Five days after deciding to marry Charlie Weasley, Hermione found herself in a familiar setting: washing her hands and rinsing her mouth in the sink of her bathroom in her office at the Ministry on that beautiful Tuesday morning, her breakfast no longer hers.
I can't wait for this morning sickness shit to be over.
If it happened only in the mornings she could manage; but no, it happened in the afternoon, at midnight, even when she was taking a shower! And, God forbid, if she ate anything remotely spicy, her stomach would send it all back up after minutes.
Do not tell me you two will be as finicky as your dad about spices! Hermione mentally admonished her unborn babies. The spoiled brat wouldn't even kiss me if I had any Indian food!
She smiled as she dried her hands and walked out of the bathroom into her office, stopping in her tracks as her eyes fell on the person sitting there.
"Mrs. Malfoy?" Hermione uttered, her voice sounding a little higher than usual; her mind immediately thinking the woman was there because she had found out the truth about her pregnancy.
"Miss Granger." Said Narcissa Malfoy, with a smile.
"Hi." Hermione walked to her chair, nervously touching her lower belly. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Malfoy?"
"I'm here because of the Charity gala ball. I was told we'd be working together. I am to organize it and you're in charge of the budget."
Hermione sat on her chair and slowly nodded, remembering she knew that. "Yes! Of course! The Ball!" she exclaimed, speaking before she could stop herself: "I'm so sorry, I forgot it for a moment; pregnancy brain is a very annoying thing." and she instantly froze, not wanting to discuss her pregnancy with her, fearing doing so could expose her secret.
But Narcissa kept on giving her a soft smile. "I know exactly what you mean, Miss Granger. I couldn't remember my own name if someone asked me some days. How far along are you?"
"Ten weeks. Twins."
It was Narcissa's turn to freeze in her seat for a second – for that was something she neither knew nor expected – but she quickly recovered, exclaiming: "Twins!" even though she struggled to contain her excitement.
"Yes. Just my luck." Said Hermione with a small smile. "Mother of two at twenty-three. I was shocked at first, but now I couldn't imagine it any other way."
Narcissa tilted her head, before speaking again, a twinkle in her blue eyes, "What about the father, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Charlie Weasley." Hermione said it out loud for the first time.
Narcissa smirked but didn't comment on that. "Two babies." she said instead, truly amazed by that. "There are no twins in my family, you know. Neither in my husband's. So far."
"Any reason?" Hermione asked, already knowing about the curse since she and Ginny had talked.
"Some say it's a curse." Said Narcissa, letting her sadness show. "Others say it's just bad genetics."
Hermione frowned a little – hearing the once pureblood snob Narcissa Malfoy saying that their prized blood carried bad genetics was a bit of a surprise.
"But the babies have always arrived in good health, I presume?" Hermione asked, knowing that was an important information for her to have.
"Oh, yes. My Draco came into the world with two very healthy lungs, he cried loudly the moment he was out."
"And has never stopped whining since." Hermione muttered before she could stop herself.
Narcissa looked at her for a silent second before bursting in laughter.
Hermione blushed, "I'm so sorry to speak of your son like that."
"No! Don't worry about it, Hermione. Do you mind if I call you Hermione?"
"No. Not at all." She smiled at the woman, feeling completely out of sorts at the unexpected sense of camaraderie.
"I was his classmate at Hogwarts." Hermione felt the need to explain herself. "And he would find something to complain about every class, no matter how great the professor was."
"I know my son, Hermione." Narcissa spoke with a nod. "Draco is a drama-queen, just like his father."
Hermione nodded, looking at the woman in front of her with curiosity, relieved that the organization of that Ball wasn't going to be as dreadful as she had feared.
Later
It was nearly one in the afternoon and Hermione and Narcissa had traded her office for a bakery near the Ministry, where they talked over tea and pastries.
"And to this day," said Narcissa laughing, "Draco cannot stand going to the beach. We own properties in the Coasts of Italy and France but he refuses to go; he absolutely hates the thought of sand touching his privates!"
Hermione laughed with her, "I can't imagine having houses at beautiful beaches in the continent and never going because of such a stupid aversion. It's just sand." She shook her head, remembering one occasion when she had mentioned she wanted to go camping and Draco had had a fit after she explained to him what going camping entailed. "I love the beach and the outdoors. I grew up camping in the woods with my parents."
"Camping?" repeated Narcissa with a smirk. "Draco would never spend a night at a place with no bathrooms or on a bed without Egyptian cotton bed linens of 400 thread count."
Hermione wanted to nod and roll her eyes, recalling a long discussion over bed linens thread count and how utterly obsessed Draco was with them.
"He's fully his father's fault." Added Narcissa, sipping her tea. "I was raised to enjoy the finer things in life, yes, but Lucius was raised like a prince – and he did the same to Draco."
"But it's not a bad thing to want the best for your own kid – if you can afford." Hermione said, empathetically.
Narcissa shook her head slowly. "Too much of a good thing can turn bad, Hermione. Draco lacks some abilities to navigate adulthood due to always having Lucius solving his mistakes for him. Have you never heard him say that his father would hear about something?"
Hermione nearly spit out the tea she was sipping. "Oh my God, yes!" she laughed. "At least once a week!"
"See, even during the war – if you don't mind me mentioning it – Draco was just a scared boy. I was terrified for him."
Hermione touched her hand on the table. "You all survived it, Narcissa. And Draco is a responsible adult, is he not?" she recalled him bringing some work home and doing it diligently, always being on time and approaching his tasks with consideration.
"Yes, that he is." Narcissa nodded. "He takes his job at the family company very seriously."
"See." Hermione said, internally berating herself for defending Draco.
"I must say," Narcissa said, finishing her tea, "That this went better than I expected, Hermione."
"I can say the same, Narcissa."
"I'm truly sorry to hear about the situation with your parents." Narcissa touched her manicured hand over Hermione's. "If you ever find yourself in need of motherly advice, I'd love to receive your floo-call. I wasn't blessed with a daughter of my own, as you know."
"But you'll have Miss Greengrass soon." Hermione said, schooling her face not to show any hint of sadness or anger.
Narcissa made a disapproving face, "Don't remind me. That stupid son of mine failed to bring us a worthy bride of his choosing... then my stupid husband went and choose that stupid girl." She sighed. "See what I have to deal with, Hermione? I'm surrounded by stupidity in my own house. Meeting you has been a breath of fresh air in my life."
Hermione smiled, "Thanks for your kind words. Meeting you has been a delightful surprise."
Narcissa looked serious all of a sudden, "I know I wasn't the kindest of witches in the past. And things happened to you that I feel deeply sorry for having witnessed-"
Hermione stopped her by holding her hand tightly, "It's all forgiven. If it weren't, I wouldn't have spoken at your trial."
Narcissa smiled and sniffled, wiping a tear from her face. "Alright, so let's talk about good things! Have you already found out your babies' genders?" her blue eyes moving to Hermione's small baby bump with fondness.
"Yes. One of each. A boy and a girl." Hermione touched her belly, "I'll name them Scorpius and Lyra."
Narcissa's face showed a small sign of heartfelt surprise before her blue eyes sparkled and she beamed: "You'll name them after constellations! How lovely!"
"It was Charlie's idea." Hermione lied – it had been her decision to respect the Black family tradition – and after meeting Narcissa she was glad she had.
Narcissa sniffled again, wiping another tear, "It's my family's tradition. I loved it. I'm sorry I'm being all emotional, all this talk of family and babies makes my think that if my son wasn't such an idiot, I could already have a sweet grandbaby to give my love to."
"Soon you'll have it." Hermione said, inadvertently thinking of her own kids, but quickly adding: "I bet Miss Greengrass will be popping a little one in no time." Her heart clenched as she said that, knowing that the day that news arrived she'd be devastated.
Hope it takes a while though. It would be weird if my twins went to school with a half-sibling of the same age they have no idea exists.
Narcissa shook her head, "You're too kind, Hermione."
And not for the first time that day, Hermione felt like there was more that the woman wanted to say but was holding back.
"Would you allow me to send them my love?" asked Narcissa, pointing at her belly.
"Of course." Hermione replied, having learned it was a tradition amongst wizarding families to reach out through magic to unborn babies and send them good thoughts and loving energy.
Nearly holding her breath, Hermione put Narcissa's hand on her baby-bump and watched her sending her energy to her own grandchildren – unbeknownst.
It was Hermione's turn to sniffle and wipe her tears.
"They're so strong already." Narcissa whispered, slowly removing her hand from her belly.
"I know. Charlie told me he can sense their magic signatures already."
"Yes... I did too." She continued to speak softly, her eyes filled with a warmth Hermione recognized having seen in Draco's.
Then, as if her mere thoughts had the power to summon him, her sweet moment with Narcissa was broken by his voice – a voice that Hermione hadn't heard in over a month:
"Mother, I'm here to accompany you to Diagon Alley as you asked..." Draco's voice died slowly as he looked from one witch to the other. "Why were you two crying? I can't possibly imagine anything that would make both of you sad at the same time."
Narcissa smiled, her eyes glittering with something akin to mischief as she replied: "Nothing sad, Draco. These are happy tears. Hermione is pregnant."
Those words seemed to have emitted the physical energy of a blow, for Draco took a step back, his grey eyes fixed on the younger witch with near obscene intensity. "You're pregnant?" he said, licking his lips.
Hermione forced herself to not react under his hungry gaze. "Hi, Mr. Malfoy." She politely greeted him. "Yes. Charlie and I are expecting – it was an accident, but a very happy one."
"Charlie." Draco breathed out, making a face as that news churned his stomach.
But Hermione read his tone as relief, her chest constricting as his reaction hurt her deeply – but she refused to let him know. "Yes. Charlie Weasley." She added with a smile.
Narcissa smiled too as she watched their interaction, her eyes sparkling with a secret she wasn't telling, "Well," she said, breaking that uncomfortable conversation, "I'll be going, Hermione. I have colour palettes to choose and a dress to buy for the ball." She pulled Hermione to a hug and kissed both her cheeks affectionately. "I'll see you next week to discuss the party some more."
"Of course. Thanks for the marvellous morning, Narcissa." Hermione replied with a smile, which died altogether as her eyes fell on Draco's before he turned and left with his mother.
Minutes later, inside a clothing store in Diagon Alley, Draco stood near Narcissa, completely absorbed by his own tempestuous thoughts, holding himself together by a thread.
Hermione was pregnant.
Fucking Weasley had fucked a baby in his Hermione!
She was expecting another man's baby.
"Draco?" he heard his mother's voice calling him. "Son, are you listening to me?"
No, he wasn't. He had stopped paying attention after the third dress she had shoved in his arms. He looked around the store only to realize Narcissa had taken them to the baby section of Madam Eleanor's clothing store.
"Mother. What are you doing?" he asked with a frown.
"What?" Narcissa asked him, one cute small dress in either of her hands.
"What are you doing looking at baby clothing?" he asked, frowning. "Are you trying to tell me something? Am I having a sibling twenty-three years younger than me?"
"Oh, no, Draco! Don't be silly. I'm just choosing some gifts for Hermione. She doesn't have her mother with her, as you probably know. So I decided to give her a few things."
Draco frowned at the way his mother referred to Hermione by her first name. "So, you and Granger are friends now?"
"I guess you could say that. She's an amazing young woman. Every bit as intelligent as you've always accused her to be." She continued looking at baby clothes as if for her own kids.
Draco looked at the baby dresses his mother was holding and shook his head, "Hermione won't put those fancy clothes on her kid, mom."
"Yes, she will, dear. Nothing makes a mom happier than dressing up her little babies in beautiful cute outfits!"
Draco looked again at her chosen selection and realized she hadn't picked up only dresses, there were also clothes one would assume were for baby boys – there was even a suit amongst them.
"Why are you getting boys' and girls' clothing?" he asked.
"Oh, that's because she's expecting twins."
Draco nearly choked in his own saliva, Two babies! Weasley put two babies in my Hermione!
He didn't think he could handle that; he looked at the baby clothes and felt his chest tighten, the air becoming harder to breathe in and out.
"Ooh, look at this princess dress!" she cooed, touching an obnoxiously pink dress fondly.
"Do not buy her that." Draco heard himself saying, over the loud sound of his own pulse ringing up high in his ears due to the inner anxiety attack he had to force under control. "It'll remind her of Umbridge."
Narcissa changed the pink for a purple one and continued to smile.
Draco looked at her with sudden bitterness, "You seem too excited about a pregnancy that has no relation to you, mother."
"I'm just so happy for her. Having two babies is such a blessing!"
Draco averted his eyes, his heart dropping to his stomach the more he thought about Hermione's babies, "Twins are not abnormal in the Weasley family tree." He mentioned scornfully.
"Oh, of course not." Narcissa seemed to realize why in Draco's eyes she might be overreacting. "I know that. But they are unheard of in mine and your father's... I'm just excited for her. I have a son who has failed to give me a grandkid so far." she walked to the cashier and they waited for the total of her purchase. "And I always wanted more children."
Draco rolled his eyes, anyone hearing Narcissa speak of "how he had failed to give her a grandbaby so far" would think he was nearing his fifties and not still on his early twenties.
But he knew his mother had wished to give him a sibling, preferably a girl that she could dress and teach how to be a lady. "Was it the Malfoy rule of only-one-heir that stopped you?" He asked.
"Not really, dear." said Narcissa, looking suddenly sad. "I never took contraception after you were born. Not even once. And yet... never got pregnant again."
Draco looked at her in surprise, he had never heard about that – well, it probably wasn't normal to have your mother talk to you about her and your father's sex life and their chosen contraceptive methods (Gross, Draco thought with a shiver).
"It seems," Narcissa continued after paying for her items and asking for them to be delivered at the Manor. "The only-one-heir rule is actually a curse and not a rule."
They walked out of the store and onto Diagon Alley main street.
"Mother, are you saying I'm doomed to have only one child?" Draco asked, feeling his mother's hand on his arm as they walked side by side, not liking that idea of only one kid – he hated being an only child; he and Hermione had agreed they'd have three kids (he wanted five, but she'd told him to fuck off).
Not that it matters anymore, since she has already made two with the Weasley. He thought resentfully.
"Maybe," Narcissa said. "If you married a muggleborn..."
"Yeah. Right." Draco snorted. "Cause father would have accepted that."
Narcissa pursed her lips, clearly annoyed at her son, "You should've learned by now to not measure your life with your father's ruler, Draco." she looked at him with a displeased gaze. "I told you already: if you had chosen to marry for love, I wouldn't be against it."
He looked at her as if she had grown another head. "Father would disinherit me!"
And Narcissa rolled her eyes in a very unladylike manner. "But I wouldn't, son. And you could live at least four, very comfortable, lives with only my part of the Black and Malfoy inheritances."
Draco just fell silent, the queasy feeling he had started to feel since learning of Hermione's pregnancy intensifying; he had begun to slowly realize he could've married the woman he loved – if he had fought for his life with her. But he had sat back and allowed his father to decide his future for him instead.
It seems I haven't lost control of my life – I fucking gave it up!