This is the last chapter I'm going to post before Christmas. I'm taking off work until the new year, so the chances of me posting from home are slim.


Chapter 9

Draco entered the master bedroom to find the family's photo albums scattered across the bed. He picked up a white, leather-bound album and smiled. Their wedding album was the first they had ever put together, and they often looked through it with Athena. He was sure that was why it was out now.

"Sorry, I was going to put those away," Hermione said when she entered.

Shrugging, he sat down and opened the book. "It's crazy, isn't it?" he asked. "Look how young we look. Can you believe this was almost seven years ago? Merlin, we used to be young."

Laughing, Hermione took a seat beside him. "We're not that old now," she told him. "I refuse to believe that twenty-eight is old. Although, there are days when I feel eighty."

"Two kids will do that," he muttered, looking at picture after picture of Hermione preparing for their wedding with her mother's help.

Hermione watched as her mother pinned up her long curls. "It's crazy, isn't it?" she wondered. "How happy we were that day. Like we managed to forget everything else that happened."

He hadn't slept in days. With his wedding only two weeks away, and Hermione's insistence that they marry before she began to show, the pair had run themselves ragged planning the ceremony and reception. Work seemed to be the only place where he could focus on something else.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry Potter greeted him, taking a seat in front of his desk. "So, Hermione sent me over to ask you a very important question. One that obviously couldn't wait until later. Because it's so pressing that she made me leave work to ask you."

"Get on with it, Potter," Draco groused.

Harry grinned. "She wants to know if it's bad luck for you to see the dress before the wedding so long as she isn't wearing it," he stated. "Hermione's lost her mind."

Unable to contain it, Draco laughed, loudly, for several long moments. "Sorry," he said in the middle of it. "I'm just so tired. Everything's funny right now. What's funnier is that I know once the baby comes, I'm going to sleep even less."

"How are you doing with all of this?" Harry wondered. In the months since Hermione and Draco began dating, Harry had come to accept that Draco would be just as much a part of her life as he was. The two men had decided, for Hermione's sake, to give one another a chance. What started as a reluctant agreement formed between them, eventually evolving into a solid friendship.

Draco sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "I'm okay," he decided. "I'm excited, to be honest with you. I don't know how it started, or why we changed our minds about one another, but being with Hermione is all I want."

Harry grinned. "You know when things changed," he prodded.

"Yeah, I do," Draco replied regretfully. "When the three of you were captured, that's when I knew. Watching what happened to her, watching as she was tortured. The screaming and the crying. I just stood there. I let it happen. After that, I knew I wanted to protect her because I knew I couldn't do a damn thing that day. I just want to take care of her, make sure no one ever hurts her again."

"I'm sorry, mate. I assumed it was just when you hired her or something," Harry murmured.

Sighing, Draco rested his head against his chair. "It doesn't matter when it started," he said. "What matters is that I'm going to love her for the rest of my life."

"It was a good distraction," Draco replied. "When your mother called me, I thought it was over. I thought we were over."

Harry had left only moments before the mobile Draco never used rang. Helene's name flashed across the display screen, and he quickly answered the call. "St. Vincent's. Now," she said in a panic before hanging up. Rushing from his office, he spotted Harry by the lifts.

"Where's St. Vincent's?" Draco demanded. "We need to get there right now."

Nodding, Harry grabbed his arm and Apparated away. They arrived in a back alley behind a large building. Taking off at a run, Draco rounded the hospital and entered to find Helene waiting for him. Breathing a sigh of relief, she hugged him, but said nothing as she escorted him to a private examination room. Hermione lay in the bed, her back to them. Slowly, Draco rounded the bed and sat down in front of her.

"It's gone," Hermione whispered, tears in her eyes. "Our baby is gone. It's my fault. I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Brow furrowed, Draco leaned forward and wiped away her tears. "It isn't your fault," he promised her. "Sometimes these things just happen. No one's to blame."

"Do you ever wonder what that baby would have been like?" Hermione asked. "If it was a boy or girl? Who it would have looked like more? How it would act?"

Sighing, Draco turned the page. "I've thought about it," he admitted. "And then it hurt too much to think about, so I stopped. To be honest, I haven't thought much about that baby since Athena was born."

Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. "It helped, having her," she added. "Why did you think losing the baby would be the end of our relationship?"

He closed the album and set it aside. "Because, even though you said you loved me, a part of me still believed you only agreed to marry me because of the baby," he confessed. "You could have backed out then, but you didn't."

"It never even crossed my mind," she told him, pressing her lips to his cheek. "I married you because I love you, not because of the baby."

The bedroom door opened and Athena entered. Her gray eyes darted from her mother to her father before she proceeded to join them on the bed. "What did you do?" she asked her father.

Draco frowned. "What did I do?" he wondered.

"Mummy looks sad again," she stated. "What did you do?"

"Since when does she side with you?" Draco asked his wife as Athena settled down on Hermione's lap.

Hermione shrugged. "Sweetie, Daddy didn't do anything," she promised the little blonde. "We were just looking at some pictures, and sometimes there are some memories that make you a little sad."

Leaning forward, Athena found the album she was looking for - pink and white canvas with flowers on it. "We should look at pictures of me then," she decided, opening the album that contained her baby pictures. "Does Clara have one like this?"

"She does," Draco confirmed. "We're not finished filling it though. You can see it now, if you want."

Shrugging, Athena continued to flip through her album. "That's okay, Daddy."

The adults exchanged a silent laugh. Athena hadn't been shy about her feelings towards her new sister, which amused them both. Being only children, they were unsure how to handle sibling rivalry. For now though, they enjoyed the bit of humor it brought.

"Did you make this mess, Tiny?" Draco asked, tickling his daughter's foot. Giggling, she nodded, though she claimed that her mother had helped. "Maybe I should let the two of clean it up then. It's almost bedtime, baby."

Sighing, Athena put down the book. "Daddy, are you glad you had me?" she asked.

Smiling, he kissed her forehead. "Every day."