He'd woken up before the sun had risen that morning and was now sat in the half-light watching the sun rise over Malfoy Manor. The only advantage to the 'magical finishing school' was the freedom to come and go at will. He'd just needed to get away, his head was swimming through the events of the last weeks and he wondered how he'd managed to keep to his plan almost perfectly yet end up feeling so very out of control. He hadn't meant for her to have his child but now that he thought about it, it couldn't have worked out any better if he had planned it. Blaise had travelled to the Manor with him and Sat on the chaise in his father's old study opposite Draco in the large dark leather chair. "You look like him when you sit like that" Blaise smirked, "Don't say that" Draco shot him a look as dark as his chair. "In all seriousness, are you ok with all of this?" as humorous as he found his friends situation now it had sunk in he was concerned. The smirk he got in return answered his question for him "Of course I am, If anything I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing the opportunity earlier" Blaise's eyes widened at Draco's words "Don't look at me like that Blaise. What's the one thing that binds you together eternally, that you can never take back and means that your interests will always be mutual?" Blaise broke into a wide grin understanding finally "Children". Draco stood walking to the small balcony just in time for the sunrise to bathe him in light. "Exactly, it's not just our inheritance on the line anymore, it's our children's that gives her a vested interest and me a lot of leverage."
"So…children, planning on having more are you?" Draco smiled "Growing up alone is the curse of the Malfoys and not one I intend to inflict. Family is power Blaise" Blaise shuddered, that is something to consider though isn't it… his voice filled with concern. "You're the first generation to dilute the line Draco, your child… it wont be.."Before he could finish Draco cut him off glaring down at the desk "It couldn't be avoided." His tone sharp and matter of fact, despite Blaises own firm beliefs he knew this friend was right. It was unavoidable, loose the purity or lose the wealth and status. "I guess if you HAD to dilute the line, you couldn't have done better than her" His words were as comforting as he could manage. He really did think that Granger was impressive, for a muggle born.
"So are you going to marry her then?" Blaise couldn't stop himself asking he knew Draco probably wouldn't have had chance to consider it yet but still. He erupted into a deep laughter as Draco pulled a file from the draw of his desk and placing a card on his desk which shone a 3d Hologram above them. "Oh you didn't, is that…you're unbelievable" Draco laughed at his friend's reaction "It's the new Malfoy Industries Logo." Blaise's mouth hung, "You're not fooling anyone with that, its just a fancy Golden G with an M through it. You might as well have stuck her photo on it." Draco grinned "I'd rename it Hermione Malfoy Industries before I'd let the Minister get his dirty hands on it, the quicker I can get her name merged with Malfoy the better."
"So what are the rest of us supposed to do? Have you got a secret plan to marry us off too?" Blaise looked suspicious as he almost feared the answer. "Now that you mention it, I have someone in mind for you actually" Draco laughed, Blaise looked nervous "Oh gosh you aren't going to give me the love potion and make me marry Mcgonagall are you? Because I'm all for supporting the cause but I have limits" He was laughing as he said it but in all reality he had replayed that fateful night with himself in Pansy's position several times and the idea of Draco forcing love potion on him to make a match for the greater good kept him awake at night. Draco sniggered at the very idea "I think you could do worse than Daphne" Draco had been considering it for a while and he knew already that Blaise would be pleased, he was right of course.
"But… she's… she's perfect!" he looked confused, "what's the advantage there she'd one of us? I'd have married her before all this without a second thought." He couldn't quite believe his luck, Daphne was beautiful, pure blood and generally obedient. The perfect picture of a pure blood woman.
"We're playing a game of advantage Blaise, not marry a muggle bingo." Draco glowered at him "I have Granger, Pansy has Weasley and eventually Potter as a brother in law. We've got our solid foundation built around our golden trio, all that's left to do now is lock dock the rest of the wealth and we're unstoppable. Plus you and Daphne won't raise any suspicion, it's the same reason why I didn't encourage her to go after Potter, it would be too obvious" Draco smirked and stroked his chin "Now if I can only get crabbe and goyle to marry each other we'll have everything tied up." He was joking of course, Crabbe and Goyle were never a concern for him they would be loyal to the end and whoever they eventually married would surely be insipid and irrelevant.
Blaise sighed, "Feels weird without Pansy here though doesn't it?" they both nodded feeling her absence more that they'd expected "Have you considered what'll happen is the Weasel gets a say in her holdings, she's not likely to say no now and that idiot brother of hers isn't going to last." Blaise waited for Draco who thought over this words before cracking his knuckles gently, "Her brother fled yesterday, he'd gotten mixed up in some very bad business but Pansy signed over executor rights to me weeks ago to avoid the audits, so when her inheritance passed to her this morning it came through to me." Blaise's mouth hung open "You scare me Draco."
They paced through the manor at speed with a small middle aged woman holding a clipboard and wobbling on impossibly high heels to keep up with them. "Are you sure Lord Malfoy? This place is, well it's beautiful" she looked up in awe around the opulent surroundings. He answered impatiently "Thank you but I'm sure, I want it completely re doing, start from scratch I want it unrecognisable in a weeks' time… my fiancé and I have some… bad memories tied to this place." The woman nodded frantically scrawling on her clipboard. Draco headed through the doors to leave but stopped just as he reached them turning back to Blaise and the Woman with a smirk. "Oh and make a few of the rooms…. Warm and homely… think muggle style. Throw some pastel colours in." His face grimaced as he said it and Blaise looked as though he were about to laugh.
When he arrived back at Hogwarts and walked into the living room he found her laid on the sofa in her nightie. "It's the middle of the afternoon Granger, what do you call this?" he smiled as she lifted her legs slightly to let him sit and pointed to her now clearly visible little bump. "Nothing fits, anything that does wont tomorrow so I've given up on clothes." Over the last few days she'd started to only suffer the little growing periods in her sleep. Each morning she woke up just a little bit bigger which he loved but she was growing increasingly conscious of. He'd woken a few times while his hand rested on her stomach when he felt it happening, there was something about this happening to her that satisfied him deeply.
Later that night as they laid in bed and she rested her head on his chest listening to his heart beat he decided to broach the subject that had been on his mind, in usual Malfoy fashion. "I want us to get married." He blurted it out as though he were asking her if she would like a glass of water. Her whole body tensed momentarily as she shot up and faced him. "No, we can't do that as well as this, don't you think we've got enough going on?" she was back to her stubborn self and he loved seeing the little flashes of the feisty granger he'd grown up with. "This.." he rested his finger tips on her stomach but she pulled away from him "…is exactly why we should do this now, despite us having enough going on. I want to marry you, I know how I feel and I don't see any point waiting. I'd prefer my child to be born into a family so for the sake of taking on a bit extra, well I'm willing to do that for them." She bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes, her body was fighting a losing battle with regulating her hormones and the prospect of her child not being born into a family gave her a sad pang of guilt. Plus she'd never thought she would ever hear Draco Malfoy say he wanted to marry her, it felt entirely bizarre and she knew her fifth year self would have taken this opportunity to punch him in the face…again. Instead she nodded softly and he smiled "So is that a yes." She still looked panicked "It's a maybe, I'll think about it, we'll see how much time we have left to play with." It was the best he could have hoped for really, they were both dangerously aware that they were playing a guessing game as to how quickly this would progress and judging by the size increase after only a few days it wouldn't be long. They fell asleep wrapped around each other as she did each night.
The next morning she laid on the sofa once again in her nightie as the little red head sat munching on a box of bertie botts and reading more extracts from the latest Dramione articles. Ginny had abbreviated their names after officially labelling them a celebrity couple but it had made Hermione laugh. It reminded her of the muggle world she'd grown up in. It was the first time she'd seen Ginny alone since their encounter with Madam Pomfrey and her eyes had bulged when she saw the now prominent bump "Gosh, its really happening isn't it?" it had taken the box of bertie botts to divert her eyes eventually from Hermione's stomach. Hermione had been stopping herself from asking the one question she was desperate to but she couldn't hold out any longer. "Do Harry and Ron know?" She'd agonised over whether she should have seen them by now but leaving the rooms at all had started to worry her in case she was seen. She wasn't quite ready to face their anger, today was the first day she'd felt at all emotionally stable again. Ginny nodded slowly putting the paper down, she knew this would be coming and she spoke in a calm voice "Yes, I told them. I wasn't sure if you'd want me to but I thought that the sooner they know the better." "AND…"Hermione was desperate to know if she still had friends or not. "Harry took it reasonably well" she offered Hermione a comforting little smile "He was confused at first, then concerned, then angry with Malfoy… then he just sat there in silence for a few minutes taking it in and finally he asked if you were happy. He wanted to come with me today actually but he kept talking himself in and out of it. He wants to do the best thing for you but you know how awkward he gets around things like this…. When he has to face you actually being a female and not just his best friend" Hermione couldn't help but laugh, she knew exactly what Ginny meant but she knew Harry well enough to know he'd get comfortable with the idea quickly as long as he'd accepted it. "…and ron?" she almost couldn't bring herself to ask. Ginny grimaced "Not so well, he went through his usually chuntering, shouting, turning red phase and now he'd moved onto forcing his and Pansy's perfect relationship down absolutely everybody's throat. " Ginny rolled her eyes and laid back on the sofa "He's like… Look at us, we're so happy, watch us while we feed each other seductively and finish each other's sentences… "she laughed "But no, he's ok now I think he's getting used to the idea." Hermione smiled "So has Pansy grown on you at all?" she knew Giny's aversion to her dating her brother. "I guess so, don't tell anyone but I slipped her a truth potion the other day, I was so convinced she was faking it…but it turns out she isn't, she actually loves him that much" Ginny screwed her face up slightly "and who am I to take that away from him." She smiled, the thought of anyone loving Ron that much was a little sickening to her but the moment Pansy had passed her little test she'd thrown open her arms and welcomed her to the family. Of course she wasn't quite ready to admit it to Hermione.
Later that evening Ginny was settled in bed, the girls who shared her room clustered together gossiping but Ginny stayed clear. It wasn't that she didn't like her friends, it was just that given recent revelations she had all of the answers they desperately wanted and each time she attempted to join in she was simply being backed into a corner for information. Suddenly one of the other girls came flying into her room. "Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini are in the Common room asking for you!" she excitement in her tone was evident and the other girls all dropped their jaw. Getting up from her bed and making her way to the door she heard them whispering "What is it about her? Why's it always Ginny? I heard she's seeing Blaise as well as potter…lucky slut" they whispered amongst themselves, Ginny knew they were her friends and didn't mean any harm, they were most probably joking but it seemed the deeper she got involved with all of this the more deeply she was being resented. She would be lying if she said she didn't find it uncomfortable and she longed for next year when she'd have a room to herself. Finally greeting Malfoy and Zambini she wiped the thoughtful look from her face. "What's wrong with you little red?" Blaise chuckled but Draco shot him a stern… shut it, look. Ginny's face blushed red as she lost her temper "You know when you turn up in my common room at almost midnight you spark some vulgar rumours." Zambini winced… he knew exactly what sort of rumours she meant. "Apologies…" Draco stepped in, he had been keeping tabs on the Weasleys recently and was mildly aware of Ginny's increasingly compromised position in her group of friends. "I need you to come with me Ginny, I need your help and I'm afraid I'm going to need it rather quickly."
It was mid-afternoon of the next day that Ginny finally made it back to her bed, tired, sore and having missed two classes that morning but she knew that it would be worth it.