"It's a baby," Narcissa Malfoy confidently predicted.
"I still say new house," her husband, Lucius Malfoy, argued. "After all, they've been married for nearly two years and are still living in the penthouse Draco bought upon leaving Hogwarts. A new home precedes starting a family."
The couple were currently awaiting the arrival of their son, Draco, and his wife, Hermione Granger. While the young Malfoys were often visitors at Malfoy Manor, this time Draco had especially arranged the visit and had implied he and Hermione had some news for Lucius and Narcissa.
"Definitely a baby," Narcissa retorted. "The passion those two have I'm surprised there wasn't a baby before the wedding."
"Passion doesn't always lead to pregnancy," Lucius reminded his wife. "We were married for several years before we were blessed with Draco, and no more children followed him. Unless you consider our marriage passionless," he added with a pout.
Laughing, Narcissa embraced her husband, assuring him that their marriage was anything but passionless. Even now, married for thirty plus years, the couple still had a passionate relationship and the more intimate aspects of their marriage were still as healthy as they had ever been. However, Lucius was right and despite the passion they'd always shared, Draco was their only child.
"Even so, I still feel the announcement will be about a child," Narcissa remarked. "I just feel ready to become a grandmother."
"I'm not sure I'm ready to become a grandfather," Lucius admitted. "Grandparents are old, and I am anything but old. I'm still as virile and energetic as I was at twenty."
"Being a grandparent doesn't mean you're over the hill, Lucius," Narcissa laughed. "You'll still be virile when you're a hundred. But surely you're looking forward to having a little one running around the manor again. A perfect little Malfoy to carry on the family name."
"I suppose it would be nice to have a grandson," Lucius conceded. "And just think if he's as mischievous as his father was, we'll have the pleasure of sending him back to his parents."
"No doubt he'll be a handful," Narcissa agreed, smiling widely at merely the thought of a grandson running around the manor. "Draco was always full of beans, and let's be honest Hermione is no shrinking violet."
"No, she's not," Lucius said with a wry smile.
To be honest, Hermione would not have been his first choice for a daughter-in-law, and in fact when Draco had first informed him of their romance, he'd hit the roof. The Malfoys were an old pure-blood family, and even though times had changed since Lucius's youth, traditions were traditions and Lucius had always assumed that the Malfoys would always be pure-bloods. However, Hermione was a muggleborn, and as much as Lucius has tried to accept that his son had formed his own path and had outgrown the beliefs he'd been raised by, he'd still struggled to accept his son could be serious about a witch who wasn't a pure-blood. In fact, he'd demanded Draco end the relationship, but his son had refused to give up a relationship he was happy in. After several arguments, Draco had eventually warned Lucius that he was going to make his own choices in life and if Lucius wanted to disinherit him for being with a muggleborn it was something he would learn to live with.
Disinheriting Draco had never even been a consideration for Lucius, but he still hadn't been happy about the situation with Hermione, so he'd tried a different approach. Instead of trying to reason with his son, he arranged a meeting with Hermione, and while making it clear he disapproved of her relationship with Draco, he tried to convince her to walk away from his son. However, Hermione was just as stubborn as Draco and she refused to back down. Even when Lucius made a few subtle threats towards her, she stood her ground and made it clear that she loved Draco and wasn't going anywhere.
Hermione's attitude had actually impressed Lucius, but he still hadn't been happy about the situation and had continued to try and split the couple up. However, the more he tried to stir the pot the closer Draco and Hermione seemed to become, and throughout it all Hermione had been nothing but kind and friendly towards him and Narcissa. By the time Draco proposed, Lucius had secretly accepted Hermione as part of his son's life, and while part of him mourned the loss of the pure-blood family line, he had to admit the Malfoys were gaining a strong witch in Hermione. She'd never once backed down in the face of his disapproval, and in Lucius's eyes, she'd proved that she genuinely loved Draco and wasn't with him for his money or family name.
Once he'd accepted Hermione as Draco's future wife, Lucius had allowed the begrudging respect he'd started to feel for her develop and by the time they were married, he would proud to call Hermione a Malfoy. More importantly, he was proud to call her his daughter. So while she would never be a choice he would have made for the family, he was rather glad Draco had made the choices he had and these days he wouldn't swap Hermione for any other witch, even a pure-blood one.
"Oh, they're here," Narcissa called, pulling his focus back to the present. "Remember to act surprised when they tell us about the baby."
"The new house," Lucius corrected.
"Do you want to bet?" Narcissa asked her husband with an arched eyebrow.
"Terms?" Lucius retorted with a smirk.
"The usual," Narcissa answered with a smirk of her own. Over the years she and Lucius had indulged in many bets, and the wager was always the same – the winner got complete control in the bedroom for a week, and anything they desired was theirs for the asking.
"It's a bet," Lucius said, grabbing his wife's hand and shaking it just as their son and daughter-in-law entered the room.
"And what are you betting on this time?" Draco asked with a good natured chuckle, not too surprised to find his parents betting on something or other. It was what they did when they tended to disagree over something, and while Draco didn't know how the bets were settled, and quite frankly didn't want to know, the end result always seemed to keep them both happy.
"Nothing important," Narcissa replied as she ushered her son into the living room and embraced her daughter-in-law. "You're looking lovely, Hermione. Virtually glowing."
"Thanks," Hermione replied with a slight smile, not missing the smug look Narcissa sent in Lucius's direction at her words.
"You are looking particularly lovely," Lucius agreed as he also embraced Hermione. "I like your new hair-cut."
"New hair cut?" Draco queried, looking at his wife.
"I had it cut this morning," Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes as she sat down next to her husband. "It's about three inches shorter than it was when I got up."
"Of course, I knew that," Draco muttered, shooting his father a murderous glance. To be honest he hadn't noticed Hermione's new hair-cut, but he would have done before the end of the day, only now thanks to Lucius it looked like he was an unobservant husband.
"Sure you did," Lucius laughed. "It pays to pay attention to ones wife, Draco. The last thing you want to do is miss a new hair-cut, or merlin forbid, a new outfit."
"Or an entirely new bedroom suite?" Narcissa questioned archly.
"You once failed to notice mother had decorated?" Draco asked with a wince.
For as long as he could remember his mother loved to play about with interior design and barely a month went by when she wasn't changing something or other at the manor. While he was at Hogwarts, he was always so observant when he came home so he could notice the changes and compliment his mother on them. Even now when he visited his childhood home, he was alert to whatever new decorating his mother had been engaged in so he could pass comment on the changes she'd made.
"In my defence, I arrived home late at night after a busy weekend away and all but fell straight into bed," Lucius replied with a shrug.
"A new bed, I might add," Narcissa interjected.
"It wasn't the bed I was interested in, it was the witch in the bed," Lucius shot back, flashing his wife a wicked grin. "You know, I think that was the night Draco was conceived."
"And that is enough of that story," Draco declared with a clap of his hands as Hermione chuckled at his obvious horror at his parent's mentioning their sex life.
"Ah yes, you and Hermione have an announcement," Lucius remarked, sharing a charged look with his wife. "Do share your news. Or would you rather hear more about the night you were conceived?" he teased.
"I think I've heard more than enough on that subject," Draco insisted, before turning to his wife. "I know we hadn't intended to blurt it out like this, but they won't stop bugging us. They're dying to know what's going on."
"I can see that," Hermione replied with an indulgent smile as she took notice of both Lucius and Narcissa virtually perched on the edge of their seats. "Let's do it."
"We're pregnant," Draco announced as Hermione squeezed his hand, letting him know he should be the one to break the news to his parents.
The words had barely left his lips before Narcissa was jumping to her feet in joy and embracing both her son and daughter-in-law. Lucius was right behind her offering his sincere congratulations, and the second he finished embracing Hermione, Narcissa turned to him with a triumphant shine in her eyes.
"I told you so."
"So you did," Lucius conceded with a sigh, even though he was more than happy with the outcome of their bet as it was always fun to see what new and naughty things Narcissa would come up with over the next week.
"This wasn't a surprise, was it?" Draco checked. Even though his parents were clearly over the moon with their news, it was equally clear that it hadn't taken them by surprise.
"You mentioned you had something to tell us, and since you're already married, it didn't leave us with a great deal of options," Lucius pointed out with a shrug. "Although, I did think you might be going to mention finding somewhere new to live, even more so now you've got a baby on the way."
"Actually, we're planning on looking at a few houses at the weekend," Hermione said. "The penthouse is great, but we really want a proper house with a garden before the baby arrives."
"My grandson will need a garden," Lucius agreed with a nod. "And a room here of course. We'll have to sort one, Narcissa."
"I'm already planning it," Narcissa laughed.
"I can't believe I'm going to become a grandfather," Lucius said with a shake of his head, although he couldn't wipe the large smile off his face. "In a few months time, I'll have a grandson to spoil."
"Or a granddaughter," Hermione pointed out. It was the second time in less than a minute that Lucius had mentioned a grandson, and Hermione wanted to remind him that babies came in both sexes.
"Firstborn Malfoys are always boys," Lucius answered in a confident tone of voice that left no room for argument. "You, my dear, are carrying my grandson. Draco's son."
"A son," Draco whispered reverently as if the idea of having a son was just occurring to him.
"A son," Lucius repeated proudly. "We need to celebrate. Champagne all round, I think."
As Lucius sorted champagne, and some juice for her, Hermione watched as the Malfoys got lost in celebrating the good news. Since Lucius had first mentioned a grandson it seemed that the entire family had latched onto the idea Hermione was carrying a boy. Even when she mentioned the possibility of carrying a girl, the idea was brushed off. Lucius was adamant that first born Malfoys were boys, and it seemed Narcissa and Draco were swayed by his reasoning and were already referring to the coming baby as a boy.
Tears formed in Hermione's eyes as she watched the magical scan of the baby she was carrying. It wasn't her first scan, but seeing her unborn child got to her every time and glancing at her husband she could see that Draco was affected as well. Every scan seemed to make her pregnancy feel even more real, and with a due date now sorted, it really had sunk in that in a few months time, they would have a new little person in their lives.
"Do you wish to know the sex of the child?" the medi-witch conducting the scan asked.
"No need, we know it's a boy," Draco answered before Hermione had even considered her answer.
"Oh, you've had the sex checked before?" the medi-witch asked, checking her notes and finding no mention of it.
"No, first born Malfoys are always boys," Draco said, sounding exactly like Lucius as he'd said the same thing dozens of times since Hermione had announced her pregnancy.
"Your family have a charm on them?" the medi-witch asked in curiosity. "I've heard rumours that some old pure-blood families have such charms on them, but I've also heard that the charms are unreliable."
"I don't know about charms, but I assure you, my wife is carrying a boy," Draco replied with a proud smile.
"First born Malfoys are always boys," Hermione mouthed along with Draco, who shot her an unimpressed glare.
"If you say so, Mr Malfoy," the medi-witch replied politely, but Hermione could see she was just humouring Draco, and by the annoyed look he gave her, Draco could see it as well. "So no sex check?"
"No need for one," Draco answered sharply. "We know we're having a boy."
Draco's tone put an end to the conversation, and Hermione shot the medi-witch an apologetic smile when her husband wasn't looking. The couple then got copies of their latest scans, made their next appointment and left St Mungo's, wandering into the bright summer day.
"Have you ever thought your father might be wrong?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Frequently," Draco laughed. "I know I used to hero worship him when I was younger, but I think we both can agree that he's not always right. As much as it pains me to admit it, my father is not perfect and does not know everything."
"I didn't mean in general, I meant about the baby," Hermione said. "And before you say it, I know first born Malfoys are always boys. But things change. I might be carrying a girl."
"Nonsense," Draco snorted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "On this, father is right. You are carrying my son. Our son."
"I just don't want you to build your hopes up, only to be disappointed," Hermione said gently.
"You could never disappoint me," Draco replied seriously, pausing and turning Hermione so they were facing one another. "I love this baby, boy or girl. I just know that it's a boy."
Aware that it was pointless arguing with Draco when he was being so stubborn, Hermione dropped the subject and instead talk turned to baby names. Hermione had already agreed to follow the Black family tradition and use a star or constellation name for their child, and it would seem Draco already had a few favourites in mind. However, predictably he was only considering boys names and even though she agreed of all the names in the mix, Scorpius was her favourite, she refused to start calling the child she was carrying by that name as Draco suggested they do. Hermione argued that when the baby was born, Scorpius may not suit it and she didn't want to be stuck with a name that didn't work, but what she was really thinking was that she wasn't going to call her unborn child Scorpius only to have a girl and end up with a totally unsuitable name.
"Okay, we wait to officially name the baby," Draco conceded half an hour into their discussion.
"I think it's for the best," Hermione replied with a serene smile.
"But Scorpius is the forerunner?" her husband checked.
"It is," Hermione confirmed with a nod.
"Mother will be thrilled to hear we're moving forward with the name," Draco said, before announcing he had to be getting back to work.
Happily waving her husband off, Hermione headed back to the house they had recently purchased and settling herself in the library, she found all the books she could about the night sky and started doing her own research. Her husband may have neglected to look into names for girls, but Hermione was going to be prepared. If Lucius was wrong and the boy she was carrying wasn't a boy, she wanted to have some options of names for a potential daughter.
Before her pregnancy, Hermione had always enjoyed the foreign trips that came as part of her job in the Department of International Co-operation at the Ministry of Magic, and she was sure she would enjoy them again once she'd given birth, but in the midst of her pregnancy all she wanted to do was to return home. Thankfully her latest trip was a short one, and it was also due to be her last trip before she started her maternity leave.
Arriving home, Hermione barely had a chance to hug her husband before he was dragging her upstairs, where he had a surprise waiting for her. Even in her condition, she half expected him to take her into their bedroom and ravish her as pregnancy had done nothing to dampen their explosive love life, but instead Draco led her to the room they had decided upon for the nursery.
"I really hope you're going to like this," Draco said, suddenly seeming rather nervous. "I know you've been undecided about the nursery, so I decided to be decisive."
"You've decorated the nursery while I've been away?" Hermione gasped. She knew some witches would be unhappy with the thought of something so major being done behind their back, but personally she loved the idea of Draco taking charge of something he knew she was struggling with.
"I have," Draco answered with a nod. "Let's just hope it meets your approval."
Stepping into the room, Hermione gasped in awe at the magical sight that greeted her. The room had been transformed into a dragon's lair. Murals of dragons decorated the pale blue walls, the blankets in the crib were covered with dragons, dragon toys lined the shelves on the walls, a dragon mobile hung above the crib and even the curtains were patterned with tiny dragons.
"I see we're going with a dragon theme," Hermione whispered, admiring the stunning murals on the walls.
"I hope you don't mind, but I always loved dragons as a boy," Draco said, looking almost nostalgic as he looked around the room.
"I think it's amazing," Hermione replied honestly. "And I know girls like dragons as well, but it feels very much like a boys room."
"It is for our son," Draco replied with a chuckle.
"You hope," Hermione shot back.
"I can change it if you want," Draco sighed.
"No, let's leave it," Hermione decided. "It truly is a beautiful room. Even for a girl."
"Besides, any daughter of ours, is bound to be pretty ferocious with you as a mother," Draco remarked, wrapping his wife in his arms. "Girl or boy, I think they will love this room."
"I think they will," Hermione agreed. She knew the room had been designed for a boy, but a girl could reside in the room just as well, after all who said that girls couldn't love dragons and be just as brave and fierce as any boy.
Settled in a corner booth at a small cafe in the village in Wiltshire where she and Draco had bought their home, Hermione was finishing off the remains of a gooey chocolate brownie when her best friend, Harry Potter, arrived and after placing his order, including another brownie for Hermione, settled down opposite her.
"You look ready to pop," Harry laughed as waitress quickly arrived with his order and he slid the brownie across to his friend.
"It's these things, I'm addicted," Hermione replied, digging into the delicious brownie. "This kid has a majorly sweet tooth."
"And how is my soon to be here godson?" Harry teased.
"Please don't you start, Harry," Hermione groaned.
"Why not? Lucius is convinced you're having a boy," Harry laughed. "And if Lucius says so, then it can't be wrong."
"Is it wicked of me to hope he is wrong?" Hermione asked. "Since the minute I announced my pregnancy, all I've heard is that first born Malfoys are always boys. And everyone is so convinced. Even though the nursery can work both ways, Draco decorated for a boy, and he's always talking about his son. And Lucius and Narcissa are no better, it's always our grandson this and our grandson that. Even the presents they buy are aimed at boys."
"A girl would certainly be a shock to the system," Harry agreed.
"But would it be a good shock?" Hermione asked in all seriousness. "I know we laugh about it, and in a way their determination that I'm going to have a boy is funny. But what if it's a girl and they're all so disappointed? What if I have a girl, and she doesn't get the love a boy would get? What if I have a girl and disappoint my entire family?"
"First, you could never disappoint Draco, he adores you too much," Harry pointed out. "Second, boy or girl, you're still giving Lucius and Narcissa their first grandchild. Sure, they're building themselves up for a boy, but they would love a girl just as much. You know as well as I do that you could be carrying a little green alien, and as long as it was a Malfoy, its grandparents would love it."
"I think it's safe to say I am not going to give birth to a little green alien," Hermione laughed. "I just hope you're right and there's no disappointments coming up."
"There won't be," Harry predicted. "But there could be a lot of told you so's, if you do have a boy. After all, you're the one who keeps reminding people you could be having a girl. Maybe you should have secretly asked the medi-witch what you were having, so you would be prepared."
"I did think about it, but decided I couldn't do it to Draco," Hermione confessed. "I couldn't know for sure what we were having, and not tell him. Besides, if I knew we were having a boy and I stopped reminding people I could be having a girl, people would have been suspicious. And if I knew we were having a girl, I would have felt duty bound to tell people. Especially when Narcissa is going around buying babgro's reading world's greatest grandson."
"We'll soon find out if Lucius was right," Harry remarked. "Very soon we'll either have a little Scorpius, or a little girl with no name."
"Lyra," Hermione said with a smile. "It'll be Scorpius or Lyra. I found a few girls names I liked, and even though Draco is convinced we don't need a girls name, he agreed to Lyra if we do have a girl."
"Lyra, I like it," Harry said with a smile. "And you know what, I don't think it's wicked to hope the Malfoys are wrong. To be honest, I would quite like to see the look on Lucius's face if you did have a little girl. He is so sure he's right."
"That is because all first born Malfoys are boys," Hermione replied, repeating her father-in-law's favoured declaration.
"Can I ask if there are ever second born Malfoys?" Harry questioned. "Draco is an only child, and so is Lucius. And it's not like there's several branches of the Malfoys family out there. So do Malfoys ever have more than one child?"
"You know what, I'm not sure," Hermione mused, thinking over the times she'd spent at Malfoy Manor, which was steeped in the history of her husband's family. "I know Lucius's father was an only child as well. I keep thinking of the large family tapestry, and I can't recall any sets of siblings. Ooh, I'll have to look into that. It's one thing for all first born Malfoys to be boys, if all Malfoys ever have is one child, but what if they have more than one."
"And let's not forget, this is the first Malfoy not to be a pure-blood in god knows how many generations," Harry added. "I think in this case tradition is not to be counted on, and I think anything can happen when baby Malfoy comes into this world."
Baby Malfoy came into the world just a few short weeks after Hermione's chat with Harry. When Hermione first went into labour, Draco had time to send messages to their family and friends, but once she was well into her labour, he didn't leave her side for a moment. As the hours passed by, Draco was right by his wife's side, encouraging her and holding her hand as she brought their first child into the world with a lot of screaming and cursing.
"He's here," Draco cried, clutching onto Hermione's hand as the baby let out a loud cry in the medi-witches arms. "Hermione, he's here."
"Is he a he?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Of course he's a he," Draco snorted.
"Actually Mr Malfoy, he is a she," the medi-witch who had delivered the baby said in amusement.
"A she?" Draco echoed. "Are you sure?"
"This isn't my first delivery," the medi-witch replied in a deadpan voice. "Besides, there's something vital missing for a boy."
As if he didn't believe the medi-witch, Draco left hold of his wife's hand and moved to where the medi-witch was cleaning up the baby.
"Well, what do you know, no balls," he muttered, shaking his head. "It's a girl," he said, turning to Hermione in shock. "A girl."
"I got that," Hermione replied, unable to hide her amused smile even though she was still feeling rather drained and exhausted. "Can I see her?"
"Of course," the medi-witch replied, smiling at Hermione as she handed the freshly cleaned baby over to Draco.
"Draco, bring me our daughter," Hermione called when her husband just stood looking down at their child as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Slowly Draco walked back to Hermione's bedside, but rather than hand the baby over he continued to gaze down at her. The longer Draco stood watching their daughter, the more nervous Hermione became. Just as she was about to ask him if everything was okay, and hope that he wasn't going to reject their daughter, he looked up at her and she could see the tears brimming in his stormy grey eyes.
"She's perfect," he whispered, handing over their daughter.
"So no disappointment over her sex?" Hermione checked. "After all, this isn't the son your family envisioned."
"It just means we'll have to try again," Draco retorted. Hermione could tell he was trying to have a joke, but she could still hear the emotion catching in his voice. "But seriously, I don't care that she's not a boy. I sort of feel foolish for being so bullish about the whole thing, but I can't regret her. She's amazing."
"And no doubt she will have her daddy wrapped around her little finger," Hermione said with a tender smile as she gazed down at her beautiful daughter.
"Most definitely," Draco agreed. "Just like her mother."
With the medical staff needing to clean up, and Hermione needed to be checked over, Draco was allowed to take his daughter to meet her grandparents. Both his parents and Hermione's were waiting in the relatives room, while he knew their friends would be gathering back at their house to welcome them home once they knew Hermione and the baby were going to be discharged.
The second he entered the relatives room both sets of parents rushed over to him and cooed over their new grandchild. Since the baby was wrapped in a cream blanket, and only their adorable face was visible, it was impossible to tell the sex so Draco wasn't faced with a barrage of questions from his father.
"How's Hermione?" her mother, Jean, asked.
"Tired, but doing well," Draco answered. "She'll be allowed visitors in a short while."
"So are you going to allow us to hold our grandson?" Narcissa asked eagerly.
"No, but you can gold your granddaughter," Draco replied with a devious smirk as his mother gasped and his father opened and closed his mouth like a demented goldfish.
"Daughter?" Lucius finally managed. "How do you have a daughter?"
"Hermione gave birth to her," Draco laughed as he handed his daughter over to his mother.
While Narcissa got over her surprise fairly quickly, Lucius was still clearly in shock as his new grandchild was passed around her grandparents. By the time Jean passed the tiny baby over to him, he was still reeling from the news and much to everyone's amusement he unwrapped the blanket his granddaughter was wrapped in, just to confirm she was indeed a girl.
"Satisfied?" Draco laughed as his father tucked the blanket back around the baby.
"She is a girl," Lucius whispered.
"My daughter," Draco said proudly. "Your granddaughter."
"Granddaughter," Lucius repeated, a smile tugging at his lips as he gazed down at the precious bundle in his arms. "My granddaughter," he repeated, pride creeping into his voice. "Oh, how I'm going to spoil you, my little princess," he cooed, kissing his new granddaughter.
While Lucius continued to get used to the fact he had a granddaughter rather than the expected grandson, Hermione's parents visited with their daughter before heading home, promising to visit once Hermione and the baby were home and settled. With Lucius still holding tight to his granddaughter, he and Narcissa made their way in to see their daughter-in-law.
"So what do you think, Lucius?" Hermione asked, already knowing from Draco that her father-in-law was entranced by the newest member of the family. "I thought first born Malfoys were always boys?"
"A man is entitled to be wrong once in a while," Lucius muttered. "It's not my fault this has never happened before. I genuinely expected a boy."
"I think it's pretty appropriate that the new generation of Malfoys have broken with tradition," Hermione said. "After all, Lyra is the first Malfoy born in several generations who is not a pure-blood."
"Lyra?" Narcissa gasped. "You've named her already. How did you manage that?"
"Unlike some people, I planned for both occurrences," Hermione said with a shrug. "Everyone may have been convinced I was having a boy, but I knew there was a chance I was having a girl. So I did some research and picked a few names I liked. Draco and I agreed on Lyra, even though he never thought we would use it."
"I believed my father," Draco argued defensively. "He was so sure."
"I was, but Hermione is right," Lucius said thoughtfully as he looked at his new granddaughter. "This is a new generation of Malfoys. Before now, Malfoy have always been pure-bloods, and while this little one is not a pure-blood she is every inch a Malfoy. Maybe it's time things changed. Maybe it's time first born Malfoys were not always boys."
"About this first time business, when was the last time the Malfoys had more than one child?" Hermione asked. "Harry mentioned it a few weeks ago, and I did some digging and can't find any siblings in the family in the recent past."
"Traditionally Malfoys have one child, and its always a boy," Lucius admitted. "But you and Draco will be the ones to change that. Your next child will be a boy, I just know it."
"Next child?" Hermione questioned in amazement. "I only gave birth an hour ago."
"It's not like I expect you to give me another grandchild in nine months," Lucius chuckled. "But sometime in the future, I would like a grandson."
"We'll see what we can do for you," Draco laughed, taking his daughter back from his father and handing her over to Hermione. "But in the meantime, let's focus on Lyra. The healers have said, Hermione will be able to leave hospital this evening."
"Excellent, everyone will be so pleased to see you," Narcissa said with a smile. "Oh no," she suddenly gasped, looking horrified. "The decorations. They all say it's a boy."
"I'm sure something can be sorted," Lucius soothed his wife.
With Lucius promising to take care of the decorations, he and Narcissa headed off to make sure everything was ready for Hermione's return home and Lyra's arrival.
Several hours later Hermione and Lyra had been checked over dozens of times, and given a clean bill of health, so they were able to leave on Draco's arm. Arriving back home, they found all their closest friends gathered to greet the new member of the family. And while everyone was gushing over Lyra, and laughing over the fact she wasn't the predicted boy Lucius had been expecting, Hermione took notice of the decorations. As Narcissa had alluded to, the balloons and banners were all blue and all bore the headline – it's a boy! However, Lucius had weaved a bit of magic and the word not was inserted between the it's and the a in big letters, so now the banners and balloons read it's not a boy!
"Instead of changing the colours and wording, I thought I would acknowledge I was wrong," Lucius remarked with a rueful smile when Hermione thanked him for the décor. "The alternative was to take everything down, and Narcissa didn't want that. She wanted everything to be perfect."
"It is perfect," Hermione said with a smile as she gazed around the room at all the people she loved the most.
The new Malfoy may not have been the expected boy, but all of Hermione's fears about a girl not being accepted were unfounded. Draco had fallen head over heels in love with his daughter, and his parents weren't far behind him. Hermione knew that even though she wasn't expected, Lyra would be loved and cherished, and likely a bit spoiled by her family.
The End.