Hermione pushed the food around on her breakfast plate before finally giving up and putting her fork down. Pushing the plate away from her, she stood up and left the uneaten food on the table. It was the third time that week that Hermione had not eaten breakfast but just lately the sight and smell of food before lunchtime was turning her stomach.
"Are you finished?" Ginny asked, eyeing the untouched plate disapprovingly.
"Yes, I'm not hungry." Hermione replied.
"You haven't ate breakfast all week." Ginny stated. "It's not good for you to be skipping meals."
"I'm fine." Hermione sighed. "I'm just a bit run down from the tournament."
"The tournament was three weeks ago." Ginny retorted.
Hermione sighed and ignored her friend's arguments regarding the reason for her fatigue. "You can leave now. I'll not be needing you this morning." She said instead, dismissing the redhead.
"Are you sure?" Ginny questioned. "If you're not feeling well, maybe I should stay with you."
"I'm fine." Hermione repeated. "I'm just going to curl up and spend the morning reading. You should take the opportunity to go and enjoy the sunshine."
"Okay, I'll be back at lunchtime." Ginny said, gathering the breakfast plates from the table. "Send for me if you need anything."
Hermione nodded as her friend left the chambers. Sighing in relief Hermione made her way over to the window overlooking the knights training field and settled into the window seat. Leaning her head against the cool glass Hermione observed Sir Draco putting the knights through their paces in a rigorous workout. Normally watching her lover training the men got Hermione all worked up but at the minute all it did was cause her to long for her lover's embrace, and not in a sexual way. Right at this minute all Hermione wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep, preferably with Draco holding her.
Continuing to watch the knights down below Hermione let her mind wander, something that had become a common pastime for the young Queen. Ever since the end of the tournament three weeks ago Hermione had felt like a spare part in the kingdom. Until she had finished organising the celebration ball and making the guests stays as pleasant as possible, Hermione hadn't realised how much she had enjoyed having something constructive to do with her time. Now she was back to her normal routine and she felt bored and unfulfilled.
Growing up in Gryffindor, Hermione had watched how her parents had ruled the kingdom together and foolishly she had thought that one day she would do the same with the man she married. King Severus however was a very different ruler to her father, right from the first day of their marriage she had understood that it was his kingdom, he made the rules and she was unimportant in the running of the kingdom. A few weeks ago Hermione had tried approaching her husband, asking for something meaningful to do, but he had dismissed her and told her not to bother herself with matters he could handle alone.
Feeling totally useless and unwanted Hermione had tried to settle back into her routine from before the tournament but she found she couldn't settle. Nothing had changed with the time she spent with Draco, it was still the best few hours of her day and it was honestly the only thing she had to look forward to these days. But Draco had his knightly duties to attend to as well as his protective ones regarding her and like always Hermione was careful to make sure she didn't take up too much of his time during the day. Nights were a different matter altogether and they now spent most nights together, but during the day their time was still limited so no-one got suspicious of them.
The main problem with settling back into her routine was Ginny. Before the tournament she had spent all her spare time with her friend but now it just felt awkward and Hermione used any excuse to give her maid extra time off. Hermione knew the reason for the awkwardness was her knowledge of what Ginny was doing with the King. Hermione actually had no problems with the King sleeping with servants or Ginny bedding various knights but the thought of them together, combined with the kinky nature of their activities, left Hermione feeling uncomfortable around the pair.
The uncomfortableness she felt around the King wasn't really an issue, as apart from the odd occasion she always felt slightly uncomfortable around her older husband. The uncomfortableness she felt around Ginny however, was a different matter. No matter how much she tried Hermione couldn't get rid of the feeling that Ginny was betraying her by sleeping with the King. Unless King Severus had told her otherwise, Ginny was under the impression Hermione's marriage was a proper one and that the royal couple did their marital duties on a regular basis. That was why Hermione was finding it hard to be around Ginny, her maid was showing no remorse for sleeping with her husband and she didn't even seem to be uncomfortable in Hermione's presence despite the fact she was regularly bedding the King.
Pulling herself from her thoughts Hermione looked down and realised the knights had disappeared, meaning training was over. Wondering how long she had sat daydreaming Hermione stood up. The second she stood a wave of dizziness hit her and Hermione had to grab onto a nearby chair to stop herself from toppling over. Hermione stood for a while composing herself before she gingerly let go of the chair and made her way across the room. As she went she couldn't help but think maybe Ginny was right, maybe skipping breakfast wasn't a good idea for her health.
Picking her book up from the nightstand, Hermione settled into the comfiest chair in the room as she settled down to read for the rest of the morning. Hermione had barely sat down when the door opened and Ginny bustled in with lunch. Staring at her maid, Hermione realised she must have spent hours daydreaming and pondering over her life. If felt like very little time had passed since Ginny had left but clearly the whole morning had passed her by.
"Are you feeling better, My Lady?" Ginny asked as she laid out Hermione's lunch.
"Yes." Hermione nodded and smiled, even though she felt no better than when Ginny had left the room hours earlier.
Knowing that unless she wanted Ginny to hassle her she would have to eat, Hermione set her book down and stood up. Hermione stood up slowly and made sure she was steady on her feet before she made her way to the table. Settling down at the table Hermione eyed the meal up before she reluctantly began to eat. As she ate Hermione found she began feeling slightly better, although she only managed half her meal.
"Do you have any plans for this afternoon?" Ginny asked as she began clearing the dishes. Hermione had been aware that her friend had been watching her throughout the meal as she busied herself tidying up.
"No, I think I'm just going to stay here." Hermione replied as she headed back to where she had left her book.
"Okay." Ginny nodded. "I'll take these back to the kitchen, then I'll get on with my chores. There's a couple of your dresses that need mending."
Hermione nodded, as Ginny left the room. Technically she knew she could tell Ginny to take the dresses and work elsewhere but that was something she never did and she didn't want to upset her friend. While Hermione would rather have been left alone she knew that if she was reading that for the most part Ginny would be quiet and leave her alone.
Sure enough when Ginny returned she got her sewing kit out and brought the dresses that needed fixing to a seat beside Hermione. The two women then spent most of the afternoon in relaxing silence, in fact it was the most comfortable Hermione had been with Ginny since she discovered the redhead's affair with the King.
After a few hours of reading, Hermione began to feel tired again. Putting down her book she tried to decide what to do about dinner later that evening. She really had no appetite and the thought of dining with King Severus in awkwardness just wasn't appealing to her. Making a decision to skip dinner she stood up and asked Ginny to help her undo her laces on the back of her dress.
"It's a bit early to be changing for dinner isn't it?" Ginny questioned as she unlaced Hermione's dress.
"I'm not changing." Hermione replied as she walked over the other side of the room and darted behind her changing screen. "I want you to do me a favour and tell the King I'm not feeling up to dining with him tonight." She called, before she emerged wearing her nightgown.
"Do you want me to bring you some dinner later on?" Ginny asked.
"I'll send for something if I get hungry." Hermione replied. "As long as you pass the message onto the King, you can have the rest of the day off."
Ginny nodded and after checking that Hermione didn't need anything else she left the Queen to her own devices. Hermione pulled shut all the curtains in the room before she crawled into bed and curled up in the centre of the silk sheets. As she tried to get to sleep the Queen emptied her mind, pushing all her worries to one side as she tried to relax enough to sleep.
While the Queen succeeded in turning of her mind as she was on the verge of drifting off to sleep, Hermione didn't. All afternoon while the Queen had been absorbed in her book Hermione had been thinking and she wasn't sure what to make of what she was suspecting. Hermione had been weighing up everything surrounding the Queen's illness over the last few days and she was beginning to suspect the Queen was pregnant. Obviously neither Hermione nor the Queen had experience in the subject of pregnancy but Hermione knew enough to recognise the Queen's symptoms fitted the early stages of pregnancy.
As sleep fully overcome the Queen, Hermione's thoughts faded as she was pulled into darkness.
:::::::::
Hermione was slowly awakened by the feeling of someone stroking her hair. Groggily opening her eyes she was greeted by the sight of Draco sitting on the edge of her bed, looking down at her in concern.
"Hi." Hermione smiled sleepily, pleased to see her lover.
"Hi." Draco smiled back at Hermione. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Hermione replied as she sat up. "What are you doing here?" She asked, noticing it was too early for him to be visiting with the intention of spending the night.
"Ginny just told the King you weren't feeling well enough to eat with him." Draco explained. "He asked me to come and check you were okay, although I was planning on doing that anyway."
"How nice that he's so concerned for my welfare." Hermione retorted bitterly. While she didn't want to see the King it did annoy her slightly that even when he knew she was unwell he sent someone else to check on her.
"I don't think your health was his top priority." Draco admitted. "The second Ginny said you wouldn't be eating with him, he couldn't wait to ask her to serve him his dinner in his chambers."
Hermione pulled a face as she wondered what else her maid would be serving to the King besides food. "I thought he never ate in his room." She said, remembering a very early conversation she had with the King regarding meal times.
"He usually doesn't." Draco shrugged. "But then again, since Ginny has entered his life he's doing a few things he doesn't normally do."
"Like what?"
"Well for a start she's the only woman he's sleeping with. Normally he rotates the women in his bed frequently but since he started this thing with her, he hasn't required the presence of any of the other maids." Draco explained.
"Do you think it's serious between them?" Hermione questioned.
"I don't know. Are you bothered if it is?" Draco asked, watching Hermione closely for her reaction.
"No." Hermione shook her head as she smiled. "As long as he's not bothering me, I couldn't care less what he gets up to."
Draco smiled, obviously relived that Hermione wasn't jealous of her husband's extra marital affair. Deciding it was best to get off the topic of the King he asked Hermione if she wanted any dinner.
"Maybe something light." Hermione answered, suddenly realising she was quite hungry.
"I'll go and sort something for you." Draco said, dropping a kiss to Hermione's forehead before he stood up.
"Have you had dinner yet?" Hermione asked, before the knight had a chance to move away from the side of her bed.
"No. Why?"
"I was just thinking you could get your dinner at the same time and bring it back here, we could eat together." Hermione said.
Draco agreed and went to get the food while Hermione got out of bed. Hermione wrapped her dark green dressing gown around herself as she waited for Draco to return. When he did the couple sat at the table and ate their dinner. While Hermione didn't manage to clear her plate she did eat more that she had at lunchtime. After dinner Draco cleared the plates away before returning to Hermione's chambers once again.
"Do you want me to leave so you can go back to bed?" Draco asked Hermione.
"Will you stay with me?" Hermione asked. By now she was tired again and wanted to go back to bed but she also wanted Draco to stay.
"Of course I will." Draco smiled.
While Hermione removed her dressing gown and settled back into bed, Draco removed his boots. He then stripped down to his trousers before climbing into bed with the Queen. Hermione immediately snuggled into the blond knight and minutes after settling down she was fast asleep in the comfort of her lover's embrace.