Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters.

Hey guys, guess what day it is? Saturday! Which means it's time for another update! Woo, I love Saturdays. On the bright side, I have been able to overcome the dastardly writer's block that has kept me from writing for over a week and managed to get 3 chapters out in two days as well as a one shot that I'd love for you guys to check out. It's called No Regrets, but you can find all of that on my profile if you're interested. I'd also love it if you guys could take the time to drop me a review, I'm feeling rather unloved. Yep, I'm just that sad. Until tomorrow my lovelies.

Chapter XXXVII

Hermione woke early on that particular morning due to the uncomfortable roiling of her stomach while she slept. It had roused her rather rudely and she had tried desperately to ignore it in order to go back to sleep but had failed miserably. She wouldn't lie, this terrible sickness was at the top of her list for reasons to hate pregnancy, despite the fact that she had told herself to enjoy every single minute of it in case her chance never came about again. She was just on the brink of hitting the start of her fourth month and her anticipation was growing. For once she passed her third month, her chances of miscarrying would decrease dramatically and so she had been praying desperately to get herself through this without any complications.

Her stomach was doing back flips again and made a curious noise that sounded oddly enough like a dying whale, urging her to get out of bed and quickly. She knew her body well enough to know that as soon as she sat up, she would be bounding towards the bathroom in no time at all. Being a woman really was hard work sometimes. She felt the warmth radiating off her fiancé's body beside her and she smiled at the feeling of being able to wake up next to him again, when he wasn't away fighting a war.

She rolled onto her side carefully, as so not to irk her volatile stomach any more and clasped her hands together before placing them between her head and the pillow as she watched the steady rise and fall of his pale chest. She tried and failed to stifle a yawn, quickly stuffing her head into the pillow to muffle the noise. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't tired. Draco and herself had been up multiple times through the night, reconnecting in the most pleasurable way that they knew how, despite the hour long deliberation before going to bed as to whether they might hurt their child in the process.

After a rather flustered Hermione had to resort to asking Blinky, their stay-at-home-midwife, they had found out that it was perfectly safe and healthy. She still remembered the feeling of her cheeks burning as she stood before the little elf. It's not like he didn't know what they were doing, after all she was pregnant and she was sure that they were noisy enough sometimes, but it was still embarrassing to talk about. Despite Blinky's reassurance, she noticed that he had been extra careful with her during the night even at his own expense. In fact, by going as slow as he did, he had tired himself out even more due to the immense control he had relied on as so not to let his primal urges take over. She smiled silently to herself as fiancé slept on, seemingly dead to the world.

She rolled back over onto her back, preparing to get out of bed. Better not prolong the inevitable. She craned her head up to observe her route to the bathroom, no obstacles and luckily the bathroom door had been left open. She slowly began raising herself up, so far so good. However as soon as she got past a 70 degree angle she felt the familiar swirling in her stomach and without a second thought she bolted out of bed and straight into the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. She slumped down in front of the toilet and began the usual heaving until she felt drained and exhausted again.

She was so exhausted in fact, that she couldn't find the energy to lift her head from the toilet seat. The feeling in her stomach hadn't quelled fully and she knew that her ordeal was far from over. Her shaky hands clutched either side of the toilet seat as her stomach constricted and she lurched forward, vomiting again with another violent heave. She felt a pair of hands pull her hair gently away from her face and into a makeshift ponytail at the back of her head before one of the hands moved to soothingly rub her back.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" She croaked, turning back to him with heavy lidded eyes.

"Darling, you threw the quilt on top of me before jumping off the bed. I'm sure you could've woken even our dear friend Weasel." He mocked.

She groaned. "I'm sorry. Although it seems your child is as fussy an eater as you are."

"That'll be the ever reliable Malfoy genes kicking in there I suppose, always the worst traits wouldn't you say?" She smiled, not being able to find the energy to giggle. "Think you're finished?" He asked. She nodded in return and he hoisted her up off the floor and flushed the chain whilst she grabbed a bottle of mouthwash and promptly swilled out her mouth. Once the taste of vomit had been replaced with the freshness of the cool mint mouthwash she gazed upon her reflection.

"Ugh, it seems that pregnancy is not agreeing with me." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Dearest, it's not pregnancy, you're just sick and very tired is all." He replied.

"I wonder why that could be?" She challenged, catching his eye in the mirror.

"Hey, there were two people in that bed last night." He backfired with a smirk, thumbing in the direction of their bedroom.

"Luckily for you." She snorted. He rolled his eyes and ducked out of her vision before hoisting her up bridal style and carrying her back to the unmade bed and laying her down where she started wiggling about to make herself comfortable. "Sleep with me." She ordered through closed eyes, holding out a hand.

"Real smooth. You know, usually you'd have to take me to dinner first." He joked. She raised an eyebrow and even though her eyes were closed he could feel her menacing glare. He gladly climbed into bed beside her and pulled her in as close as physically possible to him. "We need to think about getting married soon."

"You'd have to take me to dinner first." She replied and he smirked into her shoulder. That's my girl. He thought secretly.

"I'm serious. I don't know when Lupin's going to be ordering me up North again. I'm guessing it'll be soon because he's still bitching to Harry about me killing Lucius."

"Yes dear." She muttered before turning to face him and snuggling into his chest.

"Are you listening?"

"Do you doubt me Draco Malfoy?" She asked in mock hurt. "Well I want to keep it as low key as possible, and by low key I mean you, me and two witnesses."

"Who are we going to ask without revealing it to anybody?"

"Oh, I already figured that out." She replied sleepily.

"Do go on."

"Blinky and Pinky. They already know about us and because they serve you, they can't tell anybody."

"You're brilliant."

"That's why you're marrying me. Now kindly shut up and let me catch up on some much needed beauty sleep." He didn't answer as his soon-to-be-wife placed her head on his shoulder and threw a protective arm around his waist before drifting off to sleep, shortly followed by him.

OOO

Lupin's gaunt face was retrieved from the pensieve as he eyed Theo from across the desk. The Minister had been kind enough to let him view the happenings of that morning through his own memory where he had seen Draco mercilessly torturing his own Father, he had seen his furious rage and it scared the shit out of him. Theo tried not to laugh manically from across the desk as he looked at Lupin's haunted face, he knew what that slightly modified memory would have done to him and it was only one of the first stages in his plan.

Theo was sure that this would plant the seeds of doubt in Lupin's mind about one of his most prized warriors which was exactly what he needed to do. By witnessing this display of Draco's savageness, surely Lupin would begin to rethink where he moved Draco around the board. He was the wild card, he could go one way or the other, but if you turned were against him then you were making a mistake. He was untouchable with his seemingly unlimited power, all that Theo needed to do was to make sure that Draco could be drawn away from Lupin before bringing this power roaring to the surface. He would teach him how to utilise it, therefore creating the greatest weapon he could imagine possessing. Oh yes, Draco would be an asset to have.

Lupin sat forward in his chair and placed a hand under his chin to support his head off the desk as he came to terms with everything. Draco had deliberately gone against his instructions. Draco knew that he was supposed to bring Lucius in and yet he didn't and let his own personal vendetta get in the way. He should've known to bring him in, that way they could confirm that he was the leader of the resistance and retrieve all the necessary information out of him before putting him up for trial which would most certainly result in his legal death. What Draco had done was unjustified murder. Of course being in the position that he was, he was allowed to kill but only as a last resort and in self-defence, however he had ruthlessly tortured and murdered an unarmed man. This wasn't what the Order stood for, in fact it was more of a Death Eater tactic.

Lupin couldn't stand for this. If this got out then people would start shunning the Order and everything they stood for because they killed defenceless wizards and they would show no mercy which would ultimately drive them into supporting the opposite cause. If only Sirius had been smarter about his decision to allow Draco into their ranks, perhaps they wouldn't be in this mess!

"Thank you for showing this to me Minister, I can take it from here." Lupin said formally.

"Of course. Just don't be too hard on Draco, sometimes these talents should be nurtured rather than prohibited. No matter how dark they might be…" Theo advised and Lupin could've sworn he saw Theo's eyes flash a glint of red. Lupin squinted and shook his head to see that the Minister's eyes were the same shade of blue that they always had been. It must've been a trick of the light or simply Lupin's werewolf vision playing tricks on him. Perhaps he'd been too used to seeing his son change his natural colouring too much. Nevertheless, he disregarded it quickly and stood up to shake the Minister's hand before the wizard turned on his heel and left promptly for the Ministry.

Draco was untouchable, there was nothing that could be used against him, nothing that he cared about. Or so they all thought. Theo was willing to try and disprove that theory. There must be something that he could use, otherwise his carefully structured plan would fall to dust. As soon as he got back into his office, he grabbed a quill and parchment and began scribbling down a note to one of his long time accomplices who would do the digging for him. Theo just hoped that they would strike gold.

OOO

Hermione squinted as the curtains were pulled back, allowing the harsh morning light to seep into the bedroom and sting her closed eyelids. She groaned in annoyance and turned over on her side, determined to bury her face into her pillow to shield herself from the light and allow her to return to her dreams. She smiled to herself when she rolled up close to her fiancé instead of the normally empty and colder half of the bed. She didn't think she would ever truly get over the elation that she experienced every day that she woke up next to her wizard.

"Time for Missy to be getting up!" Sung Pinky as she skipped across the bedroom to yank open the other set of curtains, increasing the brightness of their surroundings. It was a beautiful morning in March, at the start of spring and Hermione welcomed it with open arms, deciding that she would spend much more time outside in such glorious weather when she had the chance since it would be all the more healthier for the baby. "Missy Hermione?" The elf asked curiously when she saw no stirring from the lump under the duvets on her Mistress' side of the bed.

"I'll wake her Pinky, but thank you." Came the croaky voice of her Master Draco.

"Yes Master Draco, Pinky be putting Missy's breakfast out in a few minutes." She told him before skipping happily out of the room. Why the elf never bothered to apparate, Draco would never know. He blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light before turning over to face his fiancée who was using his body as a shield from the sun. It left one eye exposed to the sun and he could see her perfectly arched eyebrows knitted together as she squinted in her sleep. Draco gently jerked the shoulder that her head was half resting on, trying to wake her.

"Come on you, up you get." He nudged her and received an irritated groan in response. "Quickly dearest, otherwise – Merlin forbid – you'd be late for work and we can't have that can we Milady?" He joked.

"I'm sleeping for two, give me a break." She mumbled.

"That's no excuse." He smiled, propping himself up into a sitting position on the mattress before grasping onto the edges of the covers that his fiancée was clutching to her chest possessively. He yanked it out of her hand swiftly and pulled it away from her body, exposing her to the coolness of the spring morning. "You give me no choice. I shall have to resort to tickling you." He declared.

At his threat her eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed and took a defensive stance, bracing herself for an assault. She dropped it when he started rolling about on the bed laughing in abandon, wishing that she felt nauseous this morning so she could throw up all over him. She folded her arms unimpressed and glared at him as he continued laughing.

"You're cruel and lucky I'm not feeling sick this morning."

"Ah yes, but you love me anyway." He teased.

"Hmm, debateable…" She dismissed it and turned away from him to start rifling through her wardrobe in order to pull out something suitable for work, preferably robes since they were all the better for hiding her condition due to their bagginess. She was out of sorts today, that much she knew for certain. It seemed that all the sleep she had been getting –which, by the way was a rather generous amount – still hadn't been enough for her and baby. Merlin, being pregnant wasn't a walk in the park, but she knew it would all be worth it in the end when she held a baby in her arms.

She pulled her usual robe out of the wardrobe, the Ministry garb that nobody even bothered to wear in the hot clothes she wore underneath however were a different story, her usual work blouses were becoming a little tighter each day around her midsection and she feared that she might have to start wearing a variety of glamour or disillusionment charms soon to try and conceal it a little better. For now however, she was safe, only looking as though she were gaining a little weight.

When she turned around she was met with the sight of his blackened eyes. Shit. She'd made him angry. He was using the obvious height difference to try and intimidate her and it wasn't working, she had seen how dangerous he could really be but she knew he would never hurt her. He didn't like it when she would play on his vulnerabilities like that and it made him angry whenever she would. She reached her hands up and wove them around his neck, pulling him into her as she began trying to calm him. Damn her and her stupid mood swings. She didn't mean to make him angry at all.

"I love you." She whispered into his shoulder. That seemed to be the key and she felt him slacken against her, she almost let out a sigh of relief. "You know not to take me seriously when I'm grouchy after waking up." She laughed, running her hands through his hair. He buried his nose into her neck and inhaled deeply before twirling a lock of her hair between his fingers. She didn't really like throwing the word around like it meant nothing because eventually it would lose all of its importance but it was needed right now.

"You'll do well to remember it." He replied cheekily before pecking her cheek."Now get ready because I'm not letting you leave this house without breakfast. Don't forget, you've got two to be thinking about now." He reminded her. When he pulled away she could see that his dazzling silver eyes had returned to their usual colour accompanied by a mischievous glint. There was her wizard. She gave him a peck on his lips before turning to make her way into the bathroom to get washed up. He swatted her behind playfully as she went, before wandering off to go back to bed. She shook her head to herself, he really was the ever mercurial wizard.

He crawled between the sheets again, pulling them over him haphazardly in a tired attempt to get warmer. Yawning loudly, he listened to the audio his fiancée was providing as she hummed whilst brushing her teeth and finally singing softly to herself when she had finished. He smiled to himself, she wasn't a prodigy when it came to singing, in fact most of the time she was horribly off key and yet he loved to hear her sing, just like he loved to hear her talk. With his witch providing him with a soft sort of lullaby, he buried his face into her pillow to shield himself from the light before drifting off into a dream.

As she had predicted, it was rather difficult to pull her fitted blouse over her slightly swelling bump which was odd because it was barely even there however the buttons didn't lie and they were obviously straining to stay fastened over her midsection. Great, she was gaining weight already. Soon enough she would be as big as a whale with fat ankles. She gasped at the realisation but reminded herself that it was all going to be rewarded. Smiling down at her stomach, she patted it lovingly still dazed at the fact that she was going to be a Mother come September if Blinky's estimate was to be believed.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Draco was sound asleep, sprawled out over both sides of the queen-sized bed. She shook her head to herself and kissed his head before making her way downstairs to grab a spot of breakfast before she left for the Ministry.

"Good morning to yous, Mistress Hermione." Blinky chirped. "Where Mistress be taking breakfast?"

"I think I shall take it outside this morning, Blinky. It is a wonderful day after all." She smiled at the elf.

"Will Mistress be having the usual?" He asked. She nodded in response and settled down to a gargantuan breakfast, one which she wouldn't usually indulge in. However, since she was eating for two now, Blinky and Draco had changed what she ate and the amount of it. It were almost as though they wanted her to gain a colossal amount of weight before her pregnancy was up only drawing more attention to herself when she was out and about. She forced down every last bite of food that had been placed before her, telling herself it was for the good of the baby with each mouthful she took before taking her prenatal vitamins as well as what seemed like a pint of cranberry juice. All in all, she felt about ready to explode however, she would rather have her baby fat than malnourished, despite the horrific things that would be done to her body in the process.

She thanked Blinky and Pinky for her food as they took her plate and glass away to be cleaned before heading towards the floo where she would floo back into her other house before heading for the Ministry. It was rather tedious to do every morning but she could be traced back to their Manor which was under Draco's name and by doing so every morning and evening would appear highly suspicious to anybody who might be observing her.

As she set of to work, she was unaware that upstairs, her fiancé was tossing and turning about as he slept. He had enjoyed a peaceful and dreamless sleep after his witch had left their room this morning but then things started to change. It felt as though he were awake and yet his eyes wouldn't open, he had no control over his body. There was no visual behind his eyelids, it was just the black expanse of sleep but he could hear something, the faintest hint of voices which grew and grew until they became barely audible.

"Stop. Save your energy."

There was a heavy and laboured breathing which followed. "I can't."

The breathing persisted, shortening again before a deafening scream ripped through the air.

He finally gained control of his body and his eyes snapped open and he leapt out of bed. The voices, they were familiar, one was male and the other female. He couldn't quite identify them, he couldn't put the voice to the person and it was bugging him immensely. He waited until his breathing had calmed before wiping the sweat from his brow, trying to shake the odd dialogue he had heard from his head. It was probably nothing, some sort of demented nightmare.

Or so he thought.