CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Summary: Hermione Granger, one of the brightest minds of her generation, makes a decision that will ultimately change her future plans. At twenty-three, she finds herself moving to a strange town that's a hell-mouth for supernatural beings, pregnant, and in way over her head. And the father of her unborn child? The tall, dark and handsome werewolf, Derek Hale. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and the creators of Teen Wolf and MTV. This is purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making a profit from the posting of this. This is set after Season 3, and everything from season 4 onwards doesn't happen; so no deadpool, Beast, Dread Doctors, Wild Hunt or Hunters. Allison still died, Liam will still be appearing, and there is no Kira or Malia. Derek is 22 and Hermione is 23. I'm fudging the time line a bit, too.
Page count: 11
"How'd it go, Dears?" Andromeda asked as they stepped into the cottage and Magic bounded over to them, barking loudly.
He barely spared Hermione and Derek a glance before he was jumping up at Teddy and given his growth spurt, Magic was easily bigger than the small child when standing on his back legs. Teddy laughed loudly and fell back onto the arm chair as Magic jumped up, draped himself over the small child and licked his face. The three adults watched with smiles and chuckles before Derek pulled the much larger dog off of Teddy before he crushed him with his weight and they both ran out of the room, Teddy's laughter and Magic's barking echoing through the cottage.
Hermione's scowl made an appearance as she sat herself on the arm chair with her arms crossed.
"It didn't," she said grumpily.
Andromeda looked to Derek confused as he slipped off his leather jacket and hung it up on the nearby coat stand.
"The babies are both fine, but we weren't able to find out the genders, they weren't cooperating during the scan so Hermione's in a mood," he explained.
"I'm not in a mood," she denied. "Why would I be? It's not as if I've been waiting for this day for over five months, it is?"
He held his hands up in surrender. "Not my fault, blame the babies, they're the ones that wanted to play hide and seek, not me."
"It is your fault."
"How is my fault?" He asked her.
"They're your babies," she said.
"They're half yours, too," he replied.
"No, it's your super sperm that knocked me up, it's your fault."
"Here we go again," he rolled his eyes, dodging the cushion she threw at his head and Andromeda did her best to hide her chuckles but ultimately failed.
"Dear, if you would like I can cast the Gender Reveal Charm for you," Andromeda said.
Hermione blinked slowly. "The what?" She frowned.
"Gender Reveal Charm," she repeated.
"Oh bloody hell," Hermione sighed, burying her face in her hands.
"You didn't know there was such a thing?" Andromeda asked.
Hermione grumbled and lifted her face from her hands while Derek looked amused. "No, I didn't. I know there's a potion but I'm allergic to the ginger spice they use as an ingredient, which is why I agreed to the scan."
"Oh, Dear," Andromeda shook her head and chuckled. "The charm was invented even before I was born and was used within the Pureblood families until it became known to the public in the nineties."
"And it's accurate?" She asked.
"One hundred percent," Andromeda nodded.
"And it's safe?"
"Completely, for both you and the babies," she said.
Hermione looked over to Derek and he shrugged his shoulders. "Your decision,"
Hermione sighed before nodding. Andromeda stood from her place sat on the couch and closed the distance between her and Hermione, pulling her wand from her robes and gently pressing the tip against Hermione's stomach.
"Any guesses before I cast the spell?"
"Boys," Hermione said.
"Girls," Derek spoke.
"Let's see," Andromeda smiled, before she muttered under her breath and she pulled the wand away from Hermione and two balls of white light hovered in the air as she stepped back.
They all watched the orbs of white light carefully, not taking their eyes off them until the first one changed colour, blue. They had a son. Hermione and Derek shared a look before they turned back to the second orb of light until that changed colour, too. Pink. They had a daughter. They were both right.
Tears welled in Hermione's eyes before they spilled down her face and she pushed herself up from the arm chair and crossed over to Derek who took her in his arms and hugged her to him.
"One of each," he muttered.
She cried into him and nodded her head against his chest. "One of each, you know what this means, right?"
"What?"
"I'm going to have to find a bloody unisex colour that I like for the nursery and there's no chance of matching outfits now."
He snorted at her. "Well, at least you've got your priorities in order." She slapped at his arm. "And there's no chance of getting them mixed up."
"I'd be worried if someone did," she muttered.
Derek pulled back from her slightly with a frown on his face. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She asked confused and pulling back from him altogether.
"That noise,"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she frowned.
A sudden crash sounded in the cottage which was followed by barking and the three adults looked to each other.
"Now that I heard," Hermione sighed. "Teddy, Magic!" She called. "What in the name of Merlin are you breaking now!"
"Nothing," a voice called back and it was followed by a bark, as if Magic was agreeing with him.
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose and sent a scowl to Derek who was barely containing his laughter, before she stalked through the cottage and to the blue haired boy's bedroom. She pushed the door open to see Teddy on the ground and pushing the broken pieces of his bed under the chest of drawers, where the mattress had broken through the wooden slabs holding it up. Hermione put her hands on her hips and felt Derek and Andromeda step up behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Teddy startled so much he fell backwards on his bum, his eyes widened when he saw her and he scrambled back onto his feet with Magic sat beside him, the both of them looking guilty.
"Nothing," Teddy replied.
"So you didn't break your bed and tried to hide the evidence?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, it wasn't us, I swear," the little boy said.
"Then who was it, Teddy?"
"Crookshanks, he's fat."
Hermione sent a glare over her shoulder when Derek burst out laughing, before she turned back to the two culprits.
"Crookshanks went hunting for mice, he's not even here."
"He came back,"
"Crookshanks came back, broke your bed and then left again so you would get in trouble?"
"Yes, I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen."
"Really, here's what I think happened. You and Magic were jumping on the bed, it broke and you didn't want us to know you'd been jumping on your bed when we told you it wasn't strong enough to hold the weight, so you tried to hide the evidence and blame Crookshanks. Does that sound about right?" Hermione asked the blue haired boy.
"It wasn't my fault, Magic wanted to jump on the bed, I told him not to but he wouldn't listen," Teddy said.
Derek's laughter only doubled when Magic let out a strange sound and then he looked up at Teddy with a look of betrayal on his face, and Hermione sent him out of the room, his laughter echoing through the cottage.
~000~000~000~
"He still asleep?" Hermione asked Derek, looking up from her book as she lounged on the bed.
"Yeah, I've just checked on him, he and Magic are both out for the count," he replied, moving into the room and getting himself ready for bed. He pulled his t-shirt off and then looked to Hermione with a raised eyebrow when he felt her eyes on him. "What?"
She bit her lip nervously. "I wanted to talk to you about something. It's been bothering me for a while so I decided to do a little research and I want to discuss my findings with you."
"Alright, now you've got my attention," he said, moving to climb on the bed and sitting beside her.
She put her book down on the bedside table to give him her full attention. "Well, it's about how I'm pregnant actually."
"I think we both know how you're pregnant," he replied.
She scowled at him and slapped at his arm. "Fine, not how I'm pregnant, but why. I never understood it to be honest."
"It happens," he shrugged. "Condoms aren't one hundred percent affective."
"They're not," she agreed. "But my contraceptives are."
"You've lost me," he frowned in confusion.
"I was on the Contraceptive Potion when we met, and I know it's one hundred percent effective because I brewed it myself. I just saw no point in telling you I was on contraceptives. So not only did I fall pregnant, but I did so with two forms of protection. When I say your super sperm knocked me up, I mean it."
"So you're saying you should've never fallen pregnant?"
"Yes, but I did, which is what I couldn't understand and after we started dating, little things kept niggling at me and I knew I couldn't let it go, so I started a research project which is one of the reasons why I've been in the library so much, especially with Andy, she's been giving me some insight on things I didn't know myself."
"And that is?"
"I don't want you to freak out,"
"I'm not going to freak out."
She sighed. "Fine, do you believe in fate?"
"I don't know, why?"
"You know how it's said wolves mate for life?" She asked and he nodded, wondering where she was going with the question. "Well it's true, especially with magical werewolves. Each werewolf has a life or wolf-mate and more often than not, they're human. Unfortunately, a werewolf can only find true happiness with their mate and it's rare for them to do so. Statistics show that only five percent of the werewolf population find their mates. A werewolf's mate is essentially the other half of their soul, the one thing they can't live without once they've been found. They're protective of the other, they understand each other and they know that they belong to each other. Tonks wasn't just Remus' wife; she was his mate which makes Teddy a product of their bond. For a werewolf to have children is uncommon because female werewolves are infertile due to the full moon transformation and if they do fall pregnant, they'll miscarry within the first three months. This is why most werewolves increase their numbers by biting others. Male werewolves can have children but only with their human mates."
"I understand everything you've just said, but I don't understand what that's got to do with us?"
She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. "Derek, I don't have to tell you our relationship's strange, at least it was in the beginning. I understand that you're a different kind of werewolf and therefore there would be differences between you and Remus, and that's why I've been speaking with Andy, not only have I noticed some strange behaviours, but she has too, and she said they're similar to Remus' behaviour when Tonks was pregnant with Teddy."
"And?"
"You're protective of me, but as you said yourself, it's not just because I'm pregnant with your babies, it's because you care about me. You're always nuzzling at my neck."
"You smell nice," he shrugged.
"To your wolf I do, everyone else just smells my perfume, even Scott can't smell anything different about me, but not only do you nuzzle at me, you always do it in the same spot."
"Right? It's where your scent's the strongest."
"That may be but it's not the only reason you do that. Magical werewolves mark their mates with a bite, some on the neck, some on the wrists and some on the thighs. I know Remus marked Tonks on her right wrist."
"I still don't understand what you're trying to tell me."
"Derek, do you not think it's strange how we came together? I have my final meeting with my new bosses and I meet a stranger in a bar. We sleep together, both contraceptives fail and I find out I'm pregnant. Once I've completed my move to Beacon Hills, I discover the father to not only be a werewolf but to live in Beacon Hills, too. We meet for the second time in the woods at your old house, which just happens to be not far from my cottage which you used to play in as a child. You feel so worried and protective over me that you can't sleep unless you're under the same roof as me, so you moved in with me. We discover we both have an attraction for each other and we start dating until we admit we love each other. Your behaviour towards me is similar to that of a mated magical werewolf."
He blinked several times, trying to process her words. "Are you saying that you think we're, what? Mates?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "There's no evidence to suggest supernatural werewolves do or don't have them, but your behaviour would suggest that it's possible. I was around Remus for years, and I saw his behaviour towards Tonks even before they married and had Teddy. I know that your behaviour is similar to his. I believe in fate, Derek, after all the things I've been forced to witness I can't not believe in it. Our circumstances have always puzzled me. Just think about it, you're protective of me not only because of the babies, not only because you care for me, but because you feel as though I belong to you. You feel as though I'm yours, don't you?"
He frowned, realising she was right. He did feel that. Everything between them felt right and as though it was just meant to be. As though they were meant to be together.
"Your wolf likes the way I smell because he knows I'm yours, and you nuzzle at my neck because it's where you want to mark me. You want to bite me, don't you? Not to change me, just so other wolves know that I belong to you."
His frown deepened. He did want to bite her; he couldn't stop thinking about it. But he didn't want to bite her to change her, to make her like him; he just wanted to mark her.
"I told you about Ronald, he sabotaged my Contraception Potions for a year and I didn't know, I was effectively having unprotected sex for a year and I didn't fall pregnant, yet we spend one night together and I fall pregnant with twins. Do you not think that's odd?"
"I suppose so," he replied thoughtfully.
"I'm not saying that I am your mate, just that it could be possible since your behaviour's similar to that of a mated male wolf."
"And if we are, how do we know? How does it affect us?"
"If you mark me and the bite heals but scars, or if another woman shows interest in you but it makes you physically feel sick or if you kiss another woman and it literally feels as though you're being stabbed in the heart, it means we are. And it won't really affect us in the way you might think, it just means that you're it for me and I'm it for you. It won't physically affect us; we'll continue to be the way we are now. And it can't influence your emotions either; everything you feel is all you, I'm just putting that out there. I've met a mated couple who actually hated each other."
"Okay,"
"You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would," she commented surprised.
He shrugged his shoulders. "If we are or aren't mates, you're still the mother of my children and I still love you."
"Where are you going?" She asked him when he climbed off the bed and made for the door.
"You want a chocolate milkshake, right?"
"How'd you know that?" She frowned.
"I know you," he shrugged his shoulders.
~000~000~000~
"I haven't done anything, I swear," Teddy spoke, sitting at the kitchen table while Hermione and Derek sat opposite him.
"Not yet you haven't," Hermione replied. "But it's barely three o'clock so there's plenty of time,"
Derek snorted at her, knowing it was true. "Teddy, we know you haven't done anything wrong, we just wanted to talk to you about something," he told the blue haired child, and Teddy seemed to relax in his seat. "Hermione and I have been talking, and we think it would be a good idea if you went to school."
Teddy frowned. "School? I'm not old enough."
"Not to Hogwarts, Teddy Bear, to Muggle School."
"With other muggle kids?" Teddy asked.
"Yes, with other children your own age," Derek nodded. "You'll get to make lots of new friends and you'll learn more about this world."
"But what if I say something about magic?"
"You won't, you're very smart and I'm very proud of you for your control over your shifting," Hermione told him and Teddy sat up taller in his chair. "And even if you did say something about magic and werewolves, no one would believe you. As long as you don't do any shifting, you'll be fine."
"But I won't get to see you if I'm at school," he said sadly.
"You'll still see us every day," Derek said. "We'll take you to school and pick you when you're finished, and we can still take Magic for walks and go looking for rabbits and birds, we'll just do it after school. Trust me, Pup; this is going to be really good for you."
"Does Gran know?"
"Yes, she does and she thinks it's a good idea, too," Hermione said.
"You won't be on your own, Pup," Derek spoke. "I've got a friend, her name's Miss. Hall and she's a werewolf like me. She teaches at the school you'll be going to and she'll be your teacher. I've told her about you, she knows that your father was a werewolf so she understands that it might be hard for you to control that part of you, so she said she'll watch over you and you can go to her whenever you need to."
"Is she a good werewolf?" Teddy asked.
"A very good werewolf," he nodded. "Her mother was a werewolf, too, and she used to be my teacher when I was your age."
"Do I have to go?"
"Yes," Derek said, while Hermione said, "No,"
Teddy looked between the two adults confused.
Derek turned to look at Hermione and she pouted at him. "We're going to the school tomorrow to enrol you and you can have a look around."
"Is there any point?" Hermione said. "There's only a few months left of the school year before summer."
Derek sent her an amused look before turning his attention back to Teddy. "I'll make you a deal, Pup, if you don't like it by the time you break for summer; you don't have to go back next year."
"Okay," Teddy grumbled. "But what about Magic?"
"Magic will be fine while you're at school," he replied. "And sometimes the school has a show and tell day, I remember that kids used to bring in their pets all the time. Trust me, Pup, this will be good for you and you'll make lots of friends."
~000~000~000~
Three days later...
Hermione was currently sat on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table and watching a film with Teddy, as the blue haired boy laid out on the couch with his head gently pressed against her stomach and Magic was curled up asleep at the end of his feet. Andromeda wasn't feeling well so she was in bed resting, and Derek was in the kitchen making some snacks for them.
Hermione startled when Teddy suddenly bolted up right and he looked down at her stomach.
"What's wrong, Teddy Bear?" She asked him.
"I felt your tummy move," he spoke.
Hermione frowned. "You did?"
"It hurt my head,"
Her frown deepened before realisation struck her. She'd been feeling the babies moving for weeks now, but no one else had been able to feel them kicking. That's what Teddy had felt, but she thought only she had felt it. He was the first to feel the babies make their presence known.
"Derek!" Hermione called.
"What!" He called back.
"Get in here; you're going to want to see this."
Moments later Derek entered into the living room, raising an eyebrow at the way Teddy had his ear pressed against Hermione's stomach and a laugh left him when he pulled back slightly.
Hermione held her hand out for Derek and when he took it, she tugged him closer and brought his hand down to her stomach, shifting her clothing so it pressed against her bare skin. Derek looked at her confused but a few moments later he felt it. A strong thump against his hand which was quickly followed by another, and Teddy laughed.
Derek's eyes glowed bright blue for the rest of the day.
~000~000~000~
Four days later...
"DADDY!"
Derek looked up from checking his messages and he slipped his phone back into his pocket when he caught sight of Teddy darting down the steps of the school with his back pack on his back and his sandy blonde hair blowing in the breeze.
"Hey, Pup," Derek greeted Teddy, chuckling when he ploughed into him, hugged him tightly and looked up at him with a large grin on his face. "How was your first day?"
"It was awesome," Teddy grinned. "We did some drawing and writing, and maths, I didn't like it," he said and Derek snorted at him. "At lunch Ben and Sam sat with me and they asked me to play with them and be their friend. What's football?"
"I'll tell you later, we better get home before Hermione has a temper tantrum."
Teddy laughed at him before he climbed into the car and Derek made sure he was properly strapped in before getting into the car himself and they made the journey to the cottage.
"Daddy?"
"Pup?" He questioned, turning to look at him before looking back at the road.
"How many werewolves are at school?"
"As far as I know, only one. Why?"
Teddy frowned before shaking his head.
"Pup, if there's something you need to me, you should."
Teddy shook his head again. "Do you know who the bad man is?"
Derek sighed. "No, the sheriff couldn't find anything on him, but if he comes back I'll take care of it."
"I know,"
~000~000~000~
"Are you going out again tonight?"
Derek turned to look over his shoulder, giving Hermione a smile before going back to making himself a sandwich.
"Yes, Liam's still having difficulty with the full moon and I said I'd help him. I'm meeting them on the cliffs before the moon rises. I'll leave after reading Teddy his bedtime story."
She nodded. "Maybe I should come with you."
"Not a chance in hell," he told her seriously. She scowled at him. "I'm being serious, Hermione. I'm not having you anywhere near him tonight, not only has he never met you before, if he smells me all over you or picks up on the pups, he'll realise you're fertile and he could target you. If it were just Scott it wouldn't be a problem, but this is a newly turned werewolf."
"You know I can take care of myself, you've seen me do it and you know I have my magic to prevent anything from happening. But you've been trying to help this kid for months and nothing seems to be helping. You're forgetting, while I may not know as much about supernatural werewolves, this kind of thing is my specialty. There isn't much that separates the two classifications, so maybe I can help him where you can't."
He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. "No,"
She folded her own arms above her stomach and stared him down. "I'm coming with you and you can't stop me. So, I can either come in your car or follow you in mine."
"No, Hermione,"
"Yes, Derek, your methods aren't working for him."
"They worked for me, my mother taught me."
"Exactly, not only were you born the way you are, your mother was the one to teach you to control your wolf. This kid needs something you can't give him. He needs a woman's touch, he needs a mother," she said, patting her stomach for effect. "You know I'm right."
"No, I'm not risking it."
"Alright, my car it is," she said, turning on her heel and storming out of the kitchen.
"Fine!" Derek called. "But at the first sign of any trouble, you're leaving, no arguments!"
Hermione smiled smugly to herself as she made her way to her library.