17 weeks pregnant...
Hermione and Ron walked to the entrance portrait to the Malfoy-Potter residence. Ron looked to his girlfriend, soon to be mother of his child, and smiled warmly. Her hair and complexion seemed to glow radiantly, and Ron felt she was more beautiful now, than she ever was.
She had noticed him staring, and with a curious smile she asked, "What?"
"You look really beautiful." Ron's ears turned pink like they would if that was the first time he mentioned her beauty.
Smiling, Hermione stopped in front of the entrance portrait and kissed Ron softly.
At that moment, the portrait swung open revealing Harry. He laughed as he shook his head. "I'm glad Draco is napping. The last time he saw you two like that, he seemed to be permanently scarred."
Hermione and Ron pulled apart. "Yeah, but we were naked then."
"Ron!" Hermione slapped his shoulder playfully.
"Well it's true!" He feigned being hurt. "Besides, you should have locked the door."
"He has a point Hermione." Everyone turned to see Draco standing behind Harry.
Smiling, Hermione pushed past Harry and hugged Draco. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
Draco hugged back, smiling as well. "My back is killing me and I'm only four months along."
She nodded as she pulled away from him. "Yeah, some people get backaches early on. Not me though."
"Really?" He wanted to hear more so he led Hermione away from the boys.
Ron shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this."
Harry shrugged. "It's weird sometimes, but I like it this way." He motioned for his best friend to follow him inside so the portrait could close. Once inside, he continued to speak. "So, has Hermione told her parents yet?"
Ron shook his head. "No. She's still too afraid of how they'll react."
Harry frowned. "That's not good. She needs to tell them. They deserve to know."
Ron nodded in agreement. "I told her that. I even told her my mum said we could live at the Burrow until we can afford our own place." Speak of housing arrangements after school made him look at Harry curiously. "Where are you and Malfoy going after school?"
"Actually, Draco sold Malfoy Manor and we're having our own place built. It'll be ready by graduation." Harry looked proud as spoke about the house. "It's nothing fancy. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, dining room, family room, decent sized kitchen, a study, and a porch that wraps around the entire house. There's even a balcony for each bedroom. The bedrooms are on the second floor."
Ron laughed as he walked to a chair and sat down. "Sounds like you two have everything covered. You're going to have to help me out. I want to build 'Mione's dream home."
Harry nodded. "Of course Ron." He sat down in a chair opposite Ron and picked up a notebook. "Let's get started. What are some aspects of Hermione's dream home?"
Meanwhile, Hermione and Draco were in the nursery talking. "So, Draco. Do you have that brown line at the midline of your abdomen?"
"What brown line?"
"This one." She pulled the waistband of her skirt down far enough so that she could show him the vertical brown line that divided her abdomen in two equal parts.
He ran a finger over the line causing her to giggle. "No. I don't have a line like that." He placed a hand over her swelled tummy. "It's so amazing, isn't it? To have a life growing inside you."
She nodded as a gentle smile crossed her lips. "Yeah, it is." As he pulled his hand away, she could not help but ask, "Can I...?"
Draco knew what she was talking about, and it was only fair. He pushed the front waistband of his pants down under the swell of his lower abdomen, and pulled up his shirt a little.
Hermione placed her hand gently on his lower abdomen. "You know, once we start showing more, a lot of people are going to be touching your stomach."
He groaned. "I hope not."
Christmas Morning
"Wake up Draco! It's Christmas morning!"
Draco opened one eye slowly and noticed the sun hadn't fully risen yet. It was much too early to be awake and so chipper. "Sod off will you?" He closed his eye in an attempt to go back to sleep.
Harry would have none of that. It was Christmas and there were presents to open. "Draco! Come on! There are presents for us," Harry whined. "Pleeeaaase get up." He pouted as he looked to the love of his life.
Draco sighed and opened his eyes. Upon seeing the pouty face of Harry, he smiled from ear to ear. "Fine, let's go see what's under the tree."
Like a child, Harry bounded out of the master bedroom and into the main living room.
Draco slowly got out of bed. Though it was good to see Harry so happy, he wondered why the boy couldn't let him sleep an hour longer. Especially after the long night they had together. At any rate, he left the bedroom in his pyjamas and figured he could change later. His pyjamas consisted of a pair of black silky pants and a plain white T-Shirt.
Harry was wearing a pair of green and blue flannel pants and a gray T-Shirt. He was also searching through the presents. Smiling, he pulled out what was probably a shirt box. It was wrapped in plain red paper and sported a large silver bow. "Here. This one's for you." He handed the box to Draco.
Sitting down in a chair next to the tree, Draco took the box and looked at it's tag. "It's from Mrs. Weasley?" Curiously, he looked up at Harry.
He just smiled and laughed lightly. "She's like a second mother to me. You probably got a homemade sweater."
Smiling, Draco opened the box and pulled out the pastel contents. "...?" Upon opening it all the way, he noticed it was actually a blanket...a baby blanket. He almost burst into tears as he draped the ultra soft gift over his shoulder. "She made a baby blanket. Oh Harry. I'm so sorry for everything I've ever said about the Weasleys."
Harry moved over to Draco and hugged him lightly. "Don't worry. Everyone knows that was the old you." As he let go, he noticed there was something else in the box. "Look," he was pointing to the box.
Quirking a brow, Draco removed the last item in the box. Sure enough, it was a heather gray sweater with a forest green D in the front. Just one look at the sweater and he started laughing. "You were right! She did make me a sweater."
"Put it on! Put it on!" Harry urged as he took the baby blanket and set it aside.
Draco pulled the sweater on and it fit perfectly. "This is pretty comfortable."
Harry nodded in agreement before searching for the right present to open. He chose to open another from Mrs. Weasley. This time it was his sweater which was the reverse colors of Draco's sweater. He pulled his sweater on and looked at Draco. "Look! We kinda match."
Both boys started to laugh. Draco was finally getting into the Christmas spirit and was currently kneeling by the tree with Harry. At the same time, the two of them shoved a box at the other.
In the Head Girl's quarters, Ron and Hermione were laughing and having a grand time while they opened their gifts. Like Harry and Draco, Hermione and Ron both received sweaters from Mrs. Weasley. Only, their colors were crimson and golden yellow. They too were wearing their sweaters.
Smiling, Hermione sat back on her heels. "Ron, there's another gift for you."
"Where?!" Happily he looked under the tree and only saw presents for Harry and Draco. "I don't see anything 'Mione..." He looked over to her, confusion apparent until he saw her pulling out a long box from behind a chair.
She handed the box over to her boyfriend, and laughed as he happily tore the shiny paper away.
"Oh 'Mione!" Ron shifted the tissue paper in the box aside as he got a good look at his new broom. It wasn't the fastest and newest broom, but it was still better than the old broom he got from Fred. "A Nimbus2000!" Picking the broom up, he hugged it close. He put the broom down long enough to pull Hermione into a tight hug and then he pulled a box out from behind himself and handed it over to her. "This is for you."
Hermione tore off the paper, then opened the box. Whatever it was that was inside the box was really quite heavy. Pushing layers of tissue paper aside, Hermione gasped slightly. "A book!" Grinning, she removed the book and looked at the title. "Cloud Dancing?" Curiously, she opened the book. On the first page, hand written was a poem.
My slender waist
-Huang O (1498-1569)
and thighs
Are exhausted
and weak
From a night of cloud dancing.
Ron grinned. "I just liked the poem. I'm not sure why."
Hermione laughed softly as turned the page. "I think I know why." She paused as she looked at the beginning of the first chapter. It too was hand written. She flipped through a couple more pages and soon realized the entire book was written in her beloved boyfriend's handwriting. "Ron?! Did you write this yourself?!"
Ron nodded and pointed to the ribbon that would double as a bookmark. "I've been writing it all semester. I thought you would like a book that no one else in the world had. A one of a kind. And there's something else."
At that moment, Hermione noticed the ring hanging from the ribbon. It wasn't big or expensive. Just a simple heart shaped diamond on a gold band.
"Hermione, will you marry me?" Ron gripped the bottom hem of his sweater, afraid she would think they were too young to marry.
"Of course Ron!" Crying, smiling, and laughing slightly, Hermione hugged Ron fiercely, never letting go of the book.
Laughing, Harry went to open his first. Inside the main box, was a silver ring box. He opened the ring box and his eyes widened at the beautiful ring inside. The ring base was a thick, high quality gold. Laying regally atop the ring was a miniature lion with tiny emerald chips for eyes. The lion was charmed to move but never leave the ring. At that moment, the lion chose to yawn and go to sleep.
Harry carefully removed the ring from the box and peeked at the underside for an inscription. There was one and it simply said, I will love you for all eternity, Draco. Smiling, he slipped the ring on his left ring finger, then leaned over to Draco to give him a light kiss on the lips. "Thank you."
Draco kissed back before saying, "You're welcome." Once Harry moved back, he looked at the present on his lap. It was wrapped in red paper covered with little green Christmas trees. He ripped the paper off and opened the box. Inside that box was another box. Quirking a brow, he took that box out and opened it. "What the..." Inside that box was yet another box. He glanced to Harry before he opened the next box. Luckily, there was just one box inside. A standard black velvet ring box. It seemed the two of them were on the same thought path when they picked out gifts. Slowly, he opened the box, gasping upon seeing the ring inside. It was an engagement ring. The center diamond was marquise cut, there were pear shaped side-stones, and it was all set on a platinum band. It was a muggle made ring, but Draco didn't care. It was the most perfect ring ever.
Harry gently took the box from Draco. As they were already sitting on the floor, he wouldn't be able to get down on one knee like planned. He and Ron had gone ring shopping together. They both thought Christmas was the perfect day to engaged.
"Draco...ever since we grew up and got over our silly rivalry...my feelings for you constantly increase. I love you more than life itself. And now that you're carrying our baby, I feel my life is almost complete..." A deep breath to calm his nerves, he took Draco's left hand in his.
"Harry...?" Draco gently urged his love to continue.
The dark haired boy smiled nervously as he looked to his angel, the light of his life. Using just one hand, he pulled the ring from the box. With the way he held it, Draco could just barely see the inscription was a symbol. The figure eight laying on it's side also known as the symbol for infinity, eternity, and other words meaning forever and never ending. "What I'm trying to say is...Draco? Will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?"
Whether from the hormones caused by pregnancy, his eternal love for Harry, or perhaps a combination of the two, Draco began to cry as he nodded a yes. Draco waited somewhat patiently as Harry slipped the ring on his left ring finger, and then he hugged and kissed Harry passionately.
A/N: The rings were all designed at adiamondisforever dot com. Boy do I love that site. XD Anyway! I just want to apologize to my readers. I've had a bit of writer's block. For some reason, I just couldn't get past the christmas gifts. Anyway, I hope this chapter is decent enough. People should be learning about the dual pregnancies next chapter. Think of all the problems! Hehe oh and if anyone has any suggestions or whatever, drop me a line at starlight_yatenk@yahoo.com. :D
