Author's Note: Thank you for your continuing reviews. You all react in such different ways to this story that I love reading what you have to say. And thanks, as always, to pagan for betaing this story for me.

The Calm

First thing Friday morning, Draco made his way to the library where he knew he'd find his father going over the catalogue. For as long as he could remember, Lucius spent his Friday mornings organising and reviewing the vast Malfoy library. His father prided himself on how extensive the family collection was. Lucius would then spend the afternoons perusing the bookshops in Diagon Alley, looking for anything to add to the library. The familiarity of the routine reassured Draco somewhat after the upheaval of the last few months. It was good to know that some things never changed.

"Father?" he called.

"Here," came the reply and he headed towards the back, finding Lucius in the Transfiguration section.

"Draco, what can I do for you?"

"Astoria left yesterday."

"Yes, I know. The house-elves informed me. I've adjusted the wards accordingly and she can't return without seeking entry."

Draco nodded a little absently at that. The uneasy feeling in his stomach hadn't dissipated over-night. In fact, if anything, it had grown. It didn't help that his dreams had all featured a vengeful Astoria, managing to make his life hell.

Lucius stopped what he was doing and Draco felt his eyes boring into him. "What's wrong, Son? Shouldn't you be happy that you've finally gotten rid of her?"

"Well… yes, I am, but there's something I just can't put my finger on."

"What do you mean?"

"She was too happy to be going. I know her ambitions too well to settle for the idea that she knows when she's been beaten. She's fooled me once before and I can't help but think that's she's done it again."

His father threw back his head and laughed. "Draco, you're too suspicious for your own good. I'm not going to say that you don't have reason to be with your past, but this time you've nothing to be worried about."

"It was too easy, Dad."

"That's because we made sure she had no room to manoeuvre. I threatened Cadmus with what would happen if Astoria didn't go through with the divorce quickly and quietly. As predicted, he had no desire to lose his position in society."

"But, you see, I don't buy that. Cadmus has tried to get Astoria to do things in the past and she's flat out refused."

"Come on, Draco, she's a smart girl and she knows when she's been beaten."

"That's the thing. She is intelligent and she uses it ruthlessly to get what she wants."

"Are you seriously suggesting that a silly little chit of a girl managed to play me at my own game and won?"

Draco pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and pondered this. "I just have a feeling about it."

His father clapped him on the shoulder and gave him an amused look. "I think your mother's right. You need to get out and have more fun. You're starting to let pessimism rule your life."

"Maybe you're right," Draco replied, muttering.

"What are you doing today?"

"I've got a series of meetings set up from eleven o'clock this morning, culminating with an appointment with Horatio at six this evening."

"You work too hard. Cancel the meetings, go out, and see Pansy and Adrian. I bet they'll be pleased to know that Astoria is history."

"I can't. I've had these arranged for ages and you know what the Minister's like. He gets so tetchy if anything is cancelled on him."

Lucius nodded. "That's true. It will make matters worse if it's a Malfoy doing so. Sometimes, I think he only agrees to meet with us because of the huge donations we made to his campaign."

Draco rolled his eyes. Some areas of society remained suspicious of their intentions still, especially those who'd been in the Order. No matter how hard he and his father tried to show how they'd changed, the mutterings about their intentions remained. The Minister was no exception to this, despite gratefully accepting their financial support during his election campaign. Perhaps it was because Sturgis Podmore had never quite gotten over the fact that he was Imperiused by Death Eaters and was used to try to break into the Department of Mysteries.

"What are you meeting Horatio about?" his father asked.

"About the meeting with Granger on Wednesday."

Lucius' head shot up. "Ah, yes. We only got to discuss that briefly with all the hoopla around Astoria. She agreed to let you have contact with the child?"

"Yes. We managed to remain civil towards each other. It was quite a turn-up. Well, until she decided to pry into my personal affairs with Astoria," Draco replied, remembering the nosy questions with a frown.

His father barked a laugh. "I bet that went well."

"It's Granger; she's never happy until she knows everything."

"Why didn't you just tell her that you were getting divorced?"

"Because I'll tell her when I'm ready. I refused to be pushed about by her. And secondly, I wanted to run through the new situation with Horatio first."

"That makes sense. Just don't leave it too late to tell her. If she's going to trust you, then you don't want her to hear something this big from someone else."

"Okay. Anyway, I better get to work."

Lucius gripped his shoulder briefly. "Try not to worry too much, Draco. Life's too short for the amount of worrying you're doing at the moment."

He felt a pang of sadness shoot through him at his father's words. Lucius was right. Life was too short. Look at his father: they were just getting the family back on track and Lucius was seriously ill with no cure currently in sight. The crushing feeling that swept through his body at the thought of his father no longer being there was overwhelming.

Hermione sat in the waiting room at St. Mungo's Midwifery Unit and mentally went through the list of questions she'd prepared for Bulstrode. If Malfoy was going to continue to be so unhelpful regarding his private life, then she was not going to feel guilty at using unscrupulous methods against him to find out through other means. Besides, he'd started this first.

Of course, saying that didn't mean the guilty feelings abated. She couldn't help it. She was moral and upright, unlike Malfoy who was sneaky and underhand. And she wasn't happy at having to be so cunning just to get some simple information about his private life which she was entitled to, considering they shared a child.

She waited for the receptionist to call her through. It was the same receptionist who'd been there for her first appointment, and she was eying Hermione with interest. The depressed manner in which Hermione had left after her previous appointment hadn't gone unnoticed and neither had her current grim expression. She sighed. People-watching was probably the best thing about the receptionist's job, so she shouldn't judge. The scrutiny didn't help when she was feeling so anxious about it all.

Once more, Hermione was told to go to Room 4, which she did, briefly knocking before turning the handle and marching in.

"Ms. Granger, how are you feeling?" a very professional Bulstrode asked.

Hermione plonked herself onto a seat and gave the other witch a stern look. "Don't give me that professional manner. I know what you did."

The midwife look confused at her statement and combative tone. "I'm sorry, Granger, but I really don't know what you mean."

"Malfoy confessed, so it's no good playing dumb. I'll give you one chance to persuade me not to report you to your senior."

Hermione was slightly mollified when Bulstrode turned a pasty white and looked as if she was about to keel over and be sick. She put a shaking hand out towards Hermione.

"Please, I wouldn't normally do something like that…"

"So I should bloody well hope! You abused our medical relationship to give your friend a chance to stalk me. That's outrageous, Bulstrode, and you're lucky I haven't had you sacked already."

"I can organise for you to see another midwife. I completely understand if you don't trust me to oversee your care."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, no, you don't! You're not getting off that easy. You owe me, and I plan on making sure you give me the information I want."

The former Slytherin looked taken aback and she eyed Hermione warily. "What do you want?"

"I want you to reciprocate your deal with Malfoy."

Bulstrode frowned. "I don't have access to Draco's daily movements and I also don't have a tracking Galleon."

"A tracking Galleon?" Hermione asked, getting side-tracked.

"You didn't know about that?"

"Obviously. Fill me in, then."

"Draco has designed these Galleons that can track whoever carries them. He'll plant them on business contacts in places that they won't usually find for ages so they don't spend them. He then 'bumps' into them and often gets a friendly informal meeting in, which gives him an edge over his rivals."

"That sneaky snake," Hermione said almost admiringly. "You planted one in my pregnancy pack, didn't you?"

Bulstrode at least had the grace to blush before nodding and looking shame-faced down at Hermione's file, open on her desk.

"Hmm… Well, that doesn't particularly make your offence any worse," Hermione said, taking in the hopeful expression on the midwife's face. "Neither does it make it any better. If you want to keep your job, then I suggest you answer the questions I'm about to ask you and not worry about any loyalty you may have towards Malfoy."

The midwife gulped audibly. "What do you want to know?"

"Malfoy and Astoria. What's the deal?"

"Oh, Granger, I really don't think it's my place to say anything."

"But it was your place to plant magical GPS devices on me and inform your friend of my appointment?"

The other witch blushed once more, looking guilty before she settled on confused as she digested Hermione's words. "GPS? What's that?"

"A Muggle thing; don't worry about that right now. Are you going to answer my question or not?"

Hermione was pleased when Bulstrode's Slytherin self-preservation trait kicked in and overruled any loyalty she had towards Malfoy.

"They're having major problems in their marriage. Draco's not been happy for years but he's kept it all bottled up. He only just recently told Pansy and I about how unhappy he is," Bulstrode rattled off quietly and quickly.

Hermione took a moment to analyse this. Malfoy's tetchiness began to make sense. No wonder he was so unwilling to share any of this with her. He'd want to keep it quiet in case their current agreement fell apart in court and he pushed for custody. She wasn't stupid. She knew that Malfoy would promote the whole 'happy family' aspect of his arrangement to try to show that he could raise a child better than a single mother.

"If they're that unhappy, then why are they trying for a kid? And going to the trouble of artificial insemination?"

Bulstrode shot her an unimpressed glance. "I believe you've met Lucius on several occasions and are probably aware of the importance of the Malfoy name to him in general."

Things were beginning to click into place. She'd been confused by the reticence Malfoy had displayed to open up about the most simple things but if he was being pressured by his father to continue the Malfoy name despite an unhappy marriage, then it was starting to make sense. But it also made Hermione more determined that any child of hers would not be brought up in such a situation. It would be untenable that she would condone such a thing happening. It also highlighted that Lucius appeared to be in control.

"What's the deal with Lucius?" she asked.

Bulstrode frowned, confused by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Why has Lucius accepted the idea of a half-blood baby?"

"From what Draco has said, he's desperate for an heir."

Hermione thought that over. Something didn't ring true in that reply. Not that she thought Bulstrode was lying: the other witch was obviously petrified that Hermione would report her and she'd lose her job. But there was no way Lucius would accept the tainting of his precious pureblood lines without a good reason.

"Any particular reason for this?"

Bulstrode just shrugged and looked back down at Hermione's file. The tense expression on her face clearly showed how unhappy she was with this whole conversation. Maybe it would serve as a warning not to blur the boundaries of work and friends again. Not that the midwife had blurred the boundaries. She'd pretty much jumped over the line and sprinted off in the distance. And the consequence of that was feeding Hermione the information she needed about Malfoy's private life.

"Okay, I recognise that you might not know Lucius' personal reasons for accepting a half-blood baby, and you've given me enough information."

The former Slytherin witch blew out a massive breath of air and looked relieved that she was not going to be asked to reveal any more intimate details about the Malfoys. "And you're happy for me to continue to be your midwife?"

Hermione considered this for a moment. Was she able to trust Bulstrode with her pre-natal care? She assessed the midwife carefully, who was doing her utmost not to look self-conscious at the scrutiny. "Believe it or not, I think I am. You've shown a disturbing lack of professionalism, but the bonds of loyalty towards friends I can understand. And, I seriously doubt you'll be doing something like that in a hurry because I really won't give you a second chance. I'll make sure you are sacked."

Bulstrode nodded curtly. "No, I think it's fair to say that I will be staying out of this affair for my own sanity. Although, I will have to tell Draco we had this conversation."

"I didn't expect you not to," Hermione said a little grimly.

How Malfoy would react to that, she wasn't sure. He'd be furious that she'd managed to get some of the much-needed information about his private life. Well, he'd started using the unscrupulous methods so he couldn't really complain if she followed suit.

"Okay, well, getting back to the business of why you're here, have you received a date for your twelve-week scan yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "Should I have done?"

Bulstrode pursed her lips. "Yes, I'll chase it up and find out what the delay is. I have it written down here in your file so I can at least tell you the time and date. It's in two weeks' time, Friday 4th June ," she said before tailing off.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Are you going to let Draco attend?"

"What's that got to do with you? Didn't you just say that you'd remain purely professional?"

"Well, yes… but did you know that it's Draco's birthday the day after the scan?"

She stopped. She knew Malfoy was younger than her and that his birthday was close to Harry's, but she'd never known the exact date. Why would she? The only thing she knew was that it was after 2nd June, because he'd still been a minor when he'd attempted to kill Professor Dumbledore.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

Bulstrode was looking uncomfortable again. "It's just I know he'd like to attend the scan. It would mean a lot to him."

There was no need to tell the former Slytherin that she'd already agreed that Malfoy could attend the scans. But it was a chance to get some more information out of her. "Why would it mean a lot to him?"

"He really wants kids always has. He might not come across as the most loving or paternal type, but it's there, hidden away."

There was nothing much Hermione could say to that. It was strange to think of Malfoy as anything other than cold and disdainful. But it was good to know, especially now that she'd agreed to him playing a prominent role in her child's life.

"Okay, well thanks for that, Bulstrode. When do I see you again?"

"Around your sixteenth week. We'll start checking the baby's heart beat at all your check-ups, as we'll be able to pick it up. And you should start to feel the baby move around that time. It will start off as a small fluttering feeling and then start to get stronger as the baby grows."

Hermione patted her stomach gently. She couldn't wait until she started showing and being able to feel the baby. Hopefully, her terrible morning sickness will have started to abate by then, too. She was really struggling to get going in the mornings with how ill she was feeling.

Narcissa smiled tenderly as she watched Lucius move around Flourish and Blotts, seeking out more books to enhance the Malfoy library. Their Friday afternoon trips to Diagon Alley were something she always looked forward to. It never got boring or dull despite them having had this same routine for years. Now, it had a bittersweet quality as she never knew when the trip would be the last time they went together.

She watched her husband as he made his selections and moved back towards her. She added a couple of new releases to his pile. She was addicted to reading Auror thrillers. Lucius went off to pay for the books and she waited by the front door. They would now go to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink and a snack. Since Hannah Abbott had taken over running the place, it was much cleaner and the food was very good. Luckily, as it was Friday, Abbott's husband, Neville Longbottom, would be teaching, so there was no chance they would run into him. It was always a little awkward when they did, which wasn't surprising considering Lucius had fought against him in the Department of Mysteries.

Once they were settled in a nice little table in the corner, with their drinks and some pumpkin pasties, Lucius leaned back. "Have you spoken to Draco since Astoria left?" he asked his wife.

Narcissa looked up sharply. She'd been worrying about her son recently. Despite finally divorcing his troublesome wife, he continued to look stressed. "I saw him briefly yesterday."

"He came to speak to me this morning before leaving for work."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"He thinks the divorce was too easy and that Astoria is planning on making trouble for us."

She sighed. "I wondered why he looked so stressed. What do you think?"

"I think he's being paranoid. I doubt Astoria has it in her to cause any real damage."

"Are you sure? She can be incredibly vindictive."

"I laid the law down to her father. If they wanted to gain anything out of the settlement, then they had to keep her in line. I'm relying on Cadmus' love of wealth to make sure that happens."

Narcissa chewed her lip. It was a habit she'd had since childhood and one that she'd struggled to master in front of others. However, she tended to slip when in the company of those she loved and trusted. "But the settlements have been signed and they've got the money. How do you know Astoria won't look to rock the boat now?"

"I don't, but I trust Cadmus to keep his house in order."

She wished she could feel as confident as her husband but, like Draco, she recognised that the Greengrass patriarch was a lot less dictatorial than Lucius. His daughters walked all over him and he pandered to their every whim, as the besotted father he was. This had created two young women who seemed to think they deserved to get whatever they wished. Daphne was a lot less demanding than Astoria. She was happy with simpler things, as shown by her marriage to Colin Warrington, who only kept his job because his father-in-law employed him. Draco had returned from the Greengrass offices many times complaining about 'that idiot, Warrington'. But Astoria had ambitions and Narcissa didn't think she'd suddenly lost them because Lucius decided he didn't want her as a Malfoy anymore.

"Hmm… I wish I had as much confidence as you do in Cadmus but there's no point in worrying about."

Lucius smiled at his wife. "See! That's exactly what I said to Draco. That boy gets more and more pessimistic the longer he lives. What I wouldn't give for some of his confidence from before the war."

She scoffed. "Draco was a spoilt little brat. He had to grow up sometime and he's turned out to be a fine man."

Her husband sighed. "I know, and I'm proud of him. He's doing a fantastic job with our interests better than I ever managed. But I hate to see him so depressed."

"Give him some time, Lucius. He's been unhappy for so long that I'm not sure he remembers what it's like to enjoy life. I'm hoping this baby will bring him plenty of reasons to smile."

"If that Granger girl doesn't irritate him to death first."

Narcissa frowned. "I thought they were getting on better. He seemed a lot more positive about it all."

"Yes, but she's nosy, and she wants to know about Draco and Astoria."

"Draco mentioned that briefly to me. He needs to tell her something. As a mother, I can sympathise a little with her desire to know for the child's sake."

Lucius smirked. "That's got to be a first. You admitting that you can see Granger's point of view."

She rose haughtily from her seat. "It doesn't mean I like the girl."

He chuckled as he followed behind her towards the door. "I didn't think it did for a moment, dear."

She turned to face her amused husband as she pulled the door open. "You needn't look so smug about it," she said before bumping into a group coming into the pub.

"Excuse " she started to say before she realised whom it was she'd walked into: The young woman causing her son many of his current problems. Shocked brown eyes looked back into hers and the silence grew as they continued to stand there, staring at each other mutely.

A firm hand gripped her elbow and manoeuvred her a little to the side, her husband nodding to the three young women in front of them. "Ms. Granger, Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Weasley," Lucius murmured politely.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. How is Draco?" the strange Lovegood-Weasley girl replied.

She always managed to take Narcissa off-guard by her pleasant manner whenever she saw them. It wasn't behaviour she expected from someone who'd been imprisoned in their dungeons for months.

"He's very well. I'll let him know you asked about him," Lucius replied.

Weasley smiled in response and was about to move off with her friends when Narcissa spoke, "Ms. Granger, how are you feeling?"

The bushy-haired girl stopped and turned her head round before answering hesitantly, "I'm fine."

Narcissa looked at Granger closely; she was looking tired, wan, and a little run down. She couldn't help the small smile that decorated her lips. "Are you still suffering from morning sickness?"

Granger narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the question. "Why?"

"Because you look like you are. I had the same problem when carrying Draco."

The younger witch looked surprised at her reply. "Er… yes, it's a bit of bad day for me."

"Make sure you take care of yourself and my grandchild," she said imperiously before sweeping out of the door with Lucius in tow.

Hermione watched the two Malfoys as they left, feeling slightly dazed by the whole experience.

"Well, that was weird," Ginny remarked.

"I think they just really want grandkids," Luna said.

"You see the good in everyone," Ginny replied.

Hermione kept quiet as they got their drinks from the bar before weaving their way to their normal table towards the back.

"Why were you so suspicious of her question?" Luna asked, once they were all seated.

"I don't know. She's not been exactly friendly to me in the past. I thought she might offer me a potion or something."

"I'm thinking it wouldn't be one of the benign kind," Ginny said.

Hermione laughed. "No! I guess I'm just a little paranoid where they are concerned. Harry didn't help when his first reaction was that they might try to harm me."

"How long have you known Harry now, Hermione? If he's not suspecting someone of something nefarious, then he's not happy," Ginny said, amused.

"I know, I know! I guess old habits die hard and I've been suspicious of that couple since I met them."

"Tell me about it," Ginny muttered.

Luna just shook her head good-naturedly.

"Anyway, are you coming to the Burrow this weekend, Hermione?" the redhead asked, changing the subject.

"I think so. Why?"

"It's just Mum is complaining that you haven't been round for a Sunday roast in ages. I think she's fretting that you're wasting away and not giving her the opportunity to feed you and the baby up."

Hermione had avoided the noisy Sunday dinners at the Burrow since she'd developed morning sickness. Her sense of smell had become so sensitive and she found that she could become nauseous at the drop of a hat if smelling food that she wasn't craving. However, she'd recently found the one thing that appeared to settle her stomach: white bread and marmite. She wasn't one for that food combination normally, always preferring the healthier wholegrain bread options before. But the morning sickness had turned all her good food habits upside down and demanded the stodgiest of carbohydrates. She was blaming the Malfoy genes for that.

"Yes, I think I have the nausea under control, at last," she said, delving into her bag and routing around for the small Tupperware box with her marmite sandwich in it. "Speaking of such things, I need to eat this before I become incapable of doing anything but dry heave."

Luna and Ginny laughed as she proceeded to nibble her snack. She stuck her tongue out at them, just because they'd had nice, easy pregnancies without the crippling morning sickness.

Hermione was glad she'd come to the Burrow when she exited the Floo Network and smelt the roast potatoes. Molly's roast dinners were amazing and apparently the baby was recognising that, if the hunger pangs that shot through her suddenly were anything to judge by. The house was packed to the rafters as usual, with kids running around and getting under everyone's feet. She couldn't wait until her little Iris was joining in.

"Hermione! You came!" Molly yelled, walking over quickly to engulf her in a massive hug.

"You know me. I couldn't keep away for too long."

"How are you holding up?" she asked, tipping Hermione's chin up to analyse her face.

"Tired, but I think I'm finally conquering the morning sickness. I don't feel as if I've been flattened by a herd of Hippogriffs all day anymore."

Molly laughed. "You wait until it feels as if you're being used for Bludger practice later on."

"Fred and I were destined to be Beaters as soon as we were conceived," George said in passing, giving both women a quick kiss on the cheek as he made his way over to the window to let in the owl that delivered his mother's Witch Weekly every Sunday.

"You let me know if you need anything special to eat, Hermione. It's really no bother. I became a master at cooking a variety of meals when I was pregnant especially by the time I got to Ginny, with six fussy boys in various stages of childhood."

Hermione nodded her thanks and made her way over to Harry and Ron, who'd left the seat in between them free. She looked around the laughing table where everyone was at different stages of food preparation and sighed contently. She loved it here. The Burrow never failed to make her feel safe, loved, and cherished.

"WHAT THE !"

Silence descended as everyone turned to see what George was shouting about, taking in his unusually fierce facial expression. He slammed the magazine he was holding down and slid it along the table until it stopped directly in front of Hermione, who paled dramatically as she took in the front cover.

AN: Yes, I know. I'm horrible. That's two cliff-hangers in a row. But in my defence the previous once wasn't meant to be a cliffie. This one was and I apologise! Will have the next chapter up ASAP.