Christmas Eve
Granger-Malfoy Manor
Hermione was a bundle of nerves on the eve of Christmas. Sure, she had spent twenty-seven years on earth doing many things that would make her nervous to death, sometimes even literally but somehow, this was worse. It was good, too good, amazing, but still…worse.
Yes, somehow telling her beloved husband of three years that they were finally having a baby was the most nerve-inducing thing she had done. Was going to do.
In the next twenty-four hours.
She shivered despite sitting in front of the fireplace, wrapped in her favorite blanket, with Crookshanks purring beside her and a mug of hot chocolate that read HGM in bold, glittery green letters, a pre-birthday gift from Pansy.
“How should I do it Crooks?” She asked her familiar, rubbing a soft hand under its ear. “Should I hide some baby clothes in a gift box?”
“Mrrr!” Crooks purred loudly and Hermione sighed. He was right.
“Yeah, he would probably think they’re new outfits for you.” Biting her lip, she cupped her hands around the mug, looked into the fire, and wondered if she should ask Ginny or Pansy or Luna how they had told their husbands about the buns in their ovens. With five kids amongst them, they surely would have many baby announcement ideas. But that meant telling them she was pregnant before telling Draco, and that just didn’t sound right.
“Hi, my love.” His voice came out of nowhere and she sat up, looking around. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the Floo come alive and a second later Draco Malfoy was standing behind her, kissing her cheek from behind the sofa.
“You’re back.” She mumbled and ran a hand over his cheek, facing him to plant a soft kiss on his lips. “Missed you.”
“I was gone for just three hours.” He chuckled and came around to sit beside her, shedding his Auror robes on the rug.
“Are you saying you did not miss me?” Hermione feigned upset as he laughed, white-blonde hair covering grey eyes haphazardly. She wondered if their baby would have his eyes or her chocolate brown ones (wishing for the former).
“You know I half ran home.” He said as Crookshanks landed on his chest with another mewl. “Safe to say, I enjoy my wife’s company more than Potter’s.”
“You love him.” She teased and finished her drink to cuddle with him. He was warm and a bit sweaty from all the running around, and Hermione realized she needed just that, his warmth and comfort in the cold December evening.
“Love…is a strong word. I tolerate him.” He whispered in her ear and she shivered again, and not because of the cold. “What were you doing, sitting alone?”
“Just…thinking.” She mumbled, her heart leaping a bit. Should she tell him now? Or wait? Or do something grand-
“You better not be thinking about my Christmas gift, love. It’s already Christmas eve for Merlin’s sake-
“Shut up.” Hermione laughed and Draco rolled his eyes, but with a smile. His dimple shone and she wondered if their baby would have it too. She desperately wished for that too.
Christmas Morning
Granger-Malfoy Manor
Hermione had researched every possible way to announce a pregnancy in the last twelve hours. From flying on a broom with a banner saying YOU ARE HAVING A BABY! to cupcakes that spilled either strawberry or blueberry filling, all ideas seemed either too grand (she had no time for that, it was already Christmas morning) or too small (who texted a baby emoji to their partner?).
So by the time late afternoon had rolled in and they’d come back from Pansy and Neville’s Christmas lunch, Hermione was exhausted. They had planned to open their presents to each other in the evening, before going to Nott Manor for Theo and Luna’s annual Christmas get-together, and Hermione wanted Draco’s Christmas present to be her pregnancy reveal. Again, why was this so hard?
She had already gotten suspicious looks from Ginny and Neville when she had not taken her favorite wine, and even Luna had murmured something about feeling baby Nargles in all the mistletoes around the house.
As Draco took his post-lunch nap, she decided enough was enough and proceeded to prepare his Christmas present.
Two hours later, they sat in front of their Christmas tree with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and Crookshanks sitting too close to the fireplace.
“I hope you like it.” Draco said with a hidden smile and gave her her present, which suspiciously looked like a book.
“It’s a book, I can see it. We already have so many libraries love, I don’t think I’ll be able to read another one-
“I am sure this will be your favorite.” He shrugged with his cocky smile and she rolled her eyes with a sigh.
“Let’s see what’s so special about it.” Hermione opened the red and white ribbon and unwrapped the gift to reveal…a book titled The Story of Hermione.
“What?” She frowned with confusion and opened it. As she saw glimpses of the contents, tears started filling her eyes. “Draco…what is this?”
“Well, it’s a storybook…precisely, it’s a storybook of stories…of you.” He said softly and scooched closer. “By your parents.”
“What? How?” She wiped her tears and looked at him. Her parents surely loved her and him as well, but these stories seemed too detailed to be remembered so clearly.
“Well…a few months ago, I went to meet them to discuss your Christmas present. I wanted them to write whatever they remembered about your childhood, and give me notes so that I could write every incident as a short story.” He said and wiped her tears. “But of course, you are pretty old- OW! I mean, they of course didn’t remember things clearly, and I guess my disappointment was visible on my face…so…-
“So what?” Hermione urged her husband and he had the decency to look sheepish.
“So I may have mentioned how I wish they could use a pensieve-
Hermione gasped. “You didn’t!”
“I just said it… they obviously cannot use it.” Draco shrugged. “So they asked what’s a pensieve…blah blah…and asked if there was another way to…you know, check their memories.”
“Oh Godric!” Hermione cringed, knowing memory stuff was a sensitive topic for her parents. It had been many years since they’d recovered theirs, but Hermione had stopped talking about it in front of them anymore. She liked to imagine they’d never forgotten her for even a moment. “So what…how did you-
“They asked for it…so I used Legilimency-
“What? Draco, you can’t do that-
“They permitted me, and specifically requested…I was extremely gentle…they didn’t even feel-
“They requested?” Hermione’s ears picked on the word and she stared at the book confusedly. “Why?”
“They wanted to let you know…they love you the most. And they want to etch everything down for you, forever.” He said ever so softly as Hermione wept, feeling overwhelmed. “And I do too.”
“Oh, my love!” She almost jumped into his arms, and her amazing, amazing husband grabbed her effortlessly, wrapping her around him.
“Safe to say you liked it?” He mumbled into her hair and Hermione thanked all the gods for that random day six years ago when Harry had brought an injured Draco to St. Mungo’s for treatment.
They’d been partnered as Aurors for a few months at that point, and Draco had injured himself pretty badly during their latest mission. Hermione was studying to be a Healer at the time and was tasked with Draco's case by her senior.
For the next few weeks, as he had recuperated at the hospital, she had developed a permanent crush on her extremely witty, intelligent yet wounded patient. His insanely fit physique was a cherry on top and she had found herself blushing around her former bully well after he was discharged.
Harry and Draco’s partnership was why their friend groups merged so effortlessly in the coming years, paving the way for new friendships and relationships that blossomed into joyful marriages. And now, they were becoming parents!
“Earth to the Mrs.?” Malfoy’s chuckle brought Hermione back from her memory lane and she sat up, clearing her throat.
“Thank you…again. I absolutely loved it.” She smiled and shuddered with nervousness. “Yours in the-
“Green box. I know.” He shrugged and her eyes widened.
“What-
“I saw you packing it. I don’t know what’s inside.” Draco winked and chuckled as she sighed in relief, shaking her head.
The next few minutes were the longest she had ever experienced, decided Hermione. She looked on with bated breath as he untied the ribbon and unwrapped the gift wrap carefully. His gentlemanly actions were extended to the wrapping paper as he folded it carefully and kept it aside. She saw him smile with anticipation as he opened the box and froze the next moment.
She could hear her heartbeat, the fire’s sizzle, and Crookshanks muted purring as her husband blinked thrice before a huge smile broke on his face.
“We are having triplets?!” He screamed and pulled the three pregnancy testing sticks out of the box, his hand shaking with excitement, eyes wide with surprise. “Merlin, you are serious?”
“What-
“I love you so much! Oh, sweet Salazar!” His voice drowned in her hair as she registered he was hugging her tightly and a chuckle rose from her throat.
“Draco…wait…we are not…having triplets!” Hermione laughed as she understood her wizard husband’s misunderstanding. “Three pregnancy tests don’t mean three ki-
“They don’t?” He broke the hug and almost looked sad like a child. “You’re not-
“I am.” She blushed hard and smiled with giddiness in every pore. “We are…having a baby. Not babies!”
The hall was suddenly filled with her adorable husband’s excited laughter, as he stood up, taking her with him. When her legs wrapped around him instinctively, he kissed her deeply, with a joy so raw, so pure, it threatened to make her cry with something she had never felt before. It was a love so different that she couldn’t put a finger on it even if she wanted to.
“You are…goodness gracious…you are my child’s mother.”She heard him, disbelief edged in his words, and the realization hit her immediately. It wasn’t her husband speaking to her, it was her child’s father.
“Oh.” Was all she could say as a warmth filled her, and she struggled not to cry. But when she looked at Draco again, his cheeks were already wet with tears.
“Are you-
“Am I…really getting to…do this?” He whispered and she pursed her lips, nodding aggressively. “With you?”
“Yes. We have it…the future we dreamt of-
“I didn’t know we would be able to…I would be able to….that I would deserve to-
“What are you talking about?” She hurriedly wiped his tears, as her own threatened to fall. “You deserve the world, my love. And this is just the beginning.”
“I love you. Thank you.” He whispered yet again. “Thank you so much. For everything. For giving me a chance…for being my friend, my girlfriend… my wife…and now…I am scared, what if it’s a dream?”
“Draco…it is a dream…that’s coming true.” She smiled and kissed his trembling lips.
“This is the best Christmas ever.” He smiled, joy reflecting in his eyes again as he captured her lips.
—
They did end up having three babies when Scorpius welcomed his twin siblings Leo and Lyra four years later.