Chapter 7: Chapter 7
They heard a little squeak from across the room, and looked up to see Ginny standing in a small puddle of water. "I'm sorry... I know this is bad timing... but I think i've gone into labour..."
Harry looked at Ginny with an ashen face, "We're having a baby... ok... I'll go pack a bag, yes... I'll go pack the bag. You sit down." Harry said as he rushed out of the room.
Hermione rushed over to Ginny and made sure she was okay. Ginny held Hermione's hand. "I'm so sorry 'Mione." Ginny said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Hey don't cry," Hermione smiled at Ginny. "You're having a baby! Don't worry about me, everything is going to work out fine." She glanced at Draco, who was sitting there looking as pale as Harry had a minute ago.
"Draco, would you owl Ron please, and tell him to meet us at the hospital? And while we're at the hospital... would you mind watching Darius?" Hermione asked... "I'd really appreciate it... I can't take him with me with the hoards of reporters hanging around..."
Draco nodded, scrawling a note to Ron on a piece of parchment he found on the coffee table. "Of course I will... we'll be fine, don't worry." Draco ran out of the room and paused, then decided to go back in. He placed a hand awkwardly on Ginny's shoulder. "Good luck Weaslette." He smirked at her and ran off to owl the note.
"He's still a brat." Ginny scowled. Hermione laughed and looked at the door thoughtfully. "Yeah, he is."
Draco re-read the note he had written before he tied it to the owl.
Weasel,
Weaslette is in labour. Get to the hospital.
DM.
Draco laughed to himself. Yep, that would do. He tied the note to the owl and told it to take the note straight to Ron.
The owl hooted in response and flew out the window.
Draco came back into the living room just in time to see Harry and Ginny effulge in a bright green light as they took the floo to the hospital.
Hermione gave Draco a small smile. Now was the perfect time to see if he could step up and take on the responsibility of being a father. "Thanks again for watching Darius. He has formula in the fridge, and his diapers are on the shelf next to his crib."
Draco nodded, repeating back what Hermione had told him. "Ok, formula in fridge, diapers by crib. Got it." He said flashing Hermione a smile.
"Oh and Draco? We'll talk when I get back... Ok?" Hermione replied tentatively. Not waiting for a reply, she said loudly "St Mungo's Hospital" and threw the floo powder down, disappearing in a bright green light.
"Okay. " Draco repeated to himself one last time, so he didn't screw this up. "Formula in fridge, diapers by crib."
Hang on... diapers?
Draco suddenly felt a cold sweat come over him.
Ron apperated into St Mungos hospital in a fluster. On spotting Hermione he rushed over to her. "Oh good, you're here 'Mione, how's everything? I haven't missed anything have I?" Ron said in a rush.
Hermione laughed. "No you haven't missed anything, she was wheeled into the delivery suite about 2 hours ago, but I haven't heard anything yet. "
"Oh good." Ron said, taking a seat on the waiting bench outside Ginny's room. "Hey where's Darius?"
Hermione cleared her throat. "Oh, um, he's with Draco."
"Oh okay." Ron answered, then seemingly took in what Hermione had just told him. "Are you NUTS?" the red head exploded, causing several other people in the corridor to stare at him.
"Ronald!" Hermione hissed at him. "Be quiet! Draco is his father, and has a right to spend time with him. Plus I couldn't really bring him here, could I?" She motioned out the door where they could see reporters snapping their cameras, eagerly trying to get pictures of the group. The hospital had been very co-operative and barred all reporters from entering the maternity area whilst they were there.
Ron pulled a face. "Fine, but I don't like it 'Mione. And since when did you start calling him Draco?"
They were interrupted by a long painful squeal and a loudly shouted "I HATE YOU HARRY POTTER!" as Harry bolted out of the room, red faced and looking scared.
Hermione couldn't help but smile to herself, she knew all too well first hand what Ginny was going through, and the panicked look on Harry's face just about made it all worthwhile.
"I think she really does hate me." Harry exclaimed as he shrunk down the wall onto the floor.
Hermione laughed. "Harry she doesn't hate you... I'll go in there with her for a minute and let you catch your breath, she will have calmed down in a few minutes."
Harry nodded and Hermione cautiously peeked into the delivery suite, seeing Ginny taking deep breaths, between contractions. Ginny looked up and saw Hermione, a look of relief flooding her face.
"I don't know how you did this Hermione, I can't do it." Ginny sobbed at her. Hermione walked over to Ginny and gently sponged the perspiration off of her forehead.
"Oh, Ginny. You can do this, I know you can. You're the strongest person that I know." Hermione held Ginny's hand and smiled at her.
Harry walked back into the room and sheepishly smiled at Ginny. He went to her other side, and took her other hand.
Ginny sobbed at him and gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry."
"I love you Ginevra Potter." Harry rubbed her hand gently.
Ginny cried out in pain. "Oh no."
The mediwitch smiled reassuringly at her. "Its okay dear, I think this will be the last one. On the count of three, I want you to push as hard as you can..."
Draco was panicking. After sitting there for three hours watching Darius sleep, Darius was now awake and bawling his little eyes out.
Draco gently picked Darius up out of his crib, and gently rocked him back and forth. Ok, that didn't work. He was still crying.
He went and fetched a bottle of formula out of the fridge, and heated it gently in some hot water. He hoped he was doing this right; he just tried to follow what he saw Hermione do the other day.
Once he thought it should be sufficiently heated for Darius, Draco splashed a few drops on his wrist.
Draco smiled to himself, yes, not bad for a first effort. It seemed to be a good temperature, so he tried feeding the bottle to Darius. Darius just started crying louder. Ok. He doesn't want the bottle.
Draco gulped and looked at the diaper. "Please, no." He took a deep breath and peered down the back of the diaper. What he saw, was definitely not a pleasant sight.
Draco cringed to himself. Diapers by the crib... diapers by the crib.
The sound of a baby crying filled the air. The newest Potter had finally arrived. The mediwitch placed the baby in Ginny's arms, and they looked down at their new arrival.
"Congratulations," The mediwitch beamed at them, "You have a healthy little girl."
Harry beamed at Ginny. "She's beautiful." Ginny ran her finger down the baby's cheek and smiled. "Yeah she is."
Hermione hugged Harry. "Oh I'm so happy for you two. She is so gorgeous. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this".
"Of course, you're family." Harry smiled at her. "Speaking of which, sounds like there's a lot of family out there just waiting to hear the news," he winked at Ginny. "I'll be back soon, love." He said, kissing Ginny's forehead.
Harry entered the waiting area to see a swarm of ginger haired people. He chuckled to himself. News sure spreads fast in a big family.
Luna nudged Ron to indicate that Harry was standing behind him.
Ron turned around and looked at Harry anxiously.
Harry grinned and yelled out, "ITS A GIRL!"
Ron shook Harrys hand. "Congratulations mate, congratulations!" He then turned and bellowed out to the rest of his family "DID YA HEAR THAT! IT'S A GIRL!".
Everyone cheered.
"Oh Arthur, a granddaughter!" Molly Weasley started crying with joy and hugged her husband.
Back in the delivery room, all Ginny and Hermione could hear was cheering and laughter.
Hermione laughed. "Listen to all the commotion out there, I think they might be having a party!"
Ginny smiled, "That's the Weasley's for you... we're a rowdy bunch!"
After greeting all of the Weasley clan, Hermione headed home to check on Darius and Draco. When she arrived home, she found an exhausted Draco sprawled across her bed, sleeping. Not wanting to wake him, Hermione tiptoed over to Darius's crib to check on him.
On sensing his mother, Darius's eyes opened sleepily and Hermione lifted him up out of his crib. "Hey sunshine," She smiled at him. "Has daddy taken good care of you?"
Darius just gurgled at Hermione in response. She laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." Surprisingly, everything looked perfect. Darius seemed happy, he was fed and had a clean diaper, and the house was clean. Hermione was suitably impressed.
She checked her watch. 5:43pm. Her watch was one of the few muggle contraptions Hermione would never be without. She had even purchased one each for Ron and Ginny, who both loved it as well.
Hermione decided she would make some dinner, she had always been a good cook, she had been taught by her mother since about the time she started to walk! She had tried to give Harry lessons, because he wanted to impress Ginny, but they had to give up after the kitchen caught fire for the third time. Some people just weren't meant to cook.
Hermione put Darius back in his crib and tucked him in, then ventured into the kitchen to see what she could find to make for dinner.
Scavenging through the fridge and pantry, she managed to find some vegetables and chicken, so decided to make a stir fry. Humming to herself, Hermione chopped the vegetables and chicken, adding them to the wok with some herbs and sauces.
Her mind trailed off thinking of that morning, she still really had no clue what was going on. Marrying Malfoy? If this curse was real, then she would have to do it, there really was no option when it came to Darius, she would do anything for him... and Draco wasn't really that bad, sure, he was a pompus git, but deep down she knew he was a good guy. It was his allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix that gave them the upper hand in the War. He had also saved her life in the final battle, at great personal cost to himself. And, of course, Hermione had to admit, he was good looking. She could do certainly do worse!
She turned around to look for some salt in the pantry, and found a dishevelled Draco watching her.
Hermione jumped. "Malfoy! You gave me a fright! - Oh well, least you're awake, I wasn't looking forward to waking you up." She smiled at him. "I was just making dinner."
He smirked at her. "Smells great. You know I've never seen anyone cook before. It's... interesting."
Hermione just stared at him. "You've never seen... cooking?" Draco shook his head. "Weird. Oh, and thanks for taking such good care of Darius... I really appreciate it." She smiled at him.
Draco gave her a big grin. She thought he did a good job. Well, he had to admit, he thought he did well too, for someone who had never been around a baby before. "Anytime, after all, he is my child too. How's the Weazlette and Pothead doing?" he asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "GINNY and HARRY are doing great – they had a little girl." She replied while serving their dinner up.
She handed Draco's dinner to him and he picked a piece of broccoli off the top and held it up. "Ummm... what is this... tree thing?"
All Hermione could do was laugh. "Its broccoli – try it – its really good, trust me."
Draco wrinkled his nose. "I've never eaten trees before... but I'll take your word for it and try this brock owl eye..." he replied, cautiously putting the broccoli in his mouth and chewing it. His face lit up and he gave her a big, green smile. "Hey – tish is werry good!" he said, popping more broccoli into his already full mouth.
Hermione groaned. Just what was she getting herself into?
