Chapter 10

A/N: Hello readers! I apologise for taking so long to update this story... I honestly didn't realize how long it's been since I last updated. Actually I got a bit of a surprise when I went into the file to get this chapter... Apparently I finished writing this story and then forgot about it! There're actually only 12 chapters, so we're almost at the end.

A huge thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed and I'll try to get the next chapters up quicker. Oh! And this isn't betaed, so mistakes are all mine.

~Frosty

It was kind of depressing to be choosing baby clothes alone. Hermione had always thought there would be a doting father-to-be in the background, complaining about her taking too long to choose things when all the little onesies all looked pretty much the same.

Over three months along now, Hermione was showing quite a bit. When she was in public she was forced to glamour the evidence of her growing child to avoid notice. Rite Skeeter would just love to print a story postulating the father. Hermione didn't think it fair that Draco find out he was a father from a gossip article in a newspaper somewhere.

If he had stayed in the country, Hermione would have already told him about his child. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen him since the night of the party at the Manor. Those same newspapers she wanted to keep from getting wind of her pregnancy were her only source of information on Draco.

Every week there was a new picture of him with a beauty queen on his arm as he attended another ball somewhere. She knew he was trying to do good things, but she wasn't so secure that she didn't sometimes cry over it.

Maybe it was hormones.

No, it was the hormones that made her cry whenever she got a good look at her expanding stomach in the mirror, this was something that would upset any woman. She wasn't vain about her increasing size, but she was terrified about being a mother and she didn't even have Draco there for her.

She needed him!

Now she was crying over booties. Angrily dashing away her tears, Hermione brought the booties and a few sets of baby clothes to the front of the store. Her hair and face were spelled so that she didn't look like herself; she didn't want it to get out that Hermione Granger was all over town buying baby clothes and accessories, people would start asking questions.

The clerk smiled knowingly at her tears. "They're just so tiny and adorable, aren't they?" she asked.

Hermione nodded, giving the other woman a polite smile but not commenting. If she said something, Hermione was worried that she'd cry even more.

When she got back to Harry and Ginny's house, the redhead gave her a sympathetic look. "Shopping for baby clothes again?"

Harry was seated beside the redhead at their kitchen table. He was pouring over a case file, scowling.

After a nod to Ginny, Hermione turned to Harry.

She needed to not talk about the baby clothes at the moment and Harry provided the perfect distraction. Hermione knew that Ginny understood and didn't take offence, and she loved her all the more for her understanding.

"Having trouble with a case?"

"If I didn't witness it with my own eyes, I'd have no way to know that Malfoy actually killed Theodore Nott. He's covered his tracks so thoroughly that it's almost as if nothing's happened," said Harry.

Harry and Ginny shared a look that Hermione couldn't decipher. "Hermione, why don't you stay home from work today? I think you could use a rest," Harry said slowly, knowing the suggestion wasn't going to go over well with his friend.

Rolling her eyes at them, Hermione wished she lived alone for what felt like the millionth time. She appreciated everything they were doing for her, but it would be nice to be able to sneeze without someone suggesting that maybe she should go sit down for a while. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid," she snapped. "I'm going to work today."

She stood from the table and stormed towards her room. If Draco wasn't allowed to coddle her without repercussions, Harry and Ginny certainly weren't going to get away with the same thing.

Hermione missed coffee. How was she supposed to deal with the incompetence of her coworkers when she wasn't even allowed her cup of coffee in the morning to fortify her against their stupidity? Even worse, she wasn't allowed to wind down with a glass of wine and a good book in the evenings?

Combined with the stress of worrying for Draco's life and her swollen ankles and achy feet, she was not exactly the nicest person in the world of late. In fact, a few of the newer interns in her department refused to even go near her office.

She sighed gustily as she finished completing yet another form. Blown by her breath, the form fluttered to the ground and all ten sheets of it scattered across the floor. Evil things.

With her hidden bump, kneeling on the floor wasn't the easiest thing in the world. But, forgetting about her wand, that was exactly what she did. Sighing once more and trying to restrain a groan, she lowered herself to the floor, using her desk to slow the descent.

Unsurprisingly, by the time she had gathered the form from the floor and left her office to deliver them, she was more than a little frazzled. She could only imagine what work was going to be like when she was eight months pregnant.

She was shuffling them into the right order as she stalked through the halls. So intent on her task was she that she didn't notice someone moving towards her from the opposite direction. The other person must have been equally occupied because he barrelled right into her.

Hermione let out a startled squeak as she fell. She just had time to worry about hurting the baby when strong arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders to stop her fall. Shocked, she looked up and met grey eyes that were getting stormier by the second.

"Are you all right?" he demanded.

She had barely nodded when he dragged her into an empty office, slamming the door behind him. He used his wand to silence and lock the door behind him, making sure no one would be able to interrupt them.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Really? We're going to talk about me right now?" he growled.

She crossed her arms. This wasn't exactly the reunion she'd been hoping for. She'd actually been picturing something with a lot more yelling and then some make up sex. Well, a lot of make up sex, and then she wasn't going to let him out of her sight ever again.

"You're the one who left me to go off gallivanting around with a string of the prettiest women you can find, so yes, we're going to talk about you," said Hermione. She was angry enough that she could feel tears starting in her eyes, her emotions were so jumbled at the moment.

"Well, unless you've gained a few stone around the middle and are self-conscious about it, I'd say you're pregnant. You didn't waste any time, did you? Who's the bloke who knocked you up, huh?"

Hermione could only blink at him.

"Did you just accuse me of cheating on you? I'm pregnant with your child and the first thing you accuse me of is cheating?" Sometimes she just wanted to strangle him! He was the one who was always off with other women, how was she to know that he wasn't shagging the lot of them? That would make it so much easier to pound his point home, so to speak.

"Well, it certainly isn't mine, we used contraceptives every time."

The tears were overflowing now as Hermione let her anger wash over her. She needed to stay angry, because if she stopped the anger, she'd give into the despair.

"That spell Ginny cast on me renders any contraceptive ineffective and made the both of us extra fertile," said Hermione.

His stern face immediately softened and he reached for her, but Hermione sidestepped his arms.

"I'm going to be a father?" he asked, managing to make those words both filled with awe and terror. That was essentially how Hermione had been feeling for the last few months.

He had hurt her with is accusations, yet the thing she wanted most was to throw herself into his arms. She longed for the safe, comforting feeling she knew she'd find there.

"Yes," Hermione snapped, "Now you get to answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Draco made a face of distaste. "Potter's found new evidence on Nott's case, he's called me in for questioning."

That explained why Harry had wanted her to stay home from work. The git! He could have at least warned her that she may run into Draco while she was at work. She would have been livid if she'd heard that Draco was not only in the country but visiting the Ministry and hadn't stopped in to see her.

"Well, you don't want to keep him waiting," she said, tugging futilely on the doorknob. She'd forgotten that Draco had locked it with his wand. "Let me out."

"Hermione," said Draco, approaching her like she was a wild animal liable to attack – which she was at the moment.

"Hermione," he tried again, "If I had known, I would have-"

"What would you have done, Draco? Stayed with me? Continued exactly as you are now after sending me far, far away for 'safety reasons'?"

"Would you listen to me for just a minute without interrupting?" he demanded.

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. Her expression said "out with it then".

Grabbing her shoulders, he slid his hands down her arms and then wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her close against him. It was a little awkward because he wasn't used to accommodating the extra bulk around Hermione's middle, but they still fit together like they were made for each other.

Hermione sagged against him, letting out a deep breath. She may be upset, but she missed him so much.

"Everything I do is for you, Hermione. Not one of those women are even remotely interesting and every moment I have to pretend to be enthralled by their banal chatter, I'm wishing I was with you. Even when I'm furious with you, I want to be near you more than them."

She sniffled slightly, clinging to him. "Yet you thought I'd found someone else?"

He sighed into her hair and stroked her back. "Contraceptive charms are guaranteed, it was the only logical alternative."

"This isn't logical, this is me!" Hermione said. She was too upset to even realise that she wasn't really making sense. "I love you; do you really think I'd do something like that?"

"I left you. If you want to have a child with someone else, I'd deserve to watch while you lived happily with someone else. I could only hope that you would wait for me."

Hermione shoved at his shoulders, making him release her. "That's not what I asked! I asked if you really thought this baby wasn't yours."

"Hermione, I see you again for the first time in months and you're pregnant. I wasn't thinking logically."

Arms crossed and resting on top of her stomach, she waited.

"Fine," Draco sighed, "I apologise for my rash words."

Placated, Hermione let him take her back into his arms. It was where she wanted to be anyway, and she knew Draco regretted his accusation. She tilted her head to rest against his chest, listening to the comforting beating of his heart.

They stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other.

"Can I see it?" he asked.

Hermione looked at him in confusion. "See what?"

"The baby. I felt the bump, but I can't see it with those spells hiding it."

Blushing slightly, Hermione removed the spells, squeezing her eyes shut to block out his reaction. She was used to how fat she'd gotten, but she was just kind of springing it on Draco, he hadn't seen it happen gradually.

When he didn't say anything, she cracked an eye open to peek at him. All she saw was a swirl of his robes as he swept her up in his arms and rained kisses all over her face.

"You've never been more radiant," he said between kisses.

Hermione smiled and snuggled herself as close to him as possible. If she wasn't careful, she was going to get used to having him there again and, once again, she was only going to lose him.

Eventually Draco tried to pull away. "Hermione, Potter's going to get antsy if I'm late for the appointment."

"You're just going to run off again as soon as I let you go," she said, her voice more wobbly than she would have liked. He really was leaving again.

"I promise I'll come see you again before I leave," Draco soothed.

Hermione searched his face to make sure he was telling the truth. She saw no deception in his eyes, and Draco wasn't one to make promises he wasn't going to keep.

"Go see Harry then, I'm still staying at his house, so that's where you'll find me," said Hermione. She leaned in and stole one last kiss before propelling him out of the door.

Hermione knew she was yelling too much. She could see Harry flinching every time she gestured too violently, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. It was rage or tears, and her friend deserved the former. He hadn't even told her that Draco was going to be in town and then tried to keep her from seeing him!

She didn't notice Draco lean in the doorway and frown at her as she jabbed Harry in the chest and told him he had no right detaining Draco back at the Ministry. The git had actually put Draco in holding with common criminals! She failed to see the blond sigh and enter the room.

When she did notice the new addition to the room, Hermione was so far into rage mode that she couldn't seem to stop.

"And you," she started, rounding on Draco.

Luckily, he knew how to handle her in these moods. Instead of cowering like her idiot friend, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, trapping her arms between them before she could start with the surprisingly painful chest poking. He knew from experience that once she started the chest poking, he'd end up snapping back at her and the whole thing would just escalate from there. The stress of a shouting match probably wasn't good for the baby.

She only struggled for a moment before bursting into tears and clinging to him.

Draco ran his hand up and down her back and made shushing sounds in an attempt to soothe her.

He glared at Harry over Hermione's head. "You can't have thought the MLE could keep me anywhere for long."

Harry shook his head. "No, but I watched you kill someone and can't seem to prove it. On top of that, you knocked up my best friend and then left, leaving behind a string of newspaper articles with beautiful women. You deserved some time behind bars."

Gulping a few calming breaths, Hermione looked up at Draco. "Don't stay here hugging me like you're back if you're just going to leave me again," she ordered. She didn't want to get used to having him around again only to have it hurt that much more when he left.

His sigh said it all.

Immediately, Hermione pulled away from him. Better to start distancing herself before he left than have it hurt that much more once he was gone again.

"I'm going to make some tea," she said.

Harry watched her leave the room sadly. "How'd you know how to make the chest poking stop? She's been doing that to me and Ron for years, I think I have a permanent indent."

"Common sense, Potter. Most of the time, she's not really angry, just upset and lashing out. I can't imagine the hormones make it any better." Draco glanced towards the kitchen to make sure she couldn't hear them. "What did you do to make her so upset?"

Harry copied Draco's cautious glance towards the kitchen. "She's furious with me for trying to stop her from going to work, and she's upset that you're leaving again, which only makes it worse."

Hermione came back in with a tea tray of biscuits and multiple cups of tea.

She settled down on the sofa with the tray in front of her. When Draco reached for a biscuit, she slapped his hand away. "You can have one of the cups of tea, but the biscuits are mine."

Moodily, she began eating the sweet cookies and staring at the far wall, refusing to acknowledge either of the men. They both sat uncomfortably, Draco beside her on the sofa and Harry on a nearby chair.

"Potter, give us a minute?" Draco asked.

Hermione, with her mouth full of biscuits, huffed at that, but Harry nodded and left the room. "I'll be near enough to hear Hermione if she calls for me," he threatened.

"You don't have to say it, I know you're leaving again," Hermione said around her biscuit. Screw table manners, she was sitting on a sofa anyway.

"Only for the weekend, I have one ball left and then it'll be the end of it. Between the two of us, Mother and I have somehow managed to sway the majority into accepting Half-Bloods and Muggleborns. It helps that a large percentage of the Pureblood population isn't as pure as they'd like everyone to believe, they're just afraid to admit it." He rubbed a hand over the rounded stomach that she was no longer trying to hide. "If you'll let me, I'd like to stay with you tonight and then this weekend I have a ball to attend. After that, I'm all yours."

"You left me," she accused. It would be a while before that hurt faded.

"If I hadn't thought it to be in your best interests, nothing would have been able to pry me away from you, love."

Sometimes it annoyed Hermione that Draco always seemed to have a line prepared for everything, but she knew he meant everything he said so she let him get away with entirely too much.

Hermione fished out her wand and slowly dragged the tip down the side of Draco's face. The blond went very still, watching her carefully.

"If I didn't love you so much," Hermione said, "I'd murder you for making me so miserable. I'm sure Harry would help me hide the body."

There was a muffled sound of agreement from the other room; she'd scold Harry for eavesdropping later.

"You're lucky you also have the power to make me happier than anyone else."

Draco took that as an invitation and proceeded to snog her senseless – at least until a frazzled and slightly mortified Harry burst into the room and demanded they take it to Hermione's flat if they were going to continue. The raven-haired saviour of the world was muttering about burning the sofa as the couple left through the Floo, wrapped around each other.