Lucius returned with Hermione to Malfoy Manor, knowing that Narcissa would be asleep for several hours. He'd not slept since the morning before he and Hermione had gone to the opera in America, and was dead on his feet with exhaustion.
Draco and Luna, similarly, had returned to Hogwarts so that Luna could get some rest and Draco could return to teaching his classes. Lucius promised to keep them updated and they assured him that they'd be back on the weekend to visit again.
As Lucius and Hermione stepped out of the floo, followed by Andromeda, they found Harry and Arabella in the library. Harry was giving Lucia a bottle, with Arabella doing likewise with James. Breezy was watching Teddy and Samantha as they played with toys nearby.
His lips quirked up in a barely perceptible smile as he walked over to take Lucia from Harry. "I see you have things well in order, Mr Potter. It seems as if fatherhood suits you well." Smiling wider, he continued, "And I'm pleased to announce that I now have another daughter. Narcissa gave birth to Nymphadora Andromeda a short time ago."
Taking Lucia from Harry, he took a seat on the couch to finish his daughter's feeding.
"How is Narcissa feeling?" Harry asked. He had to smile at the new baby's name, thinking it a nice way to remember Tonks.
"She's resting comfortably," the older wizard told him. "And Dori is fine, too."
"How much did she weigh?" Arabella asked.
"She was only five pounds," Lucius reported. "But she's in fine health and should gain weight fairly quickly."
"How much did Lucia weigh?" Arabella asked Hermione.
"She weighed nearly nine pounds," Hermione told her. "But she was a full-term baby."
Yawning loudly, Lucius said, "I hope you will all excuse me, but I've not slept in quite some time and I need to get some rest before returning to St Mungo's." Turning to Harry before leaving the room, he said, "I greatly appreciate you volunteering to mind the children."
"I enjoyed it," Harry said sincerely. "It was no problem at all."
"I'll see Harry and Arabella out," Andromeda told Lucius. "And then I think I could use some sleep myself."
"I'll call you soon, Harry," Hermione said with a tired smile as she turned to follow Lucius out of the room.
Knowing that Hermione would be spending the night with him here at Malfoy Manor, Lucius led them to an opulent guest bedroom, rather than to the room he shared with Narcissa.
As the door closed behind them, Hermione suggested, "Why don't we have a nice soak in the hot tub before going to bed? It should help us sleep better."
"I think I could sleep on the floor right now, actually," Lucius told her with a rueful grin. "I am, however, suddenly quite ravenously hungry."
"That can be easily fixed," Hermione said, smiling. "Breezy!"
The elf immediately appeared beside her. "Mistress Hermione called?"
"Would you please have dinner brought to us here," Hermione instructed. "We're too tired to go to the dining room."
"Right away, Mistress!" the elf said eagerly.
After the elf had popped off to do her bidding, Hermione aimed her wand near a window and transfigured a small table and lamp into a larger table and two chairs. No sooner had she done that than another elf appeared with the food, immediately disapparating after delivering a plate of assorted sandwiches.
A short time later, now clean and fed, Lucius and Hermione climbed gratefully into bed. Hermione realized just how tired Lucius was when he simply rolled over and went to sleep without making any sexual advances toward her. Not feeling particularly amorous herself at the moment, she simply snuggled up close to him and was asleep within moments.
Hermione awakened early the next morning to find Lucius getting dressed as he prepared to leave for St Mungo's.
"Mmmm, what time is it?" Hermione mumbled, her eyes bleary with sleep.
"It's early," he murmured. "Go back to sleep."
"I think I will," she yawned. "But I'm going to go back to the penthouse when I get up. I need to get Lucia back on her routine."
"All right, love," he said, bending over to kiss her on the cheek. "I should see you later today, then."
"Give my best wishes to Narcissa and the baby," she said dreamily, still not quite awake. Hermione did not plan to go see the baby this soon, as she wanted to allow the couple their privacy to bond with their long-awaited second child.
--
Narcissa and Dori remained at St Mungo's for several days for observation as a precaution. Lucius spent most of each day there with them, only coming to the penthouse at night to sleep and spend some time with his second family. After Narcissa and the baby had been released, he returned to Malfoy Manor to bond with his new daughter and to make sure that Narcissa didn't do too much while regaining her strength.
Hermione didn't mind; after all, she'd had Lucius to herself for several uninterrupted weeks. Now it was Narcissa's turn, which was only fair. She found that she was enjoying a bit of extended time to herself to do as she pleased, when she pleased, without having to take another person's wishes into account.
Though she naturally missed Lucius, she was of the opinion that a bit of separation would make both their hearts grow fonder, so that when he returned, their relationship would be that much sweeter.
She made quite a bit of progress with writing her second book, as well as reading the galleys for the first, a task made easier without Lucius being underfoot. Harry and Arabella had visited several times, and Hermione discovered that she'd found the type of female friend she'd never really had during her years at Hogwarts.
Two and a half weeks after Dori's birth, Hermione's mum came up for the day to go out to lunch with her and to visit with Lucia.
"You seem a little preoccupied, Hermione," Jane Granger observed, frowning, as the two women sat in an upscale muggle restaurant waiting for their meals. "Is everything all right with Lucius?"
"Everything is fine," Hermione assured her. "In fact, it couldn't be better." Smiling shyly at her mother, she said, "I think I might be pregnant again."
"Are you sure?" her mother asked, leaning forward. "So soon?"
"No, I'm not sure, but my period is three weeks overdue," she said. "But I haven't been sicking up like I did the last time." She didn't mention to her mother that she and Lucius had been going at it like rabbits the entire time they'd been in Massachusetts, so it would hardly be surprising if she was expecting again.
"Are you still breastfeeding Lucia?" the older woman asked.
"Only now and then," she said. "She's been getting the bottle more and more lately."
"Why don't we stop and pick up a pregnancy test, then, before we go back to the penthouse," her mother suggested. "I know you have a pregnancy spell you can perform, but having a regular, old pregnancy test will just confirm the results one way or the other."
"All right," Hermione agreed. "It couldn't hurt."
Forty five minutes later, Hermione took the pregnancy test out of the package, then headed to the bathroom with it, as the older woman waited outside with bated breath.
Hermione emerged from the bathroom a short time later, with the broad smile on her face announcing the results. "I did both the spell and the muggle test," she told her mother breathlessly. "And they both came out positive!"
"Oh, how wonderful!" Jane enthused. "I can't wait to tell your father!"
"And I need to go tell Lucius," Hermione decided.
"Do you want me to stay here and mind Lucia while you go?" the muggle woman asked.
"No, I'll take her with me," she replied. "Go on home and tell Dad about it."
"Let me know what Lucius says," her mother said, as Hermione escorted her to the door. "I'd give anything to see the expression on his face when you tell him."
"I'm sure he'll be quite proud of himself," Hermione said with a indulgent smile.
"No doubt," Jane agreed, chuckling. "We do all the work and they become insufferably proud of themselves."
After her mother had left, Hermione turned to go to the nursery to collect Lucia. Before she could take more than two steps, however, Breezy suddenly appeared at her side.
"Mistress Andromeda is on the library floo," the elf announced. "She said it was most urgent."
Frowning, Hermione hurried toward the library to see what was going on.
"Oh, Hermione, I'm glad I caught you," the older woman's face said, flickering in the flames.
"Is anything wrong?" she asked in concern.
"No, not at all," the other witch assured her. "It's Luna. It seems as if she was right about delivering early, after all. She and Draco just left for St Mungo's."
"I'll be along as soon as I can." she promised. "I need to feed Lucia, but I shouldn't be too long."
"Why don't you bring her here when you're done," the older witch suggested. "There's usually a long wait for first babies to be born and you might be waiting for hours up there."
"Thanks, I will," Hermione said. "I'll see you shortly."
Nearly an hour later, Hermione hurried to the same labour room where she'd visited Narcissa Malfoy little more than a fortnight ago. She smiled to herself as she thought of how busy the Malfoy family had kept this room in the last year -- and would again in a few months time.
When she slipped into the room, she found Xeno Lovegood pacing the floor in agitated concern, as he remembered how long it had taken Luna's mother to deliver her.
Lucius and Narcissa sat complacently in comfortable chairs, watching Xeno's agitation with a bit of amused indulgence.
"I got here as quickly as I could," Hermione said breathlessly as she took a seat on Lucius' other side. "How is Luna doing?"
"She's in the delivery room now, can you believe it?" Narcissa said in awe. "The midwife said that she was 'made to have babies'."
"Draco's in there with her," Lucius murmured. "It shouldn't be too much longer."
No sooner had Lucius said this than the door opened and a sheepishly proud Draco came out. "Scorpius is here," he told the group. "And Luna wants to see everyone. She's already back in her room."
Luna was propped up in bed giving baby Scorpius his first meal as the group filed into her room a few moments later.
"Oh, what a beautiful boy," Narcissa gushed as she came to Luna's bedside to meet her first grandchild. "He looks just like Draco did as a baby." Taking one of the baby's tiny hands in her own, she added, "It's almost hard to believe that I've become a mum again and a grandmum in the just space of two weeks."
"Well, I see some Lovegood in him as well," Xeno remarked, standing on the other side of the bed.
Lucius stood at the foot of the bed, not saying a word, but merely taking in the sight of Draco's first child, his heir.
Luna met his gaze, then said boldly, 'Come on over here, Grandpa, and hold your grandson."
"Grandpa," Lucius said in mock indignation, as he carefully took the baby from her arms. "That almost makes me feel old to be called that."
"Nonsense," Hermione said briskly, coming up alongside him, putting a loving hand on his shoulder. "You're not old, especially considering that you're going to become a father yet again in a few months."
Turning to face her, he asked, "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, I just found out a short time ago and was on my way to tell you when Andromeda let me know that Luna was in labour," she confirmed, reaching up to give him a tender kiss.
Looking over at the Malfoy patriarch, surrounded by his women and his son, Luna placidly observed. "If you keep on like you have, you'll soon have more children than the Weasleys!"
Everyone chuckled heartily at this previously absurd notion, which now had a reasonable chance of eventually coming true.
"You are building up quite the legacy, Malfoy," Xeno concurred. "You have much to be proud of.
After allowing Xeno a turn to hold his new grandson, Lucius took a hand from each of his women and said, "Three years ago, if someone told me about my life today, I would have thought that person delusional. I'm a very lucky man."
Hermione basked in the magical glow of the shared happiness in the room, feeling equally lucky as her mate about the unexpected ways things had changed for her since the end of the war. At this moment, she felt especially fortunate to have the life she'd gained since making the choice to become the consort of Lucius Malfoy.
Just the thought of being with Lucius Malfoy and bearing his children would been unthinkable for her before the end of the war, but now she could not imagine life without him and now looked forward to spending the rest of her life by his side.
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All good things must come to an end and so must this story. I hope you've enjoyed this trip with Lucius and Hermione and their friends, family, and adversaries. I'm quite grateful to those who have read and reviewed this story for the nearly year and a half I've been posting it.
I will be posting an epilogue and perhaps an appendix, which may take a bit longer than my usual posting schedule to get written and posted.
Next chapter: Epilogue