A/n: Another story about Draco/Hermione! I'm sensing a pattern…
Anyway, as usual I would like a lot of feedback on this one. Please don't just read it and not review, I love to have reviews, and I'd really, really, like to know what you all think, that's why I post these stories.
Draco is having dreams in this one, and I know it's a bit confusing to know whether he is or not at first, but it's supposed to be like that.
Chapter OneDraco paced the hospital corridor, fearing for her life. Why had they rushed him out of the room? Something was seriously wrong. He could hear screaming coming from her room, and wanted more than anything to be in there, only the knowledge that the doctors knew best kept him from bursting in there.
A little while later, the screaming stopped for a while, and then started again. It wasn't the same screaming as before, it was higher pitched and less pain filled. The door opened and a smiling nurse came to see him, a little bundle in her arms. Never before in his life has he felt this nervous.
"Congratulations, Draco, you're a father." They had decided not to find out the sex of the child until it came into the world, and the blue blankets made his heart leap. The nurse handed him the smallest human he had ever seen, his heir, his son. Happiness overflowed in his heart as he held the child close. A sense of well being he had never felt in all his life washed over him as he looked down at the calm and calculating grey eyes that were so much like his own. The nurse watched on, smiling to herself.
"Is she alright? Can I see her now?" He looked expectantly at the nurse.
"She's is just fine, she was a little drowsy, and wanted you to meet the child first. You can go in a see her now." The door swung open and Draco got the impression of a figure, lying exhausted on the bed.
In a flash of bright white, he opened his eyes.
Draco Malfoy opened his eyes. The canopy of his four poster bed was all he saw. Sighing, he reached for the bell pull next to his bed. A house elf came in and bowed. "What is your desire, master Malfoy?"
"Coffee, Dora. No milk two sugars."
"As you wish, sir." The house elf scampered away. He went to the window of his bedroom and sat at it, running his fingers through his blonde locks. The dream was ebbing away from him slowly now, and he was the better for it. Being a father was something Draco never wanted to do, for fear of being his own father. Marriage was unavoidable, he supposed. It would inevitably be a match made by his father to promote good business relations for the Malfoy family.
Dora came in slowly and carefully, making sure she didn't spill a drop of her master's coffee. She laid it on the table and stood by it, dutifully. It took him a while to notice her; he was lost in his own thoughts. But when he did notice her he did a rare thing, he smiled at the house elf and thanked her for the coffee. "You may leave now, Dora." She bowed low, and left, eyes wide with the ecstasy that house elves got when they earned praise from their masters. This was a rare occurrence in the Malfoy residence, so Dora savoured the moment as she left.
Draco picked up the coffee and went back to the window, sipping it pensively. What had brought about this good mood? For one thing he was getting out of the castle that day. His father had him confined to the grounds at all times, protection, his father said. Draco often wondered whether the protection was for him or the knowledge he had of his father's doings.
It was time for him to go to Diagon Alley, to buy his equipment for the year ahead. It was to be his fifth year and he was slytherin prefect. His own bedroom and common room located in the slytherin dungeons. By some stroke of luck, his father had a meeting today and he couldn't make it to take him. He was to go with his limousine driver, Crabbe, his henchman's uncle.
He made his way into his en suite bathroom and quickly showered, changing into some black trousers and a black shirt, over the top he put a black robe. His father's rule even comes down to what he wears. Dora came in again and told him that breakfast was being served.
The journey down to breakfast took a long time. He had been given the wing at the back of the castle so that he could stay out of the way of his father as much as possible. He was to stay there until he was sent for; he even had he own part of the grounds.
As he stepped down the long, bare corridors that made up his home, his footsteps echoed off the walls. When he finally made it into the dining, he stood at the door and waited to be asked to join his parents.
When he was given consent to do so, he bowed low to his mother, who merely nodded and took his seat.
The table was ten feet long, and Draco sat in the middle of it, whilst his mother and father sat at the ends. None of them spoke during the meal, but when it was finished, Draco's father signalled for him to go away again with a flick of his palm. Once again he bowed low to his mother, who nodded once more, and took his leave of his parents.
He usually only saw his mother at meal times, she was weak and kept to her chambers most of the day. He only saw his father when he decided it was time to test the boy's knowledge, or to take him along to a business meeting to keep the contact's children out of the way.
All his things had been ready since the night before, yet he still had an hour until the limo was to pick him up. He lay on his couch with a book, reading to pass the time.
He was on the last chapter, when exactly an hour later Vincent Crabbe knocked on his door. This made him jump, Crabbe was the only one who ever did it, and Dora introduced even Goyle.
"Come in," Draco called, and Crabbe opened the door and stood by it.
"My uncle's here to see us to Diagon alley." Draco stood up and picked up his bag.
"Let's go then, we don't want to keep him waiting," he followed Crabbe out of the castle.
Draco came in from work, exhausted. After taking off his coat he wandered into the living room to see his son crawling around on the floor by the sofa, rolling a ball before him. When he entered the room the toddler looked up, gurgling with delight he got to his feet and walked to his daddy.
Draco picked him up and spun him round, making the boy shriek with joy.
"Is that you, Draco?"
"Sure is, honey." He carried their child into the kitchen, where a small table was covered in food. Standing at the stove and smiling at him was-
"Draco?" He woke up from his daze. Crabbe was looking at him, concerned. "Are you all right?"
"Of course, I was merely thinking about how to make the most of my new position in the school." He looked out of the window again, the forests in which his castle was located had long past, and they were almost at the leaky cauldron.
"So, what did you come up with?" Crabbe grinned at him.
"What? Oh, I see what you mean." He gazed out of the window at the passing people. A couple walked arm in arm down the street, pushing a little girl in a pushchair. He shuddered and started erasing that particular dream from his memory, glad that he didn't get to see the mystery woman. "You shall know when you need to." Crabbe nodded and said no more about it.
A/N: A bit of scene setting there, please review, and I know what the dreams look like now, but just remember I am a big fan of plot twists!