Draco was angry. It had been an hour since he had left their room and she never showed up for lunch. He had been trying to be nice by giving her time to cool off, but she couldn't even give him the time of day after accusing him to be the cause of their current situation. As if she didn't have anything to do with it. He stormed up the stairs and threw open the door to the room.

"You're too good for lunch now..." He started angrily when his eyes fell upon her. She was still in bed, in fact, it looked as if she hadn't moved an inch. She was staring straight ahead; she didn't even look his way. Her eyes were red and her face was puffy, a tear slowly falling down her cheek. Instantly, all of Draco's anger dissipated. He closed the door quietly behind him.

He called for his house elf, and told him to bring back a sandwich and some tea. The house elf came back with a tray which Draco took from him and sent him away. Slowly he walked over to her and put the tray down on the bedside table. She still hadn't recognized his arrival but he didn't want to say anything either. He sat down on the bed, looking at her, not really knowing what to do. Watching a girl cry had never been his forte and he always seemed to be at a loss of words so instead he just sat there in silence.

"I don't know how to be a mother." Hermione said quietly, still staring straight ahead. "How are two people who can barely get along going to raise a baby?"

Draco still didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He had long since learned that it was better to say nothing than to say something completely inappropriate. Instead he took her hand hesitantly, and the contact finally made her look at him.

She looked straight at him and he tried to repress the wave of emotion that came through him after looking into her sad eyes. "I want our baby to have a real family. No one deserves any less." She whispered. "But how can we bring a baby into this?" Another tear fell and she wiped it away with her free hand.

The raw emotion in her voice made a chill go down his spine. Never had ever seen anyone so distraught nor did he ever think Hermione Granger, no, Hermione Malfoy would break down like this. Draco cleared his throat. "Look, I know we're not the ideal couple." He said slowly. "But at the very least, I'm sure we can work together to ensure a suitable environment for a child."

She looked at him as her eyes watered and she choked back a sob. "Do you really think so?" She said thickly.

Draco gave her a small smile. "We've worked together for the last 5 years, remember? How many cases have I won because of your reports?" He said ruefully. "And no project at work has ever been as important as this."

She wiped away the remaining tears and gave him a small smile. "I suppose you may be right." She sat up straighter.

He smirked. "Of course I'm right. I'm always right." Draco picked up the tray and continued before she could argue. "Now eat, I'm sure you're famished. You need to take care of the little one, too." He said as he put the tray on the bed.

**********

"Your parents will be here in 5 minutes." Draco said as he walked into the room.

Hermione was brushing her hair in front of a mirror. "I know. I'll go down to the foyer where the portkey will bring them." She said putting down the brush.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked.

"Better. My stomach is a little funny but overall I'm feeling okay." She answered smoothing out her blouse.

She walked out the door and down the stairs and waited for her parents. She felt like she could finally get through the manor without getting lost. Draco stood next to her, while his parents waited in their sitting room. Soon, her parents were standing in front of them, slightly disoriented.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione squealed as her parents stood up straight. She ran over to them and engulfed them in a big hug.

"Hermione!" They both yelled out as they hugged her. "It's so good to see you!"

They both looked up and saw Draco looking a bit uncomfortable with all the affection. "Hello Draco." Richard said walking over to him with his hand extended.

"Hello." He said shaking his hand.

Abby came over and gave Draco a hug as well. "Thank you for having us over." She said nicely. He tensed up with the contact but attempted to relax.

"Well, the Malfoys are waiting in the sitting room." Hermione said pointing down the hallway.

For the first time, the Grangers took a look around. "Wow." Abby said as she looked at the large foyer with the marble staircase and glass chandelier. "This is where you live now?"

Richard whistled. "Quite a change, huh?"

Hermione smiled. "Well, remember, I lived in a castle at Hogwarts for 7 years."

Abby looked her daughter and smiled. "I suppose you did."

They followed Draco and Hermione down the hall to the sitting room where Lucius and Narcissa were waiting.

They walked in and Narcissa and Lucius immediately stopped talking, making it obvious that they were the topic of conversation. "Mum, Dad, you remember the Malfoys, right?" Hermione said as civilly as possible.

"Good evening." Lucius said, with an obviously forced smile on his face.

"Of course." Abby said warmly. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise." Narcissa said with an incline of her head and an overly fake smile. She clapped her hands together and a house elf holding a camera apparated into the room. Richard and Abby jumped a bit at the loud crack that followed the apparition. "If you don't mind, I would like to take this opportunity to take a...family portrait."

Hermione looked at Draco curiously and Draco just shrugged. He had no idea what his parents were up to, but they were certainly up to something.

"That sounds like a splendid idea." Abby said enthusiastically.

Narcissa pointed at a loveseat that was pushed in front of the fireplace. "Let's have the newlyweds sit on the sofa and we'll stand behind them."

They all walked over, stood as she had said and the house elf took a few pictures. "Thank you." Narcissa said to the Grangers. The house elf bowed and then apparated away.

"Dinner is ready, shall we?" Narcissa said once again, pointing at the door.

They all went to the dining room where the Grangers were sat across from Draco and Hermione and the Malfoys both sat at the ends of the table. As soon as they sat down, the table filled with food. Everything from steak, chicken, seafood and vegetables were on the table and steaming.

"This looks wonderful, Narcissa." Abby said, politely.

Narcissa winced slightly at the use of her first name but managed to smile. "Thank you…Abby."

They started to pass food around and filled up their plates. Draco passed Hermione a plate of shrimp cocktail when she froze. The smell of the shrimp didn't sit right with her and a wave of nausea hit her almost immediately. Draco looked at her as she turned pale and then green. She pushed the plate away, squeaked out an "excuse me" and ran from the dining room. Draco silently groaned.

"Draco, is your wife alright?" Narcissa asked, looking at the open door Hermione had just run through.

"Um, she hasn't been feeling well the past few days." He said trying to cover for her. "I'll go check on her." He said hurriedly as he got out of his chair and went to leave the room. But not before Abby gave him a knowing smile.

He heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom down the hall and followed the sound. He stood outside the door where he heard the water run and a bit of shuffling before the door opened. Hermione stepped out looking very pale but a bit less green.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked when she came out.

"I'm certainly feeling a bit better." She said warily. "Remind me to stay away from shrimp." She said with a small smile. "What did you say?"

"I told them you weren't feeling well the last few days, but I'm not sure they bought it." Draco said seriously. "Actually, I'm quite certain your mother didn't believe me."

Hermione groaned. "I ruined it, haven't I?" She said as she leaned against the wall.

"Well, the not telling the parents part, I believe so." He said while shrugging his shoulders.

She leaned her head against the wall and sighed. "Do you think they'll be able to keep it a secret?"

Draco thought about it for a moment. "For the time being, I think so. But I wouldn't expect my mother to keep her mouth shut for too long."

She stood back up and took a deep breath. "Okay then, let's get this over with." She said as she walked back towards the dining room.

Everyone watched as the couple walked back into the room. Abby looked at her daughter with a concerned look but the Malfoys seemed to be uninterested in their daughter-in-law's health.

"Are you alright, dear?" Abby asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Actually, there's something I want to say." She looked at Draco and he nodded his head slightly. "Draco and I are going to have a baby."

Narcissa dropped her fork on her plate with a loud clatter and Lucius stopped with his fork half way to his mouth. They both had a look of complete shock written over their faces.

Hermione continued. "We would really appreciate it if you all could keep this a secret, at until the first trimester is over." She said looking down at her plate.

Lucius looked at his son with unbelieving eyes. "Is it yours, son?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Indeed it is, Father. And it looks as if you'll be a grandfather."

Abby had a small smile on her face as if she expected the news and quickly stood up and ran around the table to embrace her daughter. "Well, congratulations dear."

Richard walked over to Draco and clapped him on the back. "A congratulations is certainly in order." He said with a broad smile.

Narcissa finally found her tongue and broke her silence. "Yes, congratulations. I wasn't expecting this wonderful news quite so soon." She said slowly.

"Neither did we." Draco mumbled but only his mother heard him.

"When did you find out?" Abby asked curiously.

"Today. I'm about 3 weeks along." Hermione answered.

"Oh, you should be able to find out the gender in a couple of weeks then." Narcissa said.

"A couple of weeks?" Abby asked surprised.

"Oh yes, Mum. With magic, we can find out much sooner." Hermione answered.

Narcissa's initial shock was quickly replaced with excitement of a grandchild. "Well, it seems like we have some work to do to get ready for a Malfoy child." She said clapping her hands together. "We will need to start preparing."

"Oh, there's no need to start so soon." Hermione said, skeptical of her mother-in-law's enthusiasm.

"Nonsense." She said quickly. "It's never too soon to prepare for a Malfoy heir."

Richard gave his wife a quizzical look and Abby just shrugged.

The dinner went quickly after that, talking mostly about the upcoming baby. Hermione did her best to not say too much, not quite ready for the excitement having a baby usually causes. In her mind, she was still worrying about how to bring up a baby in a half hearted marriage. And she was certainly not ready to really deal with all of it. She still needed to think of a plan of action. She always needed some kind of plan.

Draco had long since tuned out the conversation. He was still in shock at the idea of being a father and was not ready to talk about it, with anyone. He filled his head with random other things: work, quidditch, new spells, anything to get his mind off of the current topic of conversation.

Soon, the conversation moved into the sitting room where talk of the baby continued much to the chagrin of the newly married couple.

"Well, there's a charming private school not too far away that I'm sure has a nursery school." Abby said helpfully.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes. "A muggle school? My grandchild will not be attending a muggle school."

"There's nothing wrong with our schools, Narcissa." Abby said trying to keep her cool. "Look at how bright Hermione is."

At her name, Hermione started to pay attention to the conversation, her eyebrows rising as she saw the tension levels increasing.

"Yes, well, she might be bright but Malfoy children are homeschooled until they go to Hogwarts." Narcissa said, her nose in the air. "It's just the way things are."

"Homeschool? Why that's ridiculous!" Abby exclaimed. "Children need to be socialized!"

"Socilaized? With other filthy muggles!" Narcissa yelled. "I won't hear of it!"

"Filthy?! Who are you calling filthy?!" Abby yelled back.

"Abby, dear. I think you need to calm down." Richard said, putting an arm over her shoulders.

"Quite right, darling. Yelling does not become you." Lucius said condescendingly.

Both women harrumphed. "Besides, isn't this Hermione and Draco's decision?" Richard asked trying to help.

Suddenly all sets of eyes looked at the couple. Hermione was taken aback by the conversation and she realized that Draco was completely oblivious.

"I'm sure it's something Draco and I will discuss." She said diplomatically, trying to ease tensions, even though she knew there was no way she would allow her children to be homeschooled. However, she decided now was not the best time to bring that up.

Draco finally noticed the silence in the room and looked around confused. His mother was staring down Hermione's mother. "What's going on here?" He asked curiously.

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs to get him to be quiet. "Nothing." She said to him quickly and then tried to change the subject. "Gee, look at the time, it's getting late!" She said exaggeratedly looking at her watch and yawning.

Richard took her cue. "Yes dear, we really ought to be going." He held out the picture frame Draco had given them as a portkey. "I'm not really sure how to get home, though." He said smiling.

Draco took the portkey and touched it with the tip of his wand. "It'll go off in 2 minutes." He said handing it back to Richard.

"Well, thank you for a lovely dinner." Richard said helping Abby to her feet. They both gave Hermione a loving hug.

"Take care of yourself and the baby." Abby said as she hugged her and glared at Narcissa over her shoulder.

"I will, Mum." Hermione answered, somewhat sad to see her parents leave.

Richard held the portkey out to Abby and she grabbed on. "One day I'll get used to this." Abby said ruefully.

30 seconds later, the portkey flashed and they were gone. Draco and Hermione then quickly said good night and retired to their bedroom. As they got into bed, Hermione sat up.

"You know, I think you were right about something this morning." She said after a lot of thought.

"What's that?" He answered curiously.

"We have worked on projects together, successful projects at that." She said carefully.

Draco sat down in bed next to her. "Yes, what about it?"

"Well, maybe that's how we have to think of this baby, like a project as you suggested. We'll have goals and a timeline and a list of materials that we need and we'll just make sure we accomplish what we need to." She said thoughtfully. "We can be like a team."

Draco thought about what she said for a moment before answering. "Yes, that's probably the most logical way to think about it. We'll accomplish what we need to and try to keep our fights and emotions down to a minimum." He agreed.

She nodded. "Exactly. We can be responsible parents even if we aren't in love with each other." She said.

"Quite right." Draco said. "I do care about my son or daughter and want what is best for him or her."

Hermione agreed. "I do, too." She yawned and leaned back into bed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for us to attempt to be nice to each other, though."

Draco also laid down and snuggled under the blankets. "No, I suppose it wouldn't. I'll try if you try." He said.

"Deal." She said sleepily.

Draco reached for her hand and she put her inside of his. "Good night." Hermione said, practically asleep already.

"Good night." He responded, closing his eyes.

A/N: Hey all! First off, I know some of you think I made Hermione to be pretty mean in the last chapter, but think about the situation she's in; she's pretty mad at the circumstances and full of emotion. I hope that I was able to convey in this chapter that she wasn't purposefully being mean, she was just really upset and confused. Draco just happened to be what she lashed out at. He wasn't exactly a peach, either. Anyway, that's my explanation and I'm sticking to it. :-) This chapter is the beginning of their truce. Lets see what happens from here, shall we? Haha. Thank you all for reviewing! It's really wonderful! You all rock! Please keep it up! ~Chrissy