A short time later, after hearing the door squeal open, Lucius and Hermione looked up to see Draco returning, with Hermione's parents trailing closely behind. As Lucius stood to properly greet the new arrivals, Jane Granger rushed to her daughter's side, with her husband on her heels
Taking her daughter's hand, Jane asked, "How are you doing, dear? Are you in a lot of pain?"
"I'm having a reasonable amount of discomfort right now, as is to be expected," Hermione reported calmly. "But it's nothing I can't manage. I've been applying some of the useful tips from my books to help me through it all."
"That's wonderful, dear," her mother said, beaming.
Reaching up to take Lucius' hand," Hermione continued, "And Lucius has been wonderful in distracting me from it. We've been discussing the use of runes in creating wards." She held up the book she'd been reading to emphasize her point.
"That's my Hermione," Kenneth laughed. "You've always been able to successfully turn to books when you need distraction from your troubles."
After setting the book back down, she picked up a flat, square box, bound in black leather. "And this is what Lucius gave me to commemorate our daughter's birth. She opened the leather case to reveal an exquisitely priceless necklace: a 30 carat cornflower blue, tear-shaped sapphire, surrounded by large, round, flawless diamonds, which extended upwards from the pendant, all the way around the necklace. She held it up briefly to her neck, so her parents could see how it looked on her.
"That's simply the most beautiful piece of jewelry I've ever seen," Jane Granger breathed, knowing that the Queen had nothing finer than what Lucius had given to Hermione. "You have excellent taste, Lucius,"
"I try," Lucius said with false modesty. He took the necklace, now replaced in its box, from Hermione, then reduced it for safe-keeping.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Hermione?" her mother asked.
"Oh, no," the younger woman replied. "Just having you here is all I need."
"Let me show you the private lounge area where you can get something to eat," Lucius told the muggle couple.
"I could use a snack," Draco said, following his father and the muggles. He wasn't really all that hungry, but he felt awkward being left alone in the room with his father's labouring consort. Seeing Hermione in this situation only served to remind him of what she and his father had done together to put her into this position, a visual that made him want to scrub his mind with bleach.
As the muggle couple explored the private waiting area, Lucius took Draco aside and told him in a low voice, "I want you to go home and tell your mother where I am and what's going on. She and I were supposed to have dinner with the Goyles tonight, so I don't want her to worry where I am."
"All right," Draco said, glad to be given an opportunity to leave. He planned to return later with Luna once the baby had been born, but he really didn't want to hang around the hospital waiting for it to happen.
---
"Auuuuugggggh!" Ginny Potter cried out as yet another labor pain sliced through her body. "Am I ever going to have this baby?"
"You're not dilating," Molly Weasley told her daughter. "The healer said you have to relax so your body can do the job it was designed for."
"Relax!?" Ginny roared indignantly. "You must be kidding! My body feels like someone is trying to tear me in half! Crucio has to feel better than this!" She began rocking the bed hard as the pain crescendoed.
Harry pressed his lips together tightly at his wife's last sentiment, knowing that Hermione would probably beg to differ with her. She wouldn't speak so carelessly about the Cruciatus curse if she'd ever been under the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange as Hermione had been.
He didn't comment, however, as he knew it wasn't the time nor the place to try to reason with her. Her family had been doing their best to distract her from the pain for several hours now, but as the hours slowly dragged by with little progress toward birth, it became more difficult to get her mind off her travail.
At that moment, Calandra Jones arrived to give Ginny yet another examination. Harry took advantage of the distraction to slip out of the room, deciding it was time to go check to see how Hermione was progressing.
As he proceeded down the corridor to Hermione's room, he met Draco Malfoy coming out.
"Potter," the other wizard greeted him. "Here to see Hermione, I assume?" Indicating the door with a sweep of his hand, "She's in there. I don't doubt that she'll be glad to see you."
"Oh, Ginny's in labour, too," Harry told him. "The midwife is with her now, so I thought I'd come down and see Hermione for a few minutes."
The younger Malfoy didn't blame him for wanting to get away from the gaggle of Weasleys, even for a few minutes. Even Granger, the mudblood, was vastly preferable to that lot of loutish blood traitors. Knowing discretion was the better part of valour, however, he kept these thoughts to himself.
"Well, Luna is expecting me, so I'd best get moving," Draco said instead. "Congratulations on your new son, by the way. I believe I heard that you and the Weaslette are expecting a boy?"
"That's right," Harry said, choosing to ignore him calling Ginny 'Weaslette'. "Thanks for the best wishes. And tell Luna I said hello."
"I will," Draco told him. "You'll have to come by again soon to play chess."
"Sure, I'd like that," Harry said.
After saying their final good-byes, Harry entered the room and found her chatting with her mother, with her father and Lucius talking quietly in a corner of the room.
He also noticed that the room was much more luxuriously appointed that the room Ginny had been assigned to. Through an open door, he saw what appeared to be a lavishly appointed private waiting room. Sighing inwardly, he chose not to comment. It was expected that Lucius Malfoy would use his influence in this manner, but Harry was glad that Hermione was the beneficiary of such wielding of influence.
"Harry!" Hermione called out warmly as soon as she saw him appear in the doorway. "Come on over and have a seat!"
After he did as she'd directed, Harry said, "It's good to see you again, Mrs Granger, Mr Granger." He inclined his head to the muggle with Lucius Malfoy to include him in the greeting.
"How is Ginny getting along?" Hermione asked, mainly out of politeness and respect for Harry. "From what I hear she's been in labour quite a long while."
"The baby doesn't seem to be any hurry to be born," Harry told her. "And with Ginny being so tense, it's making the pain worse, which is only delaying the process."
"Didn't she learn those relaxation techniques in the book that the midwife gave us?" Hermione asked. puzzled.
"Well, you know Ginny," Harry said helplessly. "She was never one who liked reading all that much. She'd just figured that because her Mum had an easy time having babies, that she would, too."
"That's a shame," Hermione said, sighing. "The relaxation techniques have been of immense help to me and the midwife has said, I'm moving along quite nicely and should have a relatively short labour."
"That's good to know," Harry replied, smiling.
Hermione winced slightly then as another labour pain hit her. Despite the pain, she smiled as she realized the pains were coming at shorter intervals. It wouldn't be long now.
"Are you all right," Harry asked her, concerned. "You look as if you're in pain."
"It's all right, Harry," she assured him. "The pains are coming more often now, which means I probably don't have much longer to wait."
Before he could respond, the door opened again to admit Narcissa Malfoy, who swept regally into the room, impeccably dressed in sky blue robes. Immediately spotting Lucius, she called out to him, "Draco stopped by and told me that Hermione was in labour and I got here as quickly as I could."
After exchanging a quick kiss with her husband, she turned her attention to Hermione, "How are you feeling, dear? I hope you're not experiencing too much discomfort."
"I'm fine, Narcissa," Hermione told her serenely. "Everything is going smoothly so far."
"I'm so glad to hear that," she replied. Noticing Harry for the first time, she said, "Mr Potter, how nice to see you. My son informed me that your wife is also about to give birth. I wish you my sincerest congratulations on the adventure you are about to begin."
"Thank you," Harry said. "And, if not for you, I'd not be here today about to become a father. I don't know if I ever thanked you properly for saving my life, but I'll always be in your debt."
"You're quite welcome," she told him graciously
"I hear that congratulations are also in order for you and Mr Malfoy," Harry said.
"Thank you," Narcissa said with a smile. "It seems as if we're all doing our part to help repopulate the wizarding world."
Kenneth Granger exchanged a meaningful glance with his wife at this; though they'd accepted their daughter's unusual relationship with the erstwhile Death Eater, the evidence that Lucius was still actively intimate with his pureblood wife still made them uncomfortable, despite Hermione's assurances.
A short time later, Calandra Jones re-entered the room. Harry immediately went over to her and motioned for her to follow him into the hall. "How is Ginny?" he asked urgently once they were alone. "Is she anywhere closer to delivery."
"I'm afraid not," the midwife said with a frown. "She just doesn't seem to be able to relax enough to allow nature to take its course. I'll let her go on for another day or so, if it comes to that, but if she doesn't give birth by then, I'll have to give her some potions to speed the process along."
"Why can't you do it now?" Harry demanded. "It would save her a lot of needless suffering."
"It's always preferable to allow birth to happen naturally on its own timetable," she explained. "Any sort of magical interventions carry the slight risk of disturbing the baby's magical core at a very vulnerable time. Such interventions, especially if not timed precisely right, can turn the baby into a squib."
"The hell with the baby's magic," Harry exploded. "I'd rather have a live squib child than a dead magical baby!"
"Which is why I'll do the intervention if Ginny's health or that of the baby is in danger," she told him. "But Ginny is merely uncomfortable right now; neither she nor the baby is currently in any danger. There's no need to worry right now."
"All right, he said uncertainly, as he followed the midwife back into Hermione's room. Excusing himself to Hermione and the rest of the family, he hurried back to his wife's room.
After Harry left the room, the midwife said, "I'm sorry for the delay, but Mr Potter had a few questions about his wife's condition." Smiling down at Hermione, she said, "Let's have another look, shall we?" Turning to the rest of the group, she said, "Why don't you all have a snack in the other room. I shouldn't be more than a few minutes.
Ten minutes later, Calandra Jones smiled down at Hermione. "I have good news for you," she said. "You've nearly dilated completely. I believe you're about ready for delivery. I'll go now and alert the delivery room staff while the healer's aide gets you ready." Before she left, she stopped briefly in the waiting room to relay the news to Lucius and the others.
As Lucius quickly returned to her side, she held out her arms for him, murmuring, "It's time, Lucius. We're about to become parents!"
"And I'll be by your side throughout the entire process," Lucius promised her.
Hermione's parents embraced, excited by the fact that in a very short while they would be grandparents.
The healer's aide, entered the room, carrying a healer's robe and a surgical mask. "Mr Malfoy," she said. "You'll need to put these on to enter the delivery room. Don't put the mask on until just before we go in there."
"Thank you," Lucius acknowledged. He removed his own robes to reveal a dove-grey shirt tucked into black trousers. After handing his robe to Narcissa for safekeeping, he donned the light green healer's robe, which had a shapeless fit compared to his own meticulously tailored robes. He slipped the mask around his neck, allowing it to dangle until he was ready to use it. As a final touch, he pulled a thin black cord out of his pocket and tied back his hair so it wouldn't be in the way in the delivery room.
A short while later, Hermione was transferred to the delivery suite, where Calandra Jones waited with her assistants.
After Hermione was placed on the delivery table, she murmured to Lucius, "Please stay up here with me hold my hand. I'll need you strength to get me through this. Hermione winced openly now, as the pain was getting to the point where the relaxation techniques were beginning to fail.
"Just a little longer, now Hermione," Calandra Jones encouraged her. "You're doing fine."
Finally, forty-five minutes later, after repeated bouts of pushing and Hermione squeezing Lucius' hand hard, the newest Malfoy made her entrance into the world, her lusty cries echoing in the small delivery room.
After quickly waving her wand to clean and diaper the baby, Calandra Jones presented her to her eagerly waiting parents, noting the time: 4:52 pm on September 2, 1999. At the same moment, the name "Lucia Jane Malfoy" magically appeared in the book that would notify those who would begin Hogwarts in September, 2010.
"Oh, she's so beautiful, Lucius," Hermione murmured as the midwife placed the newborn into her waiting arms. "She has your eyes."
Indeed, though the baby was bald with only the barest wisps of vaguely blondish hair, her eyes were the ice blue mirror image of her father's eyes.
Lucius bent and gave Hermione a tender kiss, remembering to first pull down his mask. "I love you, Hermione," she said in a husky voice. Putting a gentle finger on the baby's face in wonder, "And you, Lucia Jane Malfoy, are the most beautiful baby I've ever seen."
One year ago, Hermione Granger was deep in a depression, not knowing what direction to take with her life. Now, as the three of them bonded as a family, she knew her future would be a bright one, as long as she had Lucius and their daughter by her side.
---
A/N Much appreciation to my readers and reviewers who helped me stick with writing this novel-length story for a year. I don't think I could have done it without you!
A/N I gave Lucia September 2nd as a birthdate, as this was my grandmother's birthday
A/N New blog entry: Introducing Lucia Jane Malfoy. My blog can be accessed through my profile.
A/N Next chapter as yet untitled.