The Witness and the Wife-Chapter 36-New Addition and Tea Time
By Marmalade Fever
"You phantasmagoric effervescent slime ball!" she yelled.
"You're hurting my hand, Sweet Heart… and effervescent? I'm not bubbly," he objected, cowering slightly as she sent him a look.
"It's my insult! How dare you insult my insult!" she screamed.
"Now Samantha," Dr. Reed said. "Take a few calming breaths. You're almost fully dilated now."
"You're a no-good, rotten, flame-retardant crook!" Hermione continued to shout.
"Flame-retardant?" Draco asked hopelessly, looking to the doctor for help. The other woman shrugged.
"I saw that!" Hermione shouted. "Purblind, scaraboid scaramouch! Saturnine marron glacé!"
Draco mouthed the word "huh" and looked to the doctor again. "Alright!" she said. "I think we can start pushing!" Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of another insult, while she prepped herself. "Deep breaths," the doctor instructed. "Alright, now push!"
And Hermione did push. She was in the worst sort of pain imaginable—and under drugs. She just didn't get it. Why did it have to hurt quite so much? "You can do it!" Draco was cheering her on, but sounding whiny and annoying as he did so. Was he always so nasally?
"Very good. Remember your breathing. Another push," Dr. Reed instructed. Hermione followed through on her orders, gasping. "She's crowning! Derek you have to look at this!"
"NO!" Hermione commanded in a very loud voice.
"No thanks," Draco replied, looking green around the gills.
"One more big push should do it!"
With all her might, Hermione pushed, and hard at that. And suddenly she felt empty and the pain had decreased. She panted, clutching her bed frame. It was over. Her eyes drifted lazily to Dr. Reed's back. The woman was across the room, fiddling with a small bundle. And then it happened. A sound like broken bells echoed throughout the room. The baby was crying. Dr. Reed turned around and flashed them a big smile. "You have a beautiful, healthy baby girl."
Hermione clutched her heart, which suddenly felt like a butterfly. She was a mother.
0
"How many stairs can there possibly BE?" Harry seethed, panting as he made yet another loop on the spiral staircase.
"One-thousand-five-hundred-two and counting," Ron said breathily. "Or something close to it."
They had visited a few floors and had thus far only found a bunch of panic-stricken nurses and patients. Some of them were now fleeing to lower floors via the staircase. (Apparently, all other stairways were blocked.) The problem was that the hospital was truly huge. Every floor had at least fifty rooms that needed to be checked. In one they had come across a woman who looked distinctly werewolfish holding several puppies to her. They had left the moment she snapped her long jaws at them.
Ginny was silent except for the sound of her heavy breathing. They came to an abrupt stop at a set of lift doors, which were an absolute pain to open. They were reinforced and required a complicated set of spells that included alohomora and a pretty spiffy heating charm that Harry knew. As soon as the doors opened, they knew they had reached the right floor. "It's the tearoom," Ginny said in a hushed voice.
Ahead of them, sitting at a madhatter style tea table, were about twenty-five Death Eaters, grinning slyly. Voldemort himself took a slow sip of tea, staring directly at Harry over the brim. He replaced his cup on the saucer, and a rare smirk twisted his upper lip. "Well, Harry, will you, won't you join the dance?" The lift doors shut behind them.
O
Tears slid down Hermione's cheeks as she held the tiny bundle in her arms for the first time. "Madelyn," she whispered softly, too softly for the doctor to hear. The baby was truly the most beautiful being she had ever laid eyes on. Beside them, Draco was also entranced. The infant's skin was a pearly white with a burst of rouge on either cheek, ensuring her parent's that she wasn't ill. For now, the baby's eyes were blue, though Hermione wagered that they would not stay that color for long. What little hair she had was soft, white, and curly.
"May I?" Draco asked after a moment. He sounded almost achy with the desire to hold her. Very reluctantly, Hermione handed her over. The look that came over his face was alien. The only time Hermione had seen his expression even close to resembling this was when he had been about to propose to her all of those months ago. "She's… absolutely gorgeous," he said after a moment, staring spellbound at their daughter's delicate features. Her lips were pink and curly, and her tiny nose greatly resembled her mother's.
Hermione held out her arms, feeling the most peculiar longing, need, rather, to hold the baby again. Draco, with difficulty, relinquished his hold and gave her back to her mother. "She smells like strawberries and cream," Hermione muttered softly, smoothing a tiny lock of hair down. "And…"
"And you feel as if you could never be without her?" Draco asked softly.
Hermione nodded. "I don't know if it's the hormones, or maternal instinct, or…"
Draco nodded. "She's definitely got the Veela pull in her." He bent down and kissed Madelyn's forehead. "I love you," he said genuinely. "Both of you."
Hermione smiled tearfully. "I'm sorry for calling you a gloomy candied chestnut," she said, her sniffle turning into a tiny chortle. "And whatever else I called you. I was under duress."
"Apology accepted," Draco answered, kissing her cheek as well. "You know what this reminds me of?" he asked.
"What?" Her voice was hushed as Madelyn blinked her eyes drearily.
"You know how when you eat something really good, you can't wait for the next bite, even though you're still chewing?" She nodded. "I can't wait for our next child," he whispered.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort, gave another glance to the baby, and nodded in agreement. "Neither can I," she said. If he noticed her blush, he didn't let it show.
O
Harry snarled, resisting the urge to rub at his aching scar, which felt as if it was liable to crack his head open.
"Do forgive my manners," Voldemort continued. "Tea? Cake?" he asked, gesturing with flourish at the immaculate table. "I'm afraid we only have Earl Grey," he added, smirking.
"Thanks but no thanks," Harry answered, looking around carefully. There were a pair of stocking-ed feet sticking out the door of the gift shop, a small trickle of blood not far from them.
"You know, Harry," Voldemort said, standing, "the phrase where there's smoke, there's fire, is not always correct. A better substitution might be, where there's smoke, there's a cause, but I'm quite sure you've figured that out by now, eh?"
Harry's nostrils flared. "What have you done?" he snapped.
"Now, now," Voldemort replied, the epitome of calm. "Is this any way to behave at a tea party?" He turned. "Perhaps one of you would like to teach our guests a lesson on etiquette?" he asked. "Snape, perhaps you would like to do the honor?"
Harry's eyes snapped to his Professor. "Very well, my lord," he answered, standing. Snape fixed them each with a glare. "When invited to a tea party, the proper thing to do is sit." As if on command, three high-backed purple chairs came forward and scooped them up. Off to the side sat a fourth chair. Snape sat down again.
"We had been expecting four to tea," Voldemort speculated. "No mudblood today?" he asked. "Pity, that."
Harry's mind raced. Snape… Snape… Hermione had mentioned running into Snape… His train of thought was disrupted as he heard a shriek from Ginny. Apparently, Pettigrew had taken up the role of dormouse and had just run across her hand when she hadn't been expecting it. Ron, on the other hand, was making a mad attempt to rise from his seat.
"So here's the game plan," Voldemort continued, motioning the floating teapot to fill each of their cups, "down this corridor behind us are several rooms. Each room holds a little surprise for you. The object of the game is to come to the rescue of anyone who has had… a little too much tea."
"And what about you lot?" Harry asked.
There was an odd twinkle in his eye. "You have a two minute head start. Go."
A.N.: Sorry about the cliffhanger. (I have a real affection for those.) Anyway, Madelyn's here! Yay!