Baby Brain
The first few days at the lab were a whirlwind. Hermione spent most of Monday morning with Daphne discussing her office space. Daphne was a firm believer that the “vibe” of a space has a significant impact on productivity and happiness. Hermione was used to working in a plain white office with a few small plants so she wasn't sure if the theory was true, but she humored Daphne nonetheless.
Daphne, like her sister, had a tender heart. She had a natural ability to create harmony no matter the situation and Hermione always left her company feeling lighter. If anyone could instill a feeling through specific paint colors and curtain fabric, Hermione was sure it was her.
After going through several large binders of different fabrics and paint samples and watching Daphne take diligent notes while Hermione reviewed various shades of off-white that she, quite frankly, could hardly distinguish between, Daphne got a huge smile and declared that she had the perfect design in mind. Promising Hermione her office would be finished in a fortnight, Daphne made her way to Blaise’s office before leaving for the afternoon.
Hermione then spent considerable time with Draco going over the business plan and her suggestions on leveraging a few connections with St. Mungos. Pavarti Patil was a highly sought-after Healer with a specialty in assisting those dealing with trauma. Hermione believed showing her the modified dreamless sleep could be a game changer in bringing in initial clients.
Tuesday was spent much of the same way, getting acclimated with her space and working alongside Draco, this time in the brewing room. Hermione was pleased to find they worked quite well together. Neither of them minded silence and they often found themselves wordlessly handing one another ingredients and equipment without the prompting as if they had been brewing together for years.
At lunch, she made her way towards a little cafe off of Diagon to meet Ginny. Ginny ambled in and looked forlornly at Hermione’s tea.
“Harry has me reading muggle pregnancy books and I’ve been trying to limit my caffeine intake. You know I love a constant stream of green tea! It’s been miserable.” she said morosely.
Hermione gave her hand a small squeeze across the table. “Don’t be too hard on yourself! I’ll support you in abstaining, but I also think the idea is just to try your best. There are much worse things to imbibe in than tea, I am sure the baby will be just fine. What’s more important is that you aren't overly stressed,” she said as if she knew anything about babies.
“Merlin, I love you!” Ginny smiled. “I needed to hear that,” she said and when the waitress walked up she ordered herself tea as well.
“So how is pregnancy?” Hermione asked.
“So far pretty uneventful honestly. The beginning was a bit rough with morning sickness but I am about 3 months now so it has settled. I’ve just been so nervous about something going wrong. You know how important this is to Harry.”
“Well, I am sure you are doing excellent, I am also sure it is daunting but you and Harry will be great parents. If there is anything I can do to help make it less stressful let me know. I am not a pregnancy expert, but I can learn.”
Ginny’s eyes suddenly became teary. “Thanks ‘mi you’re a great friend. I owe you an apology. I know things have been tense with Harry’s job and I know I might have gone a bit overboard with the supporting spouse role. It's just so much of his life that he felt alone and I wanted to do right by him. I’m sorry if I ever hurt your feelings, you don’t deserve that.” she said hastily wiping away a stray tear.
“All is forgiven dear. I am sorry too, you know I can’t back down from an argument. We both let things get a little hectic there.”
They spent the rest of lunch chatting about Harry’s upcoming job and pregnancy hormones (” Seriously I have an insane gag reflex. It's madness.” Ginny told her exuberantly).
As they finished up Hermione invited her to the new office. As they walked in Ginny let out a low whistle. “Classy.”
“Yes, Daphne has quite the eye,” Hermione replied.
“I need to push Harry to spruce up Grimmauld. Maybe I should recruit her.” Ginny nodded to herself.
Just then Malfoy came out from the lab. “Ladies,” he said with a nod of his head.
“Nice place.” Ginny greeted. “Hermione’s just showing me around before I have to rush home and lay miserably on the couch.”
Malfoy quirked an eyebrow in question.
“Pregnancy heartburn, it’s a bitch.” she shrugged as they climbed the spiral staircase.
Hermione gave Ginny the full tour stopping by Blaise’s office to make small talk. As they were saying their goodbyes Malfoy reappeared with a small vial in hand.
“Potter, I have something for you,” he said extending the vial. “Daphne also had bad heartburn and I’ve worked out a simple brew to temper it. One drop in your beverage of choice and you should be steady. No adverse risks to the baby.”
“Cheers,” Ginny said pocketing the vial with a grin. “You’re not so bad. You and Hermione will make beautiful babies.” she cackled.
Hermione slapped Ginny and felt her face grow red. Malfoy sputtered and gave a small chuckle alarmed by Ginny’s demented laugh. “Out!” Hermione huffed pushing her out the door and locking it for good measure.
“Sorry.” she grinned sheepishly at him. “She is chaos in human form.”
“Well…” he hedged a smirk on his lips. “She’s not wrong.” and with that, he headed back towards the lab. “Care to help me stock some shelves?” he threw over his shoulder.
Hermione stood there mouth agape and quickly tried to recover. “Of course!”
And so they finished the day working side-by-side with muggle rock music blaring. Even Blaise came down to join in.
And while Hermione tried to be in the moment laughing at Malfoy’s abysmal singing she couldn't help but get distracted by daydreams of small Malfoy children running underfoot. At least the boys didn't know her grin wasn’t caused by the singing. But one look from Blaise when she was caught staring at Malfoy had her thinking he probably had a pretty good idea.