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“Ugh,” Hermione muttered as she quietly unlocked the front door and scuttled inside. Her clothes were pinned to her plump form from the downpour, leaving her feeling sticky and suffocated. She quickly pulled her wand out of her robe pocket where it had been irritatingly poking into her swelling belly from the short walk from the Ministry to her townhouse and cast a simple drying charm. Despite now being dry, her clothes felt crunchy, causing her sour mood to worsen. Unwilling to attempt to bend down and reach her feet over her pregnant belly, she unceremoniously kicked her flats off, cringing when they clunked into the wall. She frowned upon seeing the state of her hair as she looked into the mirror hanging on the wall in the entryway hall, but couldn’t work up the energy it would take to fix the bird's nest that lived upon her head.
Continuing through the living room with only her wand light to guide her, she shuffled to the kitchen as the muscles in her legs and back ached from the effort of keeping her body upright all day.
Sighing in relief, Hermione flicked her wand to turn on the lights in the kitchen before tossing it on the small table pushed to the corner of the room where a new high chair had been added between the two chairs that normally occupied the space. She trudged towards the stove, debating whether she wanted to pop some French bread in the oven to go along with her soup when she stopped short at the sight of an entire Shepherd’s pie and a mug of herbal tea placed under a stasis charm sitting on the counter with a folded note sitting in front of it. She felt her throat close up and tears filled her vision as she read the note.
Hermione,
I’m not sure if I’ll catch you before I head to bed, but I wanted to make sure my favorite people were fed. There should be enough Shepherd’s pie for you and baby Scorpius (I learned my lesson and made you your own this time).
Eat up, then come to bed! I don’t want to find you asleep on the couch in the morning again because you didn’t want to wake me. I sleep worse when my beautiful pregnant girlfriend isn’t grumpily kicking me in the back to get away from my “lava-like body heat.”
I love you both xx
She sniffed, fighting to hold back the tears that threatened to leak out as she stared at shepherd’s pie that she knew was delicious but smelt so awful to her because of her stupid fucking hormones.
Just then, an owl pecked at the kitchen window. Hermione opened the window and let the bird perch on the sill as she took a large scroll off the owl’s foot and reached into the treat jar she kept stocked for the birds. She petted the bird as it ate its treat before it took off into the night. Curious about who would be writing her this late in the evening, Hermione pulled out a chair and plopped down, thinking she might just sleep there instead of struggling to stand up again.
She read the short note penned at the top of the scroll and her sour mood quickly morphed into anger as she saw who the message was from. Rita Skeeter was writing yet another article about her and dared to ask for her comment before it went to print even though the entire article was one big lie. Her anger only grew as she saw the beetle was now throwing barbs at her unborn child, who The Daily Prophet and other publications had not brought up yet due to a very threatening letter Hermione had sent as soon as she started to show months ago.
She threw the scroll down on the table, positively fuming, and made to stand to find her unbreakable jar, but fell back into her chair as pain spiked through her lower back on the sudden weight change. Hermione burst into tears, not knowing if she was crying due to her anger, sadness, fear, or simply because she was hungry. She felt so useless. She felt she had overestimated herself thinking she should bring a child into such a cruel world and then immediately felt remorse for ever even thinking such a thought. She felt like a terrible mother who failed to protect her baby and her child wasn’t even born yet.
“Love, is that you?” Draco yawned, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the bright lights of the kitchen. He took one look at her snotty, botchy face, and immediately became alert. “What happened? Are you hurt? Is Scorpius okay?”
His hair was rumpled from sleep and the black Falmouth Falcons shirt he was wearing was slightly raised from him haphazardly throwing it on as he got out of bed exposing a little of the chiseled abs Hermione knew he had. His black sweats hugged tightly on his thighs, accentuating his muscled legs from hours of flying every day. Looking at the beautiful, kind, concerned man in front of her made her cry even harder as she thought about all of the nasty articles that had been written about them since they started dating a year ago. She felt grateful that Draco had stuck by her side when she had told him she was pregnant only three months into dating. He had gone above and beyond to help her, even agreeing to leave his home in Falmouth, which was only a few miles from the stadium he practised in nearly every day, and move into her townhome located at the intersection of Muggle and magical London, forcing him to make several apparition jumps to get to work every day, but he never complained. He was ecstatic to be a dad and he constantly reminded her how much he loved her and their family, even if it was an unconventional situation.
He easily crossed to her in two strides, his concern growing as she just shook her head and gestured at the crumpled scroll in front of her. He pulled the unoccupied adult-size chair around the high chair and sat down, unfurling the scroll to read with one hand while the other traced soothing patterns on her back. She took several calming breaths as he read in silence, finally quieting her tears.
After several minutes, Draco calmly rolled up the article before casting a wandless incendio on it and vanishing the ashes before they hit the linoleum floor. He turned to her, taking her face in his own as he softly wiped the tears that streaked her cheeks away and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “It’s vile lies, but we knew we couldn’t hold them off forever. Everyone important knows the truth,” he murmured.
“It’s utter garbage! I can’t believe The Daily Prophet is even letting her publish this trash! It’s not even well-written. Her insults contradict one another- how can she say that I’m betraying the wizarding world by shacking up with a Death Eater while simultaneously implying I’m sullying the pureblood Malfoy line,” Hermione ranted as Draco nodded along, pulling her legs up and placing them into his lap as he started to rub her feet. “It doesn’t even- oh, that feels quite nice, thank you- It doesn’t even add up. Then she goes on, after essentially calling you scum, to claim I trapped you in our relationship because I’m a gold digger and say our baby isn’t even yours. But the worst part is that she called Scorpius a mistake! My child is not a mistake,” Hermione vehemently argued.
“Well, he was a bit of a happy accident, wasn’t he?” Draco joked, cringing when his seven-month-pregnant girlfriend turned her ire on him by kicking him in the thigh.
“A happy accident is not a mistake, Malfoy. He’s a gift,” she snarled while gently rubbing her stomach.
Malfoy held up his hands in surrender as he eased her feet onto the ground. “Hey, you know I’m on your side. No need to revert back to last name usage. I was so happy about our accident that I wanted to quit my job to be a full-time dad. You’re the one that insisted I keep it.”
Hermione closed her eyes as she rubbed a knot forming in the center of her forehead. “What if we break up? Just because we’re having a child together doesn’t mean you won’t change your mind and want to leave me. Our relationship is still new. I’ve had a really horrible day, and I don’t want to have this argument again. I had to walk home in the rain because pregnant women can’t travel with magic but the wizarding world never thought about us when it made its modes of transportation. I forgot my umbrella at home, so I was soaked by the time I walked in the door and had to use a drying charm. Now, my clothes are crunchy and my hair is heavy. I’m exhausted but also starving and I feel like a frosty bitch because you made me a shepherd’s pie, which is usually one of my favorite meals, but I absolutely can’t stand the smell right now. All I want is chicken noodle soup from a stupid can and store-bought bread like my mum made me when I was sick. Mum called me on the way home to let me know she and Dad were going to miss Scorpius’s birth as they ‘simply can’t get away’ from Australia at the moment because their grandchild isn’t as important as teeth cleaning. I don’t even know what your parents think of our situation because I can never read their fucking faces when they talk. The herbal tea smells fantastic but if I drink it I will pee myself and I can’t find the energy to go to the bathroom because that will mean stripping off all my clothes just to put them back on. Oh, and did I forget to mention I’m STILL FEEL LIKE A BLOODY WHALE?” She finished, breathing hard as her emotions reared up again.
Draco smiled softly at her, gently picking her hands up to drop a kiss on each. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to argue. You make valid points and I would agree if I wasn’t completely and totally in love with you. Have been for years. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true, and I’ll keep showing you until you agree to be mine forever. You’re not a frigid bitch or a whale; you’re just pregnant. I think your parents will come around after Scorpius arrives. You’ve been making big strides in your relationship with them. But if they don’t, we’ll navigate that together, too. My mother is ecstatic and even my father has come around, insisting Scorpius calls him Grampy- which is utterly ridiculous and also adorable. I can’t fix the misogyny within the wizarding world tonight, but let me help you with the rest.” He said, effectively calming her nerves. Draco always knew the right thing to say to her when she was upset.
He stood from his chair, giving her a peck on the cheek before helping her shrug out of her outer robes and haphazardly throwing them on the back of his chair. He then undid the buttons of her blouse and removed it before unclasping her bra, causing a sigh to escape her as she finally relaxed. He removed his t-shirt with one hand as he helped her to her feet with the other and easily threw it over her head. As she was fitting her arms through the holes, Draco undid her skirt and slid it down her legs to the floor where she could step out of it. Even with her very pregnant stomach, Draco’s shirt swamped her, making her feel comfy and safe as the muted scent of something distinctly Draco surrounded her.
“Now, go to the bathroom while I make you some soup and bread- and don’t even think about mentioning the shepherd’s pie again. I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow. It’s not a big deal,” he said, cutting off her argument before she could make it and giving her arse a light tap.
She walked to the bathroom, feeling much more at ease and much less constricted than before. As she was returning, she could smell the soup cooking, causing her to become nostalgic for a time when she and her parents were on the same page. She walked into the kitchen, rubbing her stomach and vowing to never let anything form such a wedge between her and her son.
Draco was humming as he was ladling the soup into a bowl before levitating a bowl of soup, a mug of tea, french bread, and a spoon in front of her. He continued humming and she recognized it as Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis, which was the first song they ever danced to as a couple. She knew he was humming it on purpose to get her to smile, which worked. She hummed along with him as she alternated between dipping her bread into the soup and scarfing it down with her spoon.
He replaced her empty bowl with another, along with fresh bread, before he released her hair from the bun it had been in all day and finger-combed her curls. Then, he deftly maneuvered her mane into a simple braid down her back, which he knew was how she preferred her hair to be while she slept.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you and woke you up,” Hermione grumbled, blushing as she thought about her sudden outburst.
Draco chuckled as he tied her hair off before taking her empty bowl from her and setting a washing and drying charm on it in the sink. “You have nothing to apologize for, love. You’ve been working overtime to pass a monumental bill that effectively transforms the Wizengamot into an actual representative body of the people. You take all the criticism and attacks on the chin, never backing down, and you’re handling a wonderful but unexpected pregnancy with such a hopeful and happy outlook. You’re amazing, but even the great Hermione Granger is allowed to have bad days.”
He picked her up with ease and she nestled soundly into his arms as he made his way up the stairs to their bedroom. It might not have been her plan to be an unwed mother, but she was eternally grateful that fate had taken over.
“I love you, Draco,” she yawned, already drifting off to sleep in his arms.
“I love you too, Hermione,” he replied as he gently placed her down. She felt the bed shift beside her and strong arms wrap around her and she easily drifted off to sleep with a smile on her lips.