Hey guys, I am SOOOO sorry that this is so late. I kind of lost all my writing ambition for a while, then got it back and lost it again. And now I'm having a whole bunch of school work thrown at me so I have even less time to write. Updates will be slow (as you can see) but I will keep writing. I honestly don't know exactly where this story is going; I'm one of those people that makes it up as I go, so we'll see! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 21
"Mum, it's wonderful to see you too," Draco said as he helped Hermione to her feet carefully. "I hope life has been good for you while I've been away?"
"It's been a little lonely, but very fulfilling. I've been doing so many little projects with my free time that I feel so accomplished! Oh, but look at my manners, come, come sit in the lounge and relax." The regal blonde woman led the two into a spacious lounge with a huge bay window that looked out on the wintery grounds of the Malfoy estate.
This bubbly woman was not the person Hermione remembered from her brief meetings with her. Narcissa Malfoy always seemed so severe to her, so withdrawn and strict. This woman was happy and cheerful. It was clear that being out from under the shadow of both Lucius and Voldemort has allowed her to bloom into the woman she could have become long ago.
"Tea? Biscuits?" Mrs. Malfoy asked them as she snapped her fingers and a house elf appeared with a large tray.
Once they were all settled with cups of tea and a few biscuits each an uncomfortable silence fell on the room. Hermione tapped her fingers on her teacup a few times absently, trying to think of something to get a conversation going.
"Mrs. Malfoy, I just wanted to thank you for extending this invitation to me. I realize that Christmas is a time for family and I am inconveniencing you by being here."
Narcissa just smiled and shook her head, "nonsense Hermione dear. You are in a relationship with my son, this by my definition makes you family, and therefore more than welcome any time you wish to come here. Besides, I invited you, there is no inconvenience in that."
Hermione had to force herself not to cringe at these words. She and Draco had agreed that they would tell his mother in person about the developments in their relationship, she just hadn't realized it would be this hard. "Well, the thing is Mrs. Malfoy…." Hermione trailed off, unable to say the words she knew she had to.
"Hermione and I are not in an intimate relationship anymore mother," Draco said from her side, discretely taking her hand and squeezing it.
Narcissa's forehead furrowed with her frown of confusion. "I don't understand. It was only a few weeks ago that I learned of your relationship, that's not nearly enough time to know if you work well together. If you are no longer together, why did you feel it was necessary to come? Not that you aren't welcome Hermione, you are more than welcome, I just do not understand why you are still even on speaking terms if you have broken off your relationship."
"Well, you see mother, it's just that….an unforeseen event has taken place and I'm afraid I made a fool of myself upon learning of the event. Because of my foolishness Hermione thought it would be best if we took a break from each other. She has promised to reconsider, to think about taking me back, after she's had time to ruminate on what she wants in her life."
Narcissa sighed, "you, my dear son, are sometimes too similar to Lucius in his young years. But still, what event could have happened to affect you both so drastically?"
"Mrs. Malfoy, I feel it is my duty to inform you that I am pregnant with your son's child and that we intend to keep it and raise it together, whether we resume our relationship or not," Hermione whispered, her eyes locked with those of the Malfoy matriarch.
"You're pregnant? With Draco's child?" Narcissa asked as if she were too stunned to believe it the first time.
"Yes ma'am. Our child was conceived at the beginning of the month. We….we would have written you and told you sooner but we thought that it would be better to tell you all of this information in person. I'm sorry," Hermione said, looking down, suddenly ashamed of herself in the presence of this woman.
Narcissa stood from her chair across from the two teenagers and moved quickly to sit beside Hermione. "Do not be sorry Hermione. You cannot know how happy this news makes me! After the war, Draco continuously persisted that he was never going to have children, so adamant was he that I gave up hope of ever having grandchildren. You have restored that hope to me. I do not care that you are so young, or that you have not finished your education. I do not even care about the manner in which you both must have conducted yourselves to get to this point. You have restored my hope that Draco will not continue to punish himself for things beyond his control. You are a remarkable young woman and I will be proud to one day call you daughter. Thank you Hermione."
Hermione was so surprised by this heartfelt speech that she didn't even hesitate to return the embrace that Narcissa captured her in. She couldn't help the tears that slipped from her eyes as the older woman pulled away.
"Oh, do not cry! This is a joyous occasion, you should be happy, not sad," Narcissa said with a chuckle, wiping at Hermione's cheek with her thumb.
"I am happy. I just wasn't expecting you to be quite so….enthusiastic about this whole thing."
"Well I am! It's something worth celebrating! I'm so proud of both of you," she said, reaching around Hermione to hug her son. "You've done well Draco."
"Thank you mother. Now that we're all so happy," he said with a smile, "did you get my gift?"
"Yes I did, but I did not open it yet, I thought we could have kind of a family Christmas and open each other's gifts together," Narcissa explained.
"Wonderful," Draco said. Narcissa snapped her fingers again and two different house elves appeared carrying a multitude of gifts. It took them a few minutes to sort through them and once done they disappeared again. Hermione was surprised and a little upset that she had a pile of gifts, she had not gotten Draco's mother a gift, unsure if it was appropriate.
"Mrs. Malfoy, before we begin I really must protest! Not only have you gotten far too many gifts for me, but even one would be too much because I did not get you one in return! It wouldn't be right to accept, but thank you for thinking of me," Hermione said softly.
Narcissa chuckled. "I don't want any gifts from you Hermione. Even if I hadn't found out that you were pregnant and as such were giving me the greatest gift in the world I would have still bought you all of this, and I will not take them back, so either keep them or they will go to waste. See, unlike my husband, I always wanted more children. I didn't think it was healthy for Draco to grow up as an only child, spoiled and entitled, but Lucius refused to even consider having more because he already had his heir and feared that more children would take the focus away from Draco who, naturally, must have as much attention as possible as the Malfoy heir. So you see, you have now become my honorary daughter, the one I never had, and you may want to be prepared that I will begin sending you gifts at school, taking you on shopping excursions on your breaks, and treating you like a daughter. And as a daughter you deserve everything that's in that pile, after all, the mother of a Malfoy must look the part," she finished with a big smile and a wink.
Hermione officially hated the way this pregnancy was affecting her hormones. She was doing altogether too much crying in front of this woman, but she couldn't help it when she was so accepting of her. "Thank you so much."
The conversation ended there and they all opened their gifts. Hermione was amazed and a little intimidated by hers. Narcissa Malfoy certainly wanted her to look the part, as a large portion of her gifts were clothes, and highly expensive ones at that. Though not the clothes she would normally wear, after all she was a practical girl, Hermione had to admit that these clothes were gorgeous, and just conservative enough to pass at school, or on outings with the Malfoys.
"A simple expansion charm should help when you start showing dear. Had I known, I would have chosen more that accentuated the pregnancy," Narcissa explained when Hermione thanked her.
Along with the clothes were several books that Hermione had wanted dearly but that were too expensive for her to buy, and a bracelet that had three diamond flowers, each with four petals, across from the clasp and five diamond butterflies on either side of the flowers. The whole thing was connected with what appeared to be pure gold. When Hermione opened this one she gasped and began shaking her head.
"Mrs. Malfoy I cannot accept this, this is far too much! I will accept everything else, but not this," she protested.
Narcissa got up from her chair and went to Hermione, sitting beside her again and taking the bracelet from the young woman's hands. Slowly and gently, the Malfoy matriarch reached around Hermione's wrist and clasped the bracelet on, saying, "Hermione, this bracelet has been in the Malfoy family since the family began. It has passed down each generation to the next woman, by birth or blood, who could call herself Malfoy. You are the woman chosen by my son to carry on this name."
Narcissa patted Hermione's hand as they looked each other in the eyes. "Regardless of how you feel about it, Draco would not have pursued a relationship with you if he did not believe you were the one. Because you are "the one" there is no one else for this bracelet to go to. The Rule has always been that when the next woman in the family comes of age, or the heir choses a woman, that woman becomes the owner of this bracelet. You have been chosen, so I cannot take it back. The bracelet will protect you and the child. See how the diamond has turned yellow instead of being clear? That is an indicator that you are indeed pregnant, when it is able to tell the gender of the child it will turn pink or blue. It is enchanted to bring you good luck and to help you prosper as a Malfoy."
"Thank you so much, for everything. Really, it means so much to me," Hermione said quietly.
The rest of the weekend with Draco's mother went very well. The three spent most of the time relaxing in the Manor's various rooms, the sitting room, the day room where Narcissa had had a greenhouse attached to the house, and especially the library, where Hermione and Draco would spend hours reading about being parents. They were both sad to be saying goodbye to the Malfoy matriarch on Sunday evening, but knew that the real world awaited them at Hogwarts.
There's chapter 21. It may seem far-fetched, and it kind of is, but that's the point of fanfiction! Anyway, let me know if it was good or not, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen (I'll take it under advisement, no promises I'll use it!) Hope you liked it! There's a link to the bracelet on my profile!