The Next Greatest Potions Master... or Mistress

Lucius and Narcissa's forcing Artemis and Draco out of Malfoy Manor proved to be one of the best things they had ever done for the children and for themselves. Had they allowed them to remain at the manor, Artemis and Draco would have never developed the relationship that, after two and a half years of marriage, they cherished. Nor would they have learned how to settle their arguments without the help of Narcissa. Since the manor was now empty, Lucius and his wife were finally given the chance to fix their struggling marriage. After two years of couple's therapy, they were finally at a point in their lives where they were both truly satisfied.

Professionally, things were going quite well for the young couple. Draco had taken over the advertising department of Malfoy Enterprises, just as he had always planned on doing. And thanks to Draco's complete overhaul of the techniques and practices used by the company to promote their products and services, Malfoy Enterprises had seen their overall profit margins increase by an astounding thirty-seven percent, as well as, their productivity increase by fort- four percent. Sole credit could not be given to Draco, as the introduction of the fashion department had undoubtedly contributed to the jump in sales and profits. While Draco spent his days at the company headquarters attending board meetings and seeking out new clients, Artemis was able to work from home, since she spent her days sketching and creating new prototypes for the coming season's line's. Originally, Lucius had only intended for their fashion department to consist of a women's line, but after seeing just how profitable clothing, shoes and accessories could be, he decided to expand the line and add juniors, men's, children, bridal and maternity clothing to their repertoire.

Needless to say the young couple's careers had kept them very busy over the last two and half years. So busy in fact that Draco was beginning to think that his wife was being stretched too thin. Off and on for the last three months Artemis had been feeling quite ill, sometimes even being woken up in the middle of the night because her supper simply refused to stay down. There had also been several occasions where she had become so dizzy that she was unable to move, for fear of falling over. Though her husband insisted that she see a medi-witch, Artemis refused, blaming her illness on their house elves inability to cook a decent meal. Artemis and Draco both knew that Bitsy was a wonderful cook and that her sickness had nothing to do with the food they had been served. Finally, after having spent an entire week in bed, completely exhausted, Artemis gave in and went to see the medi-witch.

"Was I right? Have I just got a virus?" Artemis asked, as the aging medi-witch entered the exam room.

"Well, Mrs. Malfoy you've gone and got something, that's for sure," said the old witch, smiling up at her young patient. Realizing that Artemis wasn't going to figure it out on her own, the medi-witch broke the news to her. "My dear you're pregnant." For several long minutes, Artemis remained unmoving as she stared at her physician with a look of absolute confusion on her face.

"What?" she asked, lamely.

"You are going to have a baby," cooed the sweet old woman, laughing at the soon to be mother's reaction to the news. "You're about twelve weeks along, as it is."

"Damn it Draco!" exclaimed Artemis, flopping back onto the hard surface of the exam table. "Ouch."

"Would you like me to have one of the interns fetch Mr. Malfoy for you?" asked the medi-witch, busying herself with filling out the remainder of Artemis' health charts.

"No, that won't be necessary," replied Artemis, as she stood to leave.

"The next time you start to feel sick, just eat some crackers. They settle the stomach," advised the older woman just as Artemis was stepping out of the examining room. Thanks to her morning sickness, or more accurately her all day sickness, Artemis was unable to apparate since the sudden movements always triggered her uneasy stomach. So instead, Artemis walked back to Malfoy Estates, which gave her plenty of time to think about how she felt about being pregnant, as well as, how she was going to tell her husband. Naturally he would be thrilled. Draco had wanted to start having children shortly after they were married but Artemis had insisted that they wait a while. The longer she thought about it the more excited she became. She was going to be a mother!

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"Artemis!" shouted Draco, as he arrived home from work. "Artemis, how was your visit to the medi-witch?" Draco leaned down and kissed his wife as she entered the foyer, a big smile on her face.

"Good. How was your day?" she chirped, taking her husband by the hand and leading him up the staircase towards their bedchamber. Instead of entering their suite Artemis continued down the hall before stopping in front of the door closest to their's.

"It was terrible. I had to sit through another boring board meeting and then I had to listen to my father lecture me about not paying attention during the meeting. All in all, my day sucked," pouted Draco, staring at the closed door, unsure of why they were standing there.

"I need your opinion on something," said Artemis, as she opened the door and led him inside. Upon entering the room, Draco was surprised to find that the room was just as empty as it had always been, save for the lovely crib positioned in the center of the room. Apparently the terrible day he'd had made Draco a little slow on the uptake, for he simply stood there staring at the unfamiliar piece of furniture.

"Oh... you mean... a baby?" he asked, hopefully. Artemis had developed the habit of using rather odd items as decoration, so Draco didn't want to get his hopes up. He'd made that mistake last year when she had used an old tricycle as a decoration in the family room.

"Yes, a baby," whispered Artemis, unable to stop herself from becoming teary eyed. Draco was lost for words, which didn't happen often. For so long he had wanted to be a father and finally that dream was going to become a reality. "Don't tell anyone. Let's surprise them at supper on Sunday."

"Alright," beamed Draco, wondering just how excited their mother's would be. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Too soon to tell," replied Artemis, as she and Draco continued their celebration.

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Just as Draco had predicted, their mother's had been ecstatic when they announced that Artemis was pregnant. Lucius and Perseus had been thrilled as well. Apparently there was a pool opened at their wedding, and Lucius and Perseus had both said that Artemis would get pregnant during their second year of marriage. While their mother's had been given the greatest gift they could have possibly received and their father's had won a great deal of money, Artemis and Draco weren't so lucky. Draco had lost his usually self confident and rational wife, as she was now a hormonal ball of nerves who had a terrible habit of sobbing uncontrollably, especially if she had just weighed herself.

Shortly after having found out that she was twelve weeks pregnant, Artemis had begun to show. One morning when his wife had exited her lavatory clad in only her undergarments, Draco couldn't help put notice that her usually flat stomach had become slighted rounded. Unfortunately for Draco, he made the mistake of telling her that her stomach had gotten big, which reduced the young mother to a sobbing wreck. After fifteen minutes of apologizing for being an idiot, which was something that he had become quite used to, Artemis forgave him. This was something that Draco had become rather fond of. For as long as they had been married, getting Artemis in the sack had been like pulling teeth, but for the last few weeks of her pregnancy he'd found himself in the unfamiliar position of being oversexed. Not that he was complaining.

By the time Artemis had made it through her fifteenth week of pregnancy, things had begun to calm down. Upon entering her second trimester the morning sickness had completely subsided and her mood swings had leveled out, much to her husband elation. Draco had grown quite tired of sleeping in one of the guest rooms after having upset his irritable wife, in some unknown way. The best part about Artemis' getting used to being pregnant was that she had finally accepted the fact that her body was changing. During the first few weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Artemis had begun to gain a bit of weight, though no one was really able to tell except for her. Every time she would try on a pair of pants and they were too snug, she would burst into tears and refuse to leave their bedchamber all day. Frankly, Draco was tired of being forced to mourn the loss of her pencil skirts and what not's, as she wasn't kind enough to keep it to herself. Needless to say, the mood within Malfoy Estates had vastly improved ever since Artemis had entered her second trimester and given up all of that nonsense.

All through out his wife's pregnancy, Draco had been as supportive as a twenty year old man could possibly be. He had spent numerous hours reading parenting books and helping his wife prepare the nursery for their new arrival. While most would consider Draco's behavior honorable, his wife simply found it annoying. She was huge, cranky and hungry all of the time. The last thing she wanted was the man responsible for her agony following her around all of the time. But regardless of how many times she asked him to leave her be, Draco insisted on remaining at her side. Having decided that he didn't want to miss anything, Draco became the first male employee at Malfoy Enterprises to take advantage of the maternity leave made available to new and soon to be father's. Though Lucius had been surprised when his son informed him of his plan to take ten months leave, he couldn't help but feel proud that the boy had already surpassed his own parenting skills. So, while Artemis experienced being pregnant for the first time, her husband made it a point to be right there with her, never missing a single moment. After the first few weeks of her husbands maternity leave, Artemis began to realize just how lucky she was. Most wives were left to experience the development of their child alone, while she was blessed with a husband who insisted upon being at every single exam and birthing class.

During one of their check ups with the medi-witch that they had chosen to deliver the baby, Draco had been told that the baby's hearing was fully developed and that they should talk to him in order to stimulate brain activity. This proved to be the worst thing anyone could have told the overexcited, soon- to-be daddy. From week twenty-eight on, Artemis was forced to endure her husband's never ending conversations with her protruding belly. Every time he entered or left the room, Draco would speak to his unborn child, regardless of whether or not they were in public. Rita Skeeter had caught sight of his unusual chatting and had printed a rather ridiculous story about him being off his rocker. Granted the photo they used didn't really help his cause, most people still chose to ignore the creative journalists attempts at degrading the Malfoy name. The worst part about Draco's love for talking to his unborn baby, was that he had spread the word around. Now every time she saw their parents, she would have to endure four adults stooping down to speak to her stomach, which usually took place before they had even greeted her. Not only did their parents pick up her husband's annoying habit, but their friends did so as well. The most surprising person guilty of conversing with her belly was Severus Snape. One afternoon during Artemis' twenty-fifth week of pregnancy, Snape bent down and began talking to the youngster about the ingredients necessary to brew the Wolfsbane Potion. Halfway through the list of the potion's components, Artemis felt an unfamiliar jab in her belly, startling the poor woman to no end. The more the Potion's Master spoke about the art of potion making, the more the baby kicked. This discovery led Severus to believe that his Godson's child would in fact be the next great Potion's Master or Mistress.

Originally, Artemis and Draco had agreed to wait until the baby was born to determine whether or not they were having a son or daughter, however, by week thirty-five they simply couldn't wait any longer. After calling upon their medi-witch at nearly two o'clock in the morning and forcing her to come to Malfoy Manor, they were informed that they would be the proud parents of a baby boy. Immediately, Draco flooed his parents and gave them the good news. From then on, every conversation Draco had with her belly was about Quidditch, and Artemis was ready to get that baby out of her just so she didn't have to listen to it any longer. But unfortunately things did not work out to the young mother's advantage. She had been told that she would most likely give birth, at some point between her thirty-seventh and fortieth week of pregnancy, and she was now well into her forty-second week but her son had yet to make his debut. Artemis and Draco had tried everything they could think of to induce labor, but still the little bundle refused to budge. Naturally, Draco blamed his wife for their son's tardiness, swearing up and down that he had learned it from her.

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I TRIED TO RESEARCH PREGNANCIES SO THAT IT WOULD SEEM AS REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE, BUT BABIES KIND OF CREEP ME OUT, SO I CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL LIKE I RUSHED IT A BIT. LET ME KNOW IF IT SUCKS. WITH THE WEEKEND COMING UP I PLAN ON BARRICADING MYSELF IN MY ROOM AND WRITING, SO IF I NEED TO MAKE ANY CHANGES, I'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.

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