Strolling into the dining room with two plates of piping hot pasta, Draco looked at Hermione. Since the morning at Harry's, her health had taken a definite dive. Her once-rosy complexion was now pale and drawn, accompanied by dark circles beneath her eyes. Unsure of how to make her better, Draco had made her favourite dish. Placing it down in front of Hermione, he took his seat anxiously, waiting to see if she would eat. "Bon Appetit, Lady Granger," Draco said with a flourish before picking up his cutlery.
"Thanks, Draco," Hermione replied, sighing as she pulled herself up from her slouched position. Hermione grabbed her fork, trying to summon the energy to enjoy the meal.
"Healer Bradstone owled me," Draco began, casually twirling pasta around his fork. "She wants to know when you might want the follow-up appointment."
"What appointment?" Hermione questioned absently. The hurt she felt from Ron's shocked departure numbed almost everything. That, combined with the stress of work and her inability to eat or sleep properly, meant she was struggling with the simplest day-to-day tasks. At the Ministry, she was just about able to keep up but it left her with nothing at home.
"The appointment for the next scan," Draco said patiently as Hermione pushed her pasta around the plate. "Do you want to make one for next week or wait for around twelve weeks?"
"I don't know, Draco," Hermione replied, fighting down the desire to cry. Everything was such a mess, she knew Draco was trying to do what was best for her, but she just couldn't make the decision. "I can't think straight, what do you think?"
"I'm happy to wait," Draco said easily, trying not to give away how important it was to him or how happy he was that she had just taken a bite of pasta. "You've got a lot going on and you're having more regular checks at work now."
Nodding in agreement, Hermione swallowed her food and then paused, the now-familiar feeling of nausea letting her know that this meal was not going to stay down. "Damn it!" Hermione cursed as she stood quickly and dashed to the bathroom.
"Fuck," Draco mumbled as she shot out of the room. So far, every night had been the same, it was starting to worry him. Draco had hoped by cooking her favourite meal, from scratch, Hermione would have been able to keep it down. Sighing in disappointment, Draco picked up the two plates and cleared the table quickly before heading back to the bathroom. Draco knocked softly on the door and waited for the sound of retching to finish before he slowly pushed it open, finding Hermione kneeling next to the toilet, gasping for air.
Draco stepped in and gathered Hermione's hair in his hand as she moved from the toilet to the sink, leaning over to rinse her mouth with tap water before she splashed away the sweat from her brow. "When was the last time you ate?" he asked, concerned as Hermione rinsed her mouth once more.
Avoiding his worried gaze in the mirror, Hermione stood up slowly and brushed past Draco, needing the comfort of her bed. Knowing Draco was following, Hermione flopped down heavily onto her messy duvet and answered, "Lunch," as her eyes fluttered shut.
Draco rubbed his palm across his face, unsure of what to do next. Logically, he knew most women experienced sickness as part of their pregnancy, but this seemed a tad excessive. Moving to sit down next to her, Draco spoke softly. "Hermione, this can't be normal. You're barely eating or sleeping, I can tell you're struggling. Come stay at mine."
Hermione grumbled incoherently into her duvet. She hated the pleading tone in his voice. She knew he was right, but her bed was calling her, and right now, all she wanted, all she needed, was to sleep.
"Humour me," Draco asked, picking up one of Hermione's cold hands as she shook her head. "Please, Hermione, I can't leave you here again like this."
God Draco is warm, Hermione thought as his hand cocooned hers. His body was pressed against her legs, his smell swimming around her making her feel even sleepier. "Then you stay," Hermione said dreamily, pulling his hand to her face.
"You know I can't," Draco said, his voice pained. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't leave her here alone, but he had to prepare tonight for his meeting in the morning as he'd already put it off every other night this week. Looking at her peaceful face, Draco saw no other option. He carefully removed his hand from her grip and scooped her into his arms before carrying her back through the house. "You've been the same every night this week, I can't let it carry on. I'm sorry, but you're coming back to mine."
Overwhelmed and a little indignant at Draco's manhandling of her, Hermione cried frustrated tears into his warm chest. She was a grown woman for crying out loud, what gave him the right to decide where she slept, especially when she had finally been about to fall asleep? "You bastard," she cursed under her breath.
"Now I know you don't mean that," he said cockily, feeling Hermione's body relax into his as they made it outside, away from the wards of her home. "Besides, you'll thank me in the morning."
Concentrating on the living area of his cottage, Draco Disapparated them both, wasting no time as he carried Hermione up to his room and ensconced her safely in his bed. Hermione wriggled beneath his sheets, making herself comfortable, Draco watched for a moment as she relaxed and began breathing softly, intrigued when a subtle bit of colour returned to her cheeks. Closing the door behind him, Draco made a mental note of the change, deciding to ask Hermione if he could see the work Healer with her at her next appointment. In the meantime, Draco wanted Hermione at his for as long as possible.
Sitting down at the quaint table in Draco's kitchen, Hermione picked up an apple, nibbling it slowly as she looked around. The first morning she had woken up at Draco's had been confusing, but that had been four days ago now. They had now established a strange, little routine, and Hermione wasn't looking to break it anytime soon. She wanted to be staying at home, but she couldn't deny she felt better sleeping at Draco's.
Allowing her stubbornness to win every night, Hermione went straight home from the Ministry, only to find Draco was already there cooking a meal for them to share. Finding herself unable to scold him, Hermione would shower and then attempt to eat whatever he had cooked. Inevitably, she would end up heaving her guts out before crawling into bed. Sometime later, Draco would appear, just as she was on the cusp of sleep, and carry her away to his.
Each morning, Hermione would wake at Draco's, feeling better than the day before. Draco was never in the bed when she woke, but she could tell he'd been there recently. Usually, she would find Draco cooking breakfast or reading the morning Prophet at the table. This morning, however, was different. Draco had left for work early as he was taking time out to attend Hermione's healer appointment that afternoon. Whilst Hermione wasn't entirely happy about it, Draco had insisted, and she hoped it would get him off her back about the sickness.
Pondering the day ahead, Hermione looked down at her stomach. There was now a slight curve where her stomach had once been flat. Draco assured her she was the only one who could see the change, but on days like today, Hermione doubted him. So much had changed in such a short time, sometimes Hermione struggled to believe it was all really happening. Yet, she still found herself rambling to her stomach when she was alone.
"We've got a busy day haven't we, little flicker?" Hermione muttered, thinking of her meeting with her supervisor to present her findings, then after lunch was the body scan with Draco, followed by a meeting with her lawyer to start the divorce proceedings. Feeling resigned to a long and tedious day, Hermione finished her apple and stood. "Come on then, let's go get ready."
Luckily for Hermione, her morning meeting flew by. Her supervisor was pleased with her work and gave her permission to use the Auror department to further her research. Eating lunch at her desk, Hermione wondered which direction to take her research next. Her musings were disrupted when she looked up to find Draco's steady grey eyes watching her intently. "Yes?" Hermione questioned as she stood from her seat, going to meet Draco at the door.
"I was just enjoying seeing you eating," Draco said casually, observing how she seemed to have so much more energy. "Feeling ok?" he asked as they left her office.
"Fine, thank you," Hermione replied primly as she rolled her eyes. Over the last few days, it seemed all she heard from Draco was variations of 'Are you ok?'
"Ok," Draco acknowledged curtly. The last few days had been a little tense and he sensed Hermione was still not overly impressed with him. Draco shut his mouth, not wanting to give her any reason to exclude him from the Healer meeting.
Annoyed by Draco's silence, Hermione led the way through the Department of Mysteries, pausing only to knock on the door briefly before pushing it open.
"Hermione," Healer Norton greeted her warmly before turning to Draco. "Hello, Mr Malfoy. Hermione informed me you would be with us today."
"Nice to meet you, Healer Norton," Draco responded swiftly, shaking the woman's hand.
"Shall we begin?"Healer Norton asked as she began moving further into her office, giving them more space.
"Yes, please," Hermione replied promptly, making her way to the back of the office with Healer Norton. When Draco moved to follow, Hermione turned. "No Draco, you stay there," she said brusquely.
Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Draco turned to take a seat in front of Healer Norton's tidy desk, listening to the two women talking faintly in the background for a moment before his mind wandered. In the last few days, Draco had found himself finishing work earlier so he could be at Hermione's that little bit earlier to start dinner. The sooner she ate, threw up and went to bed, the sooner he was able to whisk her away to his. Although she was barely talking to him and spent most of their time together asleep, Draco enjoyed having her at his cottage. It felt right. It felt more like home than it ever had before.
Hearing footsteps, Draco turned to look over his shoulder and saw Hermione and Healer Norton approaching. Draco pressed his lips together and sat quietly as they both sat down.
"Well then, Hermione," Healer Norton began happily, reading through her notes. "The body scans look good and everything is functioning as it should. Your body seems to be adjusting well. The power within your magical core has increased again slightly, but that is nothing to worry about as we discussed previously. Do you have any questions or concerns?"
"No, not really," Hermione said smiling back at Healer Norton, hoping if they kept the conversation quick Draco wouldn't be able to interrupt as she expected him too.
That hope was snuffed out easily when Draco quickly asked, "Have you told her about the sickness?" Hermione glared as she turned to look at Draco before quickly turning back to Healer Norton.
"No," Hermione bit out as she dug her nails into her palm. "It was just a bug, I'm getting better now."
"Merlin, Hermione, must you be so stubborn?" Draco replied, irritated by her insistence that it was nothing.
Draco looked directly at Healer Norton. "Hermione hasn't been right since she found out she was pregnant, but it was particularly bad last week…"
"It was not, Draco!" Hermione disputed hotly, annoyed that he was talking directly to her Healer. Crossing her arms over her chest Hermione glared at Draco, her brain supplying her with a quick excuse to throw back at him. "Every woman gets some form of morning sickness when they are pregnant! Just because mine is all day, doesn't make it different."
"Hermione," Draco said slowly, trying to calm himself down and not further agitate her. "After you left Harry's, you barely slept or ate for four days. Within minutes of me taking you out of that cave, you got your colour back, and every day since that point, you've improved because I've taken you back to mine. It would be irresponsible of me to not mention it."
Looking away from Hermione's death stare, Draco ran his fingers through his hair, debating how much he could say. He didn't want Hermione to feel like he was always watching her, even though he was, but she needed to understand where his concern was coming from. Turning in his chair to face her, Draco softened his voice and spoke directly to Hermione, watching as her shoulders tensed slightly. "You may not have noticed how ill you were but I sure did."
Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, refusing to look at Draco as Healer Norton asked, "How much time were you spending at the cave last week in comparison to this week?"
"I've lived there since taking the assignment," Hermione replied quickly so Draco didn't have another opportunity to speak. "Last week I was still spending a lot of time there until Draco started taking me to his. Now we just seem to eat there and leave."
"Hmm," Healer Norton murmured as she flicked through her notes again. "Those symptoms would agree with your estimated date. The sickness usually kicks in around six weeks and can last up until the thirteenth or fourteenth week. It is interesting that you seem to be worse when spending more time in the cave. Hermione, I would like you to keep a journal detailing your symptoms and how long you are spending there."
"That's it?" Draco asked incensed, his gaze turning from the floor to Healer Norton. "You can't seriously be telling me it's normal for someone to be that sick? She was so weak!" Draco turned to Hermione, hoping she could appreciate where he was coming from. "I didn't know what to do..." he trailed off as he got stern looks from both women.
"Mr Malfoy," Healer Norton said, all traces of the happy woman from earlier gone. "Some women get such severe morning sickness they have to be prescribed potions. This can last for the entirety of the pregnancy. However, Hermione, I would advise you not to spend as much time there if you are already feeling unwell. The ancient magic may be making your symptoms worse."
"Thank you," Draco said politely, somewhat appeased by the Healers request that Hermione not spend as much time there.
"Yes, thank you, Healer Horton," Hermione replied rather sullenly, knowing it was going to be even harder to get Draco to agree to her going home. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with my lawyer," Hermione said, standing to leave.
"Of course," Healer Norton replied, moving to let Hermione out. "I'll see you in two weeks."
A/N - I hope you enjoyed, love as always to tectonictigress & TriDogMom :)
"Good luck," Draco called at Hermione's retreating form. Saying a final goodbye to Healer Norton, Draco left the Ministry and headed home to catch up on some much-neglected paperwork before their customary routine would begin once again.