Author's Note: Yeah... there's not a lot I can say other than sorry. But good news, I have started on the next chapter however this comes with bad news which is that I've only written a paragraph and have fest commitments over the next few months. But I really, really hope I don't leave you all hanging this long again.

My thanks, as always, to pagan who despite not hearing from me in a ridiculously long time got this chapter back to me in rapid time.

Two Steps Forward

Hermione could feel the butterflies rushing around her stomach as she walked nervously into the antenatal clinic at St. Mungo's to see the sonographer for her first scan. She'd been waiting for this moment since she'd found out that she was pregnant. It would be the first glimpse of her baby and to say that she was excited was an understatement. There was also a little bit of worry. The main purpose of this scan was to check if the baby was at high risk of Down's Syndrome. The thought of there being anything wrong caused her some anxiety.

As did the prospect of Malfoy attending this appointment with her.

They were attending an appointment together as if they were any normal couple.

As she looked around, she saw that Malfoy was already there, eyeing the pregnancy literature on the walls uneasily. She couldn't help the smile as she took in how out-of-place he looked. It probably didn't help that the other man in the room was with a pregnant woman, whereas Malfoy sat there, conspicuous on his own.

Hermione thought she'd better go and put him out of his misery. He gave an audible sigh of relief as she slid into the seat next to him.

"Thank Salazar!" he said. "I was getting funny looks. I think that bloke over there thought I had some crazy pregnant lady fetish or something and was after his wife."

A laugh escaped her at that. "Sorry, I got held up at the office. I was worried I was actually going to be late."

It was the staring after she'd arrived that made the horrible idea dawn on her. She could kick herself from not thinking about this earlier. She looked around the small clinic room to see that the other couple waiting and the receptionist had their eyes glued on them almost as if they couldn't believe what was in front of them.

"What are we doing?" she hissed at her blond companion.

"What?"

"This is the stupidest idea ever! We should've disguised you. With all the speculation about us – how could we just turn up at an antenatal clinic?"

Malfoy shrugged as this wasn't a particularly new idea to him. "The news of your pregnancy was going to come out at some point."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You've already thought that this was a possibility, haven't you?"

"To be honest, Granger, I'm surprised that you didn't. Even if the staff in the clinic are professional enough to keep their mouths shut, I doubt the couple over there will do the same."

Hermione eyed them nervously. They were whispering to each other, which could be about anything, but they kept shooting little furtive glances towards her and Malfoy.

"They might not say anything," she said, more in hope than expectation.

"Of course they will. I bet they'd get paid a decent amount of money for the information. Probably enough to set themselves up with a nice nursery."

She groaned and put her head in her hands. "This is a nightmare!"

"Chin up, Granger, you're increasing the entertainment value."

"You did this on purpose, didn't you? You think that if me being pregnant comes out in the media, I'll go along with your dad's crackpot idea," she hissed fiercely.

There was silence for a few uncomfortable seconds before Malfoy gripped her arm tightly. "Now listen here, you annoying, paranoid woman, have I mentioned going along with my father's plan to you at any time? Have I put any pressure on you? Or have I allowed you to respond to the media allegations the way you wanted to?"

The low, angry but measured tone used by Malfoy was more menacing than any bluster or shouting would've been. She felt a pang of regret at her wild accusations of a moment earlier. It was true; he hadn't mentioned the plan once she'd rejected it. The fact was it had been playing on her mind and she'd lashed out, looking for an excuse because she was so unsure of what she should be doing. And the very real possibility that her pregnancy would be splashed over the newspapers tomorrow had caused her to be even more suspicious.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I guess this, on top of the birthday party invite, just had my distrustful nature rising."

"You could've turned the invite down. Not sent over your acceptance almost immediately," Malfoy said, annoyance lacing his tone.

The guilt failed to abate as she took in his flushed cheeks and stormy eyes. Truth be told, she was surprised she had the ability to hurt him – but hurt he very obviously was.

"My first thought was that it was a gesture from your mother, and I didn't think I should turn it down."

His eyes met hers and the expression in them was a lot warmer. "It was a sort of peace offering from her. I'm pleased you were able to recognise that."

She smiled back at him. "She's going to be this baby's grandmother. It would be awful if I were on terrible terms with her."

His eyes crinkled beguilingly as a smile broke out on his face once more. The previous bad mood washed away and he reached out and touched her forearm hesitantly, almost as if the gentle touch was an alien concept to him. "She'll appreciate that."

Hermione knew she should probably look away and study the posters on the wall, but this warmer, more approachable Malfoy was intriguing and she couldn't help but stare. Without the cold, shuttered facial expression, he was a lot more attractive and likeable. She found herself, for the first time since Sebastian Braun had broken the news of the sperm mix-up, feeling optimistic about the future. This was a Malfoy she could work, even possibly be friends with, which was incredible when you thought about the levels of distrust and hostility that had lain between them.

"Ms. Granger, the sonographer will see you now. Please proceed along the corridor to Room 2," the receptionist called across the waiting room, destroying the moment completely.

Blood flooded into Hermione's cheeks as she stood awkwardly and led Malfoy from the waiting room into the corridor.

They walked in silence down to Room 2, where Hermione knocked on the door. Her hand as she lowered it once more was trembling a little. This was it. The first sight she'd have of her baby. The sonographer called for them to enter and Hermione opened the door and went in, Malfoy close behind her.

The sonographer looked up as they came in, Hermione catching the brief hint of confusion as she saw who accompanied her, but the smile didn't falter.

"Hello, Ms Granger and er… Mr Malfoy is it?"

"Yes," Hermione answered.

"Okay, well, it's good that you're both here for the first scan. If you could please lie down on the bed over there, Ms Granger, and I'll get everything set up."

The sonographer bustled around as Hermione hauled herself up onto the bed, the paper towel crinkling as she shuffled to get comfortable.

"Great. Now, if you could lower your trousers there, we'll get started."

She opened the button on her jeans and pulled them to rest just below her stomach. The sonographer then pulled them further down, tucking a paper towel over them and into her knickers. She felt self-conscious as she realised just how much of her body was on display with Malfoy in the room.

"This will feel a bit cold," the sonographer said, before smearing a clear gel on the lower part of her stomach. "Can both of you see the screens okay?"

Hermione looked briefly to the left, where Malfoy was sitting. He was gazing at the same screen as the sonographer, whilst Hermione could see a screen directly in front of her. "Yes," she answered for the pair of them.

The transducer was lowered onto the gel and Hermione peered anxiously up at the screen. All she could see was a fuzzy black picture with various white blobs. How could you tell which was the baby? The sonographer hummed as she pushed the transducer to and fro, moving it from this angle to that angle. The longer this went on, the more nervous Hermione became. Was she experiencing a phantom pregnancy?

Finally, what felt like five minutes later, the sonographer smiled, pointed to a small white form, and said, "There, that's your baby."

Now that it had been pointed out, Hermione could see the baby and she felt a grin break out. Oh, you're beautiful, she thought feeling the tears spring to her eyes.

"Hello, baby," she whispered.

"Sorry," Draco said as they were leaving the hospital.

"What for?" Granger asked.

"I didn't think to ask you first if you wanted to know the sex of the baby."

"It's okay. I knew it was too early for them to tell us anyway."

"Oh," he said. "So, do you want to know the sex at the 20-week scan?"

"Yes, I can't wait until the baby's born. I want to get everything prepared and be able to buy whatever clothes I want rather than a gender neutral tone. Although, if it is a girl, I'm not smothering her in pink," she said.

He smiled at her enthusiastic tone and the need to be organised. It was so reminiscent of the Granger he had seen at Hogwarts. Once, that would have disgusted him, but he was becoming used to her and found that it was more endearing than he could ever have imagined.

"Do you have to return to the office straight away or do you want to get something to eat?" he asked.

She looked at him surprised. "I took the afternoon off. And sure; I didn't have time for a proper lunch."

"Do you know anywhere good around here?"

"Depends. Whatdo you fancy?"

"I don't mind," he said with a shrug.

In the end, they settled on East Asian food and by the time they were settled and had ordered, the awkwardness of the situation was making Draco regret his offer. Maybe it was madness to think they could build any kind of friendly relationship out of the mess they found themselves in.

"What is it?"

He looked up from the noodles he was toying with to see that Granger was watching him, the same soft expression on her face that he'd seen in the sonographer's room.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

Draco pointed between them. "About this… us."

She frowned. "I don't know what you mean?"

Frustration rose in his chest. "How are we ever going to have any kind of meaningful relationship? We can barely talk without it either being awkward or turning into an argument. This doesn't bode well for any child we attempt to raise together. I don't want our child to think strained silences are normal. I want it to think its parents actually like each other but I'm even sure if that is possible. How can we move on from our past and this bloody mess we find ourselves in right now? Who are we kidding? We're not ready to raise this child. How are we even going to explain how it was conceived?"

He finished abruptly, his breath panting heavily from his mouth. He could feel a flush on his cheeks and looked away, suddenly embarrassed by the emotion that had just poured out from him. Silence fell between them and he was acutely aware that he had just vented, and to Granger of all people. He began trying to rebuild his defences, schooling his expression into the expressionless mask he had learnt to don.

"Don't!" Granger said, her hand landing on his wrist. "Don't close off."

He looked back at her. She looked a little shocked but there was a small smile playing about her lips.

"What?" he asked awkwardly.

"Nothing," she said and his eyes narrowed, which caused a light laugh to spill from her lips. "Okay, so that was a lie. Actually, I'm glad."

"Glad?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, glad. Well, shocked a little, too. But overall, I'm pleased that you just exploded. I didn't think you had it in you. It makes me hopeful."

"Hopeful?" He was feeling stupid, repeating her words as questions, but this was not the reaction he had expected.

Granger learnt forward, pushing her plate out of the way to get closer to him. "It means you care. I mean, I knew you wanted this baby in your life, and that it was important to you and your family, but, to be honest, I wasn't sure whether it was because you needed an heir or if you truly cared."

"Of course I care. I'm not an emotionless machine," he said huffily.

Her laugh tinkled across the table. "Not to be rude, but it's not as if I've ever seen that side to you before."

Draco rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, watching as she pulled her plate back to her and shovelled a huge amount of noodles into her mouth.

"I'm not good at opening up," he finally said.

She rolled her eyes. "You think, Draco?"

His lips twitched in amusement. "We can't all be emotional, foolish Gryffindors."

That earned him a rap across his knuckles with her chopsticks. "Cheeky!"

"So where do we go from here?"

"Well, I come to your birthday party and we deal with the fact that I'm pregnant will be splashed all over the newspapers tomorrow."

"That's a very upbeat assessment."

She smiled, almost shyly up at him. "I find that suddenly I'm not so depressed about it all."

And hope burst in his chest, the relief making his shoulders drop from the unwittingly tense posture they had been in, and a smile broke out on his face.

Hermione stared down at the newspaper in front of her and grimaced. As Malfoy had predicted, their visit to the antenatal clinic was splashed all over the front page. She wondered when The Daily Prophet had gone from being a serious newspaper to a trashy tabloid and then sniggered when she remember their salacious lies about Harry all those years ago. Some things never change, she thought.

She sighed and stood, smoothing her dress out and fixing the loose tendril of hair that had come loose from her bun. She turned and examined her stomach in the mirror. It was strange to think that there was a little human growing inside of her. A little human that shared her and Malfoy's genes. A couple of weeks ago that fact had scared her silly, but she was beginning to think that they were coming to an understanding. She realised it was a development she liked.

She opened her bedroom door, ready to join the others who had arrived twenty minutes ago and smiled as she heard their voices drift upstairs. She trod downstairs and walked into the living room where Ginny was doing some last minute grooming to the boys.

"I can't believe we're going to Malfoy's birthday party," Ron grumbled as Ginny yanked his tie into a neater knot. "Or that I have to be dressed up like a monkey."

Harry nodded his agreement. He had lost the battle with Ginny and allowed her to stick gel on his hair so it was neat for once. "Personally, I don't see what's wrong with jeans and drinks down the pub."

"Quit your complaining," Ginny said. "And just remember this is for your niece or nephew."

"Did you read The Daily Prophet today?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded grimly. "I guess it had to come out at some point, but it makes Hermione's denial of their affair look like a lie now."

"If I ever see that Greengrass bird, I'm going to be sorely tempted to punch her," Ron muttered.

"It's not worth it, Ron. As Harry said, it was going to come out sooner or later," Hermione said.

Ron assessed her. "You're taking this a lot more calmly than I imagined."

"I think Malfoy and I have finally come to an agreement."

"Really?" Harry asked sceptically.

"Yeah. He basically blew up about how terrible our relationship was and how bad it was going to be for the baby. It made me think a lot better of him, really."

"Well, at least he cares," Ginny said.

"Exactly," Hermione replied. "Until then I wasn't really sure about how much he actually wanted this baby."

"Are you sure it wasn't just a ploy to get you to be more sympathetic to him?" Harry asked.

Ginny tutted disbelievingly.

"What?!" Harry asked defensively. "I'm only asking because I was there when Lucius tried to manipulate Hermione into some sham relationship."

"No, this was definitely real. He was so embarrassed afterwards. I mean, Malfoy hasn't really ever shown much emotion before."

Ron snorted. "I'm not sure he even knows what they are."

"He's just lonely," Luna said, emerging from the kitchen, a glass of water in her hand.

"Not this again," her husband moaned.

"No, I think Luna has a point," Hermione said. "Pansy pretty much told me that he doesn't really open up to his friends and from all accounts, his relationship with Astoria was terrible. It's almost as if he's emotionally crippled by the duty he owes to his family name."

Harry grimaced. "I never understand why the Pureblood families put such an emphasis on duty rather than happiness."

Ron grinned. "It's not something you can level at the Weasleys."

"Well," Hermione said briskly, "with this baby, the Malfoy family will have to change. There is no way I would allow any child of mine to be pushed into an unhappy marriage just for the sake of the family name."

"No true Pureblood family would have your child marry theirs," Ron teased. "It's going to be a tainted half-blood.

She laughed, acknowledging the truth of this. "Although I think the Pureblood families are changing. Pansy is all but trying to push me and Malfoy together."

Ron gagged and Hermione punched his arm.

"It's about time," Harry said, ignoring his friend's byplay. "It's over a decade since the war finished. There's no place anymore for that type of thinking."

"As fascinating as this analysis of Pureblood ideology is," Ginny said, "unless we get moving, we're going to be late for this party."

"And besides, this is our opportunity to see just how open Malfoy's Pureblood friends are going to be towards me and the baby," Hermione said with a wink.