Christmas Eve – Two Years Later.
Hermione was sitting in the front room of Malfoy Manor, a box of expensive chocolates placed beside her as she read her book. Crookshanks and Nagini were curled up together in front of the roaring fire and a large Christmas tree, decorated in silver, stood in the corner of the room.
"There you are." Narcissa said, entering the room and heading towards where her daughter-in-law was sitting. "What do you think of the final plans."
Narcissa moved Hermione's chocolates and sat down next to her on the sofa, placing a large piece of parchment on Hermione's knee. Hermione put her book down and scanned the plans for the annual Malfoy New Year's Eve ball.
After the elaborate birthday/engagement party Narcissa had thrown two years ago, Hermione had vowed never to attend another such celebration. When she told Draco this he just laughed and informed her that his mother loved hosting parties and it was something she would have to endure like the rest of the family. So for the last two and a bit years Hermione had attended all sorts of parties including birthdays, anniversaries, New Years and of course her own wedding reception.
"It looks magnificent, Narcissa." Hermione replied, genuinely meaning it. While she wasn't a fan of the parties there was no denying that Narcissa did an amazing job organising them, even down to the finest detail.
"I hope so. I know we don't normally do a sit down meal for New Year but I thought it might be easier for you." Narcissa smiled at her daughter-in-law.
"You really didn't have to do that, Narcissa. We're not even sure if I'll be there." Hermione said, moving uncomfortably on the sofa. Hermione was currently heavily pregnant and the baby was due on December thirtieth, one day before the party.
"The baby might be early you know." Narcissa said, hoping her daughter-in-law would be able to attend the party. "Draco was three weeks early."
Hermione nodded, secretly hoping the baby wouldn't be early so she could have a genuine excuse to miss one of Narcissa's exhausting parties.
"Do you need anything?" Narcissa asked. "I really must get on planning tomorrow."
"No, I'm fine." Hermione smiled as her mother-in-law hurried out the room, to undertake some more organising and planning.
Sometimes Hermione thought Narcissa's main reason for living was organising events for her family. With the next day being Christmas the rest of the family; Bella, Severus and Voldemort were coming to dinner and Narcissa wanted it to be perfect. Hermione was unsure what all the stress was about, this would be her third Christmas with the family and the previous two had both run smoothly without any hitches.
After Narcissa had left the room, Hermione didn't pick her book back up, instead she watched the crackling fire and thought about all the people she used to spend the holidays with. Hermione had long since come to terms with the new order of the wizarding world but the holiday season always made her reminisce.
The only people from her past she had regular contact with was Charlie and Luna. Obviously she was business partners with Charlie, although she was more of a silent partner since her main career was as a professor at Hogwarts. Luna had re-established their friendship a few months after the battle at Hogwarts, and Hermione often spent the day with the ditzy blonde. As the only two members of the Order who had contact with Hermione, Charlie and Luna also spent a lot of time together and a close friendship had blossomed despite the age difference between the pair.
None of the other members of the Order who had retained their magic kept in contact with Hermione, the only things she knew about their lives was what Charlie and Luna told her. The only reason Hermione knew about the birth of Tonks' son, Teddy Remus, was because Charlie had told her. He had shown her a couple of pictures of the young boy who seemed to have inherited Tonks' metamorphous ability.
A pain in her stomach, brought Hermione back to the present. Placing her hand on her large stomach, she could feel the baby kicking and squirming around.
"You're lively today." Hermione said, talking to the baby bump. "I hope that means you're eager to see us."
Another pain in her stomach caused Hermione to gasp in shock. Maybe the pain wasn't just the baby kicking, it seemed much more intense than when he normally kicked. Hermione sat on the sofa for ten more minutes and when she experienced more pains she decided to get up. When she had finally managed to move her huge bulk off the sofa, Hermione felt another intense pain. As she was holding her stomach she felt her waters break, looking down she found she was standing in a small pool of water.
"Narcissa." She yelled as loud as she could, even though she doubted her mother-in-law would hear her in the huge house they lived in. "Dipsy." When there was no response from Narcissa, Hermione summoned a house elf. While Hermione still didn't agree with house elves working without pay, it was an issue The Dark lord refused to discuss, she had convinced Lucius not to mistreat his elves.
"Mistress, Hermione. Are you okay?" Dipsy said worriedly.
"The baby's coming. Get Narcissa." Hermione said, gasping as another pain hit her. "And Draco." She had no idea where her husband was, he had left the Manor earlier in the morning with Voldemort, but knew the elf could find him using the magic that bound her to the Malfoy family.
A few seconds after Dipsy apparated away, Narcissa came flying into the room.
"Let's get you to St Mungo's." Narcissa said, immediately taking charge and shepherding Hermione towards the parlour and the fireplace that was used for travelling via the floo network.
It was half an hour later and Hermione was settled into a private room at St Mungo's, when Draco finally appeared at his wife's side.
"Where the hell have you been?" Hermione practically screamed as Draco burst into the room.
"Sorry, baby. We were in a meeting in Poland and it took a long time for Dipsy to find us." Draco explained, apologetically.
"I'll just go and make sure the family all know what's happening." Narcissa said, leaving the room. She had been dying to inform the rest of the family, but Hermione had insisted she stay with her.
"I'm sorry. If I knew this was going to happen I never would have left you." Draco said, holding onto Hermione's hand.
"It's fine. You're here now." Hermione said, wincing as another contraction hit.
"Should I get a healer?" Draco asked, unsure of what to do.
"No." Hermione shook her head. "The medi witch will be back shortly."
For the next five minutes, until the medi witch returned, Draco and Hermione talked about the future and the fact they would be meeting their son soon. When the medi witch returned to the room, she gave Draco a quick smile and set about examining Hermione.
"I'm afraid, it'll still be a while Mrs Malfoy." The medi witch said after she had looked at Hermione.
"Can't you use magic to quicken things up?" Draco asked, he was getting impatient to meet his son.
"We only use magic as a last resort, Mr Malfoy. It's much better for the baby and your wife if the birth is a natural one." The medi witch explained. "I'll be back in ten minutes, buzz if you need anything."
The medi witch swept out of the room, leaving Draco and Hermione alone again.
"What's taking so long?" Lucius asked, pacing the corridor of St Mungo's nervously. It had been mid-afternoon when Hermione was admitted to hospital and it was now nearly midnight and there was still no sign of the baby.
"Babies appear in their own time." Narcissa tried to soothe her husband. "I'm sure when our grandson is ready he'll put in an appearance."
"Maybe he's waiting for Christmas day. It's only half an hour away." Bella suggested with a breezy smile.
Lucius tutted at his sister-in-law and carried on pacing. Since the end of the war, Bella had almost become a different person. For the first time since he had met the witch, she was genuinely happy with her life and as such had a much softer demeanour.
"Do Draco and Hermione have a name for the baby?" Severus asked, trying to ignore Lucius' nervous pacing.
"Yes. But they won't tell us what." Narcissa said. "I do know they're keeping the Black family tradition of naming children after constellations and stars. Hermione spent ages researching names."
The family sat for another ten minutes before the healers and medi witches piled out of Hermione's room.
"You may go in now." The head healer told the assembled family. "But please don't stay too long. Mrs Malfoy needs her rest."
Narcissa led the way as the family entered Hermione's room, eager to meet the newest Malfoy. They entered the room to find Hermione sitting propped up in bed, a small bundle in her arms and Draco sitting beside her with his arm around her waist.
Narcissa immediately rushed forward, eager to catch a glimpse of her grandson. "He's beautiful." She said, tears falling from her eyes as she gently stroked his tiny face.
One by one the rest of the family came to get a look at the newest part of the extended family. Lucius nodded, gave Draco a pat on the back and Hermione a peck on the cheek. Hermione suspected her supposedly cold-hearted father-in-law had a lump in his throat and didn't trust his voice to hold. Bella came next, making cooing noises at the baby despite insisting she had no maternal emotions. Voldemort came after Bella, he looked unsure of the baby and how he would react to his unusual appearance. It didn't seem to bother the new born as he just stared up at Voldemort as he looked down at the tiny infant. Severus was last to take a look at the newest Malfoy. Looking at the tiny baby he was thrilled that everything had worked out for his godson and his wife.
"So do we find out what our grandson's called?" Narcissa asked once everyone had looked at the tiny bundle cradled safely in Hermione's arms.
"Yes. His name's Scorpius." Draco said, looking at his wife and son. "Scorpius Severus Malfoy."
Severus looked surprised by the use of his name as the baby's middle name. As Draco explained the use of Severus' name, Hermione smiled to herself. It was simple really, without Severus she could never have switched sides to join Draco. And without doing that she would never have been lying here, happily married to Draco and cradling their new born son.
A/N - The end, for now. First of all I would like to thank everyone who has supported this story. I was wary of how people would react to a story where Hermione changes sides but everyone has been so supportive and kind.
The sequel will be called Desperate Times, and starts one year after the epilogue on Scorpius' first birthday. I will post it as soon as I have made a decent start on it. I have the entire storyline plotted out but at the minute I am currently finishing one of my other stories, Look Behind You.
Thank you once again and I hoped you all enjoyed Desperate Measures.