I am so incredibly sorry for the delay. My teachers all decided to assign major projects at the same time. I had to write a paragraph a day for several days instead of all at once. Fortunately, March break is coming up and I'll hopefully be able to get a few chapters ahead. Thanks for sticking it out with me!
~Thanks to JK!
"Did you ever want to have kids?" Hermione asked Draco softly.
He looked up at her in surprise from his assigned seat next to her in their marriage prep course. Ever since their frank talk after the incident with Astoria, they had been operating under an unofficial truce. They didn't seek each other out, but they didn't argue either. They had maintained an air of cordial distance. This was the first serious thing either of them had said to the other, well, ever.
"Absolutely not." He replied vehemently.
She looked slightly surprised, but asked calmly, "Why?"
He considered her seriously, his brow puckered. He didn't know how much to say. Quite frankly, he had never opened up to anyone.
Seemingly understandingly, she said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I understand, really."
That was what convinced Draco.
"It's because of my father. I don't want to risk turning out like him in the slightest. No child should have a father like him. I know that part of him is in me, and I don't want to unleash that on anyone. Then my kid would turn out like me."
It was now Hermione's turn to study Draco. Inside, her heart was both soaring and breaking. He had just trusted her with the most intimate of information, but the sorrow that thickened his words was gut-wrenching. There were so many comforting words that she wanted to console him with, but she sensed that he would not want to hear any of them.
"Well! I didn't know that all it would take was some reverse-psychology!" She said lightly.
Smiling slightly, he held her gaze and replied seriously, "It's because you actually wanted to listen. You cared, not just for some juicy tidbit of gossip, but for me."
xxxxx
Later that night, the pair was in their room reading in a fairly companionable silence that was only marred by the occasional turn of a page until, out of the blue, Draco said,
"What about you?"
The sound of his voice jarred Hermione, who had been thoroughly engrossed in her book as she always was.
"Wha-what about me?"
In the past, Draco would have mocked her for her bookwormness. He realized now that it only made her endearing. (Not that he'd ever admit that.) "Do you want to have kids?"
"Oh yes!" Hermione said in her fervent way. "Someday for sure, though I had wanted to start a career first," she added sadly. With a straight face, she added, "It won't be easy creating that miracle mousse you know. How am I to do it with kids under foot?"
Draco felt a slight pang of guilt as he laughed sincerely at her joke. She really was funny he mused. Her clever mind allowed her to have an acerbic sense of humor. What amazed him the most was that she was able to take his terrible treatment of her and laugh at it, as though she was finding the best in him, something that was no easy task he was sure. The phrase "opposites attract," floated across his mind teasingly. Tonight, his reflex reaction of angrily pushing that thought away felt more habitual than reflexive.
xxxxx
Hermione was appalled at herself. Her conversations with Draco had gotten her to thinking about babies….more specifically, about the conception part of the process. Until now, when she thought about the "having babies" part of the Marriage Law, she had dwelt on the fact that her kids would be part Malfoy. So focused was she on that aspect, that her horror had made her oversee the part where she'd have to have sex with him. "Merlin, I'm dead!" she whispered to herself. While she and Ron had kissed, they'd never really done much more than that. The truth was, Hermione really was not very experienced in this department, and there was no doubt in her mind that Draco was (as she had witnessed just the other day she thought resentfully.) How was she supposed to expose herself, make herself vulnerable in the utmost way, with Malfoy? She was terrified. She was also the sort of person who really had to be attracted to someone to want to be with them. It struck her that this part of the issue might not be such a problem after all.
xxxxx
As Hermione sat having breakfast with Harry, Ginny, and Parvati the next morning, she felt very relieved to be away from Draco. It wasn't that they had fought or anything, she just found it exhausting to spend large segments of time with him as she felt like she was always on her toes, slightly on edge. Their relationship was still too volatile. It was nice to be back with her old friends and Parvati, who was quickly becoming part of their group. The four of them simply chatted lightly throughout breakfast, only stopping when they were laughing too hard. No one mentioned the continued absence of Ron, who was sitting over with Seamus and Dean.
While Ginny and Parvati were engrossed in a conversation about the latest edition of Witch Weekly, something that neither Harry nor Hermione had the slightest interest in, Harry turned to Hermione and said quietly,
"Sorry Mione, but I have to ask—how are things playing out with Malfoy?"
Hermione smiled bemusedly. "Strangely well, all things considered, though I wouldn't say that I'm completely happy."
"Strangely well!?" The shock in Harry's voice was unmistakable, making his exclamation sound ten times louder than it was.
"Yes, we don't argue all the time, he treats me alright half the time, and we had a rather deep conversation yesterday." Hermione stopped herself from describing their conversation as "intimate," fearing that it would have been too much for Harry….and for her.
"What on earth did you find to talk about!?
"It—it's personal." Hermione blushed.
Harry stared at her incredulously. "You have secrets now too!?"
"Oh never mind!"
"Mione." Harry seemed at a loss for words. Rubbing his temples, he composed himself and said. "I—I'm happy for you."
Hermione beamed at her friend. That was so Harry, putting his friends first, always so loyal.
"Don't worry Harry, you'll still always be my number one man!" Hermione elbowed him and they laughed, relieved to return to a familiar routine.
xxxxx
"He's staring at you!" Parvati hissed in Hermione's ear during potions class where they were working as a pair.
Hermione looked up at her words, across the classroom, where Draco was indeed staring at her as he stirred his Draught of Death. Upon her catching his gaze, he snapped his head down, and Hermione could have sworn that there was a faint pink tinge to his cheeks, though it was hard to tell with the darkness of the dungeons.
Draco was furious with himself. He was losing his touch, no one ever caught him looking at them! Though he was learning that Granger was not your average person. He had been staring at her because he had been seriously contemplating the idea that had struck him that morning during breakfast as he had observed the ease with which she talked to Potter. The depth of their familiarity was clear. Draco knew instinctively that if their marriage was going to work, he would have to get to know her as well. The problem was the solution that he had come up with, it terrified him. But as Draco watched her (sneakily) once more, he made up his mind.
When Slughorn finally gave the familiar command of, "Cauldrons out, potions bottled, bags packed, students out!" Draco followed the instructions and hurried to catch up with Hermione who was often one of the first students out in her eagerness to head to their next class. When he finally leveled with her, he blurted out his question before he lost his nerve.
"Granger, what would you say to going on a date?"
