Surprise! Happy Halloween everyone!
I though, what better way to celebrate this holiday then to post an extra chapter of this story!
I hope everyone is having a fantastic Halloween!
P. S.
Thanks to the lovely Strawberry9212 for point out some inconsistencies with a few things! I'll be going back and correcting them soon so if anyone else has noticed, I promise they will be fixed!
Enjoy!
..00..
Hermione sat at her desk with her head in her hands, willing herself not to to be sick.
Her co worked, Alfred, just had to bring in some type of foul smelling food for his breakfast and every whiff she got of it made her want to vomit. She glanced over at his desk to see if he was finished and had to stifle a groan when when she saw that he wasn't even half done.
Her morning sickness, which to be honest was all day sickness, had been getting better but strong smells still made her want to be violently ill.
She sighed and got up from her desk, heading to the restroom in hopes of getting away from the smell. Thankfully, since today was Halloween and the wizarding world had an amazing sense of humor, she only worked a half day so she only had to muster through a few more hours.
Not that she planned to do anything though - unless you count curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea.
When the clock hit 12 she packed up her things and made a beeline for the floo network, hoping to beat the crowd that was sure to form soon. All she wanted was to go home and relax and pretend that none of the insanity that her life had become was real.
Denial wouldn't do her any good, but made her feel better for a small amount of time.
She flooed home, shrugging out of her robes as soon as she stepped out of her fireplace. She made her way to the kitchen and put on a kettle to boil before making her way to her bedroom to get out of her work clothes and into a pair of fleece pajamas.
An hour later she had a blanket over her legs and a book in hand when her fireplace flared to life, and she looked up to see Malfoy's head.
"Granger, its Halloween! What are you doing at home and in pajamas?" She could tell he had just gotten off his shift, or maybe he was about to go in, as he was in his standard green robes.
"Honestly, it's just another day; I don't understand why people get so crazy about it." She huffed out, setting her book aside.
She saw Malfoy shake his head before the fireplace flared to life again and this time he actually stepped through.
"I didn't say you could come in."
He scoffed, shrugging out of his robes and moving to hang them on the peg by the fireplace. "Granger, that baby in your belly is about to have my blood and we'll soon be married, I think I should be able to come in as long as I can see you're decent." He sat down next to her and picked up the book she had laid next to her, shaking his head when he saw it was a romance novel. "Seriously? I didn't take you for the romance novel type."
She jerked it out of his hands and put it on the end table next to her. "Shut it. What are you doing here anyways?"
"It's Halloween and there's a huge party at St. Mungo's that we'll be late for if you don't get your behind up and put in a costume."
She stared at him. "I'm not going to a party."
"Sure you are. Just go out on a dress and I'll transfigure it into a costume; it's what I'm doing."
"It's not the costume, Malfoy, I'm just not going to a party."
He sighed and shook his head. "Granger, if you want anyone to actually believe that this baby is mine we're going to have to be seen together and this is the perfect opportunity. We don't have to stay long, and it's a good first outing away from your friends. Plus, it's for a good cause."
She frowned as she realized he was right and she felt like stomping her foot in frustration. She didn't want to go out and have people recognized her and deal with the looks she would get from being with Malfoy.
Of course, she would have to get over that pretty soon she supposed.
"I can tell by the look on your face that you know I'm right, so go change and I'll take you to dinner before we go."
Her stomach growled at his words and he began to laugh softly, so she got up with a huff and made her way to her bedroom, his laughter growing louder with her actions.
Grumbling she searched through her closet, pulling out a simple black A line dress that she had bought last year for a party Harry had thrown. It wasn't of the best quality, but it looked good on her and that's all that mattered.
Truth was, she preferred to save her money rather than spend it on material things like clothing.
She emerged from her room to see Malfoy now dressed in green scrubs and a surgical mask hanging from his neck.
"Very original." She told him as she rolled her eyes, on to gasp as her dress went from knee length and black to a matching set of scrubs. "Seriously? Matching costumes?"
He laughed and nodded his head. "We need to make a splash, now come on, I have reservations at a restaurant downtown for 5."
"What if I refused to go?"
He shrugged. "I was going off the thought that you wouldn't."
He moved to take her arm before she felt the familiar pull of apparition. She opened her eyes to see that they were on a small side street on Diagon Alley and she shivered with the sudden burst of cold from the wind.
Malfoy ushered them to the restaurant - which of course had to one of the most expensive ones in the area - and opened the door for her.
She chose to ignore the stares that they were getting, and she couldn't pretend that they were because of their costumes, because most of the occupants were also in costume.
They sat down and were handed menus, her eyes going straight to the fish and chips.
"Oh, thank Merlin, they have fish and chips."
She looked up to see Malfoy giving her an odd look, but he chose to remain silent.
After they ordered they chatted about mundane topics and she was infinitely thankful that in the past few years she had become comfortable around the man. Due to him being an apprentice healer she had dealt with him on many occasions when she had to go to St. Mungo's to interview patients. At the beginning it was horridly awkward, but soon she found that he truly did seem to care about the kids and her opinion of him had begun to rise.
When their food came she dug in, sighing happily as she ate. She heard Malfoy laugh softly at her, but she shot him a glare and kept eating.
When they had finished their food Malfoy paid the bill and they left, making heir way to an apparition point. "Is the party at St. Mungo's, or somewhere else?"
"It's at St. Mungo's - there is a fee for tickets and it's downstairs, so all the money they get will go to the things the hospital needs."
He wrapped his arm around her and before she knew it they were at the hospital gates.
"What made you decide to go into healing?" She questioned as they made their way to the front entrance. It was something she had wondered for a while, but had never been brave enough to ask.
"I wanted to be as far away from my family's past as possible, and the opposite of killing is healing. The more I got into it, though, the more I found I enjoyed it."
"You're studying pediatrics, right?" They were walking down a long hallway that she hadn't been before, and she assumed that it was a staff hallway.
He stopped them in front of a door and opened it, leading her down the stairs. "I am. Kids are innocent.
That's all he said, but she understood, it was part of the reasons that she was in the department for Muggleborns - most cases involved innocent children.
When they emerged at the bottom of the stairs she saw that it was an empty room that had been decorated almost to the extreme. Music was blaring and there had to be over 200 people already there.
"We don't have to stay too long - just enough so we can be seen." He said as he took her arm and led her over to a table that had refreshments.
"Let's see - here is the non alcoholic punch." He reached over and poured her a glass and she couldn't help but smile at him.
"Thank you, Draco."
His eyebrows rose. "I'm Draco now? I must pour you punch more often!"
She smacked his arm lightly and laughed. "It probably won't look good for me to be calling you Malfoy, that's all."
He laughed with her and led her to an empty table. She took the time to look around and saw that most people in attendance were the upper crust of wizarding society. Normally she didn't associate with any of these people - not because she hated them, but because they simply ran in totally different circles.
"Oh toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." She uttered under her breath and she took a sip of punch.
"Kansas? Why would we be in Kansas?" Draco questioned with a confused look in his face, which caused her to giggle.
"It's a muggle movie, you wouldn't understand."
After she had calmed her giggles a couple she didn't recognize came up to their table.
"Ah, Draco, you didn't tell me you knew Miss Granger."
She raised an eyebrow at the blond, as she didn't know how this man or woman knew her enough to talk about her.
"We go way back, Healer Jordan." Ah, she had heard the name but had never put a face to it. He was the soon to be head of the hospital.
He conversed with Draco for a few minutes before patting him on the back and offering a smile to her before walking away.
The scene repeated itself over and over again, until Draco made to get up.
"Dance with me once and then we'll head out." He said as he got up and reached a hand down to her.
As much as she didn't want to dance, she didn't want to have to make meaningless small talk either, so she rose from her seat and took his offered hand.
He led them to the dance floor and pulled her into his arms, and it surprised her how comfortable she felt in them.
"Thank you for coming, it impressed a lot of people."
"Well, I'm glad me sitting at a table with you did that." She told him with a grin.
"I have to make a confession."
She raised a brow at him. "What is it?"
"I wasn't doing a rotation in OB when I found your file."
"How did you find it then?"
He sighed, and pulled her closer. "The last few times I'd seen you, you seemed to look worse as worse. I pulled your file to see if there was something wrong."
"You were worried about me?" It was hard to believe, but the idea made her feel warm. It had been a long time since she felt like someone truly cared about her wellbeing.
Don't get her wrong, she knew Harry and the Weasley's cared, but they had drifted apart through the years and she didn't see them nearly as often as she wished.
Though being around the Weasley's meant being around Ron, and that thought made her stomach turn.
"Maybe." She looked up to see a blush spread across his cheeks and it made her smile to see.
"Thank you, Draco." She reached up and gave him a soft kiss on his blushing cheek, which made said cheek turn even more red.
They finished their dance and like he said, he led her from the room and back up the stairs. Together they walked out of the hospital and to the gates, appariting them back to her flat.
"I'm surprised to say this, but thank you for forcing me out tonight. It felt good to get out and be around people."
"Well, thank you for going with me, though you may feel differently tomorrow when word gets out that we were there together."
She shrugged. "It's bound to happen eventually."
"True."
They stood awkwardly at her door, neither wanting to move away from the other.
"Well, I suppose I should go and let you get some rest." He finally said.
"Yeah, I am pretty tired."
"Uh, I work the next few days, but I'm off this coming Saturday." He looked away before continuing. "Would you want to do the adoption then?"
Her heart rate increased as she remembered what they were actually doing.
"Yeah, uh, sure. That works for me." How was she going to feel when the baby inside her belonged to Draco? The thought sent blood rushing to her cheeks.
"Okay, then I'll see you Saturday?"
"Yeah, Saturday."
He stared at her for several moments before bending down and kissing her on the forehead. "Take care of yourself and the little one."
Then with a soft pop he left, and she moved to sit down on her couch, one hand resting on her still flat belly and the other touching her forehead.