Happy Friday! Next week, I'll post the conclusion of the story.

Chapter 14

Hermione was a week overdue and growing increasingly uncomfortable when her water finally broke. It was late, but Harry had asked her to promise to call him when labor began. He had scaled back his visits at his wife's behest, but he would not miss the baby's birth. She had time to prepare herself as the contractions were still far enough apart. Hours passed before it was time to go to the hospital.

Picking up her mobile, she dialed Harry's phone. "It's time," she said. Harry quickly hung up, and seconds later, Apparated into her flat. "Do you mind driving?"

Harry grinned as he shook his head, his excitement radiating in his emerald-colored eyes. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. "And did you clean the kitchen?"

Hermione shrugged as he led her to the front door. "I had some time to kill," she replied nonchalantly.

Harry drove carefully, avoiding bumps and potholes after Hermione complained that they hurt. Every few minutes, she gasped in pain and clutched the door handle as the contractions came closer together. Arriving at the hospital, Hermione was helped from the car before Harry went in search of parking. When he entered the hospital, Hermione was already in a room.

"You seem calm," he commented, taking a seat beside the bed. Hermione, staring at her stomach, shrugged wordlessly. "Are you really okay? You know you don't have to put on a brave face for me."

"How mad is Ginny going to be?" she wondered, ignoring his concern for her.

Harry waved her off. "Don't worry about Ginny," he replied. "I told her she couldn't make me choose between the two of you. I know you're dead set about raising the baby alone, but you shouldn't be alone for this. Besides, I want to meet my niece. After everything we've been through together, I'm happy to be here with you."

Hermione reached for his hand and held it tightly. "Thank you," she murmured. She beared down on his hand as another contraction hit. When it passed, she breathed. "Am I already a bad mother if I say I can't wait for this kid to come out?"

Chuckling, Harry massaged his now sore hand. "I think it's fine. Just don't remind her every day of her life of the pain she's causing you now," he advised. Hermione chuckled as the Healer entered. "Reckon it's about time?"

The Healer nodded and positioned herself in front of Hermione. After a brief examination, she looked at the soon-to-be mother. "When I say, I need you to push with all your might," the old woman stated. "Now...push dear!"

Half an hour later, Hermione held her daughter for the first time. Harry, standing beside her, stared in awe at the new life. "She looks like you," he decided.

Hermione was exhausted, but had the energy to laugh. "Poor thing," she replied. "Has Draco's chin too."

"What's her name?" he wondered.

Despite having months to make up her mind, Hermione had found no name that she felt would suit her daughter. But as she looked at her newborn's face, with rosy cheeks and pouty red lips, it came to her. She was suddenly reminded of Draco's reintroduction into her life, and the daily roses that accompanied it. Her daughter would not carry the Malfoy name, but she would have a small part of her father.

"Rose," she said. "Her name is Rose."

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Astoria entered the master bedroom and sat down on her side of the bed. The bed was large enough that husband and wife never touched. The barrier of pillows that usually lay between them were gone though. Without a word, she readied herself for bed and slipped beneath the covers. With a heavy sigh, she stared at the ceiling as she felt the bed shift.

"You seem...uncomfortable," Draco deduced as he moved closer to his wife.

They had shared a bed for only a few months, and he never spoke to her while he was in it. "What's going on with you?" she wondered.

Rolling onto his back, Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Something feels...different. I can't explain it. I just feel different."

Astoria turned to face him, her interest piqued. "A good different or bad different?" she wondered.

He considered his feelings for a moment. It seemed as if a flip had been switched inside of him. He was simultaneously lighter, more loving, but fearful of the future. He couldn't pinpoint when the change had occurred or why, but he knew he felt one. If only he could put it into words.

"Good," he said. "I think. I'm happy, so it must be good." Astoria giggled, causing him to smile. "Oh, so my happiness is funny, is it? Here I thought you cared about me, but I guess I'm just supposed to amuse you."

They moved minutely closer together. "You do amuse me," she said without a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Ever since that affair, you've been different. Kind. I like it. I...I like you, Draco."

His hand rested tenderly, but hesitantly on her waist. Never before had they been so close, so intimate. Only one other person had ever seen this side of him before, and she had walked away, taking a piece of his heart with her. His focus now was on the woman beside him, the one who had stayed. Blue eyes stared expectantly, waiting for him to do something, anything. He felt his own eyes drift shut as he hesitantly kissed her for the first time.

"Was that...is it okay that I did that?" he asked, sounding like a scared first year.

Slowly, Astoria opened her eyes. "Do you intend to do it again?" she wondered. He looked at her hopefully, wanting to be assured that he had her permission to do so. In lieu of words, she pressed her lips to his. It lasted no longer than his kiss had, but it was the start of something new. "I like that too," she decided.

Draco held his wife close. "Why did it take us this long to get here?" he murmured. "We like each other now. Why couldn't we like each other a year ago?"

Her fingers lightly traced a path down his stubble-covered jaw. "We didn't choose this," she pointed out. "I think we were both too busy fighting it that we made ourselves and each other miserable. At least it only took a year for us to get to this place. Imagine how much worse it could have been."

Draco nodded. He attributed his new feelings of happiness to his wife and the change that had come about between them. He didn't know that in a small muggle hospital in Oxford, his first child had been born. He didn't know that it was magic that caused them, magic that had been born with his daughter. It was the link created between father and child that had made him so overwhelmingly happy.

"I want to have a baby," he announced.