job. Please don't send Fifi away."
"We understand each other than. Have breakfast ready in a tray in promptly ten minutes. After breakfast, can you make us lunch as well?"
"Yes, Master Draco. What would Master like for lunch?"
He thought about it for a minute. "I think my wife would like something French. You make anything you like as long as it's healthy. Okay, Fifi?"
"Yes, Master Draco."
"Good. Now get to cooking."
To his amusement, Fifi straightened and saluted him. "Yes, Master Draco."
"Shh!"
Her eyes widened comically again and then she seemed to have shrunk as she turned back and started to clean up Draco's mess with a quick snap of fingers at the same time setting up the stove so that she can start cooking.
His eyes kept darting to the doorway, expecting Hermione to walk in any time. So instead of fretting, he concentrated on watching Fifi work instead. Elf magic. So incredible, he thought absent-mindedly. They can do so much that even gifted wizards (like himself of course) and witches could not do without studying them. It's a good thing that he confined Hermione to bed or else she'd strangle him with her bare hands.
"Hey Malf- "
"I can explain!" Draco exclaimed as he turned to face the intruder with his hands held up in defeat. He frowned when he caught sight of a familiar redhead instead. "Weaslette! Thank Merlin!" He came forward and hugged her impulsively. He stepped away quickly when he realized what he'd done. "I thought you were Hermione. I assume your husband is with you."
"I'm here, Malfoy." Potter stepped inside the kitchen behind Ginny. "I thought I told you to contact me as soon as you found Hermione. It's been six days! Merlin!"
"Shhhh! Lower your voice. I don't want Hermione to come in here."
Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco. "Why not?"
Draco pointed to the working house elf with his thumb. "I forgot about our agreement, Potter. When I found her in the library, she went into labor."
Ginny's eyes widened. "Oh, Merlin!" she breathed. "Is she fine? Is it a girl? Is it a boy? Oh, Malfoy! How are you two? Please, you have to tell me. I've been so worried about her! Even you! And I can't believe I said that!"
Draco waited until the younger woman quieted. "It's a girl." He smiled proudly. "Her name is Verity. She's beautiful and her poop is the worst thing in the entire world."
Harry threw his head back and laughed.
"Hermione's in the bedroom, breastfeeding. I'm supposed to make breakfast for us but I ruined it so I kidnapped Fifi here from the Manor."
"Master Draco did not kidnap Fifi. Master Draco pleaded with Fifi to cook for his family! Fifi is very happy to cook for Master Draco's family!" The creature beamed at the three humans.
He shook his head at her. "I don't want Hermione to catch her in here. I care for my bollocks very much. She cooks when she can but she's having a hard time moving around because of the delivery. They cut her open, by the way, because Verity's feet were facing her opening, she said. I didn't actually understand the birth but whatever, in the end, she was fine. They were fine. It'll take her a few weeks to fully recover though. Two months at most."
Ginny studied him carefully. "And... did you two work things out?"
He smiled. "Yes. There was a misunderstanding. Everything is going great now..." He shifted his gaze to the other wizard. "Thanks for everything, Potter."
Harry waved it off. "You can thank me by introducing us to your daughter."
"And tea!" His wife quipped and then smiled sweetly at Draco. "Please."
Draco gave a sarcastic smile back. "I'm going to talk to Hermione so you two stay put. Fifi, get them some tea."
"Yes, Master Draco!" Fifi exclaimed.
"Shh!"
"Sorry, Master Draco!" Fifi apologized in a stage whisper.
Draco rolled his eyes as he left the kitchen and strolled into the bedroom. His family was right there where he left them less than half an hour ago. "Hey, baby." He kissed Hermione on the forehead. "Hey, baby girl." He kissed Verity on top of her head. He flopped himself down on the bed beside Hermione. "The Potters are here," he told her casually, as if it was an everyday occurrence since getting back together again.
Her brows shot up. "How?... oh, never mind."
"They've been worried. I promised him that I would contact him as soon as I got here but after that episode in the library, your surgery and taking care of Verity, it just slipped my mind." He shrugged. "I'm not surprised they're here. I'm surprised it took them five days to come here."
"They might hate me."
"No, baby. I assure you they don't. If they do, I'll kick them out." He kissed her on the shoulder, careful not to disturb her breastfeeding. "They're going to wait until you finish eating your breakfast before you speak with them, okay? No buts," he added when she opened her mouth to protest. "How's your stomach?"
"It still hurts," she admitted softly.
"You stay put right here."
"It's not like I have a choice." She scrunched her nose at him. "I can barely even move through the pain."
"Do you want me to feed you?" He grinned wolfishly.
"I think I can manage to lift a spoon by myself, Draco."
"Spoilsport." He stuck his tongue at her. "Do you want me to burp her?" he asked when Verity released her nipple.
She nodded, handing Verity over to him with a wince. "Please."
He carefully righted Verity against his chest, bouncing gently on the bed. "Take it easy, Hermione. I feel absolutely pathetic, not being able to do anything while you sit there in pain."
She smiled at him softly. Before their separation, Draco hadn't been this caring. She appreciated it a lot. She'd always been self-reliant and independent. She was raised that way. He'd always known that so he let her just take care of herself. It was only recently she realized that being taken care of by someone else felt nice... no, nicer than nice. She woke up that morning with her stomach hurting a lot and she knew that this was normal during the recovery period. When she told him, he ordered her to stay in bed and that he'll take care of her.
"I'll be fine. I'll eat the breakfast you ready and I'll take the painkillers."
He flushed. "Good. You- ah. Verity, your burp is so uncannily lovely." He chuckled. "Come on, we're going to meet your mother's friends- "
"They're your friends too."
He ignored that and stood up from the bed. "They're very excited to meet you and I'm excited to show you off. Although I'm sure they'll feel a bit inferior after seeing how beautiful you are- "
"Draco."
He ignored that as well. "Because you're the most beautiful baby in the whole wide world!" To his surprise, Verity made a mewling, little sound. He laughed. "I knew you'd see it my way, baby girl." He turned to look at Hermione before he exited the room. "Don't move. Be back with your breakfast."
"Okay," she said meekly.
He winked at her. "I love you."
He left before she could respond. He was whistling as he walked back to the kitchen. He bumped his hip against the swinging door and went inside.
The Potters whirled around and beamed immediately, jumping to their feet.
"Lovely, isn't she?" he said proudly.
"Very," Harry agreed good-naturedly. "She looks like Hermione!"
"She looks like Malfoy!" Ginny countered. "May I hold her?"
"Only if you're careful! Are your hands clean?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Malfoy. I'm a mother of two."
"That doesn't mean a thing to me, Potterette. This isn't your child. This is mine- "
"Cut it out, Malfoy," Harry interrupted. His own wife and Malfoy haven't always gotten along. They have a more dysfunctional relationship than himself and Malfoy. Sometimes they'd go over board and someone will get hexed. Usually it was Draco who gets hexed much to his amusement and to Hermione's dismay.
Draco glared at him but allowed the redhead to take Verity. "Careful!" He warned to which Ginny responded with a low growl at the back of her throat. "Old redheaded coot."
"Malfoy," Harry sighed, shaking his head. One would think that those two actually didn't really get along but their respective spouses knew better. "Let's talk. Hermione had a C-section, you said?"
"Huh?"
"You said they cut her open to get the baby."
"Oh. Yeah. C-section. That's what they keep calling it. I remember now. I wanted to take her to St. Mungo's. She couldn't apparate so we rode a cab and had her admitted to this town's local hospital instead. Apparently, she'd been having contractions all morning when I came here. She thought it was false labor."
"Then what happened?"
"She peed." He grinned. "She keeps saying it's her water or something or the other." His grin faded. "She was real scared, Potter. It's the first time I have ever seen her scared." He glanced up at Ginny who was cooing down at Verity. "Hey, Red Face."
Ginny shot him a lethal glare.
"You should talk to Hermione," he said softly. "She cries in the bathroom at night. I don't know why. I'm convinced that it's not about our separation. We talked about what we did when we weren't together and it's fine... but sometimes I wake up to her crying in the bathroom for an hour at most and sometimes I'll find her sitting in front of the fire, just staring at practically nothing. I think she misses the lot of you."
She sighed, her glare disappearing. "It's called the baby blues, Long Face. It happens to mothers after birth."
Draco stilled for a moment before staring balefully at Ginny. "Did you just call me Long Face?"
She rolled her eyes because he seemed to be really offended. Didn't he know? "She'll be fine, Malfoy, after a couple of weeks. Just give her the much-needed TLC and she'll be fine."
"Thanks," he muttered. "I still think you should go in there and bring her breakfast so you two can talk. I'm pretty sure you missed her too."
She nodded. "Very much actually." She smiled at him before turning to her husband. "Hold her?" He jumped to his feet and took her in his arms.
"Lovely," Harry said, looking down at Verity briefly before casting an absolutely wicked look at his wife. "I think I want a girl next."
Ginny smiled seductively. "You betcha, Harry."
"Eww," Draco muttered to himself, his eyes rolling to the ceiling. And then with a louder voice, "I don't really want to hear about your sex life, Potheads. Bloody disgusting." He shook his head. "Fifi, is Hermione's breakfast ready?"
"Yes, Master Draco!"
When Ginny had gone with a loaded tray, Draco sat across from Harry who was still carrying Verity. He ordered Fifi to make more food for their company. He watched his former enemy steadily as he murmured nonsensical words to Verity. Despite his warnings to Ginny Potter, which he should point out that he was just teasing but didn't, he trusted them fully with his firstborn... hell, he trusted the two of them with his own life.
"So did you find out what happened?" Harry inquired casually while he rocked Verity in his arms.
"Yeah. My mother and a gold-digger happened." He snorted. "I don't even want to talk about it. What matters is that Hermione and I are fine, readjusting to our lives together and with Verity... and I'm learning things about her I didn't know before..."
"Like what?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know. I can't explain it. It feels a lot like we're starting all over again."
"Maybe..." Harry said thoughtfully. "Maybe your brief separation actually is good for your relationship. Didn't you two have a bit of a falling out before she left?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I remember you complaining to me one evening about how you two seemed to be out of it... like everything you two did seemed like a ritual, like it felt like you two were just coexisting with the other and that you two didn't have... the spark anymore. Don't you remember?"
Draco hesitated. "I remember."
"Some fallouts are a blessing in disguise." The famous wizard shrugged his shoulders. "Think about it for a minute. You two are working on your relationship again perhaps a bit more carefully now. The relationship is being reborn. You're getting to know her again. You feel exactly the way you felt when you two first had gotten together."
"I thought you're an Auror, Potter, because you sound a lot like a damn shrink." Draco had to admit though that the other wizard might be onto something. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Whatever, Potter," he said after a few moments.
Harry chuckled. "You're back to your old self, Malfoy."
"Don't know what you're talking about." Draco pushed away from the table. "Fifi, are you done?"
"Fifi is almost done, Master Draco!"
"Actually... Fifi is most certainly done serving you, Draco Malfoy."
Draco's eyes widened at the new voice that came from the doorway. He turned and faced Hermione's wrath. "Hey, baby. What are you doing up and about? Your stomach..."
"I took a pain pill," she answered. "Ginny told me you're bossing around a poor little house elf in here."
His eyes narrowed. The little redheaded bitch was nowhere in sight. "I wasn't, baby, I swear," he insisted. "Ask Fifi. I was very nice to her."
Hermione's expression softened significantly. "Is he telling the truth, Fifi?"
"Yes Mistress!"
"Hermione. Call me Hermione not Mistress. And don't call him Master, okay Fifi? Just Draco. He's not your master. Nobody is your master or mistress. We're your friends."
"Friends," Fifi breathed out.
Draco groaned, but Hermione ignored it, as well Harry whose shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. "Yes, Fifi. We're your friends."
A big fat tear rolled down the creature's cheek. "Fifi never had a friend Mistre- Hermione! Fifi is very happy she has friends! Thank yous! Thank yous!"
"Okay, okay," Draco intervened, getting exasperated. "Just finish cooking for us, your friends. So you can get back to the Manor."
The creature smiled blindingly. "Fifi is happy Mas- Draco took her to his home! Fifi is very, very happy! Thank yous!" For a moment everyone in the room thought she was going to launch herself in Draco's arms but after a second or two, she turned back to the stove, finishing up whatever she was cooking.
Draco turned to his wife with an impish grin, walking until he stood in front of her, their bodies touching suggestively. "Did you hear that, baby? I made the little creature happy. "
Harry cleared his throat. "Uh- "
"Harry!" Hermione whipped away from Draco, her face lighting up in a brilliant smile. Slowly she walked over to sit beside him, telling him about Verity and ignoring Draco.
Draco grumbled at the two of them.
He let his thoughts drifted to that no-good sneaky redhead. No doubt that he'll come up with something to get back at her for tattling.
Perhaps purple hair? Yes. He knew that she disliked the color purple.
He still had a few products from her older brothers' store as well.
Ha! Perhaps he might make a quick visit to their place and transform their bedroom, reminiscent of the Slytherin Dungeons at Hogwarts?
Yes. It will be absolutely brilliant!
Why not make Potter look like Filch? That should be wickedly funny.
Draco let out a small, evil laugh as he sat himself down across from his wife and her best mate drawing peculiar looks from the both of them which he ignored as he continued to plot on what could be Ginevra Potter's downfall.
Author's note: Hello everyone! I'm glad that you like the somewhat adult version of Whatever It Takes. This used to be a little fluffy and immature. I just couldn't leave it like that so I changed it. Anyway... THANK YOU EVERYONE! :)