Day 3- Faithful Friends Who Are Dear to Us, Gather Near to Us:
"What do you think of this dress?" Hermione asked. "Is it conservative enough? Should I put more makeup on? Less?"
Her boyfriend pecked her cheek on the way past her to their floor length mirror. "You look perfect darling. There's nothing you could improve. It's me who should be worried." He held up a fun magically singing tie and a more classical red and green striped one. She pointed to the second, knowing her parents were going to be freaked out enough jumping into the Wizarding World, they didn't need to be losing their minds over how a tie couldn't run out of battery! Perhaps it would have been beneficial to have something to break the tension in the uncomfortable silences that were sure to come, but she had to pick between the two evils. "I'm serious. My parents are ashamed of what they've done. They're going to want to do everything they can to make it up to you, but I'm sure you complained about me to yours for years, they're going to be furious when they discover I'm the one who was so cruel to their daughter!"
"Oh they know who you are," Hermione leant in front of him to check her face in the mirror, then glanced up to meet his eyes in it. "This won't be the time they find out what you've done."
"You're still gossiping about me?" He asked, scrunching up his face in confusion.
She smirked, moving across the room to grab her bag and threading it over her shoulder, then blowing him a kiss. "Only when you do something naughty. Father Christmas has his lists to keep track, I have mine!"
Having apparatus to Malfoy Manor, Hermione pointed at the car parked neatly and in the family's stables beside their peacocks. "Looks like they're here already. Let's go assess the damage."
Draco took her hand, they both shared a deep breath, then they knocked on the ridiculously huge doors. It took so long for them to get a reply that Draco braved the potential wrath of his mother by stepping on her flowerbeds to try to get around to the sitting room window to peer into it and check there wasn't blood all over the floor to water the tree! That left her alone when the door was finally opened, and she had her mouth open ready to nervously greet her hosts, but she shouldn't have been surprised that, of course, the Malfoy's didn't answer their doors. Instead, at the door was an extremely festive looking house elf with a boa of golden tinsel around it. "Welcome Miss!" It squealed. By this point Draco had sweetly run back over to support her, glancing down at the elf in shock.
"Finky?" Draco asked, not recognising the elf who she knew had helped raise him.
"Oh yes! Master Draco is back!" The elf did a little dance to celebrate, which they both stifled laughter at. "For this most festive day! The Dr and Dr Granger are so wonderful- Finky knows you will have a good time! They gave Finky this when they arrived!" The elf showcased her accessory with a 'ta-da!' Gesture.
"Um, Finky, that's marvellous to know, but could you show us to them so we could join the party and put these gifts down?" Hermione displayed the contents of her arms almost apologetically.
Stone faced, the elf asked "dfes Miss have a gift for Finky?" Hermione blushed, glancing at Draco with a slightly annoye expression for not warning her of this. She'd had enough trouble working out what to give the in-laws she hadn't met whilst actually dating her boyfriend! (They were so different now- she had no clue what to expect!) Luckily the elf saved her with a booming chortle from one with so small lungs. "Finky is just joking Miss! Follow Finky's lead!"
Draco chuckled at Hermione as she took a relieved breath, then shook her head at him. "Quite the character!"
He glanced ahead at his childhood carer, "she was quite like that when I was younger, but never so much, and never around my parents. I think yours have brought something out of her!"
"Or perhaps yours have become more encouraging of expression?" She teased.
He chuckled, giving her hand a quick squeeze. "Let's stop kissing each other's parents' arses and go do it to them directly!"
They stepped in cautiously, not sure what to expect, but what they heard was hooting schoolgirl-ish laughter from within and deep out-of-key voices singing Good King Wenceslas! "Oh darling!" That was Narcissa, who Hermione suspecting was running over to squeeze Draco however it was her own parents who were greeting him. She expected a handshake or perhaps a curtsy from the Lady of the manor, but the blonde kissed her warmly on each cheek and her husband did the same; rather unnerving from a man who'd spat at her in Second Year. "Your parents are delightful!" Narcissa exclaimed. "But come in, come in, put those down under the tree!" Despite her friendliness, the nerves similar to Draco's were beginning to surface. Just like her son, they were difficult to spot and she doubted she would have if they weren't so similar to his. Despite her friendliness her poise remained- still rather intimidating. As she stood up from under the tree she turned to her parents to ask them how they were doing, but was waved off.
"Nice to see you sweetheart, but we want to get to know Draco. Based on how different his father is from all those awful things you told us, I'm sure he's the most charming man in existence!"
Her mouth dropped open in horror as she exclaimed for her mother to stop, but Malfoy Senior shook his head. "It's true, we shouldn't brush past our history. Draco and I have both behaved terribly towards you and I'm sure that he's utterly proven his change if you've not only committed to him personally as you have, but also agreed to come back to this place which I'm sure holds no pleasant memories, to meet me, who I'm sure you feel the same about." The mood in the room took even more of a dip into pain and discomfort. Her parents had been staunchly opposed due to their ages when she'd tried to explain their 'betrothal' but eventually they'd accepted it was what she wanted. His, on the other hand, had apparently been nothing but encouraging and she couldn't help but wonder why. She wasn't exactly Astoria Greengrass. "I can't express, Miss Granger," he continued. "How much it means to me that you have made my son happy when I thought the war had trained everything out of him. From meeting your parents, I understand clearly how you could have such an effect, and I only hope for you to let me get to know you as well- because it would seem there is a lot to admire."
Feeling utterly charmed after that speech, she resolved to throw herself into today. If she had accepted that Draco could change then surely so could his parents. Besides, her parents were dentists, they knew the best people didn't always have dazzling shiny teeth, and the worst's weren't all rotten.
Almost immediately an elf announced that dinner was ready. The six of them sat down, and while it was being brought out, Narcissa suggested they take turns to tell a story in order to get to know each other better. She went first, jumping straight into 'embarrassing mum mode' that seemed to infuriate Draco but put Hermione much more at ease, guffawing at her boyfriend as she heard about the first time he tried to mount a broom, age 3, and repeatedly flipped around onto his head- even bringing out magical pictures of the moment- to Draco's abject horror and despair! Lucius was just launching into what was shaping up to be something just as embarrassing when Hermione took a bite of the turkey (her favourite meat) she'd been heaping onto her plate and felt a wave of nausea inexplicably rise in her throat. She'd been looking forward to this meal- usually one of her favourite parts of the day- and had assumed even if it was awkward she could just stuff her face to avoid conversation. Still, that was certainly nausea. Maybe if she shoved some potatoes down to soak it up- or what about a swig of pumpkin juice. No, the turkey had done its work. She pushed back the chair with an embarrassingly loud scrape and ran out- despite the protests of both her parents and her boyfriend. She was exceedingly grateful to the elf who quickly pointed her to the bathroom, giving her just enough time to crumple over it and aim. Wretchedly, she struggle to pull her own hair out of the way until she felt a hand behind her scoop it up. Assuming it was her mother or Draco, and rather preoccupied honestly, she continued as she was, only turning to look once she'd finished and wiped her mouth. Upon realising that the helper was her mother-in-law, she started, which made the woman return a gentle hand to her shoulder. Hermione began to ramble about how incredibly apologetic she was for her rudeness; that the food had been fantastic and it was no affront to her cooking.
"Not that I cooked any of it, but if I had I still would have taken no offence," Narcissa shrugged elegantly.
Her mind a little fizzled from the sickness, Hermione began to respond "no, that's not what I-" before realising what had been said. "What? I mean, pardon?" She corrected herself with a blush.
"I'm not at all you're sick my dear, and the fact that it came upon you so quickly gives me a little theory. " She surveyed her for a moment, then asked, "have you had any other issues?"
She thought about that for a moment.
"Well there's a spell that I used to find out I was pregnant with Draco."
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Pregnant?"
"Is it not possible?" Asked a surprised Narcissa. Hermione couldn't believe they were talking about this. This wasn't anything she'd predicted when she'd planned out responses in her head for all the ways this could go wrong.
"I mean, I suppose-" Hermione took a deep breath as Narcissa explained how to cast the spell.
"Would you like me to go get Draco? Or your mother?"
She shook her head, quickly adding before the other woman could leave. "But could you please stay?" Seeming stunned at the request, Narcissa gestured to herself. "If there is a baby, I don't want to risk hurting it by doing this wrong, could you guide me through it?" The older woman nodded readily, so they went through the motions until Hermione was staring at a glowing blue spot on her stomach. She glanced at Narcissa, despite already knowing in her heart the explanation.
"It's a boy," she whispered, with an undercurrent of amusement. "Lucius's ridiculous family prophecy is sounding more and more believable."
Her stomach was tingling; not nausea but a curious mixture of shock, fear, excitement and confusion. "Could I take you up on that offer to get Draco now?" She asked. Narcissa nodded and headed for the door, but Hermione called out her name- her first name- to stop her. "Thank you. So much." The grey in her hair was becoming increasingly prominent, but the smile that lit up her face could have belonged to a ten year old.
"Are you alright babe?" Hermione glanced up. "Sorry about yelling after you, I think tensions are a little high for everyone."
She chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." At his raised eyebrow, she gestured for him to join her on the edge of the bathtub. There they sat in silence for a few moments as she tried to formulate a plan, but he was sweet enough to realise something was wrong and give her all the time she needed. At last she told him that she had a present for them to share. Taking his hand, she kept her eyes locked to his still perplexed ones, and guided it to her stomach. Watching the realisation dawn in his eyes was like bonfire night; a firework slowly zipping into the sky then exploding.
He switched his eyes frantically between her stomach and her eyes. "Are you joking?"
Nerves flipped in her belly as though there were five babies in there doing somersaults. "Are- does that... upset you?"
She'd barely finished her sentence when he swooped down to kiss her; she could feel the grin pressing against her lips as they nearly toppled into the tub. "Woah!" He pulled her back with even more gentleness than he ever had before. Then he ran his hand across her cheek softly. "You know it's what I want."
"But this early?" She bit her lip. "This doesn't exactly follow our ten year plan."
He smirked, correcting her "your ten year plan, so is this alright with you?"
She took only a second to think about it, before nodding. "Having a baby early was my nightmare when I was younger, but now I'm twenty-one and I'm not going anywhere, neither are you," she squeezed his hand with a teasing smile. "I didn't think anyone could work as hard as me, but you do- we can both cope with this- more than that, we can thrive." She put her own hand back on her stomach. "I can't believe I didn't have him with me before today, in just a few minutes everything feels different."
"I can't believe he'll be with us next year!" As he said it, a series of squeals carried into the room; Narcissa spilling the news to the other adults. The two soon-to-be-parents burst out laughing as they realised there were five children in this house, not just one.