Hermione and Mr. Ross went to seven different houses before they decided to stop for a bite to eat. In a little café, she only ordered some tea and a blueberry muffin as she was still pretty full from lunch. Mr. Ross ordered tea and a poppy seed muffin.
"So Mr. Ross, would you find it inappropriate if I asked you for your first name?" she asked curiously.
He chuckled and replied, "No Ms. Granger, my name is Timothy, and what is yours?"
"Hermione" she held out her hand. Laughing, he shook it and smiled at her appreciatively. Right then, as if annoyed of not being included, Emma kicked at Hermione's stomach a little harder than usual. "Oh," Hermione squeaked, "And this is Emma." She smiled, putting her hands on her stomach.
Timothy watched, smiling in return. "Hello Emma," he greeted just as the waitress came with their tea and muffins.
They were eating and discussing houses when they noticed outside, through the window, Draco and his mother were walking over to the café that they were in. Timothy stood up and walked outside to acknowledge where we were. Draco came in, kissed Hermione on the cheek, and took a seat next to her. Smiling in greeting, his mother sat next to Timothy.
"So," Draco looked over to Timothy, "How many houses do you have left to look at?"
Taking out his notebook, Mr. Ross examined his list. "Hmmm, it looks like we only have one more left to look at and then, the beautiful lady is all yours, again, Mr. Malfoy," he said, smiling as he took a sip of his tea.
"Well," Draco smiled in return, "We will come along with you. Don't worry; if we do not today, we have another day to look and a whole week after that." He took Hermione's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her fingers, catching the engagement ring every so often as they finished their tea and muffins.
They paid the bill and went to look at the last house on the list. The residence was beautiful. It was an averaged sized house with dark, red wood paneling and a high roof with dark, brown shingles. The large yard was surrounded by trees on one side and a small field on the other. When they walked inside, Timothy explained, like he did with all of the other houses, about its fine qualities. However, as Hermione took in the sight of the beautiful home, herself, she barley heard him.
The doors were made with a slightly lighter wood than the house. It framed a beautiful, stained glass, with flowery designs etched, colorfully in it. As soon as you walked through, the sitting room, which was also built with a soft wood, had a large, magnificent fireplace made with a rich, dark grey marble. The room had a few windows that looked out, beautifully, to the field and the front of the house. The dining room glowed with a big chandelier that hung in the middle of the room. The kitchen was a good size with lots of storage places and a small little closet which, Draco joked, would be nice for a house elf. Hermione elbowed him as they walked upstairs and into the master bed room. The walls were a dark maroon color with white lining, and maroon carpeting to match.
As they walked down the hall, looking at the other three bedrooms, one made Hermione's decision for her. It was a medium sized room with a large window with a seal big enough for two people to sit on. The walls had a charm placed on them to make the little, painted flowers and trees move as if the wind was blowing through them. Every so often you would see a butterfly or a bird fly by. It changed seasons from spring to summer; a little girl ran to a pool, which had appeared, and jumped in, splashing around.
Hermione squeezed Draco's hand as she watch the strange little girl. He squeezed back and looked down at her with concern. "Draco," she peered at him, "What do you think of this house?"
He looked around, smiling once more, and looked back at her. "I like this house; it's very spacious and very private. I wouldn't mind getting it, actually." He raised his eyebrows and added, "If you want to, that is." She smiled and kissed his lips. Draco chuckled, "I'm guessing you want this house as much as I do, huh?"
"Yes, I absolutely love it. Especially this room," She said looking back at the stranger child with Draco's eyes following her gaze. The girl was still splashing wildly, laughing all the while.
He put his arms around Hermione and hugged her close to him. "Well, we'll get it then," he replied loudly.
Timothy and Mrs. Malfoy started talking. When the couple heard the older woman laugh, they looked over to them. "Draco dear," Mrs. Malfoy said, carefully, "I am paying for the whole house. I will not take "no" for an answer." Draco looked over at his mother and stared. "Don't look at me like that. I said I would help, but you never told me I had a price limit so, I'm paying for the whole house. However, I promise I will let you pick out the furniture." She smiled and turned back to Timothy regaining their discussion about who to see to pay for it.
"So do you really like this house Hermione?" Draco asked, putting his chin on her head.
Hermione looked up and kissed him, "I love this house, its perfect."
"I'm glad. When I had seen the other houses, I was hoping, like hell, you didn't pick one of them." They both laughed, happily. Draco looked around amd huffed. "We are going to have to find some furniture to put in this house. Then, we can have a nice little house warming party, if you feel up to it. Hell, we can do it this week if you want to. After we're handed the keys, we can buy some furniture and whatever else." He looked through the window and added, "We can even have the wedding over there in that field."
"That's a wonderful idea Draco, but we need to worry about the house first and THEN the wedding, okay?" Her piercing stare shined with determination.
Draco pouted a little bit, but reluctantly accepted. "Okay," he sighed. She smiled and kissed him, again and they left to go sign for the house.
The next day, Hermione sent an owl to Molly to tell everyone the big news. They bustled about to help her and Draco shop for furniture and appliances. Everything was being moved in by the end of the day, Hermione, not being allowed to move much of anything, happily went to the little, charmed room and began setting it up as a nursery for her little Emma. Fred, with a happy surprise, gave Hermione a Rocking chair that was charmed to rock so she didn't have to. She put up pink little curtains and a few knickknacks here and there to make the room look the way she wanted. She heard everyone moving about and felt bad that she couldn't help more. However, she decided to leave it alone. She knew Draco would feel awful if she or Emma became hurt.
She finished the room and sat down in the rocking chair, which began to rock very softly. She hummed Draco's lullaby as she rubbed her hands across her stomach feeling Emma kick and roll all over. As she stood up, Emma shifted a little weight to her mother's bladder. Walking down the hall, to the bathroom, she felt her pants go soaking wet. She looked down to see that her front was, indeed, completely wet. She felt a sharp pain and held her tummy.
She felt embarrassed, but continued down the hall to find Draco to ask him to find her a new pair of pants. However, she ran into Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Molly," she said clutching her chest, "You scared me."
"Oh sweetie," she smiled apologetically at the younger witch, "I'm so sorry, I was coming up here to check on you. Are you alright?"
"Kind of," Hermione replied, hesitantly. "I need a new pair of pants to put on." She looked down to her front, again.
Nodding, Molly asked, "What happened, dear? Did you spill something on your pants?"
"No I um, I think I wet myself on accident," Hermione admitted, going pink in the face.
Moll's eyes grew shockingly wide. "Hermione, have you felt any sharp pains? Any, at all?"
"Yes, but only one." She gritted her teeth as she felt another one. "Okay," she said, her eyes bulging out, "Make that two."
"When did you feel the first one?" Mrs. Weasley asked hurriedly.
"Only a few moments ago. You're starting to scare me, Molly. Is this bad?"
Ignoring her question, the older witch yelled, "You need to come with me Hermione, now!" She pulled her by the arm and rushed her to the bedroom where they had already set up the bed. She laid out a towel and told Hermione to remove her pants and knickers and lay on the towel. After Hermione had done so, Molly handed her a sheet to cover up with. "Now don't move," she ordered, "I will send Draco up here with you, but you need to stay put, understand?" Hermione nodded and the older woman left.
A few moments later, Draco came running up the stairs followed by Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Draco rushed over to his fiancé and took her hand while Ron took the other. Harry and Ginny sat at her feet.
"How are you feeling Hermione? Does anything hurt?" Draco asked with deep concern.
"Draco I'm fine, I think, but nobody will tell me what the hell is going on." They stared at her. She added, "I mean, all I did was wet myself because I couldn't make it to the bathroom in time."
Everyone looked around at each other and Draco said, carefully, "Hermione, darling, you didn't wet yourself." He hesitated, "You're in labor. You're probably not feeling the contractions, yet."
"No, Draco, I can't be in labor I'm not due for another 2 months!" Hermione said, panicking.
"Hermione, love, you are. Molly is getting Madam Pomfrey as we speak." They looked each other in alarm.
Still in denial, Hermione replied, "Draco, there is no way I can be in labor; I just can't be!"
Draco sat up, on the bed, and took her into his arms. "Shush, calm down, okay? You don't need to stress your body. It's going to be alright, I promise, but you need to calm down, okay?" She nodded and took several deep breaths to steady herself. Madam Pomfrey came rushing through the door at that moment with Molly, Arthur, Timothy and Mrs. Malfoy following behind.
The stern witch turned to Draco, "Mr. Malfoy, you're going to have to move for a second." He did as he was told and she took Hermione's temperature and felt her stomach. "I'm going to have to see how far dilated she is so I'm going to have to ask that certain people leave." She looked around and everyone but Molly, Draco and his mother left. "Okay Hermione, dear, this may hurt a bit but I have to see. I need you to turn to the edge of the bed and scoot 'til you feel your bum hang off the bed, okay?"
Hermione did as she was told and Madam Pomfrey suddenly, scooted her back on the bed. "Oh my, I need my bag," she said and turned to the other three, "Molly, I need your hands over here and Draco, I need you up there with Hermione. Mrs. Malfoy, I need a clean blanket, a wet rag, and another towel." Draco rushed to her side and sat behind her grabbing her by the shoulders to support her. Molly ran Madam Pomfrey's bag over to her and Draco's mother took off for the supplies that were needed. "Alright now, Hermione, I need you to listen to me, okay?" the frightened girl nodded. "When you feel a contraction, I need you to push with very hard, with everything you have."
"Alright, but I don't know what you mean," she said, a little out of breath. Hesitantly she asked, "Do you mean when I feel a sharp pain?"
"Yes," the Medi-Witch nodded, "When you feel one of those, I want you to push down, hard, as if you were going to the bathroom."
Just then, Mrs. Malfoy came back with the supplies and giving Draco the rag. He ran it over Hermione's face, soothingly as Madam Pomfrey moved the towel that was under her to the floor and handed the other towel to Molly. Draco's mother was holding a small pink blanket behind the red-haired witch.
When Hermione let out a gasp of sharp pain, Madam Pomfrey told her to push. She pushed so hard she thought the veins in her head were going to explode. The pain she felt made her want to stop, but Madam Pomfrey told her to keep pushing. In intense pain, Hermione was screaming as Draco clutched her shoulders. The Medi-Witch told her to stop pushing and Hermione fell back against Draco who held her as he ran the rag over her face, again.
When she felt another contraction, she pushed hard, again, screaming even louder than before. The pain was excruciating. When Hermione finally felt as if the weight was gone and the pain had ceased a little, she fell, again, on Draco as a small cry filled the room. She looked over to see Molly smiling at a small object wrapped in the towel she had been holding. Madam Pomfrey cut the baby's umbilical cord, cleaned her up with another towel.
Turning to Mrs. Malfoy, the Medi-Witch exchanged the towel for the blanket as Molly walked over to Hermione and Draco and handed them their little baby. "Congratulations," the older witch said with tears in her eyes. Hermione smiled and took the baby from Molly very carefully looking down at her. She was still covered in blood and other sorts of stuff, but Hermione ignored that as she watched the little baby move around in her arms. Emma's skin was a slight red with her thin, blonde hair matted on top of her head. When she opened her eyes, Hermione smiled. The baby girl had dark, chocolate brown eyes. Draco, who was still sitting behind her, wrapped his arms around Hermione and the baby gently kissing Hermione on her cheek.
"You did wonderful Hermione, absolutely brilliant." He was smiling as he reached over and took the baby's hand in his. "Wow," he said in surprise, "She's so small." He looked down at his daughter, "Well, welcome to the world little Emma Jean Malfoy." He smiled again as she yawned. Hermione placed her head on Draco's finding a bit of loose towel to gently wipe off little Emma's face.
Madam Pomfrey walked over to them and reached out for the baby. "I promise I will give her back after I examine her, due to her being so early. However," she added, looking at the child, "she appears to be in good health. Draco, would you mind taking Hermione into the bathroom and helping her shower off?"
"No ma'am, I'll help her. Come on, love, let's get you cleaned up." He got up from behind her and stood to help her walk to the shower. She was all wobbly and could barely move, so Draco drew her a bath instead of a shower. When he got her in it, he sat on the side of the tub as she washed herself off. They heard Emma crying and Hermione sat up but Draco stood, motioning for her to stop and went into the room to go check. Hermione eased herself out of the tub and dried off. Wrapping a towel around herself, she went into the bedroom.
Draco was sitting on the bed holding Emma rocking her gently when he looked up, noticed Hermione, and smiled. "Madam Pomfrey said she's fine and healthy," he frowned a little, "Though she is small , she will gain weight and grow. So, other than that, she is perfect." He smiled, again, and looked down at Emma.
"I'm glad, but where did Madam Pomfrey go?" she asked looking around.
"She went downstairs to tell everyone the good news. She said that she is going to give us a little time with her before she comes back up here." Emma started crying and Hermione went over and sat down next to Draco on the bed. She reached out to hold Emma and, reluctantly, Draco gave her up. Hermione held her as Emma continued to cry. Gently, she started to rock the child. Emma started sucking on her fist. Hermione and Draco chuckled quietly at the sight.
"I think she might be hungry, Draco," Hermione frowned, "Will you go get Madam Pomfrey so we can figure out how and what to feed her."
"Alright, I'll be back in a second." He kissed Hermione's cheek and kissed Emma's forehead. She listened as he walked downstairs only to hear more than one pair of footsteps walking upstairs a few minutes later.
Draco walked into the room with Madam Pomfrey behind him. "My goodness she sounds starved," the Medi-Witch chuckled as she walked over to Hermione and took the baby from her. "Okay Hermione, sit up there by the head board and put a pillow in your lap." She did as she was told and Madam Pomfrey took Emma laid her on the pillow. "Okay, now I want you to wrap your arm around to where your hand is holding her bum, and then I want you to hold your breast with your other hand and guide little Emma's mouth to your nipple." Hermione did as she was told and then Emma latched on and started to suckle. Madam Pomfrey smiled and told Hermione a few more things she could do, including that when Emma started falling asleep, she was full. Walking out the room, again, she told Draco that after Emma was asleep and Hermione was dressed, their friends and family could visit. Draco nodded and she left. He walked over and sat down next to Hermione as she nursed Emma.
"Wow, she really must be starving." Draco chuckled.
"Well she has been in my stomach for nine months with no real food so yeah, I would say she is a bit starved." She looked over at Draco who was hold Emma's hand. He laid his head on Hermione's shoulder as Emma's suckling began to slow. Finally falling asleep, she let go of the suction from Hermione's breast. Hermione cleaned off a little bit of milk that was on her cheek and then handed her to Draco so she could get dressed. He was rocking her and humming her lullaby as Hermione put on a pair of shorts and a large T-shirt. When she was dress she went back over to the bed and Draco kissed Emma and handed her back to Hermione and he went down stairs only to come back with Molly and Arthur. They walked over and coed over her as Molly asked her how feeding her went and she gave her a few tips on how to do it. She had brought up a cloth diaper and a couple of safety pins and showed Hermione and Draco how to put the diaper on her and told them how to wash them and everything. She and Arthur left reluctantly, knowing others down stairs wanted to see her, too. She kissed the little baby and after hugging Hermione and Draco, they left. Harry, Ron and Ginny were next to come visit. Ginny walked over and coed wanting to hold her but Hermione, knowing Emma needed her rest said that she could later. She pouted but got over it. Ron Stared at the baby and Harry coed along with Ginny. They sat there talking for awhile until Draco told them that his mother and Timothy were still waiting to see her. They all said that they would see her later and left the room.
Draco went over to Hermione and sat next to her and could tell she was tired."Hermione love, do you want to go to sleep?" he asked, concerned.
"In a little bit," she said, "after everyone has seen the baby and gone home." He kissed her and nodded.
"Draco, can you hold her while I go to the bathroom?" he nodded and took Emma and she grunted from being moved around. Draco shushed her and rocked her back to sleep as Hermione went to the bathroom. She heard when Draco's mother and Timothy came into the room. She washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like shit, but then again, she had just given birth. She fixed her hair as best she could and walked in the room and sat down next to Draco who was talking to his mother and Timothy. Hermione noticed that he had laid Emma on the bed and was playing with her little toes.
Emma was awake and looking around. She started yawning which contagiously made Hermione yawn. Draco and Mrs. Malfoy noticed this. The older woman told Timothy that they needed to go as she hugged Draco and Hermione and kissed little Emma. They walked out of the room, quietly as Hermione laid down next to Emma who was already starting to fall asleep, again.
"I'll be right back okay, Hermione? I'm just going to go talk to Madam Pomfrey for a moment before she leaves." He kissed her and then kissed Emma and walked out of the room. Hermione laid there next to her little miracle and curled up, being careful not to smother her. Hermione tried to stay awake to watch her sleep but, soon, she ended fell asleep, too. Draco walked in and laid down on the other side of Emma facing Hermione and he watched them sleep.