Author's note: Hey everyone, You can officially kill me for taking so bloody long to update! But i was in Prague my favorite place in the world. This chapter might be a little bit... confusing if its too much so, then tell me and i can fix it-I'm not so sure about this chapter, I just really wanted to update because i got nearly 30 reveiws and I was blown away. So thank you guys!

Chapter 35 - Working Things Out the Malfoy Way

"I don't remember agreeing to Nicholai." Draco said softly. There was no animosity in his voice. Dumbledore and Mc Gonagall had just left leaving Hermione and Draco to some 'alone' time. Draco had not taken his eyes of his son since then.

Young Seth had been nursed by his mother and then had promptly gone to sleep.

Draco was mildly surprised that Hermione made no mention of the reservations she had had in the past about breast feeding. He had thought that a progressive muggle-borns like her would insist upon baby formula, and he had been just about to lecture her on the traditions of pure blooded wizarding folk when she silenced him by nursing with out complaint. (He did, however, look anywhere but at her.)

He had accepted the truce and passed no comment.

It had been quite for some time now that Seth had gone to sleep.

Draco had broken the silence that had befallen them both as they stared at the tiny creature that they created.

Hermione felt like she was looking at one of those cheesy growing up commercials, Seth looked exactly like his father. There was absolutely no doubt as to his parentage, not that there could have been.

"Well, I don't remember agreeing to Seth so we're set." She murmured.

Draco didn't even look at her. He just nodded.

Silence again.

"Why did you pick it?"

Hermione managed to pry her eyes away from her precious son for a moment to look at her much less precious husband.

"It's your middle name, right?"

He looked at her sharply.

"How did you know about that?"

Hermione ducked her head.

"Draco Nicholai Aquilis Black Malfoy." She said recalling them name she had seen on his school records. "Hall of records." She said shyly.

Draco quirked an eyebrow.

"You looked up my records?" he asked managed into sound a little bit abhorred at the idea.

Hermione shrugged.

"I was having a very pregnant moment," she admitted somewhat embarrassedly. "I didn't know anything about my husband and the father of my child." She paused and shrugged helplessly. "So I snuck into the hall of records to see what I could find out. Draco Nicholai Aquilis Malfoy, born May 26, 1980."

She looked down.

Draco nodded.

"We're going to have to spend a lot more time in the Malfoy Common, you realize?" he said after a while.

Hermione nodded.

"I already thought of that." She said. "I spend all my nights in the library finishing homework, so I can just use that as an excuse and stay at the common. Study while I'm there."

Draco nodded. Mentally trying to figure out how he could slowly taper away the amount of time he spent scowling at his house mates from his favorite chair in the Slytherin Common room.

"And classes." Hermione said biting her lip and chewing on it thoughtfully. "We're going to have dash back and forth between each class, Oh dear, this is going to be a lot of work."

Draco stared at her as if she was insane.

"This is only occurring to you now?" he asked, although his tone was less hostile than ever. "That this is going to take a great deal of work?"

Hermione shrugged, but seemed to have no energy to really glare at him.

"Well, We're just going to have to manage our time wisely, then we can get everything done."

"You know, Love," he said wearily. "Sometimes I think you forget that you're a witch."

"What do you mean?"

"We could use time turners." He said. "I don't know of any of them being given to children our age, but-"

"I had one." Hermione admitted quietly. "In third year." Then off his look she added. "For all of my classes."

Draco arched an eyebrow.

"Of course, the headmaster defies all sorts of regulations for his prize Gryffindors." He said with a dramatic eye roll. Honestly, everyone loves to point their fingers at the Slytherins and blame them for everything, The Gryffindors got into just as much trouble! The Slytherins get favored by Snape; the Gryffindors got favored by none other than Dumbledore, himself and this was so not the time for an indignant mantra so Draco snapped back to reality.

Hermione detected a hint of bitterness there. She was surprised that she noted anything in his tone at all. Draco was always so meticulous in keeping the cool façade in place she barely ever construed something of his emotions.

"We could always get a nursemaid." He said before she could pass comment.

And just like that, Hermione's face closed up and clouded over with discontent.

"We are not getting a nanny." She said firmly.

Draco rolled his eyes. He had thought her good humor was rather disconcerting, he was almost relieved to see that her stubbornness had left her.

"Why ever not?" he asked. "It just seems a lot more practical. It will free up our time to keep our lives and continue to excel at academics. Surely someone would notice if your pristine grades started slipping."

"My mother managed to raise me with out compromising her dentistry," she said stubbornly. "And I can bring up Seth myself and YOU are going to be the only help I need."

"I had a nursemaid." Draco said rather quietly. Truthfully, he was glad that Hermione was so determined. He was glad that he was going to get an excuse to raise his son himself. He did not want the boy to turn out to be like him, unloved and virtually unnoticed by his mother and used like a pawn by his father. He did however, need to make a token argument. "And look how well I turned out."

Hermione eyed him, a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her lips no matter how much she tried to stifle it.

"There is so much wrong with that statement that I refuse to acknowledge it."

"It's expected for a high ranking witch, of a pure blood family hire a nursemaid." He said knowing as soon as he said the words that he was sealing his fate and now she would never agree to it.

Her face darkened as expected.

"Well, I am not some sort of nobility puppet." She said lowly. "I am a liberated muggle-born witch and you can take you bloody tradition and stuff it up your pompous arses." She said huffily. "We are not getting a nanny, instead we will work together somehow and raise Seth, OUR SON, on our own even if we have NEWTs classes and extra curricular activities and prefect duties and keep our grades up and keep everyone one from knowing." She paused thought for a second, that did seem like an awful lot to do. "Somehow."

He seemed strangely pleased for some reason, which only served to piss off Hermione more. She decided she needed more justification. That would show him!

"My mother did it before me, and her mother did it before her."

"My, my, Love, that is starting to sound like a tradition, do be careful."

"It's not a tradition. Just because you were raised with an impartial nanny rather than your own mother-who looks to be carved out of ice, does not mean that everyone grew up that was and I will not subject my son to something like that."

"Very well." He said.

"That's it?" she demanded, she felt like she was being robbed somehow. She had won too easily. There was something going on with Draco. He just let her have what she wanted just like that. "That's how easily you give up you convictions? You are not even going to tell me that I'm being irrational?"

"I believe that you are well aware of how irrational you are being."

"Humph." She humph'd. "Don't think you won this argument, Draco!"

By the end of the sentence she meant to sound threatening, but it was quite difficult to be threatened by a girl who was fading into sleep as quickly as she spoke.

Draco only waited until she was truly asleep and left the hospital wing to go to the Headmaster's quarters, they were getting a nanny whether Hermione wanted one or not.

The only reason she didn't want one was because she thought that HE wanted one, which he didn't but he knew that it was PRACTICAL to have one. But no, since her mother's mother had raised her mother and her mother raised her-mind you when she was already a practicing dentist and not in her two last (and most difficult) years of schooling-she was going to raise her own children with no help.

And she had the cheek to do this all while scorning tradition.

Merlin, he couldn't wait until her hormones would die down so at least he was handling rational Hermione. Granted, he would be dealing with virtuous, swotty, disagreeable and stubborn Hermione but that he could handle. One more of these emotional vindictive bitch fits and he would feed her to the giant squid, wife or no wife.