Author's note #1: Trigger warnings ahead concerning Hermione's pregnancy and sensitive themes overall. Please be wary as you read if you feel uncomfortable. You're welcome to PM me if you want details on what happens before you read. I do promise a HEA at the end of the chapter. Thanks.

"Your husband is going to make me kill him," Lydia said as she scanned the letter Draco had sent her. "We were in training together! He knows good and well Uriel and I wouldn't let you drown or something…"

Hermione laughed. She and Aiden had spent the night with Lydia and Uriel while Draco had been called away by the Ministry to handle a case that had cropped up in the middle of the night. The night before Christmas Eve, no less. But it was fine. She hadn't spent much time with them lately, so it was a nice trade-off. Draco promised that he would be home by the next day, and in the meantime the Harper household had been disturbed by three consecutive owls from him asking how Hermione was. In those letters he had provided a list of Dos and Donts when caring for his pregnant wife and for that, Lydia had murder on her mind.

"Draco's just nervous," Hermione smiled. Then she laughed when Aiden leaned over and grabbed the letter from Lydia's hands and proceeded to make large pieces of confetti from it.

"That's my sweet boy," Lydia grinned broadly. "Show your daddy that he's crazy."

"Nervous," Hermione corrected. "Not crazy."

"What on earth for? We just spent the past twelve hours catching up and everything's a dream for you right now. Your St. Mungo's visits, his job, your orphanage-"

"Precisely. I guess we're sort of waiting for the shoe to drop, you know?"

Lydia frowned. "You too?"

Hermione hadn't wanted to mention it, but yes, she'd been worried. Just a lingering bit of anxiety that somehow, some way, something was going to go wrong.

"Hey,"

Hermione looked up, unaware at how solemn she had gotten or that Lydia had lifted Aiden off of her lap and placed him on her own.

"If there's one thing I've learned from my job it's that you don't go looking for trouble," Lydia told her. "Be glad that everything is okay. Besides, you don't need the stress."

Hermione chuckled. "Now you're starting to sound like Draco."

Lydia smiled. "Listen to us then."

Draco's mother had gone all out for the welcoming party for Aiden and her unborn grandson. Why wouldn't she? The woman loved to celebrate any and all achievements when it came to her family. This certainly was no different.

And so she rented a mansion for the event, inviting close friends and family to spend the night before and the night of the event once the festivities were over. Hermione had expected to stay there after the party, not the night before. That's why Draco was there now and not working a fictional case he was supposed to have been called away for.

It was his and Hermione's one year anniversary tomorrow. Christmas day. He had planned in his mind what he had wanted to do months ago, but that was before he knew his wife would be heavily pregnant by now. Draco wanted her to have as little strenuous activity as possible, and so he decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for a pampered day. He had told Uriel and Lydia what he wanted to do and roped them into it, leaving them to keep Hermione occupied. He had gone to the mansion last night to prepare, but with his mother having kidnapped every last house elf for her event, he was left doing it alone. That is until he swallowed his pride and asked for help.

Out of every friend and acquaintance Draco had, every single one of them was busy except for Blaise and Ron. His pride had been more than swallowed. It had been carved into his forehead and worn as an sign. Sometimes he forgot how much Hermione meant to him. A woman who, at the time Draco and Hermione had gotten together, he was very much still in love with. And yet here he was, helping the husband of his ex, yet still best friend, deck out a suite in elaborate Christmas decorations and romantic touches.

After nearly two hours of decorating, Draco sighed, glanced once at Blaise who was off setting candles in a far corner of the room, and then turned his gaze on Ron who was within hearing distance of him.

"Hermione told me that you made her go to St. Mungo's."

Ron looked away from the wreath he was hovering with his wand, and titled his head in confusion at the blond.

"August," Draco poorly elaborated, but Ron had managed to piece it together. He was talking about when he forced Hermione into finding out if she was pregnant or not. And so the redhead nodded and went back to hanging his wreath.

"I did."

"This is long overdue, Weasley," Draco said as he began fiddling with an already hung set of decorations. "Thank you...for being her friend."

Ron dropped the wreath. He nearly dropped his wand too, but instead he faced Draco with wide eyes and choked out, "What?"

Draco glanced at him and huffed. "Sucks for you if you didn't hear me because I am not repeating it."

Draco walked off then to attend to some other part of the room. Ron continued to stand where he was, dumbfounded, and completely at a loss of what to say or do. Blaise noticed, despite not being in earshot or having a proper view, that something was amiss. Ever curious and a utter gossip, he tucked his hands into his pockets and headed over to Ron while eyeing his friend intermittently.

Blaise reached him and leaned against the wall with a goofy grin. "What's the matter with you? You look like a hex was just placed on your house."

Ron blinked himself back to reality and stared at Blaise. "Malfoy just...thanked me."

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that.

"What for?"

"For being Hermione's friend,"

It was a guarantee that Blaise was going to use this as ammunition one day. It must've killed Draco to say anything remotely praising to the redhead, but Blaise understood why he did it. And at that, aside from the teasing, he gave his best friend kudos.

"Congrats, Weasley," Blaise said as he pushed himself off the wall. "Not that Draco would ever say this in public, or in private, or even in his head, but you've officially made it onto Draco's friend list. Don't screw it up."

"Aiden, you're due for a nap. Please, go to sleep?" Hermione pleaded.

She was laying in bed, pillows propped up behind her back because it ached, a sour expression on her face because of cramps, and praying very hard that Aiden would go to bed. She'd been trying to get him to sleep the past half an hour, but clearly that wasn't the agenda for her son. He was happily sitting beside her, playing with the wings of his hippogriff toy, and looking up at her every now and again with a wide, toothless grin.

Merlin, bless him, he was adorable.

Hermione sighed, deciding to just give up. If he skipped his nap now, maybe she could keep him awake long enough so that when he did sleep he'd sleep through the night. It was as good a gamble as any.

She adjusted herself to sit up in bed and winced. Her cramps weren't letting up. Although, if she was being honest, it less like manageable discomfort and more like uncomfortable pain.

Hermione frowned and reached for her wand.

"Let's put a barrier around you, shall we?" She said as she moved her wand around Aiden. She didn't want him falling off of the bed while she went to the bathroom.

Hermione didn't actually have to use it, but there was something telling her that she had to go there. That she needed to. And so, she went into the room and hiked up the house dress she was wearing. She slowly slipped down her underwear after that, swallowed, and hesitantly moved her hand to between her legs. When she pulled it back her heart stopped.

Blood.

A lot of blood.

The brunette was speechless for several seconds, and when she managed to catch her voice it cracked and stuttered.

"L-Lydia? Lydia!"

Hermione wasn't sure if her voice carried, but she soon heard her bedroom door open and the joyous voice of her friend

"Aiden, love, I thought your mummy put you to bed?" Lydia laughed.

"Lydia!"

Footsteps immediately came to the bathroom door, and Lydia's smiling face dropped when she spotted Hermione's face. Her eyes went wide when she saw her hand. And her jaw dropped when she let her eyes trail down Hermione's legs.

"Uriel!"

Draco was all smiles as he stared around the room. It was a mix of happy Christmas feels and romance and guaranteed to make him husband of the year. Wreaths on the walls, a Christmas at least three feet taller than himself in the corner of the room, beautifully decorated with ornaments, candy canes, lights, and, he was quite proud to admit, photographs of himself, Hermione, and Aiden. There were presents too. For added fun there were various sets of mistletoe hung on the ceiling, but charmed so that they didn't appear unless he and Hermione walked underneath them.

"Damn it," Blaise shook his head. "You're making me look bad here, mate."

Ron snorted. "Seconded,"

Draco grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not a contest despite the fact that I've just won it."

The other two men shared glances and rolled their eyes in annoyance. Before either one of them could come up with a reply, they were interrupted by the harsh opening of the suite door.

"Draco," Uriel breathed once he spotted him. He was out of breath as though he'd been running for hours. Mirth disappeared from Draco's face immediately as it paled. Worry and fear was all he could see in Uriel's expression and Draco gulped.

"Hermione?"

"Come on, mate," Uriel said with an urge of his hand. "We have to go to St. Mungo's right now."

Draco's heart plummeted, but he did move. He ran, more like it. He didn't know if the three men behind him we're keeping up, but he didn't care.

"Tell my mother where I'm going," he said to no one in particular once he got to the nearest room with a fireplace. He didn't wait for a reply or for anyone to join him in the fireplace. He just left.

Draco tumbled out of St. Mungo's and would've fallen had a stranger not caught him by the arm. He didn't thank him. He barely even registered that there were people around him. All he could think about was Hermione and that she was in a hospital. Hermione...hospital. The latter he had hoped never to associate with her again unless it was for a happy occasion. That happy occasion was the due date of March 5th. It was Christmas Eve. She was two months too early. This was bad. This was a nightmare. This was-

"Answer me, I said!" Lydia shouted at him.

Draco blinked. Only Merlin knew where this woman came from. Had she been there the whole time? She was standing directly in front of him with her hands on his face trying to get him to focus.

"Where is she?" Draco croaked out.

"You'll have to ask Hermione's parents," Lydia said. They're the only ones the hospital will talk to since they're her family. Come on."

Lydia held Draco by the arm and pulled him along. Whereas he'd been running before, now he was walking, knowing that with each step he took it would lead him to finding out news that could ultimately shatter him.

Yet again, Draco was unaware of his surroundings. When he and Lydia reached their destination there were more people here than Hermione's parents. Harry and Ginny were here, the latter holding Aiden to her chest. Lavender and Liliana were here too, and Draco could only assume that a Patronus had been sent. How else could they have all gotten here so quickly?

"Oh, Draco, you're here!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed as she took over from Lydia by pulling him on the arm. She looked terrified. Mr. Granger looked none-the-better and he gave Draco a curt nod without saying anything.

"Draco," Dr. Lonnegan greeted him.

"I need to see Hermione," Draco said, and his chest hurt when he watched Dr. Lonnegan shaking his head.

"You can't do that. Healer Hasbrook is getting Hermione ready for surgery."

Just when Draco thought that he couldn't feel worse, there it went.

"S-surgery?"

Dr. Lonnegan nodded and sighed. "As I was telling Hermione's parents, she was bleeding significantly when her friends brought her here. We did quick tests and… And it's the curse, Draco. It started attacking the baby."

Draco closed his eyes. It started attacking the baby. Those words rang loudly in his ears and made him feel sick. He was dizzy and he was numb. His in-laws were talking to him, but their voices were silent. The only thing he heard was the last sentence of Dr. Lonnegan's words repeating endlessly until he snapped his eyes open with utter rage.

"How could this have happened?" Draco demanded. "You said she was fine! You've been seeing her for months, and everything's been fine!"

"Everything was fine," Dr. Lonnegan replied with a solemn face. "Her tests were perfect. The prognosis was excellent. However, you know just as I do that the curse has been there all this time, doing nothing. But today it just… It manifested as though it was cast anew. The curse is meant to prevent pregnancies, Draco, but your wife is. That's why she was bleeding. And that's why Healer Hasbrook and I are prepping Hermione for surgery to get your son out before…"

Dr. Lonnegan's words trailed. Draco knew what he was going to say before he stopped himself, but they needed to be said. Draco had to hear it. And so he urged him.

"Before what, Dr. Lonnegan?"

The doctor took a deep breath, eyeing his favorite patient's parents before settling his gaze on the distraught husband and father before him.

"Before the curse kills your son and Hermione."

Blaise, Ron, and Narcissa came in together. The matriarch's usually prim and proper demeanor had been done away with and she looked as though she had just been given a death sentence. Ron was silent with an expressionless gaze. Blaise's own thoughts were blurred and he wasn't quite sure what to do. Hermione meant a lot to him. To have something happen to her or her son after everything she and Draco had gone through already? It was cruel.

"Where's Draco?" Narcissa immediately asked the group. "How's Hermione? The baby?"

"We won't know how she or the baby are for a while," Ginny said. "She's in surgery."

Narcissa's eyes watered. "And Draco?"

Ginny gestured towards the hall behind her. Narcissa turned and saw her son. He was sitting on a chair along the hall away from everyone. Even from a distance he was a mess.

"My poor boy," she whimpered before beginning to walk towards him, but Blaise put a hand on her shoulder.

"Narcissa, if I may?" Blaise addressed her. "Draco doesn't need to see anyone cry."

Narcissa dabbed at her eyes, swallowed, and nodded. Blaise gave her a soft smile before taking off towards Draco in her stead. As he got to him Blaise realized that he was mumbling. He was sitting on a chair, his leg shaking up and down, his hands cupped tightly, white from a lack of blood flow. It wasn't until Blaise got closer that he could hear what his distraught friend was saying.

"Too good… It was too was good…"

Blaise took a deep breath and gently approached him. "What was too good?"

Draco didn't look at him. He just continued to stare blankly ahead. He did answer him though.

"Life. It was too good. Life is never this good to me. Not for long. It just has to throw some shit in there to remind me that I don't deserve to be happy. That I don't-"

"You deserve to be happy just like any of us," Blaise cut him off. "Don't ever doubt that for a second. Hermione and the baby will be fine."

"What if they're not?"

"They will be."

"How do you know?"

"They will-"

Draco abruptly stood, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and shaking him as he yelled, "How do you know?!"

Blaise had seen Draco break down before, but this… This was new. This was pain and fear beyond anything a person should feel. Every word this man heard needed to be said carefully. He was on the verge of snapping, but even then, Blaise couldn't find anything more to say than just,

"They'll be fine."

It was late. After midnight. Hermione had been in surgery for hours, and in the meantime, everyone took turns sitting beside Draco who still sat more than a dozen feet away from everyone. He didn't talk to them either, nor did they try to initiate a conversation. They merely just wanted to make their presence known so that he knew he wasn't alone.

It was Harry's turn now, and he'd been sitting with him for the past half an hour before nearly jumping out of his skin when Draco spoke.

"Is Aiden asleep?"

Harry nodded. "Ginny took him to her parents' so that he could sleep properly. I hope that's okay."

"It's fine."

More silence ensued, but it was broken again by the same man who had broken it the first time.

"Potter, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"What are Hermione's parents doing?"

Harry looked over at Hermione's parents. They had their hands cupped, eyes closed, and they appeared to be mumbling. He looked back at Draco, now fully aware that this was probably the first time he had ever seen someone do that before.

"They're...uh…praying."

As expected, Draco was confused. "What is it?"

"Um… It's something some muggles do. You, uh… You basically talk to someone who's all powerful and He helps you when you're in trouble."

Intrigued, Draco returned his gaze to his in-laws. They'd been doing that praying thing nonstop for Merlin knew how long.

"Does it work?" He asked Harry. The latter rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"Some people think it does."

"Do you?"

Harry didn't know. The Dursleys had never been the religious sort, and he himself had never really thought about it. But as he observed how intensely Draco was staring at him, and how terrified and tired he looked, Harry found himself nodding despite what he believed.

"Yeah," he told him. "I think it works."

"And you just...talk?"

Harry nodded. "You talk and He listens."

You talk and He listens…

Draco wasted no time in following his in-laws' example by cupping his hands and closing his eyes.

"I don't know if I'm doing this right," Draco said quietly. "I don't even know who you are. But please, please, keep Hermione and our son safe. If anything happens to them… I'll die. I'll completely fall apart."

"Draco,"

The blond stopped and opened his eyes. He found Harry on his feet and pointing down the hall where Healer Hasbrook was. Draco stumbled to his feet and hastily made his way to him, his fear and anxiety weighing him down and his thoughts running ragged.

"Well?" Draco asked. It was all he could say. He didn't dare ask detailed questions. He was already vulnerable, shaken beyond normal capacity and ready to crumble at the proper moment.

Healer Hasbrook took a moment to glance at all the expectant pairs of eyes on him: ten total. His gaze landed on Draco last and he gave him a triumphant smile.

"If you follow me, Draco, you can see your son."

The noise level in St. Mungo's hall jumped a thousand decibels while Draco remained speechless. He would've dropped to his knees had he not been paralyzed with joy and relief.

"And Hermione?" Narcissa questioned.

"Resting," Healer Hasbrook confirmed. "She should be up for visitors tomorrow. Shall we get going, Draco?"

Draco nodded and followed Healer Hasbrook through a set of double doors. It was the maternity wing, so he noticed, and his heart swelled knowing that Hermione was back here somewhere, fine and asleep.

They walked for a little less than ten minutes until they reached something called the Premature Unit.

"It's where we keep all of our early birds," Healer Hasbrook said without being prompted. "There aren't very many babies here, so I managed to wrangle a corner of the unit for privacy. I figured you'd need it."

Draco smiled briefly in thanks before he stopped walking at the sight of a small baby in what he would consider a plastic crib. He frowned, though, at the thin glowing strips of magic that equated to wiring in muggle terms. It didn't take much for him to figure out that they were meant to make sure he was breathing alright and to check his heartbeat.

"How long will he stay like that?"

"It's a case by case basis, honestly," Healer Hasbrook replied. "But considering his health wasn't as bad as we feared, could be the middle or end of January sometime."

Draco understood. He took a tentative step closer and grinned a little. The hair on his head was blond like his. He wondered if when his son opened his eyes they'd be grey like his too.

"What time was he born?"

"Eleven-fifty-four. Just six more minutes and he would've been born on Christmas Day," Healer Hasbrook chuckled. "But Christmas Eve is just fine. He'll still get double the presents, I'm sure.

'Hermione had told me you'd chosen a name, but she didn't tell me. Wanted to keep it a surprise. What is it?"

"Can't tell you," Draco shook his head before smirking. "Hermione will throw a fit."

Healer Hasbrook laughed. "Fair enough. I'll leave you both alone then."

Draco acknowledged him with a glance before pulling a chair up to his son's crib and sitting beside him.

"I'm sorry," Draco said immediately as he stared at his son. "Not more than an hour into this world and already life is giving you a hard time." He took a deep breath to keep himself together, but he could tell that he was failing miserably in that regard as he tasted salty tears at the corners of his lips. If Hermione was standing here with him she would say it was okay to cry. They'd all been through a lot, but then again…

"You're alive, aren't you?" Draco spoke, blinking away his blurry vision to see his son better. "A curse nearly… It nearly killed you and yet you're here." He smiled then and wiped at his eyes as he chuckled. "Gryffindor genes if I ever saw it. You're definitely your mother's son. A fighter. A fighter and a Malfoy. That's the best combination out there, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Draco stayed by his son's side for hours. When the sun began to rise, he realized that he hadn't slept. He wasn't even tired. He checked how much time he had before he could go see Hermione and realized that he had up to another half an hour. He decided to use that half an hour to do one thing.

Perhaps it was because he was feeling sentimental. In truth, there could have been no other explanation. Draco went to and stayed in St. Mungo's Owlery for up to twenty straight minutes, a borrowed quill in his hand as he debated what he'd say.

Caelum Draco Malfoy.

Born December 24th, 11:54pm

He didn't sign it. He just put it in an envelope with his father's name on it and sent it off. Once that was done he went in search of Hermione's room. It was still early. Just after eight in fact, but he hoped that she was up.

And she was.

Draco gave his biggest smile as he watched her for a few moments. She hadn't noticed him because she'd been looking through the window. She also may have cried at some point because he could see dry tear stains on her face.

"Hey,"

Hermione turned her gaze away from the window and looked over at him. "Hey,"

"How do you feel?"

"Hazy," she replied as she rubbed at her eyes. "The last thing I remember is being given a really strong muggle anesthetic. And then I just woke up."

Draco grinned as he approached her bed. "Let's hope Caelum sleeps just as strongly as you do."

Hermione's face twisted in both alarm, fear, and happiness as she asked, "He's okay?"

"He's okay. Healer Hasbrook, Dr. Lonnegan, and the rest of the hospital staff have him isolated where they keep other premature babies. They'll monitor him and keep him here for a while."

Hermione released a deep breath and swallowed. "Of course. He was born ten weeks early. It's procedure. But, he's okay?" She asked again. Pleaded was more like it.

Draco was at her bedside now, and he cupped her worried face with his hands and kissed her on the forehead.

"Yes, he's okay."

Hermione closed her eyes, a few more of those tears streaming down her cheeks that Draco wiped away with us thumbs.

"Where's Aiden?"

"Mrs. Weasley's,"

"Ah, he's getting spoiled rotten then," Hermione laughed. She then stared at her husband. Really stared before adding, "Have you slept?"

"Are you kidding?" Draco scoffed. Hermione laughed again and then patted the small space on the bed next to her. He took out his wand and enlarged it, eyeing the bed as something to be treasured now that he realized he hadn't lain in one in over twenty-four hours.

It was soothing now that he was on it. It was even better when Hermione began threading her fingers through his disheveled hair.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Draco?"

"Happy Anniversary,"

Author's note #2: Well! I'll tell you something. This chapter was not easy to write, but it was done. And through it all Draco and Hermione still came out on top.

I can say now that after 56 chapters (whew!) we've pretty much hit the climax of DH's life. There's still more that I need to include, but from here on out there will be time jumps to get key moments in their journey. The end of this story is coming. Can't say for sure when, but it's out there.

Thanks for reading!

-WP