Author's Note: First, thank you to everyone following and commenting on this story, I really appreciate it! Second, there is another note at the end of this chapter addressing some concerns people have about Ron. -CJ aka WritinginCT
Chapter 7: Waiting
A hour later the healers had Hermione moved to a private room in the intensive care ward. Draco did not let her out of his sight. Ginny, as Hermione's medical proxy, made sure that it was well documented that Draco be allowed to do so going forward. No one dared argue with her- not the healers and certainly not the Aurors Harry had assigned to guard her.
Draco was deathly quiet through it all. He spoke rarely and generally only to Ginny. He was absolutely exhausted, but determined to protect Hermione and see her wake up.
He claimed a bedside chair as his own and sat. Watching and waiting.
The nurses and healers came and went. Those that knew exactly who he was were giving him odd, rather fearful looks, while those who didn't still gave him odd, fearful looks as he had his wand in his fist and tensed to use it whenever anyone entered the room.
Ginny came and went often as she was trying to keep Hermione's friends and family apprised of her condition.
Hours passed.
Ron, Ginny, and Harry entered Hermione's room to see a still dirty and dried blood-covered Draco sitting statue still in a chair beside her bed, his wand across his lap with his hand fisted around it. He relaxed a bit once his tired brain realized they weren't a threat and went back to staring at Hermione's battered and bruised face. Until Ron spoke up.
"What's he doing here? It's supposed to be family only."
Draco dragged his eyes from Hermione's too-still face and sneered at Ron. With utter ice in his voice he growled out, "That would leave philandering ex-husbands out then, too, Weasley."
Ron went for Draco only to be stopped by Ginny. Channeling their mother, Molly, at her most irritated, Ginny snapped at Ron, "Out. Right now." She manhandled her brother out to the hallway while Harry made a placating gesture towards Malfoy who had stood to meet Ron head on, then joined Ron and Ginny outside.
Ron was still annoyed, at Malfoy, at his sister, and at the situation in general, but Ginny wasn't having any of it.
"Ronald Weasley, you will leave Draco alone. Do you hear me?" she said firmly.
"Not bloody likely," Ron snapped back.
"If you still care about Hermione at all, you will."
"What exactly does that have to do with Malfoy latching onto Hermione all of a sudden like she's his personal property?"
Ginny looked away, not wanting to break Hermione's confidence, but it was a secret that needed to come out given the circumstances. "She is his, Ron. They've been together almost a year."
Harry was shocked. Of all the people he might have thought had a chance with Hermione after the divorce, Malfoy wouldn't have even been scribbled on the back side of his list. But as he ran through a slide show of the more recent interactions he had witnessed between Draco and Hermione in his mind he realized it was fairly plain to see. Still, he wanted confirmation and asked, "A year, Ginny? Why didn't she tell us?"
Ron's face took up an expression of horror. "You mean together, together?" he asked.
Ginny faced her husband first. "You and Ron are best friends, and she knows how both of you feel about Draco. She didn't want it to be a wedge between you all."
"But she told you?"
"I found out months ago by accident actually, and I promised I would keep it a secret until she was ready for it not to be. Given the circumstances I think it's important you know now," she replied lightly and turned towards Ron. "Yes, together, as in a couple."
"Bloody Malfoy! What did he do to her? She's gotta be under the Imperius curse, there's no other explanation why she'd be with that git. He's going to Azkaban this time, I'll see to it personally."
Ginny sighed. "No, Ron, she's not. He just… he loves her. And she loves him. If I hadn't seen how they are together with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it either. But… they are happy, he makes her happy, Ron, and you know she hasn't been happy in a very long time. And you of all people don't get to judge her decisions when it comes to relationships."
The "and why" was loudly implied but not said.
Ron was pacing around the hallway, his anger having no where to vent.
Harry was trying to sort out his own feelings on the matter, he understood why Hermione hadn't told him, but she was his friend too and it stung that she felt she couldn't trust him with something so important in her life, Malfoy or not. But then again, she probably thought he had known about Ron's cheating and kept it from her, something they had never discussed. Harry felt like he let his best friend down just by being oblivious, both about Ron and now Malfoy. Looking at Malfoy objectively, Harry could see how he would actually fit rather well with Hermione. They were both ambitious, intellectual, and polished socially. If he were any other bloke but Malfoy Harry could see the two of them being assets to each other's careers, the perfect political couple. But he wasn't some random bloke, he was Malfoy and there was far too much bad history there for Harry to feel completely okay with it all. He knew it wasn't his decision to make however, it was Hermione's, and of anyone's judgment he would always trust hers.
Ginny looked to Harry and said gently, "Why don't you two go get some air. I'll check on her and let you know if there's any change."
Harry nodded and nudged Ron towards the stairs. "C'mon. Let's take a walk.
Ginny watched them go before heading back into Hermione's room.
Ginny met Draco's eyes as she sat in the empty chair across the bed from him.
His voice was hoarse as he asked, "Did you tell them?"
Ginny frowned. "Yeah. Under the circumstances I think it's better that they know. She wouldn't want them ganging up on you or treating you badly."
Draco nodded. "Thank you," he said simply and turned back to staring at Hermione's pale face.
"Draco, if you want to go get cleaned up, I'll stay with her."
He shook his head. "I'm fine."
A light tap on the door preceded the healer entering the room. "Ah, just the person I'm looking for, Mrs. Potter. May I have a private word?"
Ginny heard Draco's sharp intake of breath and quickly said to the doctor for the umpteenth time, "Whatever it is can be said in front of Mr. Malfoy."
Nervously, the healer consulted her clipboard before saying, "Right, then. We ran a series of standard tests on Minister Granger when she arrived here in intensive care to be sure nothing had been missed. We did find something important."
Ginny looked to Draco to see all of the color drain out of his face. He demanded in a breaking voice, "What did you find?"
The healer swallowed nervously. "Minster Granger is with child. By our estimates she's about six weeks along. She may not even know yet herself."
Ginny was floored. "Preg…pregnant? You're sure?" She knew that Hermione and Ron had tried for a third child for several years without success, so the news was particularly shocking.
"Absolutely, Mrs. Potter, we ran the test twice."
Draco asked hesitantly, "Is the baby alright? After everything that happened?"
"She's fit as a fiddle as best we can tell. To be honest, I'm surprised the Minister didn't lose the babe given the extent of her injuries. But the Minister's a very strong woman, physically and magically, so she and the babe have that going for them. We're going to monitor both mother and daughter closely. Neither is entirely out of danger but my prognosis is positive."
"Anything they need, no matter the cost or inconvenience," Draco said with conviction.
"Of course, sir," she replied before leaving the room.
Draco sat back in his chair numbly. He looked over to Ginny and said, "I take it you didn't know?"
Ginny shook her head. "No. Not a peep to me if she knew. But Draco, that soon she might not have known yet. She wouldn't have kept that from you."
A ghost of a smile crossed his mouth. "Actually I think she knew or at least suspected. That night she sent me a patronus asking me to wait up for her because she had something important to tell me. At the time I thought maybe it meant she had finally decided on a destination for our summer holiday, we've been bickering over it for a week, but now I'm not so sure. This seems more likely."
Hesitantly Ginny asked, "Draco, are you… happy about a baby?
"You have no idea how much," he answered honestly, a genuine smile crossing his face.
"Good."
"I… I always wanted more children. But Hermione and I had talked about how she and your brother had tried for years with no success so the likelihood of not having children together was something we just accepted."
Ginny nodded. "She mentioned that when I found out about the two of you," she smiled warmly at him and continued, "She said it felt like a two-ton weight off of her shoulders that you still wanted to be with her in spite of never being able to have children together. I guess she had been terrified to tell you, afraid it would have chased you away."
Draco nodded sadly, his chest tightening with emotion over the idea that she had been afraid of him leaving her over not being able to have a child together. "I hate that she worried unnecessarily about that."
Ginny replied lightly, with a grin, "Exceptionally unnecessary given that you've managed to thoroughly get her up the duff."
Draco snorted in humor at her crude jest, her intention all along. A comfortable quiet fell between he and Ginny. The odd relationship, one most people wouldn't hesitate to call a friendship, that had sprung up between he and the fiery Mrs. Potter had been a surprise. She was intelligent and fiercely loyal and as he got to know her a little better his regard and respect for her did nothing but grow. He didn't doubt for a second that she would hex him into oblivion if he purposely hurt Hermione, but he wasn't particularly worried about that as he had no intentions of ever doing so. Of all the unexpected things in his relationship with Hermione, being able to add Ginny Potter to his list of confidants, friends most normal people would call them, a list that he could honestly count off on the fingers of one hand, surprised him the most.
Or least it had until the healer had announced that Hermione was pregnant with his child. His daughter.
He scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to hold off his exhaustion a bit longer. He reached over and took Hermione's still hand in his.
They were having a baby. It was almost surreal given the circumstances. There would soon be a little person coming into the world, a combination of the two of them, a daughter, one who was sure to be every bit the brilliant spitfire her mother was. A daughter who would inextricably bind he and Hermione together forever.
His thoughts flickered back to their long overdue conversation about forever. His own feelings of forever had long ago coalesced the night they had christened his library, the night she had pulled him from his nightmare of receiving the Dark Mark, the night he admitted to having feelings for her back at Hogwarts, the night his own heart had firmly decided that nothing save death could or would ever make him leave her.
He had realized with a growing clarity during the weeks that she had been living in his home that he wanted her for his wife. He wanted to marry her in the eyes of the law in the new traditions and he wanted to bind his magic and soul to hers forever in the old traditions, something he had point blank refused to even consider doing with Astoria. He would be the husband Hermione deserved, a true helpmeet and faithful lover, and the adoring father to baby growing beneath her heart as well as a caring and generous step-father to her other children.
Without a doubt there would be ugly, hurtful things said about them both, in the press as well when they merely walked down the street. They might even lose all the political capital they had both worked so hard to accrue over the years. Hermione could even lose her seat as Minister in the next election if public opinion was swayed the other way. All of that they could weather together, but he worried about what their friends and families would think, hers more than his to be honest. They would have to figure out the best course of action together; she would know better how to navigate her friends.
These were all things they were supposed to have talked about, hashed out together. But now, all of that- the baby, getting married, telling the world- was contingent upon her waking up. As he sat there holding her motionless hand he wished there was a way to give her some of his strength through force of will alone. She had to wake up. He couldn't bear it if she left him now.
He cleared his throat gently and said, "Can I ask a favor?"
"Of course."
"Let's keep the baby news to ourselves for now," he said as he stroked Hermione's still hand in his, "she should be the one to tell people."
That he meant Ron and Harry was unspoken but clear as day to Ginny.
"Okay. We'll let her surprise everyone."
Ginny quietly closed the door behind her and left to head home, as exhausted as anyone else. She nodded at the two Aurors guarding the door and turned to go. She pulled herself up sort seeing someone totally unexpected waiting anxiously in the hallway.
"Mrs. Malfoy," she said in way of greeting.
"Mrs. Potter," Narcissa replied then asked with what Ginny thought oddly was genuine concern, "How is Minister Granger?"
"She's still unconscious. But her prognosis is good. It's just a waiting game to see when she wakes up."
Narcissa let out a breath. "That's excellent news. The media is announcing her condition as far graver. I was… concerned."
"Concerned? Pardon my skepticism," Ginny replied as she crossed her arms in front of her.
"I… I know about her and Draco as do you. I have for months. I became worried when Draco began not acting as himself. He was ridiculously jocular and charming and… lighter as if a great burden had suddenly been removed from his shoulders."
"Happy. You mean he was acting happy," Ginny said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. I didn't recognize it at first for what it was, I had never seen him like that in his entire life. I worried he might be abusing some sort of addictive potion or something, so I investigated but found instead that he was simply spending time with the Minister. And the more time he spent with her, the happier he became. You're a mother, you know that wanting our children to be happy is innate, even for mothers as awful a person as you think I am. I just want Draco to be happy and I will respect her place in his life if she's what makes him truly happy."
"They make each other happy, Mrs. Malfoy."
"Good. I think they've perhaps both earned that."
"I think so, too," Ginny agreed and relaxed her defensive posture, hearing the genuine sincerity in Narcissa's words. Ginny was also aware that since the war Narcissa had distanced herself greatly from purist ideology and her husband. It began after the war crimes trials. Narcissa had accepted her sentence of community service with dignity and threw herself into helping, both physically and financially, to rebuild the wizarding cultural and arts facilities that had been damaged or destroyed. She had led a very low-key life since the final battle without incident or scandal.
She gestured toward Hermione's room, "Draco's sitting beside her if you want to go in."
Narcissa shook her head. "He wouldn't appreciate my being here."
"You're his mother, you may be surprised."
"Perhaps. Is there anything he needs? Do you know if he's eaten, I could arrange something?"
"Actually he could use a fresh set of clothes. He's still in the same ones he had on when he pulled her from the rubble. I tried to get him to go home for a bit and change but…."
"I'll take care of it."
"I'll say goodnight then, Mrs. Malfoy, her children will be here in the morning and I have an early start," Ginny said with a mild expression.
"Get some rest, Mrs. Potter, your family needs you right now, especially your niece and nephew. And, please, if there is anything I can do… I genuinely wish to be helpful."
Ginny nodded and gestured to the Aurors that it would be alright to allow Mrs. Malfoy entry to the room. While she might not entirely trust Narcissa Malfoy, Ginny trusted Draco to keep Hermione safe. Then she headed for the stairs, deciding to process how bizarre the entire exchange was tomorrow after a little sleep and a lot of coffee.
Draco was numb, mentally and physically numb. Utterly exhausted he pulled his chair closer to Hermione's bed and continued to hold her hand. He could feel her pulse, steady and strong, and it lulled him into a doze.
The sound of door opening woke him with a start. He blinked away the sleep to see his mother standing there with a carpet bag in her other hand and lowered the wand he had raised on instinct.
"Mother? What are you doing here?" he rasped out, his voice still a victim of his exhaustion.
Narcissa took in Draco's filthy and disheveled appearance, the deep circles under his eyes aging her handsome son at least a decade.
"I… I was worried about you and… Hermione."
Draco raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Narcissa continued, "I know you two have been seeing each other for months and that she is the reason you've changed into a man filled with so much joy that he's started bringing his wretched mother flowers just because he can."
"Mother, I…."
"You love her, Draco, I can read that clearly all over your face. I won't pretend to understand it completely given your respective pasts and your father will undoubtedly be furious, but I promise you that I will respect her place in your life, in your heart. She makes you happy and that my dear son, is all I have ever wanted for you in this world."
There was a raw sincerity in her voice that made Draco say, "Thank you, Mother," emotionally before moving to hug her.
Narcissa stopped him with a single finger to his chest. "Not until you've showered," she said as she held out the carpet bag to him, "I've brought you your travel kit and fresh clothes and I've arranged with the nurses for you use the shower here on this floor. Now, please, go get cleaned up. I'll stay with Hermione until you get back so she's not alone."
"I…I can't leave her."
"Yes. You can. Her children will be here in the morning and the way you look right now would completely terrify them. They don't need to see their mother's blood all over you, that is not an impression you want to make upon them if you wish to have a place in their lives in the future. So, please, go and clean up, she won't be alone, I promise."
Draco reluctantly left the room not saying a word as one of the Aurors Harry had stationed outside stepped into the room and stood silently by the door. Harry, at Ginny's insistence, had allowed Draco to be alone with Hermione but it wasn't a privilege granted to anyone else, not even the healers.
Narcissa nodded politely at the Auror then sat in the chair Draco had vacated, frowning a bit at how uncomfortable it was. She regarded the still woman on the bed. She could see that the doctor's spell work had taken care of the majority of Hermione's injuries, but there was still a great deal of bruising that was starting to turn spectacular colors.
She reached over and neatly folded a mussed corner of blanket and without knowing exactly why she did it, she reached over and smoothed Hermione's hair a little.
Her eyes traveled down to Hermione's arm that was lying on top of the blankets. Narcissa gasped as she saw the mudblood scar still clear as day on Hermione's arm even after all these years, a scar Narcissa's own sister had given her. Narcissa didn't know what to think of that, she wondered why Hermione had never had the vile thing removed and then she paused in her musings to wonder if Bellatrix had cursed it somehow, making it irremovable.
She reached up and smoothed another lock of Hermione's hair. Narcissa's voice was soft in the quiet room as she said, "You need to wake up. You need to come back to him. He needs you. Your children need you. You have always been the fiercest of fighters, so fight for them now, fight to come back."
A short while later Draco returned and the Auror stepped back out. Draco's hair was damp but clean, his face still drawn and tired but now free of dirt and blood and was cleanly shaven. He was wearing the clean clothes his mother had brought and he smelled infinitely better.
Narcissa stood and gave him a warm smile as he came in. "Feel better?"
"Much. Thank you for insisting. And for sitting with her."
She reached over and cupped his cheek. "It was no trouble."
Impulsively he wrapped his mother in a bone-crushing hug. He was so exhausted, so worried, that he couldn't have stopped his tears if he had tried. Narcissa just held him, squeezing him close and murmuring soothing words. When the worst of it had passed he pulled back a little, he opened his mouth to say something but closed it again.
Narcissa caught this and asked, "What is it, Draco? Tell me."
He looked to the bed and took Hermione's hand. He looked to his mother and whispered, "She's pregnant."
"A baby?" Narcissa breathed out softly.
Draco nodded. "We just found out. Ginny and I are going to keep it quiet until Hermione wakes up."
"I'm going have another grandchild?" she asked, the hopeful surprise evident on her face as she smiled.
Draco took in his mother's somewhat unexpected reaction to the news as she wore the same joyful expression she had when he had told her Astoria was pregnant with Scorpius. He knew that her adherence to Pureblood dogma had mellowed considerably since the war, but for her to actually accept a mixed blood grandchild was a surprise. "Yes, a granddaughter, actually. Are you truly okay with this, Mother?"
Narcissa's eyes flicked to the vile scar on Hermione's arm and what it meant. Realizing what Draco was actually asking her, she turned to face her son and smiled warmly. "This child is a part of you how could I not be okay with it?"
"There will be those who aren't, we both know that, Father especially."
"True. I think you're right to keep this quiet for the time being. It will give us time to plan on how to keep them both safe. Because you and I both know they won't be."
"You'll help us?"
"Always, Draco, always. For now you should try and get some sleep, she needs you rested. I took the liberty of enchanting that chair's cushion, your back will thank me. I will stop by tomorrow. Keep your wand close, keep her and my granddaughter safe.
He kissed his mother's cheek and she left the room. He sat back down in the chair that had become his permanent perch since Hermione was admitted, smiling to himself as his tired body thoroughly appreciated his mother's spell work on the chair. He took Hermione's hand and found her pulse beating steady and true and let it lull him back to sleep.
Draco startled at yet another scrape of the door opening and instantly raised his wand. He shook off the sleep and turned to see Harry there holding out a tea. It was a totally unexpected kindness. He lowered his wand.
He took the tea with a muttered thanks and Harry gave his a shoulder an odd little squeeze of support before moving to sit in the empty chair on the other side of the bed. "Any change ?" he asked quietly.
Draco shook his head and took a sip of tea, appreciating its warmth.
"She's a fighter and she's strong. We just need to give her time," Harry said confidently.
"I hope you're right, Potter," Draco replied sadly.
Harry ticked his head and regarded the other man for a moment. There was nearly no trace of the arrogant little git he had known from school in the man sitting before him. This man instead looked afraid and broken and lost. Probably exactly how Harry would look if it were Ginny lying in that bed instead. He scratched his chin absently and thought about what Ginny had screamed at Ron yesterday, Malfoy and Hermione in love. It boggled his mind. But sitting here he could see it so clearly etched in every worry line on Malfoy's face.
"Nearly a year?" Harry asked quietly.
Draco looked over and nodded. "We ran into each other at our divorce lawyer's office and became… friends."
"And that became something more?"
Draco stared at Hermione's pale face. "As both our divorces became final, things shifted, grew into something different."
Bluntly Harry asked, "Do you love her, Malfoy?"
Draco turned to face Harry, a resolute set to his jaw, and said hoarsely with no hint of hesitation, "More than I ever thought possible to love a woman."
Harry nodded once in affirmation. "If you ever hurt her…," he said with a hint of steel in his voice.
It was Draco's turn to nod.
And with that, an understanding was reached between the two men.
Draco sat back and picked up his tea. Both men sat for a while lost in their own thoughts.
Draco interrupted Harry's musing with a quiet question. "Is there any word the perpetrators?" he asked as he put his tea down on bedside table.
Harry nodded. "We've got one in custody and my entire department is looking for the other three co-conspirators that he named."
"Do we know definitively why they did it?"
Harry hesitated for a moment, wondering how Malfoy would take what he was going to say next. "They are definitely part of that new Purist movement we've been hunting. According to the one in custody removing Hermione from office because she's Muggle-born is one of their biggest goals."
Harry watched the anger flash across Malfoy's face, seeing him grit his teeth so hard it made Harry's jaw ache just to watch, even as Draco's hands fisted in his lap. Harry knew that there hadn't been so much as a whiff of a rumor of Draco being involved in pureblood movements or dark magic since the war.
He met Harry's eyes and said with deadly conviction, "If you need resources- men, bribe money, anything to find these bastards you'll have it. You have my word."
"The Ministry's throwing everything they've got at finding them but I'll let them know of your offer."
Draco nodded and scrubbed his face with his hands. Harry stood to leave. "I'm going to go get a couple hours sleep then rejoin the search. You'll let me know if there's any change?"
"Of course."
"Okay. I'll check in with you later," Harry replied as he headed for the door. He had just opened it to leave when Draco called his name.
"Potter."
"Yeah?"
"If the unthinkable happens, I will find them myself. And what happens to them won't be pretty."
Harry took a deep breath. "You're not the only one thinking that, Malfoy. Trust me."
tbc...
Authors Note: Just to clarify, because I've received multiple comments questioning it - Ron is and always will be a huge part of Hermione's life. Yes, he's her cheating ex-husband, but he's still the father of her children and as such she's still going to have to deal with him on a regular basis. Yes, my commenters are correct, he has no say or veto power over her romantic decisions, but he's certainly going to voice an opinion and he has a certain right to as any new romantic interest of hers will be interacting with his children. And other than the fact that he's an idiot that let his penis make bad decisions for him, I've never said anything in the context of this story about Hermione and Ron hating each other. Yes, he cheated and lied about it, and, no, she couldn't live with that and divorced him, but that was the extent of what I described. Romantic relationships and their ends are always complicated and no two are ever alike. More so even when there are children involved. As the author of this story I made a decision as to how I envision their divorce and post-breakup behavior and it does not involve them burning with hatred for each other. -CJ aka WritinginCT
