Mr. Malfoy turned on the floor of the foyer at the base of the steps. He checked on the fallen mother. He took in a breath as the little child pushed her head deeper into his shoulder, crying silent tears.
"Lucius?" the large hulking Care of Magical Creatures professor walked into the foyer, a pair of freshly killed chickens draped over his shoulder. He dropped the carcasses and ran over to the blonde wizard.
The blonde wizard stood unsteadily with the infant in his arms. He spoke shakily to the gamekeeper, "I need to get them up to Pomfrey."
Hagrid just nodded and scooped the Muggle-born witch up and started quickly for the staircases. The new grandfather followed the half-giant as the child in his arms seemed to have fallen asleep. His head seemed clouded with everything that had happened since leaving Hogwarts earlier that evening.
The blonde wizard was never much of a speed demon. But he could have outrun any locomotive with the adrenaline he had taking the steps a few at a time trying to get to the hospital wing as quickly as possible. He reached the third floor just as Hagrid placed the young mother onto a gurney. The veteran mediwitch Pomfrey assessed Hermione's vitals.
The ginger haired assistant mediwitch turned to see the older Malfoy take deep breaths. She led two other medical personnel over to where he stood to administer to the new arrivals.
"Ms. Potter," Mr. Malfoy said as the youngest Weasley child took the infant from him. "She feels like she's burning up."
"We'll take care of her, Mr. Malfoy," Ginny said. "About Hermione, Sir…"
"She collapsed," Mr. Malfoy began. "We were having a heated discussion. She …"
Madame Pomfrey nodded at the mediwitch tending to the older Malfoy. She directed the four staff members around Hermione towards one of the examination rooms. She waved her wand sending a messenger Patronus to the head mistress before following the trauma team into the room.
Ginny quickly uttered cooling spells over the child trying to bring her body temperature down. The young mediwitch placed her on a gurney before wheeling her into a small examination room. Mr. Malfoy for the first time in his life felt not in control.
His eyes glossed over. He felt lightheaded. Hagrid caught hold of the Pure-blood wizard's robe as his knees wobbled. He led him to one of the benches in the hospital wing's waiting room.
o-o-o
23 December, Friday, 2300 GMT
The cagey former Transfiguration professor looked up from the papers she had been looking at when the veteran mediwitch's Patronus appeared in front of her desk. She stood up gasping as she heard the news about the former Gryffindor. She headed out the door casting her own Patronus and sending it to the dungeons to summon Draco to meet her up in the Hospital Wing.
Draco started from the uppermost tower of the castle making his rounds. He was already finishing his rounds in the dungeons and headed toward his quarters when the head mistress' Patronus arrived.
'Great,' Draco shook his head. 'Some kid must have snuck out during bed check and got himself a ticket to Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing.' He headed towards the main staircases. He looked upwards, rolled his eyes and began his three-floor trek up the stairs.
When he arrived on the third floor landing, he was surprised to see his father sitting on one of the benches. He rushed over to him fearing the worst. "Father," the younger Malfoy said, a hint of concern in his voice, "Is Mother alright?"
His father nodded as he took in a breath, standing up. He gulped before he answered his son, "Mum's fine. Draco listen," the older Malfoy said looking at the younger blonde, "I … I had a talk with Hermione."
Draco looked at him, narrowing his eyes. Draco breathed deeply.
"It got heated," Lucius said.
Draco landed a fist against his father's cheek that could have rivaled Hermione's one that had connected when they were back at Hogwarts. Draco watched as his father sprawled on the floor clutching his cheek. Head Mistress McGonagall hurried to the older wizard's side.
"Professor Malfoy," she said in an admonishing tone, looking up at the younger platinum blonde who was cradling his hand. She helped Lucius up to a standing position. She helped him back to his seat.
Draco paced back and forth. Lucius nodded at the old witch, signaling that he would be okay. The old witch took hold of Draco's elbow, leading him away from his father.
"What has gotten into you?" Professor McGonagall asked her subordinate.
"Is Hermione alright?" the younger wizard looked at his boss, his eyes brimming with moisture.
"Draco," Professor McGonagall sighed. "Your father brought Drew and Hermione here. Madame Pomfrey and her team are working on Hermione. Ginny's tending to Drew.
"Talk to your father, Draco. You two are family," Professor McGonagall said, nodding her head towards the older platinum blonde. She gave the Malfoys their privacy, leaving to hunt down an ice pack.
Draco sat on the bench next to his father. They sat in silence for a moment. Draco pulled a clean handkerchief from his robe and handed it to the older wizard. Lucius placed it on his cheek, sopping up the blood from the laceration. The older Malfoy looked at his son.
"How old is she?" Lucius asked his son softly.
Draco gulped. He looked up to the ceiling for a moment. He looked back at his father. "Drew will turn one on the 5th. She was born six weeks premature."
Draco could already see the wheels in his father's head turning. Lucius looked at the younger wizard. "You and Hermione were together before the war ended?"
Draco blinked quickly but tears started to roll down his cheeks anyway. "I'm not proud of a lot of things that I've done in my life, Father," the young wizard looked at the same grey eyes as his daughter. "I . . . I took advantage of Hermione."
"What were you thinking, Draco?" his father asked, wide eyed. "Your mother and I might have been linked to the Death Eater movement, Son. We've never taught you to disrespect a witch like that."
"I ... I know, Dad," Draco said. "I don't know what I was thinking. Hermione and I had always gotten on each other's nerves.
"It was the evening of the Crabbe Mansion raid. Hermione didn't know I was a double. I rescued her and brought her to the Manor," the younger wizard said. "She struggled against me.
"One thing led to another," he said looking up at his father, "I let my emotions get the better of me and it happened."
"Is she blackmailing you to keep you out of Azkaban? How much are you paying her; she said she didn't need my money? Is that why you're together?" Lucius asked, studying his son intently.
"We became friends before we got involved, Dad," he said looking at him. "We found out so many things about each other. I started to fall in love with her."
"You married her in March, Draco," Lucius said, trying to make sense of all the details. "Why did you wait until after Drew was born?"
"Hermione has cancer, Dad," the young man said after a while. "Madame Pomfrey actually diagnosed her before we graduated from here. She didn't tell anybody; not even Harry or Ginny until after Drew was born.
"Before I got the post here at Hogwarts, her oncologist gave her six months to live. She didn't tell me," Draco tried to stifle a sob. "Then she found out she was pregnant. She kept that from me, too. She didn't want me to feel obligated.
"In fact, she had adoption paperwork written up so that if she happened to … not survive the delivery that Drew would be taken care of."
"You purchased the old Granger house," Lucius said, just stating the facts.
Draco looked at his father, blinking back the tears. "When I first brought her back to the house, she actually told me that it would take some time but she'd pay me back."
Lucius smiled at him. "She was always very resilient, wasn't she? She didn't want you to be concerned about her."
"She didn't want to marry me at first," Draco said.
"Why not?" the older Malfoy asked.
Draco looked down for a moment, "She didn't think she was good enough for me. She asked me why I would want to marry a corpse."
Lucius did something he had not done in a while. He pulled his son into a hug. Draco cried into his shoulder. Lucius held him there for a long while.
"I'm really sorry, Son," Lucius said softly. "I didn't know the circumstances."
"What happened, Father?" Draco asked, looking up at him.
"People talk, Draco," his father said, looking at his son. "With all the rumors flying around about you two; I just thought something was up. After I couldn't talk some sense into you earlier, I went to confront Hermione.
"Like you said before," Lucius took in a breath. "I'm not proud of a lot of things that I've done myself.
"She collapsed in the nursery," he said. "She said she hadn't meant to hurt our family. She asked me to tell you to take care of Drew and that she loved you very much.
"I told her that she'd be okay," Lucius actually smiled. "And that she should tell you she loved you herself. I side-along apparated them here.
"Look, Draco. Even I know that Hermione's probably the strongest person I've ever met," the older wizard said. "She'd have to be, marrying the likes of you and all."
Draco laughed. He looked at his father and nodded. They both sat, leaning against the wall, waiting. Head Mistress McGonagall finally returned, knowing their little heart-to-heart was over. She handed Lucius the ice pack before sitting down to wait like the other two concerned visitors.
o-o-o
23 December, Friday, 2330 GMT
Ginny had exited the private room and nodded at the Malfoys. By then, Narcissa Malfoy had arrived after receiving her husband's messenger Patronus.
o-o-o
23 December, Friday, 2312 GMT
Narcissa pulled Lucius aside and cleared up a bunch of things. He found out that she had been to the Muggle home and visited the Muggle-born and their Half-blood granddaughter on several occasions since Draco had married his former childhood rival.
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Lucius asked.
"What would you have done if I did? Forbid me from seeing my own grandchild?" Narcissa asked her husband calmly.
Lucius hesitated. He looked into her eyes and squeezed her hand, "I'm not so sure anymore."
Narcissa smiled back and hugged him. They hugged for a while. Lucius nodded at the bench before leading her back to where Draco sat.
"Drew's got Draco's eyes," he said.
"They both inherited them from you," Narcissa said, kissing his cheek as they sat down next to their son, waiting for word on the patients.
o-o-o
"Hey," Ginny said softly, as she approached the family. Draco stood up in anticipation. "Madame Pomfrey and her team are still tending to Hermione. Drew's stable, though. She's sleeping now. Do you want to wait in her room? The chairs in there are a bit more comfortable than this bench."
Draco nodded. The Malfoys followed the Pure-blood mediwitch to the infant's room. Draco sat in the cushioned chair closest to the head of the bed. The infant, still slightly smaller than other children her age slept soundly.
Narcissa and Lucius sat on the couch against the wall watching their son. Lucius watched Draco place his finger into the sleeping child's palm. The little girl closed her fist around it, grabbing hold. He wondered if he was ever that fatherly to his own son. The answer was, "no." It brought a tear to his eye.
o-o-o
24 December, Saturday, 0024 GMT
It was nearly half past midnight, when Madame Pomfrey and Mediwitch Potter wheeled the unconscious Hermione into the private room. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy fell asleep on the couch. Only Draco was half-awake when they entered.
He whimpered as he saw her first enter. The medical staff set the bed parallel to Drew's. Draco stood next to her bedside. He squeezed Hermione's hand.
"Is she going to be alright?" Draco asked the two mediwitches.
Madame Pomfrey waved at him to take a seat. The two mediwitches sat down as well. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy stirred as they both noticed the voices in the room. They sat up and stretched. Madame Pomfrey nodded at them.
"Well," Madame Pomfrey said, "Hermione's unconscious obviously. She came in with a ruptured brain aneurism. It was a good thing your father got her here so quickly. We were able to stop the bleeding and relieve the pressure.
"The thing about comas, though, we can't really gauge how long she'll be in it," Madame Pomfrey said.
"It might be hours," Ginny continued for the older witch. "It could be days, weeks."
"In the mean time," Madame Pomfrey said as she squeezed the younger witch's hand, "We'll take good care of her."
The veteran mediwitch placed her hand on the young man's shoulder, patting it. She nodded at the younger mediwitch for them to leave the room. Ginny squeezed the platinum blonde's hand before she followed her boss out of the room.
Draco stood and walked to Hermione's side. Draco silently wept as he held her left hand. Mr. Malfoy waved his wand pushing Draco's vacated chair towards the young man. Draco sat quietly, praying silently.
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