A/N:
Let me just say WOW! Thank you for all the positive feedback! Here's chapter 2 of Rebuilding a Life!
Hermione must be barking mad. She was really going to talk to Draco? How was he supposed to help her? All she knew was she was still married to Ron, but the feelings she had hidden so well from everyone were slowly resurfacing. Feelings for Draco.
She walked slowly, as the pains in her back and stomach were getting worse. Was this labor? Am I about to have Rosie?
All she knew was that she was going to have to get to Draco fast. Finally, she saw his pub. Simplicity.
She quickly placed a glamour on her burgeoning belly, and her hair; she changed it to blond, and walked into the pub. Walking straight up to Draco, she said the "magic words," as Narcissa had put it.
"You're Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Named after the dragon constellation. Should have graduated Hogwarts in 1998, but because of the war, graduated a year later." Then she added, "You helped defeat the Dark Lord by giving Harry Potter your wand."
Draco looked up, saw the familiar looking woman, and told her, "Booth in the back. Cast a silencing charm. I'll be there in a minute."
She moved back to the booth he had indicated, and slowly lowered herself into the seat. Soon, he reappeared. "I'm not sure who you are, but you look uncomfortable. And excuse me for saying so, but I can tell there's some sort of magic preventing me from seeing the real you."
"I'm wearing two glamours; one on my hair and one on my stomach. Please remove them. I'm afraid I used up my magical stores putting them in place."
He removed the offending glamours, and what he saw scared him: a very pregnant Hermione. And...was she...in labor?
"Herm...Grang...fuck! Hermione?" He stammered.
"Draco...I've left Ron. I'm in labor...at least I think I am...and I'm scared. Please help me. Your mother said you took Healer's classes. Please, Drac-OOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" she finished as a hard contraction wracked her body.
"Shit! Try to relax, I'm going to levitate you into my flat upstairs," he said nervously.
"Hurry!" was all she could manage.
He raised his hand, so his palm was facing her, and muttered "Mobilicorpus" and gently floated her into his upstairs flat and gently placed her on the bed.
"Hermione, I need to...erm...take your knickers off to see how close you are to having the baby," he said.
She nodded her head to show she understood and lifted her hips slightly. He took that as a silent permission.
He reached underneath her silver and black maxi-dress and reached her simple cotton knickers. He hooked his fingers in the sides and slid them down her legs and off her feet. He took a deep breath - he had always wanted Hermione Granger in his bed, panting, legs open, and no knickers...but he didn't expect the first time, she would be giving birth to...Weasel's child.
He took a deep breath to steel himself, and lifted her dress up over her knees. The first thing that hit his mind was, "And everyone thought she was a prude! She's completely shaved!" The second thought was the bit of auburn hair connected to the little head that was trying to come out.
"Hermione, I need you to push. The baby's ready," he said as he wordlessly cast a cleansing spell on his hands. "It will hurt. Scream and curse at me all you want, the pub's closed, and I have silencing charms placed on the entire building."
She nodded.
"Push...now!" he said. "Hold it to ten. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10."
She let out a breath. As another contraction hit her, she pushed again.
Less than an hour later, Draco lifted the baby for Hermione to see. He had to admit, for being half Weasley, the little girl was cute. He gently cleaned her with a gentle cleaning spell and cut the umbilical cord with an even gentler cutting spell. As he laid the baby on her mother's chest, he couldn't help but feel a surge of love, not only for Hermione, but for her daughter. He gently cleaned Hermione up, healed the bleeding, and slid her knickers back on. When he looked up, Hermione was murmuring to her newborn daughter, coaxing her to feed.
"What's her name?" Draco gently asked, settling himself beside her on the bed.
"Rose Jane," Hermione whispered. "I honestly don't know about her last name. If Ronald and I hadn't gotten into that fight and I left, her last name would be Weasley. But I don't want it to be. I don't want it to be Granger either."
"Hermione, erm...we can go to the Ministry and get your divorce finalized in a day. Then, you're free to legally wed whomever you like," he began. "Erm...could you consider this a proposal?"
"Draco...I...why would you do that?"
"Don't you see, Hermione? I could have turned you away. But I helped you. I helped bring that beautiful baby girl into this world," he said. "And besides, I've...loved you since third year."
"Oh, Draco. I've always had feelings for you," she began. "There's an old saying, I think it goes, "The one who torments you the most is the one who has the most feelings for you."
"I've heard that," he murmured as Rose turned her head away from Hermione's breast. He reached out and gently caressed the downy-soft hair on her head. "I was hoping you'd notice that."
Hermione just smiled and said, "Yes, I accept your proposal. I take it Rose will be a Malfoy?"
"Yes," Draco said. "Do you have any objections to a blood adoption? It doesn't take much blood. And it'll give her the Malfoy and Black bloodline. Technically, she'll be related to Harry."
"I...I'll have to research blood adoptions first, okay? And will she really be related to Harry?" Hermione said. "How?"
"I understand. I wouldn't have expected anything else. And to answer your question, well, you know all Pureblood families are related. So, you know my mother is a Black. Sirius is my mother's cousin. Sirius is James Potter's third or fourth cousin, though distantly," he explained. "Also, my father is James's fifth cousin."
"Wow," was all she could manage.
He smiled, kissed Hermione's and Rose's temples and said, "I'll go make us some dinner. I'll be back in a bit."
As he walked away, all he could think about was his future wife and daughter laying in his bed. For the first time in his life, he felt true, undying love.
If only he knew how difficult it would be in the coming weeks...
A/N Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! I know this was a short chapter, but I have a lot planned for the next chapter, so it'll be much longer. I have the divorce, wedding, blood adoption, and maybe a confrontation between Draco and Ron. :)