Partners
Chapter 10
"You ready?" Draco walked into his shared bedroom with Hermione. Hermione sat on the bed, studying a moving picture in her small hands, Draco walked up to her and sat on the spot next to her on the bed, the picture in her hands was the one of herself, Harry and Ron in their seventh year, all smiling and waving. Draco placed a hand on her shoulder, "Hermione, we need to go now."
Hermione nodded, wiping her tear that threatened to fall from her eyes, she looked at Draco and gave him a weak smile, "I'll be there in a minute."
"Ok," he sat up from the bed and kissed her forehead before walking out, he knew Hermione needed time to adjust to the changes that were happening. Hermione watched him walk out the door, before standing up and placing the photo inside a trunk which was packed with most of her belongings. Using her wand she lifted the trunk and moved it downstairs, with herself behind.
Draco was already waiting at the portrait hole, a baby boy with brown hair and sea blue eyes was wriggling from his father's strong arms. Draco gave the boy a stern look as to say 'NO' through his eyes, Nathan's bottom lip trembled slightly before he started to chew on Draco's robes. Draco sighed in defeat, he had no control over his son. Hermione dropped the trunk to the floor, drawing both Draco's and Nathan's attention.
"Right, I guess we better leave, Dumbledore's expecting us at his office any moment now," Hermione said to the two. She briskly walked past them, her robes billowing after her.
Draco and Nathan exchanged looks, "right Nathan, say goodbye to your first home," Draco spun around, and waited for Nathan's response, which was crying out in laughter, he then decided to follow his girlfriends footsteps.
Dumbledore was waiting for them in his office, he sat patiently behind his desk. Professor Snape and McGonagall were standing behind him.
"Are you sure about this Albus?" Minerva asked worriedly, "they're just kids, they're too young to go into hiding-" her speech was broken when Dumbledore raised his hand to stop her speaking.
"Minerva it has come to my attention, that Miss Hermione Granger and the two Mr Malfoys are no longer safe at Hogwarts, therefore, we must take this action to keep them safe," Minerva opened her mouth again to speak but was cut off again by Dumbledore, "I understand that this is very different from our original plan, but I assure you Minerva, the family will be able to return to the wizarding world when the time is right."
Just at that moment, Hermione walked in, followed by Draco and Nathaniel.
"At last you have arrived," Dumbledore greeted, "I'm afraid that time is running out, therefore, our plans have changed yet again, we have decided that Professor Snape will take you to your hiding place at Godrics Hollow, by apparation, Draco will go first and then Nathaniel, followed by yourself Miss Granger. Draco and Hermione nodded in understanding. Dumbledore nodded at Snape who took Draco's hand for side-along apparation, with a small pop, the two were gone.
Dumbledore turned to look at Hermione, "Miss Granger," he started, "If you need any sort of help of anything, do not be afraid to contact us, Professor McGonagall has agreed to visit you and Mr Malfoy each week to see how you are coping."
Snape apparated back into the room, he slowly walked up to Hermione, who carefully placed a sleepy Nathaniel into his arms, with another pop sound he was gone. Hermione still remained quiet, she tried looking everywhere in the room except for McGonagall and Dumbledore.
"Hermione," Minerva began, "we understand that this must be very hard for you, and at this precise moment you must be very overwhelmed with this news, but you must understand that it is for the greater good." Hermione let her words register in her head, a single tear rolled down her cheeks and she quickly brushed it away. This was it, this was the end for her, no more Hogwarts, and she didn't even get the chance to finish her studies here, she didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her friends, they will all suddenly wake up tomorrow and discover the truth themselves. God, they would all hate her when they find out what's happening.
Snape reappeared again, Hermione looked around at the two oldest professors and gave them a curt nod, "Goodbye Miss Granger," they both said in unison, and with that Hermione held onto Snape's arm as she apparated to another place outside of Hogwarts.
Snape had apparated them to Godrics Hollow, nearby the graveyard. Hermione looked around at her surroundings, it was very dark indeed but there was a small illumination from the street lamps that still enabled her to see where she was going, she followed Snape to a small cottage that was right on the outskirts of Godrics Hollow, there were no other houses around it.
At the moment, a spell had been cast on it that allowed Snape and Hermione to see it. Once Hermione and Draco decided on a password, it would enable them to choose when the house could be seen or hidden into it's surroundings, almost like a camouflage.
Snape opened the small gate at the front of the house, and then passed through the front door, Hermione closely following him. Once they were inside, Hermione found Draco already unpacking their belongings. Snape said his goodbyes and then left the couple to themselves.
"Where's Nathan?" an exhausted Hermione asked sitting herself on a small sofa.
"Asleep upstairs, in a cot, in his own bedroom," Draco smiled. For him, this whole hiding thing was perfect, he got to be with Hermione, day in day out, and with his son also. There were no interruptions around them, no school, everything on the outside would be a blur, it was just him and her, together.
Draco looked at Hermione's face, and frowned, he knew that she wasn't happy about this. She has left behind her life, a life that she loved very dearly, this whole change would be agonising for her. Draco didn't know what to do to make her happy and change her mind about all this.
He went and sat by her on the sofa and pulled her into a hug, knotting his fingers into her hair, Hermione sighed deeply. They sat there for a few moments until Hermione pulled away, "I'm tired, I think I might go to bed now," she gave a fake yawn before running up the stairs. Now it was Draco's turn to sigh.
He looked around at the living room he was in, he was determined to make a go of this whole situation, this was going to be their home now. He slowly got up from the sofa and rearranged the furniture as quietly as he could. He was going to make this whole house homely for Hermione, and he was going to do it all in one night.
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The next morning, Hermione woke up in an unfamiliar environment, she looked around and found herself in a king-size bed all alone. She got out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown which was on the floor. She walked into the hallway, the wooden floorboards creaking with her movements, she walked downstairs to find Draco lying on one of the sofas asleep.
She stared at the room, it was different from how it looked last night, the colour of the walls had changed from a cream colour to a nice, cosy, terracotta, the position of the sofas had changed too, in the corner of the room was Nathaniel's play pen all set up. In the centre of the room was a coffee table, with unpacked boxes on it. A fireplace was in the room too, and Hermione could tell that it had been lit last night from the smell that was clouding the room, but what surprised her the most was that at the other corner of the room was a large bookshelf, with tonnes of books stacked on it. Hermione smiled, something she hadn't done in over a week. She was so touched by Draco's efforts, she knew that he had done this all for her.
To be honest, she was of course upset at first, I mean, he decorated the room without her, he didn't consult on anything with her, but she was very happy with all the work that he had done, the whole room looked perfect.
She smiled as she watched Draco still sleeping on one of the sofas, she decided to leave him there and discover what else was in the small cottage, as she didn't really want to last night. Attached to the living room was an open dining area, she knew that Draco had decorated this room also. The room was carpeted in a creamy colour, in the centre of the room was a wooden dinning area, it had a small table with four chairs around each side. In the corner of the room were two high chairs. Two. She paused for a moment and then stared down at her stomach, a smile appearing on her lips.
She then walked walked into the open kitchen area. The kitchen was very muggle like. For starters it had a washing machine!! this made her laugh. On the floor were tiles, her feet adjusted to the coldness of them before she started moving around and looking at the units. She opened the cabinets and noticed that Draco had already filled them up with plates and cups. She looked around the kitchen again and found a kettle on the stove. Early morning tea sounded great to her. She pulled out two mugs from the cupboard and filled the kettle with water before putting it on the hob.
Now what do I do?? she thought. She then decided to go back upstairs and get changed, this was a fresh start, the beginning of a new life. She pulled out some muggle clothing and dressed herself, she tied her hair into a ponytail. She then wondered if Draco had decorated upstairs. She knew that he hadn't decorated their bedroom yet, but she wondered if Nathan's bedroom had been.
She slowly crept out of her room and went into the next one. Her sight was one that had been taken out of a magazine. The room looked perfect and ideal for a baby boy. At the far corner was Nathan in his cot. On the other side of the room was a baby-changing unit, and next to the door was a small wardrobe, one of the light-blue coloured walls had been inscribed with writing. Hermione walked up to it, she read the words slowly. At the top of the wall was the name "Nathaniel Draco Malfoy" Hermione couldn't help but smirk, On the next line was a block of writing which explained the meaning of Nathan's name.
At the centre of the room was a large white rug against the wooden floorboards, on top of the rug was a small rocking horse with lots of toys around it that had littered the floor. Hermione felt her heart tug, this was so special to her. She experienced the most happiness since Draco's return she went and sat on the rocking chair that was next to Nathan's cot. From the window next to the chair was a spectacular view of the countryside, Hermione curled up on the chair, this was so amazing. She could imagine herself in the near future with Nathan on her lap, she'll read bed-time stories to him as they look outside to where the sun will be setting.
In a moment of pure bliss she didn't notice that Draco entered the room, "hey" he croaked quietly.
"hey," Hermione smiled, as she tightened her arms around her knees. Draco walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips. "eeww, morning breath," she laughed.
Draco gave a mock hurt look, "you can speak missy," he retorted.
"Yes I can speak," Hermione whispered, as she remembered that Nathan was only next to them fast asleep. She stood up and hugged Draco, "thank you for all this," she whispered in his ears.
"You and Nathan are worth it," he whispered back.
She pulled away from him and adjusted his shirt collar, "tea will be ready soon, you better get changed," she spoke to him in a motherly way.
"umm yes, that actually reminds me ... there's some muggle devices in the bathroom that I'm not familiar with," Draco looked at her with worry. Hermione chuckled to herself, she walked into the bathroom, which was nicely painted blue by Draco, she turned the knob which seemed to put the shower on and then she told him how to switch it off before leaving him.
"Are you sure you don't want to join me?" he asked seductively.
"Oh I'm pretty sure Malfoy, maybe some other time," Hermione grinned before leaving the bathroom.
Draco stared after her, he certainly could get used to this life ... it was perfect. Ok ... maybe not about the whole fact that he now needed to use some muggle devices, but he could always learn from Hermione.
Yes, this life was indeed going to be pleasant, he was so absorbed with the shower and the way that hot water squirted down at him, he failed to hear the faint crashing noise of Hermione collapsing downstairs.
A/N: Sooooooooooooooo another chapter done. I know that it's been two months since the last update, forgive me for the fact that I didn't update sooner. My sister's wedding is in two weeks time so I'm living in a mad house at the moment. PLUS, my GCSE results come out tomorrow ... TOMORROW!! eek!! I'm so scared, I have a feeling I've done utterly rubbish.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and I'll try and update soon. If you are kind enough please leave reviews behind. Hugs and Kisses to all of those who have already left comments behind (xoxoxox)