A/N – We've reached the end of this story, and I want to thank everyone for reading and of course for their lovely and encouraging reviews. Everyone is very much appreciated. There will be an After The End piece for the story, which I will publish next week. As for upcoming stories, I do have a couple of one shots finished which I will be posting slowly, but no multi-chapter stories are finished at the moment. However, I might consider posting one of the stories I am working on once a week until I get it finished, but that won't be for a few weeks yet. So thanks again for reading, and hopefully I'll be back soon with new stories.
Exactly as Hermione had said to Draco, their lives were too busy for her to dwell on the state of her friendship with Harry. The process of moving back to England after spending so many years living in France was a tiring one, and so many things needed to be sorted. Living arrangements were high on their list of priorities, with the couple currently staying at Malfoy Manor with Draco's parents.
Lucius and Narcissa had made it clear that they would be more than happy for the couple to live there permanently, as one day the house would pass to them anyway. However, Hermione and Draco's initial plan had been to get a place of their own. Although that was not proving easy as they just couldn't find anywhere they liked, and quite honestly the longer they were at the manor, the more Hermione was falling in love with the beautiful house and stunning grounds. Plus, the fact they had an entire wing of the manor to call their own meant they had plenty of privacy.
As well at trying to decide about continuing their search for a home, or making the choice to stay at Malfoy Manor, the couple were also dealing with the change in their working conditions. With running the European side of the company for so long, Draco had never really worked with Lucius on a day to day basis, and it was taking time for father and son to learn how to work together. Hermione on the other hand, was finding things a lot easier than her husband. She and Draco had been working side by side for long enough that their working relationship was solid enough to handle the move, and she and Lucius had quickly found themselves bonding and working together as if they'd been doing it all their lives. However, at times with three highly opinionated people things did get a bit tense around the office.
And of course on top of work and moving back to Wizarding Britain, Hermione and Draco also had the prospect of adding to the family to consider. To be honest at times they were so busy that Hermione's pregnancy was often overshadowed, but when it came to making sure everything was running smoothly with the pregnancy they were right on the ball. And it was when the couple attended an antenatal appointment at the hospital, that fate brought Harry and Ginny back into their lives.
Checking in for their appointment, they had just settled down in the waiting room when the door leading from the consulting rooms opened and a beaming Harry and Ginny emerged.
"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Harry gasped clearly shocked to see his old friend only a few weeks since their last encounter.
"The same as you I would imagine," Hermione replied, well aware that the clinic they were attending was for pregnant witches.
"Oh, you're pregnant too, how exciting," Ginny trilled, settling herself down next to Hermione and showing her the scan she'd just had done. "This is our little princess."
"A girl, congratulations, Potter," Draco said.
"What are you having?" Harry asked.
"We don't know, we haven't been in yet," Hermione answered. "But I think we're going to leave it as a surprise."
"According to Lucius, it will be a boy," Draco said.
"How does he know that?" Ginny asked with a frown. "Or is it just what he wants?"
"Apparently all first born Malfoys are boys, and have been for generations," Draco answered.
"There's probably a spell to ensure it happens that way," Harry joked.
"Knowing my family, I wouldn't be surprised," Draco chuckled.
"So when are you due?" Hermione asked Ginny. Since she could see no signs of pregnancy in the redheaded witch, she was guessing Ginny was like her and in the early stages of her pregnancy.
"The beginning of February," Ginny replied. "The official date is the fourth, but the Healer has said that even magic can't predict the exact date of birth as all children are different. Some come early, some come late and some come exactly as expected."
"I should be due around that time," Hermione said.
"How nice, a little playmate for Lily," Ginny cooed.
"You've named the child already?" Draco questioned in surprise. While he and Hermione had recently started discussing names, and had plans to have a few picked out before the birth, they had decided to wait until they met the baby until naming them.
"Lily's going to be part of her name somewhere in honour of my mother," Harry said. "Just like when we have a boy, he'll have James somewhere in his name. But we haven't quite decided if Lily will be her first name, or her middle name."
"That's a nice way of remembering your parents," Hermione said with a smile.
"Have you considered any names yet?" Ginny asked.
However, before either Draco or Hermione could answer a healer appeared and called their name as it was time for their appointment.
"If you have time, why don't you meet us in the café over the road after you've finished," Ginny suggested as the couple got up to attend their appointment.
"That sounds good, we'll be there," Hermione promised with a smile, waving goodbye to her old friends as she and Draco headed in to see the healer.
Twenty minutes later, Draco and Hermione emerged from their appointment, happy with how things were progressing with the pregnancy. As agreed they hadn't learned the sex of the baby, but they now had a due date, although the healer had told them exactly what she had told Harry and Ginny, that a due date wasn't a solid guarantee of the baby arriving at that time.
"Are you sure you don't mind meeting Harry and Ginny?" Hermione checked with her husband as they made their way down to the ground floor of the hospital.
"No, you and Potter agreed to let nature take its course, and it seems fate wants you to meet again," Draco replied. "I've always said, I would make an effort with your friends. You're making an effort to get to know my oldest friends. Besides, I don't think it will be too bad to learn to get along with Potter. Now Weasley on the other hand might have been an entirely different story."
"I wonder what's going on with him?" Hermione mused. "How do you think he reacted when he found out the truth?"
"You can always ask about him," Draco suggested as the couple made their way over to the café, where Harry and Ginny were waiting for them.
Getting themselves a drink, the couple joined the Potters, who straight away checked that everything was okay with Hermione's pregnancy.
"Everything is perfect," Hermione answered with a smile. "We decided not to find out the sex of the baby, but we do have an official due date."
"How close is it to mine?" Ginny asked.
"As close as it can get," Draco laughed. "Our little one is also due on the fourth of February."
"How perfect," Ginny cried. "This is a sign. We are all meant to be friends again."
"All?" Hermione questioned with an arched eyebrow, confident that Harry and Ginny would know she was thinking about Ron.
"I wish we had better news on that score," Harry said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "But you know what Ron's like. He was pretty sheepish when he found out the truth, but when I suggested he should apologise, he wasn't having any of it."
"He's decided that life has moved on, and he doesn't think re-establishing old friendships is the way to go," Ginny added apologetically.
"Although I have made it clear to him that that there's to be no trouble if we start seeing each other again," Harry began.
"Which we will," Ginny interjected.
"Which we will," Harry agreed. "I've told Ron that I don't expect any trouble, and even if he doesn't want to be your friend again, he needs to respect the fact that I do."
"Just as long as being friends with me isn't going to jeopardise your friendship with him," Hermione said softly.
"It won't," Harry assured her.
"Quite frankly, Ron is just going to have to deal with it," Ginny snorted. "Especially now fate is blessing us with babies at the same time. Did the healer mention these new antenatal classes they're going to be doing?" she asked Hermione. "Apparently muggles have very similar things."
"They do, and she did mention them," Hermione replied. "Are you thinking about attending?"
"I think I'd like to," Ginny said. "Harry isn't so sure though."
"I know what you mean, I'm not sure it's my thing either," Draco said to Harry.
"But maybe it could be if we do it together," Ginny suggested with a sly smile. "Hermione and I could go through this pregnancy together, and you two could bond about impending fatherhood."
"I think that is a wonderful idea," Hermione said with a grin, sensing it was a perfect opportunity to really find out if her old friendships could be resurrected, and if they could expand to include her husband.
"It looks like we're trapped, Potter," Draco said with a sigh.
"We could always stand our ground and refuse," Harry suggested jokingly.
"With my wife and her temper?" Draco snorted. "I don't know about you Potter, but I have no intention of refusing my pregnant wife anything. I value my life."
"Me too," Harry agreed, looking between his wife and old friend, both of whom were pretty feisty. "Looks like we're going to antenatal classes, Malfoy."
"It's one hour a week, every couple of weeks, it's not going to kill you," Ginny said, sharing an eye roll with Hermione at the dramatics of their husbands.
With plans to see each other regularly made, the two couples had another drink and chatted for a while longer before going their separate ways. However, that chance meeting reignited Hermione's old friendship with Harry and Ginny, and sparked a new friendship between her husband and friends. Attending antenatal classes together, and preparing for the arrivals of their first child, the two couples spent plenty of time together and were soon meeting up outside of their classes. While Hermione and Ginny shared the ups and downs of pregnancy with one another, their husband bonded over impending fatherhood and dealing with their temperamental pregnant wives.
As January rolled around and the due dates of early February drew closer, anticipation mounted and Harry and Draco began to joke about who would become a father first. They even went so far as to bet on the outcome, with the one whose wife delivered their baby first becoming the winner, and the loser having to buy the drinks whenever they met up for a month.
On the first of February, Draco was convinced he was going to win the bet as Hermione woke him in the middle of the night and informed him that her waters had broken. After rushing his wife to St Mungo's, where he was assured that the baby would still be a while in arriving yet, Draco set about contacting his parents and Hermione's mother, and arranging for Lucius and Narcissa to bring his mother-in-law to the hospital. He was just contemplating contacting Harry, once it was a decent hour, to let him know he was about to lose the bet when he spotted the red head of Ron Weasley rushing onto the maternity ward.
"Malfoy," Ron sneered upon seeing the blond wizard. "What are you doing here?"
"My wife is about to have our baby," Draco answered, even though he thought it was pretty obvious what he was doing in the maternity ward in the middle of the night.
"Hermione's in labour?" Ron questioned.
"She is my wife," Draco returned, emphasising the word wife as it still rankled him that Ron had honestly thought they were brother and sister and indulging in an incestuous relationship. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Ginny's having her baby," he replied in a gloating manner. "She was admitted several hours ago. When did Hermione arrive?"
"Not long ago," Draco confessed. He briefly wondered how far along Ginny was, and who would become a father first, him or Harry, but suddenly it didn't matter who won the bet. The important thing was that they were both about to become fathers. "I have to get back to Hermione. Send your sister and Harry our best wishes, and tell them I'll visit when I can," he added, deliberately using Harry's first name in a bid to wind Ron up, which seemed to work as he went red at the use of Harry's name.
Leaving an annoyed Ron behind, Draco headed back to his wife's room. He did inform Hermione that Ginny was also in hospital about to give birth, but there wasn't much time to discuss their friends as their baby seemed to be impatient to be born and things progressed pretty rapidly. Caught in the whirl of activity of the birth, Draco did his best to support Hermione and remember what he had learnt at the antenatal classes his wife had dragged him to. In the end, he pretty much supported Hermione by allowing her to virtually break his hand as she held onto him tightly as she gave birth. However, all the pain was worth it when a bawling infant graced their lives and the healer in charge announced they had a healthy baby boy.
"Your father was right," Hermione chuckled as she held her new-born son for the first time.
"Actually Potter was right," Draco remarked with a smile. "I mentioned his theory about a spell assuring all first born Malfoys being boys to father, and he did some research and found such a spell was placed on the family several generations ago. So this little one was always going to be a boy."
"Are you disappointed?" Hermione asked. While she knew Draco wanted a son, she also knew he would like a daughter.
"No," Draco replied, smiling at his wife and son. "I was never going to be disappointed, whether we had a boy or a girl. And we can always hope for a girl next time."
"Next time?" Hermione questioned. "At least give me time to get over this birth. Your son is not yet ten minutes old, and you're already wanting another one."
"I was thinking more like a year or two down the line," Draco said.
"That's more like it," Hermione said softly, gazing down at her precious son.
Draco stayed with Hermione and their son for a while longer, but as the healers needed to do some checks on both mother and child, he used the opportunity to go and see if his parents had arrived, and deliver the news that he was a father and that they had a grandson. Making his way to the relatives room, which a nice medi-witch had directed him to, Draco was just about to open the door and enter when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he came face to face with a grinning Harry.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "I was going to give you a call later on. Ginny has just given birth to a healthy baby girl."
"Hermione's just given birth as well," Draco laughed. "About half an hour ago."
"Looks like no-one won our bet," Harry chuckled.
"I think we're both winners," Draco said. "We had a boy, by the way."
"Your father was right," Harry said, unable to stop himself from grinning madly. "Is he in there?"
"I hope so," Draco answered. "I was just going to check and break the good news."
"Me too," Harry said. "Let's do it together."
Side by side the two wizards entered the relatives room, which was full of redheaded Weasleys and their partners. However, they weren't the only ones present as sitting in the corner were Lucius and Narcissa, along with Hermione's mother, Jean.
"We are proud to announce the safe arrival of baby Potter and baby Malfoy," Harry called loudly, addressing the whole room. "Mothers and babies are doing well."
"Oh, our little Lily," Molly Weasley gushed. "I can't wait to see her."
"You've got yourselves a grandson," Draco informed his parents and mother-in-law as the Weasleys got busy congratulating Harry.
"How wonderful," Narcissa remarked happily. "When can we see him and Hermione?"
"Soon," Draco answered. "They're just been checked over, and I think Hermione could do with some rest."
"We'll go and grab some breakfast and come back in a while," Lucius suggested.
On their way out, Draco was pleased to notice his parents and Hermione's mother congratulating Harry. And he was pleasantly surprised to receive congratulations of his own from Ginny's family. In fact the only person not to say a word to him was Ron, who left in silence as the Weasleys also decided to grab some breakfast before meeting the newest member of their family.
"I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted and I didn't even do anything," Harry muttered, collapsing into a chair once he and Draco were alone.
"I know the feeling," Draco agreed, collapsing next to Harry. "And I don't think there's much rest in our futures, either. From what I can gather, babies leave you precious little time for relaxing."
"But I'm sure they'll be worth it," Harry said with a grin.
"Damn right," Draco agreed, grinning back at Harry. "Well, we best get back to it. I've got a son to name. What do you think of Scorpius? It's our frontrunner."
"It's unique," Harry said as the two wizards got to their feet in order to return to their wives and children. "But I like it."
Agreeing to visit with each other later that day, Draco and Harry headed back to their respective wives and children. As they waited for their parents to return from breakfast, Hermione and Draco made the final decision on their son's name, and by the time his grandparents met him, the newest member of the family had been named Scorpius. And further down the corridor, the witch who would become his best friend and later his wife, Lily Potter was meeting her family.
The End.