Chapter 15: Surprises
"Thanks again for helping me with my essay, Hermione," Ginny said as the two girls walked from the library back to Hermione's room. Well, Ginny walked. Hermione was kind of waddling seeing as how she was eight months pregnant and all. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way down to the library, but you know how Madam Pince is with her books."
"Yeah, I know, Ginny. Don't worry about it. Madam Pomfrey says the exercise is good for me." They had reached the portrait by now and Hermione said the password. "Want to come in for a bit, Ginny? I could make some tea or-"
"Surprise!"
Hermione gawked as over thirty girls jumped out of hiding from all over her common room.
Ginny giggled and snapped a picture. "You should see your face, Hermione! It's great!" Then she practically dragged her over to the couch. "It's a baby shower, Hermione! Sit, sit, sit."
Hermione stared at Ginny. "How on Earth did you pull this off?"
Ginny waved away the question as if it were obvious. "Pansy and I have been planning this since we found out. We cornered Draco this morning and had him give us the password then told him to get lost."
Hermione nodded as she took it all in. Sitting around her were over thirty girls from all different houses and years, mostly girls she had tutored at one point or another. She saw Pansy, Parvati, Padma, Lavender, Susan Bones, Luna, and many, many others.
"So," Ginny asked. "Presents first or food?"
Hermione looked around her at the mounds of presents then across the room at the food table. She gave Ginny her sweetest smile. "I would love some food as long as I don't have to get up."
Ginny laughed. "Sure thing. What do you want?"
"I don't know. Bring me a little of everything, I guess."
The girls started chatting animatedly around her, most being totally girly. Ginny brought back a plate of food and handed it to her, plopping on the couch beside her. When Hermione finished eating Ginny promptly took her plate and handed her the first gift-wrapped box. "It's present time!"
Draco walked through the portrait hole just then and almost fell backwards into the wall as he was hit by the chorus of "Hi, Draco!" from every single girl in the room. Hermione mentally likened his expression to that of a deer in headlights and had to keep from laughing out loud.
Finally he seemed to shake himself out of it and mumbled something about wanting his broom. He practically sprinted down the hall to his room then hightailed it out of there just as quickly, only pausing before he left to catch Hermione's eye and mouth "I love you." Then he was gone.
Hermione laughed but didn't blame him in the slightest. There was probably far too much estrogen in the room at the moment for any guy to handle by himself. With that she turned back to the task of opening the many presents.
Harry went out flying that day, deciding he needed some time to relax. He was somewhere over the lake when he spotted Draco Malfoy sitting down by the water, his Nimbus 2001 sitting next to him on the ground. Seeing as how he had nothing better to do, Harry decided to land and go talk to him.
"Hey, Malfoy. Mind if I sit?"
Draco shrugged. "Go for it."
"Are the girls doing that baby shower thing right now?" Harry asked as he sat down.
"Yeah," Draco replied with a smirk. "I made the mistake of going in there to get my broom and almost got bowled over by the force of everyone greeting me at once."
Harry laughed at the image. "How many people were there anyhow?"
"I can't say that I really stopped to count. Well over thirty though. Word of advice, never go into a room with that many females in it willingly and without backup."
"I'll keep that in mind," Harry replied dryly. He hesitated for a second then voiced something that had been on his mind for a while. "Draco, you know Hermione's like a sister to me, right?"
Draco nodded, unsure as to where this was going.
"It's the same with Ron. That's why we're so protective of her." Harry let out a soft chuckle. "If you had told me last year that you would be dating her, let alone having a baby with her, I probably would've killed you on the spot."
Draco snorted. "Yeah, you and every other person in this school."
"Oh probably," Harry smiled slightly then continued. "The point is, I'm glad you stayed with her through this and I'm glad she's happy now."
Draco's gaze traveled out over the lake as he tried to organize his thoughts. Finally he said quietly, "You know, they saved me. Hermione and the baby, I mean. After I found out about my mother's death and my father got arrested again, it felt like my world was being ripped to pieces. Everything I had ever believed in just kind of… shattered. Just like that. I really had nothing left to live for. I'd even considered…" he trailed off then shook himself. "But that's not important now. Then Hermione told me she was pregnant and it gave me a reason to go on living. She let me into her family and her life, and now I love her more than anything."
Harry paused as the weight of what he said sunk in. Finally he replied, "I'm glad to hear that, Draco." Then as almost an afterthought he said, "You know, school wouldn't be nearly as fun without someone to trade insults with."
Draco chuckled. "You mean you miss that, Scar Head?"
"Touche, Ferretboy."
"Potty."
"Malferret."
The boys continued on like that for a while then decided to go flying around the grounds. Draco at least hoped that the girls would all be gone by the time they were done flying. He shuddered slightly. He never wanted to be around that many girls at once again.
a/n: here's ch. 15! yay! and just so you all know, we're looking at 17 chapters total and an epilogue then we'll be done. :) so once again, enjoy and R&R!
