Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

WARNING: Past abortion is discussed in this chapter. If it makes you too uncomfortable, skip the first scene and the scene after Pansy's announcement.

Chapter 21 Baby Boom or Liars, part 2

Kat felt like she was walking into an episode of Jerry Springer. If only it wasn't Hermione and Ron who were screaming at each other. Then, it would be funny.

"DON'T YOU DARE BLAME THIS ON ME, RONALD!" Hermione screamed louder than Kat ever heard her speak.

Ron wasn't all sunshine and butterflies either. "IF YOU HADN'T HAD THAT ABORTION, MAYBE I WOULDN'T HAVE REACTED THE WAY I DID!"

"OH? SO NOW IT'S MY FAULT YOU BARELY REACTED WHEN YOUR GIRLFRIEND HAD A MISCARRIAGE?" Hermione's face was dark red, and Kat was tempted to turn around and leave. She always felt bad for Ron, but they were barely nineteen when Hermione got pregnant! Hermione liked to act like it never happened, but Kat always felt it was the beginning of the slow end for her and Ron.

"Astoria was never pregnant." Daphne laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion. "She would have told me."

Yep. It was defiantly time to leave. Why are they even at the Manor? Kat thought. The only explanation she could come up with was that Draco was Astoria's only close friend besides Daphne and Ron. Unfortunately, Ron was so busy blaming Hermione that he didn't realize who he was talking to when he turned to Daphne and started screaming at her.

"BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW SHE GOT PREGNANT THE FIRST DAY WE MET!" Ron bellowed to everyone's shock. Kat silently told herself that she would make sure there were bacon sandwiches at his funeral.

Even Draco seemed to be afraid for Ron as Daphne's face went blank, and he grabbed her just in time when she tried to fling herself at her sister's boyfriend. She kicked like mad and clawed at the air as she tried to get out of Draco's grasp. "You were her first boyfriend, you son of a bitch!"

"How'd you get sucked into this?" Kat whispered to Hermione as Daphne struggled and nearly knocked Draco over while Ron yelled that Astoria couldn't have a life because her sister was so overprotective.

Hermione held up a book with a pregnant witch on the front. "I thought I'd bring you a present and see how things went with Draco. Ron was panicking, and I guess he figured it was easier to yell at me than worry about Astoria."

Kat chewed on her lip as Draco and Daphne fell to the ground, and she called Ron a particularly foul name. "It went a lot better than this."

Finally, Daphne calmed down, although Kat had a feeling that it was a temporary calm before the storm type thing. Ron didn't calm down in the slightest and rounded back on Hermione. "When she asked what we wanted to do, I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I acted like I didn't care, like you wanted me too that day! You didn't even ask me, Hermione! We could've been a family!"

"A miserable one!" Hermione snapped. "It was four years ago, Ron!"

"So I should just get over it?" he spat. "Why did you even tell me? You didn't care about my opinion anyway. You never did! You just said you were pregnant, and Kat was taking you to get rid of it the next day. You didn't even want me there with you! I had absolutely no closure! You didn't care. Fine. BUT I DID!"

"I CARED!" Hermione shrieked. "I cared about our future! I cared about us not being able to afford it and that I do not even know if I want children! I wasn't ready! And you weren't either!"

Kat's heart sunk when Ron' eyes glistened. After all these years, it still hurt him. "You could have talked to me about it."

Hermione swallowed and looked away. "I didn't want you to change my mind."

"Because that would have been so awful, wouldn't it?" Ron couldn't resist saying before Hermione had enough and tearfully walked to the nearby floo. Kat wondered if he'd ever be able to let it go.

"So let me get this straight," Daphne growled as she righted herself. "You got my sister up the duff, acted like you didn't care, and then acted like you didn't care again when she lost it."

"No! I mean…" Ron's ears turned red. "I thought she didn't want it, so when she told me, I tried to be nice and told her it was okay to be relieved."

"Nice?" Daphne shrieked before lunging herself at Ron again. This time he was quick enough to step away, causing her to crash to the floor. "You call that nice?!"

"Either way, it doesn't tell us where Astoria is," Kat said loudly. She didn't want to see what would happen if Ron tried to stun Daphne. Wait a minute… "Ron, you met Astoria in late February. It's July."

For someone who had six siblings, Ron clearly knew next to nothing about pregnancy. "So?"

"So…" Kat rubbed at her sleepy eyes as Daphne called Ron a "shit eating weasel." And Draco said her friends were uncivilized. "If it died, there would have been remains for her to cremate or take home to be buried. The pregnancy would've been viable in like a month. St. Mungo's would have given them to her, I'm sure."

Ron shook his head. "She fainted, and I took her to St. Mungo's. I was in the waiting room while they checked her over. She came back an hour later and said we lost the baby. That was yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Daphne composed herself once more and started laughing again, a little crazily in Kat's opinion. "I think I would have noticed if my sister—"

"You were too busy screwing mine!" Ron ground out through clenched teeth. "She used charms at home. I don't know. You were with Ginny. She slept over my flat, and when I woke up, she was gone."

Kat glanced at Draco, who seemed already exhausted. She didn't blame him. Daphne was out of her mind. "Ron, I don't know how to tell you this, but you've duped. If she had really lost the baby, I think she still would be at St. Mungo's. They won't discharge her right after it happened."

Draco yawned. "So you two should go look for her. Katherine and I need to eat breakfast. And get better friends."

"I haven't seen Luna in a while," Kat said as he grabbed his hand, and they started heading for the kitchen. If only it was that easy to escape.

"Wait just a damn minute!" Daphne yelled. Behind her, Ron, who was as white as a sheet, sunk into the couch and put his face in his hands. "If you're so smart, Katherine, where is she?"

Kat groaned. All she wanted was so oatmeal and pumpkin juice. "I don't know. Isn't your mother still alive?"

"She's in Romania, and Astoria hates her," Daphne grumbled. "She left us. But she won't even give Father the benefit of a divorce."

"Here we go," Draco muttered. Later, he told Kat that Mrs. Greengrass married and had Daphne when she was seventeen and their father was about thirty. She wasn't ready for children, and Draco said he thought she never would be. Her children wouldn't except that excuse, and Kat didn't entirely blame them.

"Because that would mean letting the Greengrass money go," Daphne went on bitterly. "Merlin forbid Father is allowed to happy. All she does is travel. She couldn't even be bothered to come to Astoria's graduation a few years ago."

"Well… Let's be honest. The only people Astoria is one hundred percent comfortable with are in this room… with me. And I don't think Astoria is cable of hating anyone. She could try, but I think she'd just wind up hurting herself." Kat shrugged when Daphne and Ron glared at her. There was no denying it. Astoria was a mouse that didn't have a mean bone in her tiny body. "So my bet's on Mummy. Feel free to think of someone else while I go eat my weight in oatmeal."

"She's not with Mother," Daphne insisted hatefully. At this point, Kat was starting to get irritated so she just left her to argue with Ron. An hour later, they were on their way to Romania.

"What a fun trip," Kat mumbled after losing all her breakfast to the international floo. Draco kissed her cheek and left to go buy her a bottle of water in the lounge next to the Ministry's immigration offices. If she wasn't insanely curious, she would have left Ron to fist fight with Daphne. It wasn't every day her best friend's girlfriend ran away to Romania.

"She's not even here," Daphne said stubbornly as she strode over to the passport line. "So all we're going to get is Mother joining the search party and pretending to care."

"What does Ginny see in her?" Ron muttered once there was enough distance between them. He gritted his teeth and started heading for the line before Kat could make a sex joke. "Congratulations by the way. I saw the book Hermione was holding and knew it wasn't for her."

Kat winced but followed him anyway as Draco jogged up to them and handed her the water bottle. She took a swig before speaking. "I wanted to tell everyone over a nice dinner, but this is loads better."

Ron grimaced. "I've had a tough few weeks. I should have known something like this would happen since she had been avoiding telling anyone for over four months. I didn't know what to do."

"Why is it," Draco said through clenched teeth once they reached the line, "that Gryffindors call us uncompassionate but completely lack basic emotional intelligence?"

Daphne huffed and folded her arms over her chest. She started straight ahead, seemingly blaming people in front of her for the line moving so slowly. "What idiot tells a woman it's okay to be relieved after losing her child?"

"Oh so you do believe it now?" Ron laughed sarcastically. "She didn't want to tell you! She was afraid of your reaction. That's why she's been practically living at my flat. She was petrified! To the point that she was talking about giving it away when she clearly didn't want to. She cried all the time—"

"And you let her!" Daphne spat, finally turning around to face him. "I bet you felt like such a hero! Protecting Astoria from her big, bad sister! You took advantage of her! She's just a kid!"

"She's twenty!" Ron yelled. "When are you going to realize she can't handle her own problems because you never let her? And excuse me for wanting to make someone I love feel safe!"

"Shut up! Both of you" Draco snapped. Or we're turning this car right around, Kat added in her head. They got along worse than Sirius and Snape. "Daphne, do you know where your mother is specifically staying or do we have to ask the Ministry? Because I doubt they'll tell us."

"Last I saw her, she said she was spending her winter with the dragons." It was summer! But Daphne's tone was so nasty that Kat didn't dare say so out loud. Maybe the dragonologists would know where she was heading.

"Astoria Greengrass?" The head of the dragon reserve rubbed at his stubbly chin with a hand covered in old burns. "Delilah Greengrass is here. Hold on. Let me ask Charlie. I've been supervising the mating all week."

"Kinky," Kat whispered as they headed past the apparition point. Draco scowled, but at least she earned a smile from Ron. Daphne was too much of a dark cloud for her to want to risk looking so closely at.

Once they got to the mess hall, Kat wished she had thought to invite George. Charlie was eating lunch with an older woman who almost looked almost exactly like Daphne, and they looked awfully cozy. Ron was in too much of a bad mood to call Charlie a sugar baby with her. Draco gave her a look that said, Don't say a word. Kat didn't think she could without laughing anyway.

"Mother!" Daphne stomped over to them with her fists clenched. Charlie paled when he saw Ron and quickly took his hand off Mrs. Greengrass's thigh. "This is my girlfriend's brother!"

"Have you seen Astoria?" Ron asked desperately before another fight could start. "She isn't at her house or my flat. She wasn't with Malfoy. I don't—"

"So you're the one who tarnished my baby's reputation." Mrs. Greengrass smiled slowly, like she thought it was funny but was waiting for everyone else to start laughing before she did.

"She is not your baby!" Daphne growled. "I've always taken care of her! Not you!"

Mrs. Greengrass frowned but didn't try to correct her. Charlie squeezed her hand but kept quiet too. Kat wondered if they were in love or if they just liked spending time with each other. She couldn't tell and ultimately decided they had something in between.

"She's sleeping at Charlie's," Mrs. Greengrass said coolly. "Poor thing looks like she hasn't slept in months. I told her we'd live together in Paris for a while."

Daphne's eyes popped out of her head, and she had a crazy look in her eyes that reminded Kat of Sirius's wanted posters. "And you just weren't going to tell anyone?"

Mrs. Greengrass shrugged. "She's an adult, and she didn't want me to. Would you rather me turn her away?"

"You've never had a problem with turning us away before!" Instead of giving her mother a chance to answer, Daphne whipped her head over to Charlie. "Tell me where you live or I'm telling my father about this!"

Charlie didn't hesitate to show the way, but instead of being bothered by it, Mrs. Greengrass simply rolled her eyes like Daphne was a small child having a tantrum. No wonder Astoria ran off, Kat thought. She was getting tired just watching all of this.

"I'll talk to her," Kat said before Ron and Daphne could start fighting over who would wake Astoria up. Charlie lived in an apartment building carved into a mountain for all the dragonologists. Needless to say, it was wicked. "If I'm not back in half an hour, it's because I'm eating all of Charlie's food."

"The milk's expired," Charlie warned weakly. Kat nodded in thanks and headed for the second door on the first floor.

Astoria was stretched out on a sofa bed, breathing deeply as she slept. She was sleeping so peacefully that Kat decided to eat Charlie's leftovers from the other night before waking her up. Those nut jobs outside could wait. Charlie made the best lasagna.

It was only when Kat tried to make grilled cheese and burned it that Astoria woke up. She didn't even stir when Daphne started banging on the door after Kat put temporary wards up. When she and Ron started fighting, Kat laughed evilly and put up Silencing Charms.

"What's that smell?" Astoria rubbed at her eyes but was too tired to really open them. She didn't fully wake up until she recognized Kat's voice.

"Blackened bread." Kat shook her head sadly. "If Charlie didn't have bananas, I would have paid more attention."

Astoria drew the blanket up to her chin to try to hide herself. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Kat shrugged. "You're too adorable for people to be mad at for long. Lucky you. Everyone's going to be pissed with me for hanging in here without getting you for four hours. It's not my fault that Charlie has such good food."

Astoria cracked a smile, even though her eyes were already starting to water. "He made me chicken cutlets for breakfast."

Kat groaned. "I should have married him instead… You know that your sister is happy to be mean to Ron about this instead of you, right?"

Slowly, Astoria lowered the blanket. She was wearing oversized pajamas that Kat vaguely recognized as Ron's and put two hands over her stomach. "You don't understand! Muggles don't care about this sort of stuff! I'm not married! Not even engaged! People are going to call him a bastard!"

"If anyone calls him a bastard, I'll punch them myself," Kat said lightly as she dumped the burnt grilled cheese in the rubbish bin. "I haven't punched anyone in a while, so you'll be doing me a favor."

Astoria sniffled and shook her head. "My dad's going to hate me. Ron's going to hate me for lying. Daphne won't want me to be near Ron. She's going to say I was stupid!"

"Doubt it." Sometimes, Kat thought Astoria acted more like a shy fifteen or sixteen year old. If Daphne didn't want her near Ron, she should just say that wasn't her problem. "So what were you going to do? Live with your mum from now on? Because I don't think she's one to stick in one place for long. Unless Charlie Weasley is there."

"Draco wouldn't answer my letters," Astoria whispered. "I wanted to live with you two."

So she wanted Kat and Draco to be her parents. Kat mentally tallied Astoria age down to fourteen or thirteen. Maybe she wasn't one to talk, but the younger girl's plans didn't make much sense. "Erhm... Draco's been in a bit of a funk lately. He didn't read them. He's a jerk, I know."

Astoria lit up. "So I can live with you two?"

Damn it! Kat chewed on her lip. It was so hard to say no to those big blue eyes! Ron wouldn't mind if she lied. "Actually, Ron wants you to live with him."

"He does?" Astoria sounded excited for a split second but quickly deflated. "No, he doesn't. I told him our son died. He has every right to hate me."

"Probably." Kat winced when Astoria's started overflowing with tears. "But he doesn't! All day, he was defending you and blaming Daphne. And Daphne was defending you and blaming Ron! So they don't hate you. They just hate each other."

Somehow, that didn't help matters, and Astoria started crying. "I just wanted it to go away! And Ron did too! I could tell! But now... When I feel him moving... I love him. I don't want to give him away."

"Tell you what." Kat forced herself to smile. Draco was going to kill her. That is, if Daphne didn't get her first. "If Ron doesn't want to live with you, you can move in with us. Just name the sprog Scorpius, so Draco gets off my back."

Astoria took a minute to stop crying and then scrubbed at her eyes. "Promise?"

Sort of, Kat thought. Instead of answering, she just smiled, walked over to the couch bed, and held out her hand to help Astoria up. "Let's go home."

Thankfully, Daphne was in the bathroom when Kat finally came out with Astoria. Ron blamed himself for what happened or what he thought had happened, so it was a huge relief to be able to hug her and whisper in her ear that he loved her without Daphne trying to forcibly separate them. She buried her face in his neck and instantly drenched it in tears, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do was put this day behind him.

"You scared me," Ron said roughly. "And made me spend the day with your terrifying sister."

"I'm sorry." She was on her tippy toes but wouldn't let go. "Do you really want me to move in with you?"

Huh? Ron thought dumbly. Thank Merlin he was too shocked to say so out loud. His luck must have had to balance out, however, because Daphne was back from the bathroom and ready to start fighting again.

"Absolutely not!" She pulled Astoria off him and started up her tirade again. "We were so worried about you! He is not the type of man for you to be spending your life with. We'll find a home for the baby and—"

"That is Astoria's decision, not yours." Mrs. Greengrass had an evil look on her face that rivaled Mum's. "We should just—"

"You have no right to suggest anything!" Daphne screamed. "I don't know why she even ran off to you!"

"Maybe she thought you wouldn't take it well," Malfoy mumbled as he leaned against Kat with exhaustion. "For some odd reason."

"I'm going home with Ron," Astoria said so quietly that Ron doubted anyone but himself heard her. Still, his heart soared at the thought that she was willing to stick up to Daphne for him. "I love him."

Daphne tensed, and Ron had to give her credit. She didn't try to deny her sister's feelings. "He can't take care of you."

"I think…" Astoria hunched over, trying to shrink into herself. "I think I should start taking care of myself."

Daphne's expression fell as if Astoria had slapped her, but Ron had never been prouder. They could finally be a family without having to hide it.

"I'm never complaining about your friends again, Katherine," Draco whispered later that night as they were trying to fall asleep. The day was finally over, and now their biggest worry was throwing Astoria a baby shower.

"What are you talking about? It was an adventure!" She kissed his neck and climbed on top of him. "I just think Ron and Hermione are never going to speak to each other again."

"I would never speak to that Weasel again if I was her." Draco took her hands and kissed her fingers to stop her from unbuttoning his shirt. "Are you going to try to get them to talk?"

"After twelve years of getting stuck in between their arguments?" Katherine glowered like a cat who had been woken up from a nap. "Yeah. Maybe in a few months. Are Daphne and Astoria talking?"

Draco smirked. "They can't go more than a few days without talking. The Sorting Hat wanted to put Astoria in Hufflepuff, but she told it to put her in Slytherin because she was afraid of being without Daphne for long."

"Hmm…" Katherine ran a hand over the slight swell of her stomach. If it wasn't for Daphne, Astoria would have been eaten alive in Slytherin. "I like the name Delilah."

Draco laughed and drew her closer to him to kiss her. "If you want to live, you'll never say that around Daphne. Sorry, love. I'd sooner allow Minerva for your safety."

"Pity." She climbed off of him and snuggled into the crook of his neck. "I have something to tell you."

"Is it good? I don't think I can handle any more stress." Draco laughed at his own joke, but it made Katherine pause, and it was too dark to try to read what she was thinking.

After a moment of silence, she muttered, "Is my trousers not fitting anymore too stressful?"

She hid her face in his chest, but Draco assumed she was merely embarrassed. "As long as you don't pick the pants out yourself, I think we'll be fine."

He heard a muffled, "Good because if you lose your hair, I'm divorcing you. It's the only reason I married you."

"So you want me to grow it long like Father's?" Draco smiled as she giggled and begged him not to in between laughs. He supposed he wouldn't spoil the moment by mentioning they were having dinner with everyone at Pansy and Theo's tomorrow. He'll simply have to bribe her with ice cream before they went.

Kat was ready to forget about the peanut butter ice cream Draco promised her. They were dressed formally again. She felt like her dress was either going to split at her arse or if she took too deep a breath she would cough up Minnie. All the while she had to listen to Nott talk about his collection of antique cauldrons. Even Percy wasn't this boring!

When Astoria and Ron showed up, she almost did a double take, and Ginny started snickering. She must be using the charm Ron mentioned yesterday because he was looking particularly sour, and Astoria seemed to be trying her hardest not to waddle. Pansy gave her a funny look, but since her stomach was flat, she couldn't put the pieces together.

"I really wish I hadn't slept in yesterday," Ginny said wistfully.

Pansy squeezed her teacup so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Why are you even here, Ginevra?"

"Why wouldn't she be?" Daphne sounded ready to kill, and Pansy immediately backed off.

"Anyway…" Nott smiled, not because he wanted to stop a fight, but because he didn't care in the slightest about Weasley-Greengrass drama. "Pansy and I have an announcement!"

Pansy lit up and grabbed Nott's hand. "We're having a baby!"

Awkward silence immediately followed. The only one who wasn't affected was Ginny. "When are you due?" she asked brightly as Astoria turned pink and Ron's ears colored to match. "How exciting!"

Pansy seemed taken aback. And for good reason, Kat thought. Cautiously, she set her teacup down and said, "December 23rd."

Kat felt her eyes bulge out of her head. No… Draco grinned as if this was a good thing. "That's when our baby is due!"

At least Pansy knew that this was not cause for celebration. She looked just as devastated as Kat felt. Nott, on the other hand, seemed just as cheerful as Draco. "Really? I just thought Potter was finally getting fat."

Pansy sneered at them. "So you got pregnant before your wedding. How uncivilized of you, Draco."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron said so loudly that everyone stopped and stared at him. Kat put her face in her hands when Astoria started to cry.

"Well it means that Parkinson and Kat are going to be in the delivery room together!" Ginny couldn't seem to stop smiling. "Are you going to hold each other's hands when things get particularly painful?"

"What's wrong Storia?" Pansy asked gently while Daphne said to Ron, "It means that Nott is responsible unlike you!"

"Daddy's alright with it! Why aren't you?" Astoria wailed.

Everyone started arguing yet again, and Kat almost cried with relieve when Draco offered an escape. He grabbed her hand, and they silently slipped out of the sitting room unnoticed. "I think you've earned the ice cream."

"I've earned your ice cream too," Kat told him as they snuck off to the floo on the other side of the first floor. Pansy was going to have to hold her baby in until she went into labor. No one should have to share a birthday with a boring old Nott baby.

The next day, Kat went to Hermione's flat to see how she was doing. Ron had yet to be murdered by Blaise, so she supposed her best friend wasn't too upset. She wondered if Hermione even told him. Her friend was embarrassed by it and hadn't mentioned it since the day it happened.

Kat flooed in and knocked on Hermione's bedroom door. "I brought you a triple expresso. I can't have any, so I'll try not to go through withdrawal while you drink it."

Hermione was in her bed and surrounded by books. Her head was bent over one textbook as she highlighted a few sentences. "Did you find her?"

"Yup." Kat put the drink on Hermione's nightstand and pushed a few heavy books to the side so she had a place to sit. "It wasn't that hard, but I think I might be developing an irrational fear of Daphne Greengrass."

Hermione smiled but didn't look up until she put the cap on her highlighter. "I think Ginny likes her because she's mean, although I think she uses the word "tough" instead."

"I prefer the term potential murder." Kat pointed to the coffee cup. "Are you going to drink it? Because I haven't had coffee in nearly two months and am ready to chug that thing, even if I have to fight you for it."

Hermione snatched up the cup and laughed. "Don't worry. I know safe charms to stun you with."

"Good." Kat watched Hermione take a sip and try to read without her noticing. "I know Ron's not going to apologize, so I wanted to for him."

Hermione stiffened but kept her face neutral. "It hurt him so much, but I still don't regret it. Maybe I should have given it up for adoption… I don't know. I just… I was horrified at the thought of carrying a child I didn't want. It made me feel like something is wrong with me. I don't want children. Ever. When Ron said he told Astoria that…" She closed her eyes, lost in the painful memory. "I told him that day that I was relieved that it was over. I'm still relieved that I never had to go through with it. Does that make me a terrible person?"

"No." Kat never thought of it as Hermione being a bad person or Ron being a bad person for resenting Hermione for it. She just thought it was an incredibly sad memory. "You panicked, Hermione. That's why you didn't talk to Ron. I think he was just blindsided and still is. It was a tough situation. I don't know what I would have done."

Hermione snorted. "You would have kept it and loved every minute of it. I was afraid of hating it. It would have known, even if I was nice to it. People just know. It would have been miserable. I would have been miserable. But I should have given it to Ron and left. Then he wouldn't hate me."

"You did what was best for you, Hermione." Kat bit her lip and hesitated before saying, "It was best for Ron too."

"No, it wasn't." Hermione sounded so sure of herself that it broke Kat's heart. "I just couldn't do it, Kat. I couldn't handle it. Not even for a day. He's right. I didn't care what he thought. I was so scared."

Kat leaned over all the books and hugged Hermione tightly. She exhaled, so Kat could tell that she was holding back tears. "It's okay, Hermione. It's all over now."

There was nothing more she could say. Hermione had moved on, and she was sure that Ron was going to one day too.

The interns at the Quidditch Center must not be able to deal with Katherine's hormones because they staged a revolt and tried to get one of their professors to take it over about a week later. It wasn't the slightest bit legal, and Draco figured they were just trying to scare Katherine since she knew nothing about law. Their little plan worked, and his wife was hysterical. All Draco had to say was that he was glad he didn't have to deal with it.

Poor Hermione was stuck trying to mediate a deal, and Draco decided to sneak off with Edward so he wouldn't get sucked into things. What did Katherine expect after she fired an intern for getting donuts without sprinkles?

He and Edward were at the park, feeding bird seed to pigeons in peace. It was a beautiful day, so Draco was happy to be outside instead of listening to Katherine argue while Hermione pretended to take her seriously. Sometimes he wondered if Katherine had some sort of hormonal imbalance, but he had a feeling something else was bothering her. Mother thinks that she may be worried about becoming a mother herself. He would talk to her about it when she wasn't engaging in war with university students over sprinkles.

They were sitting on a wooden bench, and Edward frowned when a baby squirrel ran up to the pile of seed and started cautiously nibbling. "Drake?"

One day he'd have the heart to correct the boy. Draco smiled and made a small pile for the squirrel. "Yes?"

Edward reached out to pet the squirrel but pouted when it ran off. "How'd Kat get two babies in her belly? Aunt Fleur only gots one."

Draco tensed. They weren't having twins… Edward must be mistaken. Perhaps Fleur was the one having twins. Still, a good Slytherin would fish for more answers before jumping to conclusions. "Well, what did the Muggle healer say when you two went the other week?"

"He said they were freneral." Edward frowned as he struggled with the word. Unfortunately, Draco had no idea what he was referring to. "And he called them Baby A and Baby B."

"Oh?" Baby A... He was going to kill her! His tone must have revealed how upset he was getting because Edward stopped feeding the birds and looked up at him. Draco tried to force himself to smile. "I'm not sure how we got two babies. We're just lucky I guess."

Edward wrinkled his nose. "Fred smells."

Although he was starting to get light headed, Draco laughed, albeit a little breathlessly. She had been lying to him for weeks! "Does he? Malfoys don't smell. So you don't have to worry about the bab—I mean the twins."

Edward didn't seem to believe him, but he must have inherited Lupin's manners because he hummed in agreement and resumed feeding the birds. He had a playdate with Victoire at lunch, so Draco had the rest of the day to figure out how to confront Katherine.

The more he thought about it, the more furious he became. How dare she keep this from him?! He was fully prepared to scream at her until she cried when she finally made it home, but apparently they had other plans.

"Can you believe Hermione made me agree to take the rest of the summer semester off?" she asked as she swept in the room. Draco glared at her as she tried to eat a sandwich and put a dress on at the same time. "Anyway, get dressed. Ron wants us at his flat. He's trying to prove to Daphne that he's father/husband material."

"No," Draco snapped, causing her to stop hobbling about the dresser with the dress and the sandwich. "We need to talk."

Katherine froze and turned away from the closet. "What's the matter?"

What's the matter? Draco wanted to scream back at her. He took a deep breath. There was no need to blow up like a Gryffindor idiot. He'd guilt her first. "I feel like you're hiding something from me."

Katherine turned pink but didn't fess up. "N-no, I'm not."

So Edward wasn't confused. Draco narrowed his eyes and stared her down, waiting for her to confess. They were seeing the healer in two weeks, and she was bound to notice now that the babies were much bigger.

But Katherine didn't confess. Instead, she turned away from him and continued to get dressed. "I'm worried about you," she said quietly. "You've just started to have fun again."

There was no way she was going to turn this on him. She didn't want to tell him? Fine. He'd just have to make her pay for it.

Everyone was crammed into Weasley's matchbox of a dining room. Pansy refused to sit down after Katherine wiped some crumbs off one of the seats, so Draco decided to act before she left.

"I've noticed, Katherine," Draco said just as she was stuffing a dinner roll in her mouth. "That you're closer to Astoria's size than Pansy's."

"Draco!" Pansy hissed. Theo laughed loudly while Astoria turned bright red and Katherine started choking. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"Actually," Draco went on with a lie as Ginevra stared open mouthed and Daphne had a moderately amused expression. "I think you're a bit bigger than Storia."

The Weasel snorted. "Probably because she's having a litter of ferrets."

Finally, Katherine managed to stop choking. He figured she'd get angry, blow up on him, and accidently let slip out that they were having twins. He should have known she would do her best to embarrass him in return. "You didn't seem to mind when you were ploughing me this morning."

"We're eating!" Daphne and the Weasel said at the same time while pushing away their plates of spaghetti and meatballs. She glared at Weasley as if he had insulted her.

"Eating for two doesn't literally mean eating for two, Katherine," Draco drawled despite the blush he felt creeping up his neck. "You're barely four months along."

Katherine looked like she was going to explode. This was it. She was finally going to admit it. "You—"

He should have accounted for the possibility that she would burst into tears. He also should have been prepared for her to start pegging dinner rolls at him.

"I'm sorry I can't keep up with Malfoy beauty standards!" she sobbed in between dinner rolls. "Thanks for being supportive when I lost my job, have deal with your stick up the arse parents, and can't go half an hour without peeing!"

"You didn't lose your job, Kat," Ginevra said with an eye roll just before Katherine apparated out of Weasley's flat. She sighed and started cutting up her meatballs as everyone started openly starting at Draco.

He smiled awkwardly until Astoria shot out of her seat and threw the last diner roll at him. Her face was already getting blotchy with the effort to not start crying herself.

"I just wanted e-everyone to get along!" she choked out. Weasley put a hand on her back, but she swatted him away. "I wanted to start over with R-Ron, and you-you ruined everything!"

"Storia," Draco tried, mostly for his own safety because Daphne was glaring at him through narrowed eyes.

"I wanted you here to support me!" she cried. "No one is on Ron's side but Kat! How could you?"

"I—" Draco gulped as Astoria stomped off to Weasley's bedroom before he could come up with an excuse. Once the door slammed, everyone went back to staring at him… Well shit.

"You're such a git!" Pansy whispered loudly the next day while they looked around a baby store in Godric's Hollow. Katherine was at Black's and not talking to him. Black had barred him from the floo, but Draco stubbornly refused to see his wife anyway. It was her fault for not telling him.

Draco held up a stuffed rabbit and ran his thumb over the nose before speaking. "You don't understand."

Pany snatched the rabbit out of his hand. Because she was having a boy, it turned blue at her touch. He wondered if their other baby was a boy or another girl. "You called the woman who's carrying your child fat! In front of everyone! I can't stand Potter, and I still felt bad for her."

"She's having twins," Draco muttered. Pansy's eyes widened, so he quickly added, "And she's known for weeks but has yet to tell me. Edward mentioned it."

Pansy was silent for a while, probably trying to make sense out of what he could not. Finally, she yell whispered, "That cow!"

"I was angry with her and tried to goad her into telling me." Draco held up a large, blue stuffed bear. "Do you think this will make Storia forgive me?"
Pansy snorted. "I'd buy the sprog the most expensive crib here if I were you. I can't believe she's not getting married. Anyway… What are you going to do about Potter? You should have just told her that you knew, Draco. You could have guilted her into allowing the baby to be named something suitable."

"Which one?" Draco asked bitterly. "She had no reason to do this to me."

"Really Draco?" Pany raised an eyebrow when he frowned like he didn't know what she was talking about. "You barely got out of bed a few weeks ago. Maybe she was afraid you wouldn't take it well."

"I—" Draco growled to himself. If he wasn't so angry with Katherine, he probably would be even more worried about losing control. He wasn't about to admit it though. "I would welcome another child. I am trying, Pans. And finding out she was lying to me doesn't help."

Pansy sighed and mumbled something that sounded like, "I can't believe you're making me defend Potter." She walked over to the outfits and started looking through the Slytherin color onesies. "Remember your seventeenth birthday? When we broke up? I was afraid to tell you that the Dark Lord killed my father because you were so upset that we weren't mates."
"But you told me a day later," Draco said flatly. "Don't make up excuses for her, Pansy."

"Whatever." Pansy rolled her eyes. "It's better than calling her fat. Good luck getting her to tell you now."

"Thanks." He was going to confront her tonight, so he was going to need all the luck he could get, no matter how sarcastic it was.

Draco had to knock on Number Thirteen's door to get in. Luckily Lupin answered and not Black. His eyes were twinkling like he thought the situation as funny.

"She's in the living room." There was in laughter in his voice! This was their first major fight since the wedding! It was serious!

Katherine was on the couch, curled up in a blanket and crying to something on the Muggle television. A male Muggle named Jack seemed to be half frozen while his girlfriend was telling him that a boat was coming. Draco cleared his throat, but she must have seen him in her peripheral vision because her tear filled eyes turned to him, and she stared at him as if it was his fault the Muggle just sunk to his death.

"Have you eaten yet?" he asked quietly. "I'll take you to that deplorable diner you like."

To his disgust, she sniffled and wiped her nose on the blanket. He thought she was going to refuse, but instead, she muttered, "And you'll get chicken parm so I can eat what you don't finish for breakfast?"

Of course she had to pick the most revolting meal on the menu. Draco had a feeling that if he said no, she would burst into tears and not talk to him for another day, so he had to agree. "As long as you promise to never wipe your nose on any of our blankets."

She pretended to consider, but at least she nodded before Black found out he was here. "Deal."

They mostly ate in silence. Draco wasn't sure how to apologize, and he had a feeling that Katherine only agreed to come for the food. She barely looked at him as she inhaled her cheese burger. She only stopped eating when she saw two oddly dressed Muggles heading their way.

"Katherine." The older one, who had to be in his late thirties nodded at her in greeting. He tipped his hat to her before leaving, but the other one, who had to be not much older than them stayed put. If this was another one of Katherine's psycho boyfriends, he was going to hit the roof.

"This is my husband." Katherine wouldn't look at the Muggle and seemed mortified. Great. "We got married two months ago."

The Muggle gave him a once over, but Draco wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't seem jealous, but he still seemed to be sizing him up. "Congratulations. I was wondering why we hadn't seen you in a while."

Katherine smiled feebly but kept her eyes on her plate. "Did you miss me?"

"I thought I would be zipping you up in a body bag the next time I saw you." He gave Draco another once over, daring him to start a fight. "You know my number, Katherine. Don't be shy."

Draco gaped as the Muggle gave him a death glare before leaving. He leaned over to see that he didn't really leave and was waiting outside the door. "Katherine, if this is another old boyfriend with a weird fetish—"

"He's a police officer," Katherine mumbled. "Like an auror. They patrol near my old flat, so it was always them who… He was saying that he thought Lou was going to kill me."

"Fuck." That earned him a small smile, even though it was far from funny. So the Muggle thought he was just like Louis. Now he really felt bad. "Look, Katherine, Edward enlightened me to the fact that we're having twins. I was angry, but I shouldn't have said those things."

"Oh." He felt cruel for getting a small amount of satisfaction when guilt filled her features. "I... I was afraid you would get upset. I was going to tell you last week, but then I thought you'd get mad at me for waiting so long, so I figured I'd just wait for the healer to say something and pretend to be surprised with you."

So Pansy was right. Draco picked at his untouched food with his fork. "That Muggle used to beat you bloody. I don't want you to be afraid of me, because it feels like you're seeing me like you saw him."

"I'm not…" Katherine pursed her lips. Hopefully she wasn't coming up with a lie and was only trying to put her emotions into words. "I'm not afraid of you hurting me. I'm afraid of hurting you. I fucked up when I lied to you the first time, and it snowballed, and I didn't know what to do, so I did nothing."

"Ever the procrastinator, Potter," Draco joked as he reached over for her hand. "I'll forgive you… One day."

"I'll forgive you when I'm eating your food for breakfast," Katherine said tiredly. "I guess," she added with a cheeky grinned.

"Thanks," Draco drawled as she started digging into her burger again. He was still hurt that she didn't think he could handle knowing that they were having twins, but he wasn't angry anymore… at least, not until they left the diner, and the officer asked Draco for his full name so he could run a background check. His lovely wife was all too happy to say that she was Mrs. Ronald Weasley. Why did he even bother?

Because Katherine still felt guilty, she allowed him to tell his parents about the twins without interruption. She was planning not to tell Black at all, so he supposed it was up to Edward to make sure he didn't have another heart attack on the twins' birthday. They were in the garden having lunch when Draco decided to make the announcement. Father was already suspicious since Katherine was going out of her way to be quiet and polite today. She continuously ate carrots to stop herself from blurting out the news to freak them out.

"So it seems the Muggle healer spotted something a few weeks ago." Draco could stop himself from smiling, so his parents only became worried for a split second. "We're having twins!"

Mother gasped, and Katherine's mouth was too crammed with carrots to stop her from running over and hugging her. From Katherine's face, one would have thought that Mother had punched her instead.

"Are you going to be alright?" Father whispered as Katherine tried to pretend to choke to get Mother off of her. Mother was watching him out of the corner of her eye, making Draco wonder if the theatrics were to give Father a chance to talk to him.

Draco chuckled as Mother told Katherine that she loved her and Katherine reluctantly said, "I like you too."

"Never better." He was sure that things wouldn't run as smoothly as he was hoping, but for the first time, he believed he could actually do it. He could be a good father.

Phew! That was a long chapter! Did I make Astoria and Daphne too unlikable? I think it took a lot for Daphne to mother Astoria, considering she's not that much older than her, so she wasn't going to handle it perfectly. And Astoria, she's just too used to everyone solving her problems for her, so when she had to solve a problem herself, she did so very poorly.

This week I'll be writing some separate one-shots called The Weasleys and the Greengrasses, so look out for them if you're interested.

I hope the Hermione scene didn't upset anyone too much. I wasn't sure about writing it but didn't want to censor myself. :/

Thanks for the review gr8rockstarrox!