I was glad that that was over, I had hurried back to Draco and we left as quickly as possible.
“Want to go get lunch? That is kind of our thing.” Draco smiled at me, grabbing my hand in his as we exited the building.
I smiled back at him. I was feeling better about this entire thing, talking about it did seem to help. “I would love that!”
We ended up walking to a very nice restaurant.. It was membership only, but of course Draco Malfoy was a member.
After we were done eating I decided that I should use this time to talk to him about what the doctor and I had discussed. “So...have you noticed that I haven't been very...excited to be pregnant?”
Draco gave me a puzzled look. “Yes?”
“Well when I saw you get so happy over this baby it worried me that I couldn't feel that way. The doctor noticed it too and I stayed after and talked to her about it. Apparently I'm depressed, I guess it's not that uncommon in pregnant women. She did say it should go away though.”
He just stared at me. “What can I do to help?”
I smiled at him. “Exactly what you're doing.” He had this amazing way of making me feel better.
That's when from behind me a voice cut through. “Dray, is that you?” I knew who it was instantly. The only person that ever called him by that ridiculous nickname. Sure enough I looked up to see a dark haired woman with a pug face smiling at Draco. Pansy Parkinson.
“Pansy.” Draco stood, accepting the hug she gave him. Oh.
A dark skinned man was at her side.“Malfoy! Where the hell have you been , mate?” His smile lighting up his face. Blaise Zabini.
I didn't like either of these two. They were pure bloods who hated anyone who wasn't a pure blood, which meant they really hated me, since I was muggle born. They had both attempted to make my life at Hogwarts the worst it could be, and many times the succeeded.
“Yeah, we haven't seen you in so long. You didn't come to any of the parties we invited you to!” The Zabini's parties were something widely talked about. Apparently they were some of the best you could find, it was an “honor” to be invited. They definitely weren't my style. They weren't classy like the Malfoy's were, they were usually a drunken mess, yet everyone had fun.
Draco ran his hands through his hair, leaning against the table I was still awkwardly sitting at. “You know how it is. I've been busy. Plus I'm not really into partying like that anymore.”
“Boring!” Pansy giggled. “You have to come to the next one, you have no choice!” Even though she had went on to marry Blaise, she still looked at Draco like he ruled the world. I don't think she ever did get over him. They had broken up when arrangements for Draco to marry Astoria Greengrass had come up. She held on for as long as she could but eventually she knew she lost and fell into the arms of Zabini. They seemed happy enough. She never attempted to be with Draco again, even after he broke off the engagement with Astoria.
Since she was busy staring at him she never really even noticed me. Blaise on the other hand did. “Who's your lady?” He smirked, not as attractively as Draco did I might add. It was darker in the restaurant and I had changed so much, it wasn't shocking to me that he didn't remember me right away.
He looked at me uneasily. Was he afraid to tell them who I was? He must know that they would mock him for it. The look he gave me told me otherwise, he was asking for permission to tell them, he wanted to make sure that I was okay with it. I nodded stiffly. I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't exactly say no, I was sure they would figure it out anyway.
“What Blaise, don't remember Miss Know-It-All?” He winked at me, letting me know he was just playing.
Blaise face turned into one of surprise, as did Pansy's. “Granger?”
“In the flesh.” I winked back at Draco, quoting him from earlier this morning.
“Seriously?” Pansy looked disappointed, giving Draco a look.
“Seriously.” Draco said blatantly, staring at her. She knew to back off.
An awkward moment of silence passed between the four of us, none of us daring to break it.
Well screw that, I spoke up. “Yeah, yeah. I'm a Mudblood and it's very shocking to see Mr. High Pure Blood Draco Malfoy with me. I get it, he gets it. I think it's time to just get over it.”
“Well duh! It's really shocking.” Pansy rolled her eyes and looked back over to him. “It's not something the Draco I knew would do.”
“Pansy, be nice.” Blaise scolded her. He turned to me. “People change. If Draco likes you there must be something there that outweighs the blood that flows in your veins.”
“Blood status doesn't matter to me anymore Blaise. I've seen how that prejudice can ruin lives. I'm over it.” Another set of blunt statements from Draco.
“Hey man, if she chills out can we join you, I'd love to catch up.” His smile was genuine. I knew Blaise hated me, but he seemed to miss being friends with Draco and didn't want to screw anything up with him. I didn't like him either, but I could respect him a little more because of that.
Draco looked at me but said nothing.
“I don't mind.” I mumbled. I got up from my side of the booth and walked over to join Draco on his side, freeing a space for them.
Pansy's eyes fell to my stomach. “Get a little fat there, Granger?” She murmured. I don't think she meant for me to hear her.
“No, I got a little pregnant.” I rolled my eyes. Okay, I thought I looked pregnant by now...but apparently I still just looked fat. Awesome. I was 20 weeks and still didn't look big, I was hoping that meant the baby would be smaller, not too small though.
Her eyes grew wide as she stared at my stomach.“You're...you're pregnant?” She choked.
“That I am.” I looked her in the eyes, daring her to say some smart ass remark.
She didn't. “Oh. Well...congrats.” She mumbled in a pained tone. “Uh...excuse me. Blaise, I'll be right back.” She headed off towards the bathroom.
“Don't mind her. She's been going through a rough time this past year. And seeing you pregnant didn't help.” Blaise started.
“Why would that be? What does anything Hermione does matter to her?” Draco spoke again, always the one coming to protect me.
Blaise sighed and played with his wedding ring, spinning it around his finger. It was surprising plain for him, simple but still a beautiful ring. “She wants a baby. She wants a baby so bad.”
“You don't like kids though.” Draco shrugged. “That's tough.”
“You don't like kids either.” Blaise nodded at me. “Well no, you just didn't want any right?”
“Right, but you'd be surprised at how quickly that can change.” Draco smiled softly and put his arm around me, pulling me closer to him.
Blaise actually smiled too. “I can see that. But that's not the reason. I actually agreed to have kids with her. It's all she talks about, she wants so desperately to be a mother. Whatever keeps her happy, ya know?”
“So..what's the problem?” I asked, genuinely intrigued.
He sighed heavily. “She's been pregnant twice within the past year. The first time it was a month before she miscarried. She was devastated. She wanted instantly to try again, like if she got pregnant again right away it would be like it never happened. Of course I'm sure she knew this wouldn't be so. I agreed though, I wanted to make her happy. The second time it was seven months in. We had gotten past the dangerous part the doctors said. They were so sure that everything was going smoothly. Everything was healthy, she was so careful about everything she did. Then one night she didn't feel well. She thought she was going into labor, it seemed that way...and I guess in a sense she did. She did have the baby but it was just too little and young. It never even took it's first breath.” He seemed torn up about it too. His normal joking and arrogant tone gone. He paused for a minute before going on. “She didn't leave the house for three months. I had to force feed her and do everything for her. She was practically dead. This past month she's been a little better, but she's still hurting. So if she seems a bit bitchy...well you know why. “
“I'm so sorry.” I mumbled. “I couldn't even imagine...”
“No. You really can't. I can't even imagine what she's going through and I'm the other parent.” He murmured back.
“Are you okay?” Draco asked him.
“Yeah man. I'm okay. I mean of course I was disappointed and it hurt like a bitch...but I'm okay. Just worried about her. I'm so afraid she's going to do something stupid.”
“I get it.” He tried to smile but I could tell he was worried about his friend.
“ You know Draco, maybe it wasn't a good idea to stay. I think I should just take her home. “ He turned to me, “You understand right?”
“Yeah, it's probably hard for her seeing other people pregnant.” I actually did feel bad for her.
“We'll hang out sometime. Maybe catch a game?” Draco smiled at his friend.
“Sounds great. I'll see ya, Malfoy, Granger.” He nodded to us both as he stood and then walked off to the direction of the women's bathroom. I continued to watch as he stopped a woman entering and must have asked her to get Pansy because she came out a few minutes after. He put his arm around her and guided her out the door.
“Well that was depressing...” Draco mumbled. “Speaking of that...we need ways to cheer you up about this!” Draco smiled.
“Ugh.” I pouted, not wanting to talk about this stupid depression thing. “But you know what? After realizing it could be taken away like that...I definitely know that I don't want to lose this baby, I want it...I want her.”
“Her.” He smiled. “Have you thought of any names? “ Draco practically jumped on me. “And can I help?!”
“Well duh you can help, because I'm going to need it. I have no idea what I'll name her.” I shrugged.
He looked puzzled. “'Mione....have you got anything ready for this baby?”
I looked away. I really hadn't made any plans or gotten anything ready. I just figured I had time, even though I knew that I was running out of it now. “Not exactly...”
“Tomorrow after work we're going to get baby stuff, okay?” He really was way too excited for this. It was actually pretty cute.
I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully. “Sure, whatever.”
Draco's master bathroom was amazing. I was use to taking showers in the smaller one that was attached to his room but I never had went into the large bathroom down the hall. Everything looked brand new, which I'm sure it was, and shiny. I was leaning back against Draco as we lounge in the hot tub sized bathtub. It was warm and was putting me to sleep. We were barely talking, just sitting in comfortable silence. I think those are the best types of relationships, the ones where you don't have to be talking every minute, sometimes you can just be with each other silently.
It was the perfect way to end the day. It was so nice to be back here with him. I loved every second I spent with him. I was very happy, happiest I've been in a long time. Still...there was one thing nagging at me.
I just barely turned to look at him, seeing the broad grin across his face, before I spoke.“What if what happened to Pansy and Blaise happens to me?” I asked softly.
Draco's face softened as he pulled me even closer to him, wrapping his arms around me and allowing his hands to rest on my stomach. “It won't. Look at who this little girl's mother is, we've got a fighter in there.” He smirked and kissed me softly.
Printer Friendly Version
