A/N: The original Chapter 36 was deleted. I have reworked it significantly. It's not my strongest chapter, but it is much better than it was. There are forty chapters, so while this may feel like a solid end point, we have a bit to go.
"Don't touch me."
Hermione was insistent about it upon entering her parents' house. Scorpius was safe in Mr. Granger's arms but he reached out to Hermione the moment he saw her. She wiped the tears from his cheeks and booped his nose. Hermione said,
"Everything is alright now, Scorp. You're safe."
She sat on the sofa and her whole body shook. Hermione wanted to hold Scorpius but was afraid she may drop him. The tremors racked her ribcage most of all and Hermione felt like she may be sick. No one had ever gotten close enough to threaten her family before. She had never been so afraid, not even when Hagrid had walked out of the Forbidden Forest carrying what she believed to be Harry's body. Hermione was of half a mind to never let Scorpius out of her arms again.
"Narcissa, are you alright?" Mr. Granger asked, pulling Hermione from her thoughts. Lady Malfoy nodded and grabbed another biscuit. She was perched on the edge of Mrs. Granger's armchair, fingers clutching at the cushion.
"I am fine. Draco is fine. He is one of the most accomplished Occlumens in the world, you know. He can handle himself in these areas. Merlin knows he should have died twelve times before, no reason for him to start now." She grabbed her cup of tea and the hand holding the saucer wavered.
Mrs. Granger brought out a plate of sausage rolls and sat it on the coffee table in front of Narcissa.
"When were you planning to tell us you're pregnant?" she asked. Hermione groaned. "Narcissa told us weeks ago, but we were waiting for you."
Lady Malfoy said, "I was bursting with the news, I had to tell someone!"
"I planned to tell you after I told Draco," Hermione admitted. "Then I told him and forgot about telling everyone else because he didn't take it well. I, um, I think we are okay now but … I don't know. We didn't plan any of this and now we are having a child and …" She paused to take a deep breath. "I am terrified."
"Oh, honey," Mr. Granger said. He looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it. "Let me just say I know where that boy's heart is, and it's right there in your hands. You and Draco can get through anything together, but you don't have to because you have all of us, too." There was a knock on the door and Hermione's father wondered, "Perhaps Mister Malfoy has finally decided to grace us with his presence."
"Give Scorp to Narcissa," Hermione demanded. "No one gets to see him until they have made their introduction and I have deemed them safe. I am not going to be fooled twice in one day."
Mr. Granger obliged her request and Lady Malfoy held Scorp in one arm while eating her sausage roll in the other. Hermione was still shaking down to her toes. She prayed it was Draco at the door. She needed to see him, needed to see with her own eyes that he was alive and well.
"You must be Mr. Granger!" came the voice in the doorway. "Oh, how lovely to meet you!"
"Oh, um, yes," Mr. Granger stuttered as their newest visitor trapped him in a tight hug. "Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry!" She dropped her arms and said, "I'm Ivyna Mountcastle, President of the Magical Council of the United States of America. And you are Hermione's dad! Oh, it is so nice to see more Muggle parents. You all really are the most level-headed people in the universe."
"Hermione?" her father called from the doorway.
"Bring her in," Hermione shouted back. She hoped she was able to conceal the disappointment in her voice. Ivyna walked into the living area with Mr. Granger right behind her. She surveyed the room and her eyes landed on Scorpius.
"That is definitely Draco's child and he is adorable! Oh, how rude, I haven't introduced myself." She turned to Mrs. Granger who was standing between the couch and the armchair, stunned. Ivyna hugged her and said, "You must be Hermione's mom! My name is Ivyna and you have such a nice home. Also, Lady Malfoy, a joy to see you. Draco is doing just fine, he should be right behind me, just helping my crew fix everything up—"
There was another knock on the door and Hermione shot out of her chair so quickly she tripped over her own feet. She stumbled, grabbed the wall as she turned into the hallway, then flung open the door.
Draco was there on top of the welcome mat. His shirt was untucked and his trousers were stained from time spent on the cemetery ground, but he was there and he was alive. Before Hermione could process any more Draco was in her face, hands on her cheeks, kissing her like he never needed to come up for air. Hermione wrapped her fingers in the fabric of his shirt and pulled him across the threshold. His hands made their way over her shoulders and down her sides, as though needing the touch to confirm she was real.
"I am so glad you are okay," Draco said when he finally pulled himself away. He had to take a couple steps backward to keep from touching her again. He glanced down toward her stomach and asked, "Both of you?"
"Both of us," Hermione confirmed with a smile.
Draco stepped around her and walked into the living area, which had become rather cramped. Narcissa shot out of her seat to wrap Draco, and Scorpius by proxy, in a fierce hug. She let them go, smiled, then whacked Draco upside the head.
"Never frighten me like that ever again!" Lady Malfoy demanded as she returned to the chair. Draco knelt down to be on Scorp's level. He ruffled his son's hair and received a half-hearted raspberry in return. Draco smiled and said,
"There is my boy. Thank fucking Merlin you are okay. I am never letting you out of my sight again."
"Might be a bit tricky once we send him off to Hogwarts," Hermione quipped.
"I'll apply for Potions Master," Draco shot back. He stood, glared at Ivyna, and said, "You and I need to have words."
"Speak them," Ivyna challenged. Draco grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the kitchen. Hermione prepared to follow them and bent down to kiss the top of Scorp's head along the way.
"I'll be right back, I promise," she said. He reached out to grab her, to make her stay, and Hermione held his hand between two fingers. She looked into his grey eyes and repeated, "I promise."
Ivyna and Draco were already shouting when Hermione cast Muffliato on the kitchen entrance.
"Murder?!"
"Yes, I am charging her with murder."
"He was a wanted fugitive who was about to kill my pregnant girlfriend!"
"A scheme she was part of until the last moment!" Ivyna said. "Why the hell would she kill her boyfriend? Queenie was brainwashed, she was his plaything and happy that way. You mean to tell me that she was so moved by you, Draco fucking Malfoy, that she would kill the love of her life?"
"I told you she is a good person," Draco insisted. "She will do the right thing when it matters most—"
"And you've always been a great judge of character," Hermione said facetiously.
Draco took a deep breath in, but said nothing for several moments. They stood in awkward silence, waiting for Draco's assessment. He looked up toward the ceiling and admitted,
"Charge her with kidnapping and trespassing, but people who make the right choice in the end do not deserve to be imprisoned in perpetuity. A threat I am intimately familiar with."
"You are blind, Draco Malfoy," Ivyna replied. "Do you think murder is her toughest charge? Try international terrorism! This is not just about you and Granger. Revivalists were threatening the northeastern US for years before you came over. It hardly matters if she did one good thing! What about all the curses she broke so Revivalists could enter the homes of their victims? All the times she stood watch while Jace tortured and murdered innocent people? What am I supposed to tell the people who buried their families and friends after they fell to the hands of Revivalists?! She killed the right person this time so all is forgiven? Hermione is right that you are no judge of character."
Draco glanced quickly at Hermione before returning his focus to Ivyna.
"What about the lives she saved in killing him?"
"An unknown quantity!" Ivyna shouted. "I deal in what is, Draco! I deal in reality! And the reality is if you had any fucking sense you would have asked Hermione to marry you months ago. You are so blind you haven't even realized your son is a Seer!"
Draco grabbed onto the kitchen island for support. Hermione had suspected something was amiss, but a Seer? The pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place. Ivyna rolled her eyes.
"Don't tell me you didn't know. The visions that keep him awake are the reasons you play him music to get to sleep. You said he started crying when Jason took him at the cemetery? That's because he had seen this event before. They said you two were the smartest wizards Europe had seen since the age of Grindelwald and Dumbledore but from where I stand the both of you are idiots. Hermione for staying with you and you for every other thing you've done in your life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to bid your parents goodbye since I have serious legal work ahead of me."
Ivyna smoothed out her hair then abruptly left the kitchen. Hermione didn't move and neither did Draco. Eventually he said,
"I have no idea how to raise a child who is a Seer."
"Does anyone?" Hermione asked.
"I apologize for being a shithead these past few weeks," Draco said with a sigh.
"Apology accepted," Hermione replied. "If I'm being honest, all I want is to go home."
.oOo.
Lily Luna Potter was born on June 4th.
Draco received an owl early on the morning of June 5th. It knocked so loudly on their bedroom window it even woke Hermione. Draco yawned, rolled out of bed, and stumbled over to the window. When he opened it, the owl offered him a single piece of parchment with a bow stuck to the upper-right corner. Draco glanced down at it and laughed.
Hermione rolled onto her side and asked, "What is it"
"A birthday present from Ivyna," he replied. Draco slid back into bed and handed Hermione the note. She read the two words aloud.
"You're free."
Draco plucked the paper from her fingers and crumpled it before tossing it onto the floor.
"That means Queenie is back in America?" Hermione asked. Draco smiled then kissed her shoulder.
"And we are free to do what we want, no longer a danger to Scorp or to our friends. The second-best birthday present I could hope for."
"The first?" Hermione asked. Draco grinned and slid further down into the covers. He pushed up the hem of her nightdress and Hermione leaned back onto the pillows. "Is this a present for you or for me?"
"A team gift," he answered.
Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as Draco pressed a finger inside her, one knuckle deep.
"Hmm … Are you going to do this even when my stomach is the size of a cauldron?"
Draco added a finger and said, "I am offended you would ask. Your body may change, but my enjoyment of it will not. Honestly, I am rather looking forward to the upcoming months since your tits will be huge."
Hermione giggled.
"Well, get on with it!" she demanded. "It's rude to leave a present unfinished."
.oOo.
Hermione was glowing when they stepped out of Harry's Floo that evening. He greeted her with a tight hug and Draco with a handshake.
"Where's Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"In the sitting room," Harry answered. Hermione made to find her, but Harry grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him back. "I need to have a moment with Malfoy. Hermione paused so Harry said, "Alone."
Hermione looked at Harry and could immediately tell he knew about the baby. Ron must have told him. Hermione shrugged and shouted over her shoulder as she left the room.
"Leave him in one piece!"
Hermione entered the sitting room to see Ginny lounging on the couch reading that month's issue of Quidditch Quarterly. When she saw Hermione, Ginny lifted herself off the sofa and sped over to give Hermione a hug.
"It's so good to see you!"
Hermione hugged her gently and said, "It's great to see you too. How are you doing?" Ginny groaned in reply. Hermione asked, "That bad?"
"Well, my crotch is a waterfall and between the two of us Harry and I have gotten maybe ten hours of sleep in the past three days … But otherwise I'm fanbloodytastic," she said with a smile. "Do you want to see her?"
"Of course!" Hermione replied. She followed Ginny upstairs and asked, "What do you mean about the waterfall? Is that, um, a normal thing?"
"Yeah," Ginny admitted, "everything with Lily was normal. Hannah does a great job midwifing. Al and Jay are with my mum so we can focus all our attention on Lily. Isn't she lovely?"
They had arrived in Lily's nursery and Hermione smiled. She had small tufts of ginger hair and a button nose. They had wrapped her in a blanket covered in little Snitches. Lily looked peaceful in sleep and Ginny looked so happy. Hermione gave her a one-armed hug and said,
"She's beautiful."
"Yeah," Ginny replied. "This is our last child. Harry and I decided three is a good number for us. No need to go full Weasley and have eight." Hermione followed Ginny back out into the hallway and before she could go downstairs Hermione called her back.
"Ginny! I have to tell you something." She turned around, eyes bright, smile wide. Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Draco and I are having a baby."
Ginny's smile fell and she said, "Oh."
"Oh?" Hermione asked, confused.
"OH!" Ginny said. She hugged Hermione and said, "Congratulations! I am happy for both of you. I knew it would work out, didn't I?"
"You didn't sound happy at first," Hermione challenged. "Why?"
"Honestly?" Ginny asked. "I thought you were going to say you're engaged."
Hermione dropped her shoulders and looked nervously down at the floor. She grimaced as she realized all the hints everyone had dropped, all the opinions people weren't afraid to express in front of her. Whether it was Narcissa insinuating months ago that Draco had asked for an engagement ring or Ivyna outright telling him he should have proposed months earlier … Everyone thought Hermione and Draco's relationship should be in a different place. Hermione sidled past Ginny and walked down the stairs. Ginny followed her and said,
"But this is just as good! I really am happy for you! Both of you!"
Hermione blinked away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Are you, though?" Hermione asked. "Are any of you?"
"Of course!" Ginny insisted. "I know you have something special, Hermione. I know Malfoy sees it, too. So why are you not engaged? You have been through so much in such a short time and … And maybe none of us understand and that's okay. I can't say what is and isn't best for you."
"But you're not wrong, are you?" Hermione asked. "He hasn't asked and we haven't spoken about it, so maybe there is something wrong between us. I dunno, Gin. Congratulations, Lily really is a beautiful baby, but I need to go."
"Hermione!" Ginny shouted after her, but she was at the door rather quickly. Draco and Harry looked up from their deep conversation. Harry asked,
"Hermione? Where are you going, you barely said a word—"
"Just need to clear my head," Hermione said as she walked out the door. Draco was right behind her once she reached the street.
"Hermione?" he asked. She turned away from him and elected not to respond. He repeated, "Hermione, love, are you panicking? Are you alright?"
She turned to face him and the tears spilled over.
"No to both," Hermione answered. She wiped her eyes clear and started walking toward the shops. Godric's Hollow was loveliest in the summer. Winter here held some horrifying memories, but it was lush and green in the summertime. The houses were wonderful to look at and the shopping was second-to-none in this part of Wizarding England.
Draco fell into step beside her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"Do you?" Hermione parroted back.
"What did Potter #2 say to upset you?" Draco asked. "Did you tell her our news?"
"Why haven't you asked me to marry you?" Hermione asked. Draco stopped dead in his tracks and threw his hands in the air, his exasperation evident.
"Bloody hell, is that what this is?!" he shouted. Hermione kept walking. "No, Hermione, you do not get to walk away after asking me that question!"
People had begun to stare. Hermione huffed and returned to stand in front of Draco, arms crossed in defiance.
"Why do you think I have not asked you to marry me?" Draco asked. He was trying to remain calm, but something about the question irritated him.
"I have no idea!" Hermione shouted.
"If it was bothering you then you should have asked me," Draco insisted. "I am not going to spend the rest of our lives trying to determine what is in your head. I'm a master of Occlumency, not Legilimency!"
"Right, between being nearly killed by international fugitives and an unplanned pregnancy, I should have just slipped it into the conversation," Hermione replied facetiously.
"You are right that I want to marry you," Draco admitted. He looked around at everyone staring, people glancing out their windows to catch sight of the pair of them. He and Hermione wordlessly agreed this was not the place for the conversation they needed to have. Draco offered Hermione his hand then Apparated back to Malfoy Manor. He helped Hermione sit on the sofa and stood in front of her. "Shorter visit than I had planned."
"We don't seem to be good at planning," Hermione quipped.
"What I am about to tell you will take a moment, and I want you to promise not to interrupt me while I am saying it," Draco insisted.
"I promise," Hermione replied.
Draco paced in front of her for several moments, almost like he was considering an exit strategy. Perhaps he didn't want to admit his reasoning after all. Eventually, he settled back in front of Hermione with his arms crossed over his chest.
Defensive is never a good sign with him.
"I want to marry you," Draco repeated. "I thought about it before you even agreed to be my girlfriend, but I never thought it would happen. I never believed you could see anything redeemable in me, let alone agree to date me. Part of me still does not understand it."
"I—"
"Hermione, I swear, you have to let me get this out in one go or I will lose the confidence to say it."
Hermione closed her mouth and nodded.
"I love you more than I will ever love anyone in my life," Draco admitted. Hermione smiled at that. There was still hope. "When Queenie had her wand pointed at you I was terrified our friendship would not be enough for her to see reason. I was afraid I would lose you and I don't know what I would have done. They likely would have killed me, too, but living without you is not … I dunno, all I know is you look at my scars with empathy instead of pity or expecting me to be ashamed of them. You see me as a man, as a father, as a partner, not as a Malfoy. While there may be other men out there who can make you happy, there is no one in the world who could compare to how intensely you make me feel everything. Pain, happiness, and everything between … It is all intensified when I am with you.
"But I know you, Hermione Granger. I listen to you and I understand the way you view the world. I want to marry you. I want you to be the mother of my children, the lady of the manor, the Chief Healer at St. Mungo's, and Minister for Magic. You can be all those things and I will always support you. You may doubt my commitment but I have had your engagement ring for months. I even sought your father's permission because that is Malfoy tradition.
"However, our relationship is between us. When I get down on one knee to ask you to marry me I want you to have the ability to say no. That moment will be ours alone; it is not something for others to see. I want you to have a choice, not pressure you into it. I sure as hell am not going to ask you to marry me simply because everyone else thinks I should have done it already. I am going to ask you when we are alone, when we are happy, and when I have finally convinced you that there is no man who will ever love you more than me."
A/N: I hope to have the next chapter up by Friday and get back on schedule. In the meantime, feel free to check out my Dramione 12 Days of Ficmas series.
A/N: Side note, did Queenie's arc in the new Fantastic Beasts movie look familiar to anyone else?