Work Text:
Hermione looked at the little muggle stick in her hand with a ball of dread growing in her stomach. There was no way she could deny the two little pink lines. Under normal circumstances this would probably bring a woman to tears of joy, right now though, the tears burning at the corners of her eyes were anything but happy. The year had started with Ron leaving her, barely not even three years after they got together, then she had discovered that there was no upward mobility for her in the Ministry thanks to the remnants of the old blood still in the upper ranks. And apparently, the year wasn’t done with her yet because now she was pregnant by none other than someone who hated her more than anyone should be able to hate another.
And then, as if the situation needed to be worse, that morning the front page of the Prophet had been splashed with the latest anti-muggle-born legislation, not that it came out and directly said that but all it took was reading it to know that's who it was really targeting. The law stated that anyone below a certain income was not allowed to have children while the wizarding world was still in turmoil after the war and jobs were hard to come by. But those jobs were only hard to find if you were muggle-born, unfortunately winning the war hadn’t caused much immediate change, and getting the ministry out of the control of pure-blood elitists was still in progress.
Then, as if her income wasn’t enough of a problem, there was also the fact that the only person she had slept with in the last six months had been none other than Draco Malfoy. He had immediately bolted when he woke up the morning after they had celebrated the Summer Solstice with a bit too much wine and ended up falling into bed together. She hadn’t heard a word from him in the two months since that morning, and now she would have to send him an owl asking him to meet up so she could drop another bombshell on him that was again likely to cause him to go running in the other direction.
Briefly, Hermione considered not telling him and just going to St Mungo's to get a potion to end it before it got too far but she couldn’t bring herself to do something that drastic. She needed to make sure she had thoroughly explored all her options, and asking Draco what he wanted was one of those options. So, with one last glance at the stick she had dropped on the counter and a steadying breath, Hermione stood up and made her way out to the front room of her flat to send off her owl to ask Draco to meet her for lunch at a little cafe in Muggle London so they wouldn’t catch the eye of the Prophet before they had an idea what they were going to do about the current situation.
Three hours later found Hermione sitting in a small back alcove nursing a cup of tea while she kept an eye out for Draco. Just as she was giving up hope that he would show up, the door of the cafe swung open and Draco sauntered through it. Glancing around the cafe he caught Hermione’s eye and started weaving his way through the tables to join her.
“Granger, I must say I was surprised to hear from you this morning.” Draco greeted her as he took his seat and signaled the waitress to bring over menus and another cup of tea.
She suppressed a groan at the familiar attitude she remembered from school; she didn’t know why she had thought this would go well at all. “Yes, well, something has come up that I need to speak with you about sooner rather than later.” Hermione explained, nodding her thanks at the waitress as she handed out menus. “Let’s order food first though, then we can discuss the reason for this. Is that alright?”
Draco nodded and turned to his menu, he could continue to be an obstinate prick and demand that Hermione explain herself but despite everything he honestly was happy for an excuse to see her. At first, he had been happy when he had woken up next to her after the solstice but then the realization of exactly who he was and what he meant to her had set in. When Hermione had opened her mouth to speak Draco had cut her off and made excuses before bolting out the door as quickly as his pureblood dignity would allow. Shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind Draco focused again on the menu, he had no clue why he was being given this second chance and he wasn't going to mess it up by focusing on past screw-ups.
After their food was ordered the pair sat awkwardly for a moment, neither sure how to start the conversation that had brought them here. Finally, Hermione decided to take the Gryffindor route, and with a deep breath she blurted out that she was pregnant.
“Pregnant? But why are you telling me?” Draco asked, trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. After a moment it clicked in his head with a sound like a gong, “wait, are you saying it happened at the Solstice celebration?”
Hermione nodded, focusing intently on shredding her napkin so she didn’t have to look at Draco’s face to see the look of disgust she was sure he had. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, I should have just gone to St Mungo's and gotten the potion.”
“No!” Draco said, rather louder than he intended to, causing a couple of near-by tables to glance his way. “I mean, not unless that is what you really want to do.” He finished in a quieter tone, reaching out tentatively to place a hand on hers to stop her from shredding the napkin.
Still unable to look at him, Hermione put the napkin down and focused on the pile of paper on her plate. “It’s not like I have any other choice. My parents are gone so I can’t go back to the muggle world, and thanks to the Ministry I don’t make enough to have a child on my own.”
“You could marry me,” Draco offered before he could it through and decide against it. The thought of her putting herself through something that was physically painful and emotionally devastating because of a situation that was at least half his fault bothered something deep inside him. “Look, I know it’s not something you’d normally jump at but I can help you raise our child so you aren’t completely alone. And I will happily bankroll you starting your a charity doing far more good than you ever could pushing paper at the Ministry, and it would completely be under your control.”
Hermione finally raised her eyes from the pile of paper that was once her napkin and actually looked at the man sitting across from her. “Why would you be willing to dirty the pure blood of the Malfoy line to marry me?”
“Because blood purity doesn’t matter, what matters is traditions and not losing our ways because of muggles coming into our world.” Draco explained, exasperation mixed with a tone that said he had explained this more than once and it had fallen on deaf ears.
Before Hermione could respond the waitress reappeared with their order and the pair thanked her and turned their attention to their lunches. The next twenty minutes were silent other than the clinking of silverware and the occasional comment about the food thus avoiding any further conversation while they processed everything that had already been discussed.
Finally, Hermione pushed her plate away and took a sip of her water. “So, what would be expected of me if I agreed to marry you? I'm assuming learning the pureblood traditions you mentioned would be part of it?”
“Yes,” Draco said, placing his napkin neatly on the table, “and if you aren’t carrying a boy now I would like to be able to try again when you’re ready. I need a son to keep the Malfoy name alive. Now, before you tear into me about equality, I’m not saying he would be the heir over our daughter. I fully intend to break that particular tradition, whichever child is more passionate about the Malfoy holdings will inherit the business side of things, a son is purely in hopes of keeping my family name alive and making it something to be proud of again.”
Hermione nodded, she could understand where he was coming from; he wanted to restore the Malfoy name to its former glory, minus the dark ties. “Honestly, if you are alright with it, even if it is a boy I’d like to have another child. Being raised an only child was incredibly lonely at times and I would like to avoid that for our child if possible.” She told him hoping he would understand.
Across the table Draco was contemplating what she was saying, eventually nodding his agreement. “I hated being an only child. It seemed like I was alone except for the house-elves more often than not, so I could definitely get behind the idea of having another child in a couple of years.”
“Should we be writing this into a contract?” Hermione asked, this was a serious discussion about her likely future and she needed to be prepared. “I have a brillo and pen in my purse if we need it.”
Draco shook his head, “not right now. Once we are sure this is what we want to do then I will give you the funds to hire a solicitor to represent you while we draw up the contracts. Though that being said, you do know divorce isn’t possible with a wizarding marriage correct? The bonding ceremony ties our magic together and there is no way to separate it short of death. So a contract will purely be for what is expected of us in the immediate future and what we owe each other during the course of our marriage. And, of course, it will have provisions safeguarding your ability to start your charity when you are ready.”
“I didn’t know getting divorced was impossible, I just thought it was incredibly rare since I never heard about it while we were in school.” Hermione said softly, cautiously turning the new information over in her head. Could she commit to this knowing there was no way out? “That doesn’t affect my decision though, taking the potion or running away to the muggle world would be just as permanent. So, if you truly mean it, yes I will marry you. Mind there’s still a lot to sort out but I honestly do think marriage is the best solution.”
Draco was watching Hermione’s face while she processed what he had told her so he wasn’t the least bit surprised when she declared she would be willing to marry him. “I was one hundred percent serious about my offer. It won’t be easy, you are going to have to be willing to learn at least part of what's required to be a society wife. But if you are willing to put in the work then I will do everything I can to make you happy even if it isn’t the life you dreamed of for yourself.”
As a small smile crept across her face Hermione started to believe for the first time that she was making the right choice. And maybe, with time and patience, she could possibly learn to love the man who was willing to give up everything to save her from their mutual mistake. “You’re right, it is far from the life I dreamed I’d have. But after getting a letter telling me I’m a witch and fighting in a war when I was barely of age I can’t say that this twist is that much worse than what I’ve already been through.”
“Since we are on the same page then I believe I will be on my way. I need to go to Gringotts and transfer the funds over for you to hire a solicitor.” Draco said, flagging the waitress for her to bring the check over. “I know it’s all going very fast but I’d like to get the bonding done sooner rather than later, it’s already been two months since the Solstice and I can’t imagine it will be much longer before you start showing.”
Hermione was once again nodding in agreement with what Draco was saying, absently placing a hand on her stomach and acknowledging for the first time that she was about to be a mum. “I want to be sure we are bonded before it is noticeable enough for the Prophet to get their hands on the story and make more of it than needs to be said.”
“How do you want to deal with that story? I have contacts, we can release whatever we want whenever we want to.”
Drinking the last of her tea, Hermione paused to consider the way they wanted to break this news. “What if we made it seem like a whirlwind romance that has been going since the Solstice? We can tell Harry and Blaise the truth and they can cover for us if needed.”
“I like that, and we can spin the rushed marriage to be the fault of this new law the Ministry passed today,” Draco said after a moment's thought. “And I can use that to help me sway votes to repeal it in the Wizengamot.”
Hermione looked mildly surprised that Draco was using his position and name trying to get the law repealed. She couldn’t stop the questions that popped out of her mouth at that revelation. “Are you fighting it because of our situation? or were you against it from her start?”
“It’s too late for our situation, but either way I’ve been against it from the moment it was presented for discussion.” Draco said as he tucked his card into the folder the waitress had discreetly set on the table between them, waving off Hermione’s attempt to take it to pay for her portion. “I know you aren’t going to like it much, but as my wife, you are going to have to get used to me paying for most things.” He teased as he handed the book to the passing waitress.
Sighing, Hermione silently admitted he was right and promised herself she would try not to publicly argue against him covering the bill. “Well, then I guess I should be going. I’m supposed to see Harry tonight for our weekly dinner, and I know Blaise has the weekly poker game with you. Do you want to tell them tonight and then we can decide on a day that works for us within the next week to do this?”
“I still can’t believe those two ended up together.” Draco shook his head before downing the last of his coffee, “But yes, I will floo over to their flat a bit early since Blaise is hosting this week and tell him what’s going on.”
As they both stood to leave the cafe Hermione threw caution to the wind and closed the distance between them to envelop Draco in a quick hug. “Thank you for giving up so much to make this work for both of us.”
Draco took a moment to react but he returned the hug easily, “thank you for coming to me before you did anything.” He murmured, placing a quick kiss in her unruly curls. “Now, let’s go face the next challenge before we change our minds.”