Chapter 9
Draco and Hermione moved quickly through the drafty halls toward their unused common room and were surprised to find it fully repaired, its door standing firmly in place and the blown up book shelf restored to its former glory. Draco stepped into the room but had to turn back when Hermione refused to enter.
"I-I don't know Draco," she said, biting her lip.
"What don't you know?" He asked tenderly coming back to slip his arms around her waist. She held on to his forearms and refused to meet his eyes.
"I don't know if I'm ready. If I step into this room with you there really is no going back,"
"You don't want to be with me?"
"No, no its not that it's just … I'm scared," she confessed in a whisper.
"I know you are," he replied, pulling her further into the circle of his arms and letting her rest her head under his chin, her fists curled against his chest, "We were going to do this sooner or later and after everything that has been happening its seems we don't have much of a choice but I promise to make this as good for you as I can," he vowed, kissing her messy hair and caressing her back with soothing motions.
"It's not you I am worried about Draco, it's me. What if I disappoint you? I mean I have never done this kind of thing before," her voice held a note of panic.
"Everything about you is perfect to me Hermione, just relax."
Hermione took a deep breath and willed herself to calm to down, trying to let go of her anxieties. She finally let Draco lead her into their common room and was surprised when he sat them down on the couch. She looked at him, waiting for him to jump her but he didn't move, he just sat passively beside her with his arms draped over the back of the couch as if he had all the time in the world.
"Aren't we going to …?" Hermione asked, flinging a hand in the direction of the master bedroom, Draco just smiled and her and shook his head seeming to relax even further on the couch.
"But why not?" Hermione nearly shouted, having worked herself to the point where she just wanted to get it over and done with.
"Because what's a little more time spent waiting, plus the longer we take the angrier that Skeeter woman will get," he replied, conjuring a book from the shelf and lazily flicking though it. Hermione's mouth formed a perfect O as she took this in.
It seemed Draco wasn't going anywhere so she too flicked her wand toward the bookshelf, a recent copy of the life and times of Albus Dumbledore came soaring into her waiting hands. She had just reached the third chapter, the one which Dumbledore was finally spoken about, so far it had been family trees and introductions to the accomplishments he had achieved in his later years when it hit her when it hit her.
Before the accident with the door and the bookcase they had been looking for Dumbledore, she quickly reminded Draco who had completely forgotten about it too.
"I suppose there is no point now, he would have just told us the same thing Rita did," Draco reasoned.
"I suppose, that is if Rita wasn't lying," Hermione still didn't completely trust the other witch.
"She wouldn't have agreed to the oath if she had been lying and for once I think she was telling the truth,"
Hermione had to admit that he had a valid point as she continued to read, sitting on pins and needles waiting for Draco to make the first move. Draco was even more relaxed, unbuttoning his white shirt so the no longer needed bandages were visible and seeming to really get into the book about the history of Dark Arts.
Hermione began to tap her toe along to the sound of the grandfather clock in the far right corner of the room. She kept sneaking glances at her husband from the corner of her eye and when this grew old she tried as hard as she could to focus on the text in front of her.
Albus Dumbledore was conceived under exceptional circumstances and it is perhaps these circumstances that helped to make him an even more exceptional wizard.
Eldest son to the Hogwarts Head Boy and Girl class of 1881 Albus was a product of a curse set upon the castle under the decree that the head students were to unite or a terrible plague of sound would curse its inhabitants for the duration of their studies. Kendra and Percival Dumbledore married and conceived Albus within a week and it was then that this 'plague of sound' was put to an end.
Hermione sat and stared at this text for a long moment trying very hard not to believe what it was telling her but there it was in plain black and white. The conception of their great headmaster was what had stopped the song last time which meant that she would have to conceive this time in order to do the same.
"What's wrong Hermione? Are you ok?" she hadn't realised she had began to hyperventilate until Draco reached across and grabbed her shoulders concerned. The book fell open to the floor with a loud thud.
"You …. Me …" she gasped, dropping her head between her knees as Draco rubbed her back.
"Yes what about us?" he asked never having seen her this upset.
"B-b-Baby," she managed to get out before breaking into sobs.
"Baby? Oh you are worried about getting pregnant, don't worry Mione we can use a contraceptive charm," he said very pleased with himself thinking that he had solved her problem. Hermione shook her head violently no and it was a long while before she was calm enough to explain.
"I have no choice Draco, we have to have a baby," she told him, wiping the tears from her face before handing him the open book and watching as realisation quickly dawned on him. He looked from the book to her face and back again several times before his gaze dropped to her stomach and stayed there.
"Shit" was all he said before getting up and racing out of the common room, leaving her dazed and more than a little confused.
Hermione sat staring at the portrait hole wondering if he was ever going to come back, she wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Hell she felt like running herself – she was not mother material, at least not before she was 18 and most definitely not while she was still in school. She began chewing her nails while she debated anxiously with her subconscious on whether to run and hide or take it like a man … woman … vessel of soon to be baby juice.
"Oh Merlin," she groaned into her hands just as Draco came racing back into the common room, a vial of something in one hand and a hastily picked bunch of flowers in the other. She wondered if they were the same ones she had admired on the fourth floor in the vase shaped like an elf ear.
Draco skidded to a stop in front of her and stood bouncing on his heels while he waged his own internal debate. Hermione sat patiently and waited.
"I went to see Dumbledore … the old coot has known the truth the whole time and says every word of that book is true. He ah … he even gave me this potion to um help things along so to speak and then I thought well you might like some flowers since … you know," Draco stuttered this out all the while refusing to meet her in the eye.
Hermione stood and took the flowers out of his hand dropping them behind her on the couch before taking Draco chin in her hand and forcing him to look her in the eye.
"You don't have to do this you know, the spell will go away eventually,"
"That's the thing Hermione, it won't. Dumbledore said others had tried and it haunted them for the rest of their lives." Draco was taking this about as well as she had earlier.
"Well then I guess we have no choice," Hermione said, taking a step back so that she could unbutton her top. Her jerky undressing seemed to capture his attention and he watched as she slipped out of the top and then the skirt before kicking off her shoes and ditching her underwear. She stood before him naked with a determined glint in her eye.
"Is that for me or you?" she asked pointing to the blue liquid potion, jolting him out of his private fantasy.
"Both of us," his response was very high pitch and he cleared his throat embarrassed and repeated it again. She tried not to laugh but couldn't help it.
He began stripping off his own uniform and she took the opportunity to swig half the bottle of potion down before handing him the rest, he repeated the motion before letting the bottle drop the floor. They stood there awkwardly looking at each other at a loss what to do next.
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