Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination and whatever else is in this story that doesn't make sense. I was inspired by another romance novel i read and J.K. Rowlings wonderful world. Enjoy!

Chapter 17

"Wrapped so Pretty"

The sun streaming through the window, awakened her the next morning. She propped herself up on the pillows and waited for the usual sickness to pass. She glanced towards the master bath she knew linked her room to Draco's. She could only hope he had already left the house.

Within a few hours the strange little man from the day before, knocked on her door and delivered more groceries. Later, a small army of house elves arrived shortly after that and filled their study with books, scrolls, astronomical models and enchanted objects or many sorts. She was awestruck, as four of the tiny creatures hovered a beautiful golden lunascope through the double doors.

She inspected everything with delight. A wizarding chess set, a magical clock like the one she had grown to know at the Weasley's. On it's plate she saw the miniature face of Narcissa, Lucius, and Draco.

She stood still as directed by a little female elf, and before she knew what the elf was doing, she had used magic to capture Hermione's face and cast it onto the clock. By the time they had finished arranging everything an owl arrived with a letter addressed to her and Draco.

Hope you enjoy your wedding gifts, I sent an owl fast as I could. I'm afraid the elves there don't speak much English. Lucius and I shall stop by for a visit soon, hope all is well.

Love,

Narcissa

By the time she went to bed that evening she still had not seen him, and he was gone again when she had awaken the following morning.

Late that afternoon, he appeared in the foyer, just as she came downstairs. He gave her an effortless smile, she nodded and thought about asking him where he had been. But he brushed past her and entered his room without a word. By the time she gathered the nerves, he had already turned to leave back out the front door.

She wondered if he was going to see another witch? The thought depressed her. She suddenly felt trapped as a premonition of disaster came to her, this marriage had no chance of survival. She hurried back to her room and dressed. She would not stay locked away in his moated palace, cut-off from the world, and her friends. Hermione never cared much for the fantasy childhood stories she'd read like Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty. She thought they were a bit dafty and frivolous with them moping about, waiting for their prince to arrive and salvage their life from boredom.

A third and fourth day passed and she barely saw Draco, and it should have eased her mind rather than drive her mad with worry. Again she dressed and rushed to the fireplace. With a hand filled with floo powder. Her destination would again be Grindewald's Hospital. Never before had she had so much time to devote to her research. She found that she was able to continue some of her courses there. However, she would have to wait until after the baby, and begin with the next season's class for advanced apprentice's and healers. Suddenly there were meetings she had to attend to, errands to run. She connected her heart and her thoughts to the lab, she would work to keep her thoughts about Draco at bay.

On certain days, Hermione began to lose track of time as she absorbed herself into alchemy equations and books such as Theoretical Physics for the Mage. Using mathematical puzzles she pondered over The Super Sympathetic Strings of the Enchanting.

Together her and a team of her colleagues stopped by one of the valley shops and she purchased a quick-quill set and wherever she went, she scribbled notes to herself on magical and non-magical genetic recombinations . There were ideas scratched on the back of doors, even the tiny spaces of The Daily Prophet held room when her brain felt the need to relieve it self when calculating the unexplainable theory of magical independent assortments. Loose slips of parchment that she often would forget and leave about the house held mathematical puzzles. One morning, she walked into her bathroom to see that she had used the new tube of lipstick that E`sa had given her, to draw a sphere symbolizing the higher level of organizational complexity on the bathroom mirror. Beside it, tiny connecting chains of deoxyribonucleic acid. These were muggle studies she hoped to use to further her research at Grindewald. Which one, or where did the mothering gene reside for generating a magical power?

She picked up the tube and began to draw again...

They were scattered about the house now, X-rated magazines: Britain's Hottest Cooking Cauldron's, Wild Witches on London, Wruff Witches Spring Edition and more of Susie Slumber. If this was his idea of educated reading, it would balance out with her own intelligence, leaning her baby more towards the norm and hopefully not become a super know-it-all freak, like it's mother. She used Draco porn magazines to jot down equations over their boobs. She started deliberately searching for the nude one's, the ink in her quill showed up better when they actually had no clothing on. Susie slumber magazines were great for The Reconstructing Theory in the Ancient Magick, she never wore clothing. The cry of a crow near her kitchen window made her aware of her surroundings...she continued to think...

Again, his horrible squawking blasted its way through her quantum calculation drawn over her copy of the Wildest Witch. She open the window to shoo him away, and drew in the fresh scent of trees, and felt the shining sun. Without thinking why, she gathered a coat and a broom.

As she mounted the broomstick she notice the tiny bulge in her lower belly had grown a bit more, and her spirits drooped, and again the premonition of a disastrous marriage began to nag the edges of her mind. It had been well past a week, and even though she had seen Draco here and there throughout the home, he had been as quiet as petrified wood. She tilted the broom upward. Hermione never cared much for flying, but it elevated her spirit's as she rode off into the sun. Then she gazed back down into the valley. The tiny shops and towns lay beneath her and the mountains were high above. She began to climb higher, suddenly she knew who she wanted to see.