“It hurts so badly,” Hermione said, voice a near whine. “I’ve tried everything!”
“What about that muggle cream your mother got for you?” Draco asked as he rushed around her, grabbing jackets and mittens.
Hermione cupped her right breast. “It didn’t work, not at all.”
In his carrier, little baby Scorpius was crying. He had been as miserable as his mother for days now.
Draco held his wife’s coat open and she slipped into it. She looked so tired; eyes bruised, lips chapped. He felt so helpless … He put her mittens on her next as she stood there, in pain and exhausted.
“The potion your mother gave me,” she mumbled, “I thought it was helping, but Draco, I can feel it hard still, here—” She grabbed his hand with her now mitten-covered one and brought it up to her aching breast. Draco gently pressed his fingers against her, not wanting to exasperate the tenderness. He definitely felt something hard and swollen.
“It’ll be alright. We shouldn’t have waited this long to go to St. Mungos anyways.” He kissed her on the forehead as he buttoned up her coat.
Grabbing Scorpius’s carrier, the Granger-Malfoys took the flu to the hospital.
*******
“Well,” a healer said after she had examined Hermione. “The milk duct is definitely blocked.”
Draco was standing in the corner of the exam room, bouncing a whimpering Scorpius. “She’s tried everything.”
The healer nodded. “There is a magical procedure that can be done. But there could be side effects. Usually nothing major, but the duct could stop producing milk for a few days, sometimes even up to a few months.”
Hermione buttoned her medical gown closed. “He’s hungry and has trouble with the left side.”
“We can always brew—”
“No,” Hermione said sternly. “He needs my milk.”
Draco patted Scorp’s back as he fussed on his shoulder. “Darling, it wouldn’t be for long. We need to get you better, that’s most important right now.”
Hermione frowned and looked close to tears as she sat on the edge of the exam table. Draco moved to her and slid his free arm around her shoulders. She turned into him and pressed her face to his side, choking back a sob. The healer looked nervously between them.
“Listen, there might be another way.”
Draco looked at the older woman. “Go on.”
“You could always clear it yourself, Mr. Malfoy.”
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“Just a few good sucks should do it.”
His eyes widened in understanding. “Excuse me?”
The healer shrugged. “It’s a common resolution to this issue.”
Hermione sniffled and pulled away to look up at him, her cheeks wet. “You don’t … it’s alright. We can just do the magical milk until he can feed again.”
Draco swallowed thickly. “No. No. I—I can do it.”
Hermione took his hand in hers. “It’s alright, Draco.”
“No,” he said sharply, suddenly determined. “I will do it. I’d do anything for you. And it’s not like I’m not already very familiar with your nipples.”
Hermione flushed and glanced nervously at the healer. “Draco…” she admonished with a little grin.
The nurse smiled. “I’ll give you two some privacy. How about you hand over that handsome boy and I can take him to the infant ward while your husband gets to work.”
She waved her wand and a short stack of towels appeared on the exam table. Hermione’s face was burning but Draco was internally prepping himself, eternally glad that he could actually help in some way.
He passed over Scorpius—making sure to tuck in his son’s swaddle before the nurse left with him. The door clicked shut and he turned to face his wife.
She looked up at him, hands fiddling with the buttons of her gown. “I’m so sorry.”
He moved to her, gently easing her knees apart so he could stand between them. He cupped her face, wiping away the trails of the earlier tears with his thumbs. “Don’t apologize. It’s not a problem.”
“It’s weird!” she said, expression twisting with distaste.
He shrugged and began to unbutton her gown. “I won’t lie and say I haven’t been curious…”
“About what?” she asked breathily as he parted her robe and bared her chest.
His eyes flicked up to hers. “Why Scorpius is so obsessed with the milk from this tit.” He slid his fingers along the underside of her swollen breast and she sucked in a shaky breath.
“You’re depraved.”
He chuckled. “I love you, never forget that.” She nodded. “Never.” He leaned down and got to work.