Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.
Sorry it has been a while. I was on vacation last week and this week has been sort of hectic. It probably won't get much better in all honesty. I was hoping to finish this before I go back to school, but at this rate I'll probably still be working on it when September rolls around. And let me warn you all now that with it being my last semester things might be slow going due to classes and applying to grad schools. But I will try my hardest to finish this story!
Friday April 6, 2007
Her belly was noticeably round, however, abandoning her tight fitting blouses assured that she would easily be able to go another two months without anyone noticing her condition. The only people at the office who knew about her condition were Blaise, Draco, and the partners. And none of them were going to say anything until Hermione took her maternity leave.
Her marriage to Draco had caused quite a stir and had been headlines in the Daily Prophet for weeks before they finally grew bored with speculating over their marriage and moved on to a different topic. If news were to get out how pregnant she was, the paper would have its story and would most likely bring on publicity both Hermione and Draco did not want. They could speculate when the baby had been delivered and they were comfortable sequestered away in their home adjusting to their new baby away from prying eyes.
Her healer's office had been great when news of her pregnancy with Rose became known and everyone wanted to know what the two war heroes were having. The office had kept quiet and forever earned Hermione's respect at not taking an easy bribe for some simple information.
That was why she had returned to them and was trusting them to keep this information just as secret as they had done before.
"Hermione Granger-Malfoy, I see now. A little wedding took place, yes?" Healer Watson asked with a smile as she entered the room where Hermione and Draco were waiting.
Hermione nodded her head, "Yes, this is my husband Draco Malfoy. I didn't properly introduce you two before."
"Nice to see you again Mr. Malfoy." Healer Watson smiled at Draco. "Now, are you two ready to find out what you'll be having?"
"Yes." Draco replied eagerly from his chair next to the exam table Hermione was laid out on.
"Excellent. Well, first I'm going to check on Momma's and baby's health and growth before I find out that bit of information."
Hermione and Draco watched as Healer Watson waved her wand around Hermione's belly, producing the same image as she had before. What had been nothing but a mass before was now obviously human shaped-though small. Draco stared at it in wonder as Healer Watson ran tests, nodding at her findings. Hermione watched the image too, but she also was watching Draco's reaction to it all. It was adorable.
"Everything looks great. The baby is developing along quite nicely and all your levels look good, Hermione. Has this pregnancy been pretty easy? Morning sickness?"
"None." Hermione replied.
"I'm jealous; I had horrible morning sickness with both of my children. However, just make sure you keep up with your potion regiment and schedule your appointment for next month on the way out. Now, the moment you've both been waiting for. Boy or girl? First, I have to ask; what are you two hoping for?"
"I don't care either way." Hermione replied with a smile.
"I want a girl." Draco said confidently.
Healer Watson laughed, "Well, there's something I don't hear every day. Usually the husbands are hoping for boys."
"Draco already has a son from a previous marriage." Hermione replied.
"I see. Well Draco, fathers and daughters share pretty special relationships. So make sure you take care of yours."
Draco's face lit up, "It's a girl?"
"Yes. Congratulations to both of you."
Xxx
Draco had been on cloud nine since returning to the office after Hermione's appointment. They had stopped for a quick bite to eat beforehand and it had taken all of Draco's will power not to lay his hand on her belly the entire time. He was sure Hermione would have allowed it, but they didn't need to get the gossips going.
"So spill; you two went to the healer right?" Blaise said as he breezed into Draco's office. "You look like the cat that got the canary."
Draco smirked, "That's a muggle phrase isn't it?"
"Bloody hell, it is. Jackie does have a muggle mother, and I guess she's rubbed off on me; in more than just a sexual way."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I believe you came in here to inquire about my unborn baby, not talk about your sex life with Jackie."
"Yes! Now tell me, am I to have another nephew or a niece?"
"A niece." Draco replied with a wide smile.
"Brilliant! Scorpius is great, but little girls do have some of the cutest clothes." Blaise grinned. "I can't wait to go on a shopping spree for my little niece. Girls also have the softest and cutest stuffed animals-"
"Blaise, I am seriously shocked by how much you know about this."
Blaise flushed, "I always wanted a little sister and when I was little I would often explore the girls' side of stores."
Draco shook his head, a grin on his face. Leave it to Blaise. However, he was glad that his best friend was just as excited as he was for a little girl. He wasn't sure if it was even possible. But then again, it had been a long time since a Malfoy had had more than one child. And of course, that child had always been a boy. Well, here he was just breaking all the rules. Not only had he divorced a pureblood and married a muggleborn, he was about to have the first Malfoy daughter who wasn't of pureblood no less! It was exhilarating; his Father was probably cursing his name in his cell at Azkaban.
Xxx
Saturday April 7, 2007
Today was a special day for the girls. Today Rose and Hermione would be joining Jean in Muggle London to do some shopping for the baby's room as well as some clothes shopping for all of them. Initially Rose wanted Scorpius to come along too, but after explaining that today was a girl's day Rose seemed to understand and was almost excited to be spending the whole day with her Gramma Granger in attendance.
So while the girls were out on their little shopping adventure, that left Draco and Scorpius in the house alone pondering what to do. Scorpius was pouting because he wasn't able to go along with the girls and had turned down Draco's suggestions for 'the floor is lava'.
"Well, what do you want to do, Scorp?" Draco asked patiently.
The little boy said nothing and instead, continued to stare at the action figure in his hand.
"Okay. Well, do you want to help me set something up in the backyard?"
Scorpius looked at him curiously, wondering what Draco could have to set up in the back yard.
"It's a surprise for Rose and Hermione. You want to see what it is and help me?"
"Yeah!"
Draco smiled, happy that he had finally been able to wipe the pout right off his son's face. And his smile only widened when he took in his son's expression at seeing the box that contained what would become their deluxe swing and fort set. It was muggle in design and if Draco had simply been a muggle he never would have been able to assemble the bloody thing by himself. Fortunately he had a wand and with a smirk on his face he pulled his wand out of his pocket and started his magic.
"You think Rose will like it?" Draco asked after the parts were out of the box and arranged in the backyard where he wanted it. He had decided to place it partially under the protection of their large oak tree; to offer the children shade on the hot summer days.
"Yes." Scorpius replied confidently. "I likes it."
"Good."
With the help of magic the swing set/fort was up in no time. One part was made up of two swings and connected to the right of it was the fort. There was a ladder that led up into the fort and from the base of the fort, which was covered by a roof, there was a slide and a fireman's pole. Once Draco was sure the thing was stable he let Scorpius hop on it and watched with a satisfied smile as Scorpius scurried up the ladder and immediately slid down the slide, laughing all the way.
After a while Scorpius finally settled down on a swing and Draco moved to give his son a push or two. Time flew by and before he knew it, the backdoor opened and Hermione and Rose stepped out, looking at the two of them and the set in astonishment.
Rose didn't question it, but instead quickly climbed the ladder and started to explore the fort. Hermione, however, kept staring at the thing before she finally turned her stunned face to a grinning Draco.
"Where did this come from?" Hermione finally asked.
"A muggle store." Draco shrugged. "Scorpius and I put it up today."
"I hope it's secure."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course. I used magic and made sure it was stable before I let Scorpius on. Well, do you like it? It was supposed to be a surprise for you and Rose."
Hermione smiled as Rose and Scorpius laughed as they took turns sliding down the slide. "Yes, and it looks like Rose certainly likes it as well. Thank you, Draco."
"My pleasure." Draco replied, moving towards the backdoor where Hermione still stood. "So, what did you girls get today?"
"Some outfits for all of us; including some adorable baby outfits I'll show you later. Then Mom and I went a little crazy in the baby store and I'll show you the evidence in the nursery later."
Draco chuckled, "You used the credit card I gave you right?"
He was, of course, referring the card he had opened in both of their names following their marriage. So far neither of them had had to make purchases that would require the credit card offered through Gringotts and completely acceptable to the muggle world. Hermione had felt weird about using it to buy her own clothes, but had used it to buy all the baby things and what she had bought for Rose as well as Scorpius today.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, I didn't use it on myself though; I just used it for the kids. I bought Scorpius some new outfits because I noticed his pants were a little short."
"Thank you, but you know that card is for this entire family, Hermione. That's what the account is for."
"I know, I just—it didn't feel right using it for my clothes."
"Your maternity clothes which you need because you are pregnant with my child. Even if you weren't pregnant, you are my wife and entitled to treating yourself with the money in that account, Hermione."
Hermione sighed, "I'll remember that next time."
Xxx
After the children had been put to bed, completely tired out from their play on the new swing/fort set, Hermione led Draco into the nursery with a wide smile on her face.
Against the far wall there stood a gorgeous white crib with matching changing table and dresser. The bedding was white with multicolored polka dots and Draco grinned when he noticed that Hermione had bought the matching mobile as well.
"They're beautiful."
"And the bed converts into a toddler bed." Hermione said eagerly. "I wish I would have had a crib like this for Rose, but I used Ginny's crib and gave it back after Rose grew out of it."
"Now we need to paint the walls. What color do you think?"
"White with polka dots?"
Pulling out his wand, Draco nodded in agreement. After a quick spell the plain white walls were transformed with a wide strip of multi colored polka dots in the middle of the walls that wrapped clear around the room.
"Do you like that? I feel like having the whole walls covered would be too much."
"It's lovely." Hermione assured him. "Another thing I wanted to do for this room, was when we figure out what to name her, I want to get her name over her crib. What do you think?"
"I think let's pick a name!"
"Great, I've got a list in my journal-"
Draco laughed, "Of course you do."
"Well, don't you?"
"Get me an astronomy book."
"Really? We seem to be breaking a ton of other traditions, so maybe we should break that one as well. You do have Scorpius, why not pick a more normal name for our daughter?"
"So you don't like my name?"
"No, it's just—when I found out we were having a girl those were not the names to come to mind."
"There are some rather feminine names in the stars, Hermione. Like Carina for example. However, you are right about breaking traditions. But if we cannot agree on the 'normal' names you suggest I reserve the right to put forth names from the stars. And your name isn't exactly normal now is it?"
"Exactly my point. Primary school was a nightmare for that reason. No one knew how to say my name. Why do you think I named Rose, Rose?"
"Point taken. Okay, let's see this list, Granger."
Hermione made him wait until they had both prepared for bed and were nestled under the covers of their bed before Hermione pulled out a book from her bedside table and flipped it open to the bookmarked page. The page was filled with names, split into two categories for boy and girl. Obviously they could ignore the boy's category, but even disregarding it there were a lot of names to sort through.
"Let me look at this and cross off the ones I absolutely detest." Draco insisted as he took the book from her and grabbed her muggle pen.
I took him a few minutes but when he passed the book back to Hermione she glared at him. "I had fifty names on here and you crossed out all but five?"
"I didn't like them; they didn't sound good with Malfoy."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "So that leaves us with Evelyn, Madeline, Katherine, Joanna, and Gabrielle. I can't help but notice that these all have the old fashioned feel."
"I like old fashioned names." Draco shrugged.
"So do I. Now let's think about what middle name we want to use to decide what sounds best. Madeline Malfoy has the alliteration that automatically makes it sound good."
"Leave it to Granger to analyze this." Draco chuckled. "I was hoping to have the middle name be my mother's name if that is okay?"
Hermione nodded, "Of course, Rose's middle name is the same as mine after my Mother. Let's see then…Evelyn Narcissa Malfoy, Madeline Narcissa Malfoy, Katherine Narcissa Malfoy, Joanna Narcissa Malfoy, and Gabrielle Narcissa Malfoy."
"Gabrielle doesn't work at all." Draco grimaced and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"I don't like Joanna much either."
"Okay, down to three then."
"Let's stop there for tonight and keep thinking over these. Also, we should consider potential nicknames with each of these names."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course, Hermione."
"Good night."
"Night."