6 January, Thursday, 0033 GMT
"Mr. Malfoy," the ER doctor shook the sleeping figure's shoulder. She shook him a little harder. "Draco!"
He bolted upwards almost reaching for his wand in the inside pocket of his coat before he realized where he was. He breathed hard as he looked at the older woman.
"Is everything alright?" he asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Walk with me," she said. Draco slowly stood up as he watched the woman already a few paces away from him and heading towards the lift. Draco followed her into the car. "Hermione talks a lot about you."
"Not all bad I hope?" he said looking down at his hands.
She smiled at him as she depressed the button for the third floor. "She says you teach at a boarding school up north."
Draco gulped. "Yes. In Scotland."
"What subject?" she asked, curious.
"Chemistry," Draco chose his words wisely.
She nodded her head. "Ah, yes. The blending of substances to create magic."
Draco took in a breath. He remained silent for a moment as he watched the lift numbers.
"Are we going to see Hermione?" he asked as the lift bell dinged, reaching an upper floor.
"She just got out of surgery fifteen minutes ago," she said as she watched the numbers illuminate. "She'll be in Recovery for another forty-five minutes. She's in a coma."
Draco's face contorted in anguish. He looked at her, hopeful. "Will she be alright?"
"She lost a lot of blood during childbirth. After we took care of the bleeding, her blood pressure was a bit low. She went into cardiac arrest," she said, gulping. "We used the crash cart and performed CPR before we were able to get her back."
"Where are we going then?" the blonde young man asked as the lift dinged.
"I thought you might like to see Drew," she said as she nodded their exit from the lift.
"Drew?" he said, following her out.
"The baby," she said as she walked farther away.
Draco looked down for a moment. He blew out a breath before jogging to catch up to her. "Maybe you should contact the child's father," he said, slightly jilted.
"Yeah, probably," she said. "There's still time. Come on."
She waved him forward. They bypassed several glass windowed rooms full of newborns. He looked through the glass at the small little pink and blue bundles.
"This is our Maternity Ward," Dr. Masterson said, waving her arm at the high windows. "We're not as lucky, financial-wise as some of the other bigger hospitals, but we do give our children the best care."
They walked to the end of the hall and stopped in front of the door labeled Premature and Intensive Care Nursery. She opened the door and nodded their entrance.
"This is the preemie nursery," she said as she handed him a set of medical scrubs as she pulled a set for herself. "You have to put this on."
She led him into the room that housed newborns who were born prematurely or were in need of intensive care. He took in a breath as he saw the little infants housed in incubators. He walked to where Dr. Masterson stood; in front of one in the back corner.
Draco read the tag in front of the incubator. "Baby Granger. Drew," Draco gulped.
"Yeah," Dr. Masterson nodded. "Hermione already had a name picked."
"D.O.B. 5 January, 11:58 p.m. Weight: 1.82 kilogram. Length: 29.21 centimeters," he read. He looked at the baby girl. "Is that normal?"
"Preemies usually aren't as large as babies that go to term," the doctor said as she looked at the small child. "Drew's a little less than 'normal' for a baby that was born six weeks premature."
"Six weeks," Draco said.
"Yeah, she was expected mid-February," Dr. Masterson said as the baby stirred, her eyelids fluttering.
Draco held his breath as the baby opened her eyes. He looked more closely at the brown-haired child. She shut her eyes and seemed to gum her lower lip, about to cry.
"Did I do something?" Draco asked, looking up at the female doctor who smiled back, shaking her head. She looked at her watch as they heard the baby start to cry. One of the nurses came over ready with a bottle.
"No," Dr. Masterson said. "It's time for a feeding."
The nurse slowly pulled the infant out of the incubator. "Would you like to help feed your baby, Sir?" the nurse asked.
"I, uh," Draco was speechless. "She's not…"
"Thank you nurse," Dr. Masterson began, smiling as she placed her hand on the young man's back. "Maybe later. Mr. Malfoy and I've got a lot to discuss."
Draco saw Dr. Masterson nod her head for them to leave. Draco watched the nurse take a seat, cradling the child in her arms as she gave the baby the bottle of formula. Draco reluctantly followed the older woman out of the nursery. They changed out of the medical scrubs before walking into the hallway. Draco looked through the glass windows at the little girl drinking her bottle.
"We can talk downstairs in my office a while," she said. "It'll be another half hour before we can see Hermione. Come on."
o-o-o
"It's smaller than some of the other offices on the other floors but at least there's a fireplace," Dr. Masterson said as she closed the door behind them, "Coffee?"
Draco had removed his tuxedo jacket during the ride back down. He draped it over the back of one of the seats in front of the large desk before he helped himself to a cup. The Head of the hospital sat behind her desk. She pointed to the chairs in front of her. Draco took a seat, sipping his coffee as he watched her flip through a set of papers. She looked up at him before passing the sheets of paper to him.
"Hermione wanted us to enact this if for any reason something were to happen to her," she said sitting back in her chair.
Draco rolled up his sleeves before flipping through the first few pages of the official looking paper; skimming through it. He looked up at the older woman, not really knowing what the document was. She nodded at him. He looked more carefully at the paperwork.
"I, Hermione Jean Granger, of sound mind and body, authorize Dr. Elizabeth Masterson and Saint Augustine Hospital to execute the following on my behalf if for any reason I become incapacitated," Draco began aloud.
He looked through the rest of the document. Medical findings signed off by Dr. Tobias Whitney, M.D. Oncologist, was the first set of papers. Draco looked up.
"Six months?" he said. "Since when?"
"The initial prognosis was back at the end of July," she said, drinking from her cup.
"July?" Draco said, choking back a sob. "She didn't say anything."
"She probably didn't want you to worry," she said as she stood up from behind her desk and moved to take the seat next to his.
He looked down again at the papers in his hands. He gulped as he read further. "Under medical circumstances that render me unable to act on my own, I request Saint Augustine Hospital to keep me on life support until the delivery of my child," he gulped again, tears flowing down his cheeks. "After which, I authorize the initiation of the following Family Services documents for adoption."
"The worksheet for Drew's official birth certificate is in there. Only thing missing is her date and time of birth, her weight and length, hair color and eye color. The official certificate is upstairs in the maternity ward offices that we just left," she said, observing him as he looked over the worksheet.
Hermione had handwritten the information; Mother: Hermione Jean Granger, Ethnicity: Caucasian English, Occupation: Medical Doctor, Residence: London, England. Draco did not need to see the Father's line to verify what he already knew. He saw it in the child's eyes. He read on anyway; Father: Draco Malfoy, Ethnicity: Caucasian English, Occupation: Teacher, Residence: Wiltshire, England. Draco took in a breath as he looked up at Dr. Masterson.
"We can perform a paternity test if you wish," she said.
"That won't be necessary," he said. He began to sob, "Why didn't she tell me?"
Dr. Masterson brought him into her arms, comforting him, like a mother would a child. "Like I said before, she probably didn't want you to worry, Draco.
"She found out in mid-September. Medical bills for her cancer treatment and prenatal care added up."
"Is that why she moved out of her apartment?"
"I think so. My husband and I offered her our guest room," she shook her head. "She respectfully declined. She's never been one for handouts."
"She should have told me. I could've helped," he cried.
"The next twenty-four hours are going to be key to her coming through this," she said as he looked up at her. "But for whatever reason . . ."
"She's gonna make it," he interjected.
She smiled at him. "Next of kin usually get the first opportunity for adoption."
Draco clutched the papers to his chest. He breathed deeply as Dr. Masterson studied him.
"Poppy and Minerva will be here at any moment," she said as they both heard her digital wristwatch's hourly chime signal one a.m. He looked at her, speechless.
"You know Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall?" he asked surprised.
"We were all of the same graduating class at Hogwarts," she smiled at him. "My father was a Muggle doctor, mother was a Half-blood."
He looked at her, feeling like the whole world had collapsed around him. She gave his shoulder a squeeze as they heard the fire crackle and turn green as they saw the two older witches appear.
The pair were dressed so not like their usual. They had worn their most Muggle-like outfits. They were both slightly surprised to see the Potions professor in their old friend's office. Dr. Masterson just nodded to them as she stood up. She turned to Draco, "If you'll excuse us, Draco. I'm going to show our friends the new baby."
Draco nodded as he watched the older women link elbows with both Hogwarts' staff members and exited the small cozy office. He looked down at the paperwork in his hands again. He shut his eyes trying to imagine that everything that happened that night was all just a nightmare that he would wake up from soon.
o-o-o
6 January, Thursday, 0127 GMT
Draco had sat in the chair staring at the handwritten draft of the birth certificate for the past twenty minutes. His eyes were wet with moisture from his tears that spilled at the corners of them. He didn't even hear someone enter the office.
"Mr. Malfoy," the familiar clipped English accent resounded in the office.
Draco stood up instinctively as he heard the older professor's voice. "Headmistress McGonagall," he said.
"How are you doing, Son?" the veteran educator asked as she took a seat.
"I'm okay, I guess," Draco said, sitting back down looking at his forearms, not wanting to look at the older witch. "You're disappointed in me, aren't you?"
She placed a firm but gentle palm on his shoulder. He looked up at her, gulping. "I must admit," she said, smiling at him, "Seventeen years ago, I don't think I could ever picture you and Hermione ever being in the same room together without hexing each other."
Draco actually laughed. He was relieved that she broke the tension.
"I trust Hermione's judgment," the witch said, looking at him intently. "Now that you're one of my professors, I have come to trust yours."
Draco sobbed. Professor McGonagall squeezed his shoulder. "She didn't tell me she was pregnant," he said, as tears fell onto his forearms.
"Dr. Masterson told us that Hermione told you about her cancer," she said looking at him. "She trusts you, Draco. I am unsure of why she wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret. But she must have had her reasons."
"Dr. Masterson thinks it's because Hermione didn't want me to worry about her or the baby," Draco said softly.
"She's a tough woman," Professor McGonagall said standing up.
Draco looked up at her. He gulped. "Yeah, she is."
"Come on," the former Transfiguration professor said, holding out her hand. "Dr. Masterson's allowing Madame Pomfrey to heal Hermione's ribs after a bunch of them broke during their administration of CPR."
"Is that allowed?" he asked as he took her hand.
"I'm sure the Ministry will overlook that," she said smiling as she led him out of the office and to Hermione's ICU room.
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