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It all began due to a desire to have a child 15 years into their marriage. Hermione and Ron married two years after the war ended, a double ceremony along with Harry and Ginny. They decided early on to wait until they were better established in both of their careers to start their family. Ten years into their marriage Hermione was a department head and Ron had managed to bring his brother's business to heights that they’d never planned for. It only made sense that they would start trying for a child but after 5 years and no baby, they started to worry.
They underwent fertility testing and learned that Ron was infertile as a result of his injuries throughout the war. They were devastated and started to consider whether adoption would be an option. Coincidentally, not long after they received their news Hermione was attending a party at the ministry where she managed to overhear an old classmate, Justin Finch-Fletchley, mention some research that was currently happening at St. Mungo's. Her interest was piqued when she learned they were investigating whether in-vitro fertilization was the reason for an increase in muggle-borns. Hermione asked Justin if it would be possible to get in contact with the head researcher, Roger Davies, and he was happy to pass along her information.
After a long discussion with Ron and countless hours spent researching the process, they decided to pursue IVF as an option to expand their family, understanding that they would have to use sperm from an anonymous donor. They considered using a donation from another family member, however, Roger mentioned that he had a large selection of candidates from which they could choose. They were happy to learn that they were successful on the first attempt and at the end of a long, stressful pregnancy were finally able to meet the child that they tried so hard for. After 42 weeks, Hermione gave birth to a healthy baby girl with brown eyes like her mother. They decided to name her Portia Rose, a nod to Hermione’s Shakespearean name and a name that started with the same letter as her father's.
No one suspected anything was amiss when Rose was first born – she was a happy healthy baby who just so happen to be bald. Molly mentioned that it was strange considering Hermione had so much hair and Hermione's own mother recalled that she had a head full of hair at birth, but Ron figured that photos of him as a bald child meant that it wasn't irregular. As Portia aged and her hair grew in it was a soft downy blonde, so light that you can barely see it. Hermione herself had been born blonde and her hair had darkened with time so no one even batted an eye to see this blond curly-haired child celebrate her first birthday. It was around the time of Portia’s second birthday that Hermione started to really look at her child and noticed that her features seemed eerily familiar.
Hermione began to question where Roger got his sample and who the father of her child actually was. Her polite inquiry was responded to with the simple fact that her donor was a pureblood and that he wished to remain anonymous. Hermione spent her time researching how to determine paternity, all the while leaving Ron in the dark as to her suspicions. After hitting several dead ends Hermione almost gave up until she saw an article announcing the return of Draco Malfoy to Wizarding London. She felt like a fool reaching out to him but the more she stared at her child the more she noticed her angular features and long limbs.
Malfoy proved to be harder to reach than she expected, having become a hermit since his release from Azkaban over ten years ago. She tried finding him in public places and sent polite inquiries which went without a response. Eventually, she concocted an elaborate rouse, finding an auror fresh out the academy who was still awed by the Golden Trio and having them take her to the manor for a “wellness check” on a friend she hadn’t heard from in ages. Once she was within the manor grounds she simply sent the auror on his way and spent her time tracking down Malfoy within his home. It took hours but she finally found him in a safe room, hiding from a perceived attack. When he realized it was simply Hermione come to interrogate him, he rolled his eyes and told her the library would be a much better place for their discussion.
While Malfoy sipped a brandy to calm his nerves Hermione tried to determine the best way to approach the situation. Deciding she simply couldn’t wait any longer she blurted out her question- “Have you ever donated sperm?”- and was surprised by his riotous laughter. Draco explained to her that when he hit puberty his father had lectured him endlessly about being careful with whom he was intimate and that there was no way he would ever sire a bastard child. Hermione simply sighed and asked if she could have a brandy as well, frustrated by his answer. Two drinks later she pulled out a photo of her daughter and explained the circumstances of her birth. Malfoy was clearly listening but stared avidly at a child who looked like she could be his twin. He abruptly stood from his chair and walked deeper into the library, Hermione on his heels. His destination become clear when he stopped in front of an elaborate tapestry, similar to the one in Grimmauld place.
Malfoy explained that it showed his family history from the time the first Malfoy set foot on the British isles. A quick scan showed Draco at the very bottom and adjacent to his name that of Portia Rose Weasley- both connected via Lucius Malfoy. Hermione was grateful Draco had been standing so close to her as he caught her when she fell into a dead faint. When Hermione came to it was to find her husband and Harry standing over her body, talking in soft whispers with Malfoy. The first thing out of her mouth when they looked in her direction was “I don’t understand how this could have happened”.
Malfoy sighed and started telling them of his five years in Azkaban- how the prisoners were forced to do labor and around the time of his release had become medical guinea pigs. Malfoy said he hadn’t heard from his father, who was serving a life sentence, in years but was sure that some medical malpractice was afoot. It took an additional five years and endless lawsuits to prove his theory correct. The prisoners, stripped of all of their rights by the government, had been used to test any number of things. Many had died in the prison as a result of experimental treatments gone awry with their medical files doctored to show deaths of old age or natural causes. The prisoners had been subjected to regular “physicals” where samples had been distributed through St. Mungo’s for various uses, including Roger Davie’s IVF experiment. Portia had been the only Malfoy born from the program but other inmates serving life sentences were also unwilling fathers.
The protests at the ministry about such human rights violations had been so virulent that they were forced to commute the sentences of many of the prisoners. Portia met her real father on her 10th birthday, 25 years after he’d been incarcerated for his role in the second wizarding war. Seeing the two blondes, nearly identical except for their different genders and their eye color, was a shock for many. The permanent smirk on Portia’s face didn’t seem to improve matters much. It was later that night when the infamous blaze occurred, nearly burning down their home. Portia had decided she’d much rather be a Malfoy than a Weasley and tried to burn anything related to her childhood. Trying to do so in her bedroom under cover of darkness had been a near-fatal mistake but one that had the result she desired most- moving into Malfoy Manor.
Portia spent much of her time in the Manor following her father around, shadowing the man who moved about much like a ghost. He rarely spoke and never interacted with the other inhabitants of the house, frequently leaving a room just as someone else arrived. By the time she left for Hogwarts a year later, she was dissatisfied with the results of her impulsivity, determined to change things in her favor. Her subsequent sorting into Slytherin seemed to be what got the ball rolling, the beginning of the end of her parent’s marriage and the reawakening of her father’s spirit. By the time she came home for Christmas, things were strained in the household and Ron had moved out. Her first time home for summer hols she was sat down by her mother and told of the pending divorce. Hermione failed to see the calculating gleam in her daughter’s eye and spent much of her summer trying to console a child who was far from heartbroken. By her third year Portia had legally changed her name to Malfoy and by her fifth finally saw the results of her machinations come to fruition in the form of a sizable inheritance. The wedding of her biological parents and the birth of a sibling a few years later was just a bonus.