An Unconventional Pregnancy
Announcement Written and Submitted by Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy would like to inform the Wizarding World that, due to unfortunate circumstances during the war, Granger and Malfoy are expecting a child. They would like to set record straight before any rumors start, that Draco Malfoy did not force himself onto Granger by choice, but the act was forced upon him by means of the Imperious curse, given by Bellatrix Lestrange, just weeks before the War ended. Granger is due in roughly four months. Both Granger and Malfoy have agreed to parent the child through joint custody. The two of them ask politely that they not be bothered with specific details about what happened or of their current private lives.
Hermione read the article over twice before she nodded with satisfaction and returned to her breakfast. She was both relieved and terrified that the article was printed first thing the following day. The weight of keeping the baby a secret was finally off her shoulders and she felt lighter already (although the scale in the bathroom said otherwise). However, now she had to go to work and deal with, well, everyone. She almost wished she could skip work today.
Almost.
As it was, thirty minutes later, she found herself walking through the Ministry with her head held high and smiling at passersby's who greeted her. She let out a sigh of relief as she made it to her office without incident, and for the first time in weeks, she was able to keep the door open. She hummed happily to herself as she started going through the stack of memos on her desk before starting her work day.
Draco sighed as he folded up the Daily Prophet, placing it between him and mother as he finally picked up his spoon to eat his morning grits.
"Everything alright, dear?" his mother asked.
He nodded towards the paper. "The article about mine and Granger's baby made the morning edition. The Daily must be having a field day over there; first with the full, front-page article in yesterday's edition; and now this, while not front-page, is still more excitement they've had in awhile."
"So why the grim mood?" she asked.
He sighed, setting down his spoon, his appetite replaced with nerves. "I'm just waiting for the hate mail and howlers to start pouring in. No matter what Potter said at my hearing, or what the paper says about this baby, there are going to be many people who won't agree or believe any of it."
"Yes, well, we were expecting that," his mother said, placing a delicate hand over his. "And we'll get through it. We always do," she said with a soft smile.
"I suppose you're right," he said, picking up his spoon once again. "How was your meeting with your sister?"
Her face instantly lit up with a brilliant smile. "It went rather well, all things considered. And it wasn't so much as a meeting, but a get-together. We're going to try and do it more often, maybe once a week." She smiled wistfully. "And that darling baby, Teddy, is just adorable." She looked over at Draco and sighed. "I know this child Miss Granger is carrying is not of your choosing, but I'm so very excited to be a grandmother."
Draco nodded and cleared his throat. "Speaking of the baby, there is to be another prenatal visit at Manor next Monday."
"Oh, do hope we can see him and see how much he's grown," the grandmother-to-be gushed. She continued on about starting up the nursery but Draco was lost his own thoughts, a ghost of a smile crossing his features. He, too, hoped to be able to see the baby, his son, again, and maybe this time, he'd be able to think of a name other than Scorpius when doing so.
As soon as Hermione stepped out from her floo and into her living, she slipped off her shoes with an audible sigh. Her feet were killing her and were slightly swollen; she had been all around the Ministry today, submitting files and tracking down other witches and wizards for signatures. She was so close to her bill heading to the Wizengamot, but the extra leg-work today was exhausting. She never deemed herself out of shape; on the contrary, she felt she was quite fit after months of Horcrux hunting; but this pregnancy was draining her energy faster than a Dementor drains souls.
Setting her bag down, she sat on her couch sideways and put her legs out in front of her. She was about to use her wand to summon some food from the kitchen when her floo charmed to life and Ginny stepped out.
"Hey Gin," Hermione greeted her friend tiredly. "What's up?"
Ginny sat down on the couch next to her friend, picking up Hermione's feet and placing them on her lap. "Just stopping by to see how you were doing. I saw the article in the paper and wanted to make sure everything was ok."
"Everything's great. I had a few more stares than usual, but nothing horrible. I'm just exhausted because I was running around today and now my feet are killing me."
Ginny inspected her friend's feet. "They do look a little swollen. Here, put them on this pillow to elevate them and I'll go grab you some water."
"Love you, Gin!" Hermione called out the redhead walked over to the kitchen. She came out a few seconds later, handing Hermione a full glass of ice water.
"Drink up, we don't want you to get dehydrated."
"Yes, mum," Hermione said with a grin. She took a hearty sip as Ginny sat back down.
"So I hate to ask, but, did Ron happen to come see you today?" Ginny asked hesitantly.
Hermione shook her head before taking another sip of water. "No, actually. I didn't see him or Harry. I figured they were training outside of the Ministry today." She raised a brow. "Why?"
Ginny sighed. "Ron's just… being Ron. He saw the announcement you submitted-"
"Which I told him about last night," Hermione interjected.
"Yeah, well, it still made him grumpy. Though, you are correct; he and Harry were out today in training so, hopefully, he was able to get out some frustrations while out."
Hermione groaned. "I hate walking on eggshells around him, Gin. I love him, I know he's your brother, but…"
"He's making this difficult?" Ginny supplied.
"Yes. And I get it, I really, really do. I just don't want this to ruin us, you know?"
Ginny nodded. "I know." She patted her friend's leg as Hermione took another gulp of water. "Do you have dinner plans? Harry sent me a Patronus and told me that they won't be getting back until late."
"I have fixings for pork chops that I was planning on making," Hermione said. "Want to stay for dinner? I have plenty."
"Sure, but, I'll cook. You lay here and rest," Ginny said with a serious tone.
Hermione sighed and knew it was useless to argue. "Alright. Thank Gin."
Ginny went into the small kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator and found the package of pork chops and a few ears of corn as well as potatoes in the pantry. Getting to work, Ginny hummed to herself as she prepared the meal. Once the pork and potatoes were in the oven, and the corn was starting to boil on the stove, Ginny went into the living room to see how Hermione was doing. She chuckled as she walked over to her friend, who was currently passed out on the couch, an empty glass on the floor next to her.
Ginny finished up dinner and put a status charm on Hermione's plate before she packed her own to go, letting Hermione get the rest she obviously needed.
Hermione woke two hours later to an empty house.
"Gin?" she called out sleepily. She got up and went into the kitchen, where her plate of food, and a note, were waiting for her.
Sorry for leaving without saying anything, but mum always told me never
to wake a sleeping pregnant woman or else there will be hell to pay.
Dinner is under a stasis spell. Enjoy! I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Love,
Ginny
Hermione chuckled at the letter from her friend then retrieved her wand to undo the spell on her food. She sat down after pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice and ate her meal in the quiet, wondering if Ron would stop by that night.
He didn't.
Enough was enough, Hermione decided, as she still hadn't seen or heard from Ron the next day. It was lunch time and she made sure to leave her office earlier than she normally would and wound her way through the corridors until she reached the Auror's office. She took a breath then opened the door to the busy and bustling area. There were no offices here, just desks all around a large room, with everyone milling around each other's areas freely. It would have driven Hermione mad.
She marched through the room, weaving in between desks until she came upon Ron's area, his head down as he was writing on a piece of parchment. Sensing someone standing over him, Ron said, "I said I'd get this to you at noon, Roland, no need too…" he looked up then, at the amused face of Hermione. "Oh! 'Mione! I, uh, I thought you were someone else."
Hermione smiled at his flustered state. "So I see. Are you free for lunch?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah! Let me just finish this real quick and we can go, ok?"
Hermione nodded and conjured up a seat for her to sit in as she waited.
She glanced around the room, noting that others in the room kept glancing her way and talk quietly. She decided to ignore it and sit up straighter, thankful when Ron said he was done.
"So where do you want to go?" he asked as they left the busy Auror office.
"My place?" she asked. "I'm just tired of eating out."
Ron nodded. "Sure. Yeah. That's fine."
They walked through the Ministry towards the network of fireplaces and soon found themselves in Hermione's flat.
"I need to ask you something," Hermione asked, as she walked towards the kitchen, Ron following in her wake.
"What is it?" Ron asked, opening up the refrigerator and taking out fixings for sandwiches while Hermione grabbed drinks.
"Are you avoiding me?" she started.
"Um..." Ron started.
"Because you're barely around anymore. You never stay the night. Ginny said you were in a 'mood' yesterday after reading the pregnancy announcement in the paper, and-"
"Hermione, slow down. You're getting worked up and that's not good for the baby," Ron said, setting down the sandwiches he was making to walk over to her and pull her into a hug. "I'm not avoiding you… at least not consciously. Yes, I was in a bad mood yesterday about the announcement-"
"But why?" she asked desperately, stepping out of the hug. "I warned you it was coming-"
"Because now everyone looks at me differently, ok!" Ron exclaimed. "They give the pity looks. Like, 'Poor bloke, his girlfriend got knocked up by a death eater'-"
"Ex-death eater..." Hermione interjected quietly.
"He was still a Death Eater, 'Mione. And before you lecture me, yes I know he was made to do everything. Why didn't he just go to Dumbledore, huh? Get out of there before it was too late? That's what I would have done-"
"Ron, his mother would have died! Don't you understand? It wasn't just him on the line, but his mother too. Would you have left your mother in the hands of a madman?"
"I…. no, no I wouldn't have," Ron said, sighing, going back to making sandwiches. "This is hard 'Mione," he said after a moment. "I really am trying, but I feel like all we do is fight now. Whether it's over Malfoy or the baby…."
"What are you saying, Ron?" Hermione asked, her heart stuttering.
"I… I'm not sure," he turned around finally, his eyes finding hers. "But I hate the fighting. It was better, before, when we were just…."
"Friends" she finished quietly.
Ron nodded sadly, looking down. "Yeah."
Hermione sucked in a shuddering breath, willing the tears not to come. "Ok then."
Ron's head lifted. "Ok, what?"
"We'll… We'll go back to that then. To just being friends." It broke her heart to say it, but deep down, she knew this was the best thing for them.
"Are you sure?" he asked, walking up to her.
Hermione nodded, wiping away a tear. "I'm tired of the fighting too, Ron. I love you, but… this isn't working. Not right now. Maybe, someday, down the line…"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, maybe." There was an awkward pause before Ron turned back to the counter. "Um, the sandwiches are done."
"Oh, um… thank you," she said, taking her plate. "You can stay. For lunch, I mean. Just because we're not… not dating anymore, doesn't mean you can't come over and hang out."
Ron gave her a small smile and nodded as they made their way to the small table and sat down to eat.
They talked while they ate, both of their hearts slightly heavy, but also lighter at the same time.
A/N: I suspect a lot of my reviews will be mostly happy that they FINALLY broke up. They're still friends, and there's still a ways to go before Draco and Hermione even get to close to being in a relationship. But, at least now the possibility is there. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! ~HufflepuffMommy
