On this Sunday morning, rather than waking to the soft glow of the morning sunlight, Hermione awoke to the suddenly sickening lurch of her stomach and the panicked feeling you get right before everything inside of you is heaved out.
She flew from the bed, hand clamped tightly over her mouth as her mind raced. She jerked open the door to the bathroom and fell to her knees just in time. Heaving, her eyes brimming with involuntary tears.
As the rush of nausea subsided, Hermione leaned back resting her head against the cool porcelain tiles of the bathroom walls, and stared up at the ceiling counting.
“Four...five...six..oh!” She breathed her hands flying down to her abdomen in shock. There was nothing there, no suspect bump or even a hint of bloat as she stared down at herself wide eyed.
She pulled herself up as soon as she could, quickly washing her mouth out with water from the tap before running back to the bedroom to retrieve her wand.
She cast a diagnostic spell on herself and stared, brow furrowed at the results as they glowed around the tip of her wand. Hermione wasn’t an expert in these sorts of things, but months of thinking about it had landed her in the prenatal and maternity section of more than a few bookshops, both muggle and magical.
The little dot glowed bright pink. She was pregnant.
Hermione released a nervous breath, her heart hammering in her ears with elation and anxiety and a million thoughts, the first of which was: How do I tell Draco?
She looked around the oversized and empty bedroom. He was away, traveling with the quidditch team he had bought two years ago. It was peak season, so he was often gone for a week or so at a time attending distant matches or logistical meetings with the International Quidditch Board.
She never minded him being away because it always meant incredible sex as soon as he returned. They usually barely made it to their bedroom before he was tearing her robes off and peppering kisses down the length of her shoulder.
On more than one occasion he had shown up to her office still in his traveling robes and locked and silenced the room before fucking her so hard she saw stars.
It was an unforeseen perk of Draco having indulged himself by buying the team in the first place. Hermione hadn’t been keen on it to begin with, it seemed like a bad investment, but Draco had been insistent, and after the first bought of homecoming sex she was also completely sold.
He was meant to return tomorrow. She could tell him then...no, she thought, this needed to be bigger than that.
They had been foregoing the contraceptive charms for nearly a year now to no avail. It had been an unspoken knowledge between them that the work they had done to break the blood curses in the Malfoy line, might not work.
It had always been a possibility that they would never be able to have kids.
Hermione had assured Draco that she was happy just the two of them. And she was. They had been married for nearly 8 years now, and while they entered their early thirties with all the time in the world to travel and read and engage in heated sexual adventures, their friends had almost all settled and started their families.
It wasn’t a bad alternative, Hermione had decided. If she couldn’t have children, at least she had the best life she could possibly imagine otherwise.
They were never bored, and always had time to play aunt and uncle to all their friends kids. Draco was surprisingly good with children, the Potter children especially loved him since he would always arrive with loud and expensive gifts to make Ginny and Harry roll their eyes.
But it had never escaped her that deep down she did want to eventually have kids. It had always been an eventuality in her mind, and everytime she watched Draco playing with their friends' children it made her heart twist selfishly, wishing for the day to come.
She stared down again at her flat stomach. Could this be real? Could this be actually happening?
She felt tears again prick at her eyes as she turned and flew about the room, changing her clothes and running her fingers about her hair to pull it back.
She needed a second opinion immediately.
Hermione sat on the edge of the stiff chair in the healers office, the inside of her cheek caught between her molars in anxiety as the healer examined a few notes with her wand.
Finally the healer turned, she was a middle-aged witch with greying hair and a warm smile.
“Everything looks in order, Mrs. Granger-Malfoy. You’re only a few weeks along but you’re extremely healthy. Congratulations.” She said, clasping her hands together.
Hermione let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding in.
“Thank you.” She breathed letting the elation finally wash over her. The healer nodded and then set about putting a few check-ups in place over the next few weeks.
“We want to keep an eye on everything, considering the circumstances. But it’s just precautionary, I do this with any witch whose family has a history of magical interference.” The healer said with a nod.
Hermione set the appointments and then floo-ed home to figure out how to tell Draco. She was smiling with anticipation as she appeared in the drawing-room in a burst of green-flames, but instead of an empty house, she found her husband sprawled out on the sofa looking exhausted and more than a little put-out.
“Gorgeous, there you are!” He moaned barely lifting his head as she stepped out of the hearth and into the room, quickly vanishing any soot from her casual robes.
She felt her heart rate quicken, gods it was going to be difficult to keep this secret for very long.
“You’re home early” Hermione replied, sticking a nonchalant smile on her face as she approached him.
Draco groaned and turned his head to face her, hardly moving at all. He covered nearly the entire sofa with the way he was stretched out. Like an oversized cat basking in the sun, Hermione thought.
Not a foreign look for Draco Malfoy, if she was completely honest with herself.
She smirked at him as she came to stand over him, gently leaning down to press a kiss to his lips. He responded hungrily, his hands closing around her waist and pulling her to sit atop him without losing contact with her lips.
Hermione’s hands found his chest as she shifted to straddle him. He finally pulled away and looked up at her, grey-silver eyes already alight with anticipation.
“Where were you?” He asked curiously. Hermione paused, she hadn’t thought of an excuse, she’d been too caught up in the excitement of the news and the surprise return of Draco to think of anything. So she decided not to lie.
“Just an appointment with my healer.” She said with a shrug. The edge of Draco’s perfect lips tugged down in worry. His eyes narrowed as his hands suddenly moved up from her waist to cradle her face.
“Is everything okay?” His voice was steeped in worry and his eyes searched hers nervously. She smiled down at him, wishing she could just tell him. No, she thought, this was going to be a surprise and a damn good one at that.
“Of course, Gorgeous.” She leaned down to kiss the tip of his nose gently. “Very routine, just had to reschedule at the last minute.” She lied easily with a wave of her hand.
As she pulled back to look at him again he still seemed unconvinced. Anything involving the healer always made him nervous. He was hardly ever overbearing or prone to hovering until it came to her health.
She knew Narcissa had been prone to illness his whole life and attributed his over-sensitive nature to this.
“Draco, it’s okay really!” She insisted, a genuine smile on her lips. He finally relaxed, pulling her closer and pressing his lips to hers again.
“So why are you home so early? Thought I had the house to myself till tomorrow.” She said against his lips.
A chuckle escaped his mouth which sent a ripple of excitement surging through her body.
“They didn’t need me anymore and the thought of taking you this morning while you had your tea was driving me mad.” He said, all previous worry receding from his words as he pressed another deliciously ravenous kiss to her lips.
“But then I arrived and you were nowhere to be found, which I was extremely put off by, and as a result, I’m even hornier than I was when I arrived.” He finished, now moving to nip at the line of her jaw.
Hermione felt her breath coming in heavily as he quickly shifted his hands to her waist, lifting her again to switch their position so that she was now under him on the sofa. Draco hovered over her, a devilish look in his silver eyes.
“Sorry I made you wait.” She breathed, her mouth twitching up into a grin that matched his in anticipation. He growled as he bent and pressed his lips to her neck, sucking hungrily at her skin.
“A punishable offense, I believe.” He replied, his hot breath at her neck.
Even at 31, Draco had not lost his proclivity towards love bites. Hermione had become a master at hiding them, though Draco preferred when she left them on display.
Their friends were always ripe with jokes about them being randy teenagers anytime Draco won a bet or wager and Hermione was forced to attend an event with a massive love bite blooming on her neck or cleavage.
He loved it though. Loved marking her. Loved delicately kissing the bruises on her neck in the daylight so everyone knew who put them there.
Draco ground his hips into her roughly and Hermione gripped the back of his shirt.
“Take it off.” She breathed and she felt a moan build in his chest.
“You first.” He said, raising up and tugging at the light blue robes she was still wearing.
They both moved and Hermione threw off the outer robes before pulling the top she wore beneath up over her head.
A fleeting thought of what this would be like with a bump between them passed through Hermione’s mind, but was quickly whisked away by the sigh of Draco over her.
He beamed down at her hungrily and pulled his own robes off quickly. Just as Hermione was reaching for his shirt a silver glowing fox bounded into the drawing room.
“Fuck.” Draco cursed, his hands dropping to either side of Hermione as the fox began to speak.
It was the voice of Draco’s head coach.
“Burbands collided with Smith on the pitch, both are in critical condition being transferred to Saint Mungo’s now. You’re needed at the pitch for an emergency meeting.” the disembodied voice spoke.
“Fuck fuck fuck.” Draco said, his head hanging. Hermione groaned herself, the feeling of tension building at her core already throbbing. She could feel the press of Draco’s erection against her as well.
“Take off your trousers now.” She said assertively, pressing her hands against his chest and pushing him back so that he was leaning on his heels. He stared back at her quizzically.
“I’ve got to-” He breathed, his tone already frustrated as he adjusted himself uncomfortably.
“Draco. Quickly, please.” She said moving out from under him so that she stood now. He looked up at her for a moment, the haze of their almost-sex still evidently hanging on his brain.
“Oh Granger, you minx.” He said quickly, leaning back and tugging his trousers and his pants down as Hermione got to her knees, a look of devilish delight in her eye.
It wasn’t that she never did this, she did it plenty, but it was not often that they were under such a time constraint. Draco was always a giving lover as well and it did not sit right with him to pop in for a blowjob without returning the favor.
But Hermione relished the idea of pleasing him before sending him off to clean up messes at work. Knowing she was hiding a delicious secret made it even more titillating.
As Draco pushed the fabric away Hermione reached out, caressing his cock with her gentle touch. He moaned in reaction, his head tilting back against the sofa.
Hermione grinned leaning in to lick up the length of his erection, palming his balls in the process. She felt his fingers find the back of her hair as she took him into her mouth, lips sliding gleefully against him.
This needed to be quick so she pulled out all the stops and got straight to business. She sucked hungrily, letting the tip of his cock pop out of her lips before coming in again, letting her tongue dart out to flick the sensitive head.
Draco cursed, his fingers caressing her head and twisting into her curls.
“Hermione, gorgeous.” He breathed as she increased the speed and tension on his cock. He was already getting close. She looked up at him demurely through her thick eyelashes.
Draco was looking down at her with fire in his silver eyes. Damn those eyes, they always undid her. She could nearly come herself, just watching him like this.
She moved to dart her tongue against his head again before taking him fulling, pressing his erection into her cheek and pumping fast. Her hand gripped the hilt of his erection, extending the sensation all the way down.
After a few more moments she heard him gasp.
“Gorgeous, I'm coming.” He breathed just as Hermione buried his dick deep in her throat again.
He moaned as he came. Hermione looked up again to watch him unfold at her touch.
When he had finished she leaned back, wiping the back of her hand against her lips quickly. Draco was already pulling her up, trapping her in a passionate kiss.
“God, I love you.” He breathed pulling away, the taste of himself on their lips. She smiled.
“I love you. Now, go, you’re already running late!” She urged reaching behind him to pinch at his bum. He smirked and they both stood so Draco could redress. He looked only somewhat rumpled from their activities as he adjusted his robes again.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his middle as he stood fiddling with the sleeve of his button down shirt that had come someone undone. His silver eyes lifted to look at her. A lazy smile played on her lips.
“I’ll return the favor as soon as I’m finished clearing up this mess.” He said before bending to press a kiss to her forehead. Hermione nodded knowing he would make good on the promise.
“Owl me when you’ll be home so I don’t worry.” She said, squeezing him tightly.
“Of course,” he replied. They held each other for another moment before Hermione released him and shooed him towards the floo.
They said their goodbyes and a moment later he was gone, disappearing in the green flames.
Hermione sighed, she never liked to say goodbye, but she was glad for the extra time to prepare her surprise, and an idea had just struck.
Draco owled within the hour that he would be stuck at the pitch quite late tonight. The note was riddled with expletives and promises that whoever was out to ruin his sex life would have hell to pay.
Hermione laughed as she chucked his note aside, sending back her own response before getting back to work.
For the next few hours Hermione busied herself with gathering everything she needed for her surprise, and calling into her own office to let them know she’d be out till Wednesday, allotting for a few days of celebration after she told Draco.
Around 2pm Hermione owled Draco’s assistant and asked if she could possibly ensure the he was in his usual box around 8:30pm. His assistant, a young muggle born boy who Hermione adored, had readily agreed.
So at 8:30 she straightened her jumper in the mirror and picked up the little gift box she had wrapped in nondescript paper to shove it into the old over-extended beaded bag she still kept around. Then, she stepped into the floo.
A moment later she was stepping into Draco’s box at the top of the quidditch pitch. He turned from his seat at the edge where he’d been watching practice and jotting down notes on a large leatherbound notebook. He eyed her in surprise as she stepped out to greet him.
“Merlin! What did I do to deserve this?” He was out of his seat in a flash, meeting Hermione halfway and pulling her into a deep kiss. She smiled against his lips.
“I owled Fredrick and he said you’d be here so I thought I’d drop by.” She said, He leaned back and smiled at her.
“Coming to get your promised retribution?” He purred. Hermione rolled her eyes, though it didn’t sound entirely out of the question.
“Just wanted to see you.” She said leaning up and kissing his cheek again. “You’re probably busy, so don’t let me get in the way!” She said sidestepping him to find her favorite seat in the box, the one next to his. She eyed the broom that was leaned against the far side of the box as Draco came to sit next to her.
“Joining the team?” She asked, glancing between him and the broom. He smirked at her.
“Just testing out some new brooms we received, top of the line.” His eyebrows wiggled excitedly.
“How exciting.” She said with an air of light sarcasm. Quidditch was decidedly not her arena.
“Indeed, want to take a turn on it? Practice is finishing up.” He nodded out to the pitch where the players were circling up near the ground.
“Mmmmaybe” Hermione replied. She’d never been keen on brooms but she’d spent enough time with Draco now that she didn’t mind letting him fly her around every once in a while. And the excitement of her impending surprise might be giving her a bit more confidence than usual.
“Is that a yes?” He asked, a gleam in his eyes.
He’d fuck her mid-air on a broom if it was physically possible or Hermione would let him try.
“Sure, fine” she conceded with a tilt of her head. He beamed at her and stood quickly pushing his notebooks and parchment away.
He was already wearing his quidditch robes she noticed with a smirk. Cheeky bastard.
He grabbed the sleek, silver broom and brought it over with a smile. Hermione pushed off her outer robes so that she was just in her jumper and trousers and dropped her beaded bag onto the seat to climb onto the broom behind him.
“Ready? It’s fast.” He said flashing smile as he looked back at her. Hermione fastened her hands around his middle tightly and nodded.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She replied and hardly a moment later they were off.
Fast didn’t even begin to describe the speed of this broom, Hermione thought as they rocketed out of the box and over the quidditch pitch below. Her breath caught in her throat as they did a few laps around the edge.
“How is this even legal? If brooms get any faster you all might as well apparate midair.” She yelled over the roar of the wind. She felt him chuckling against her as he leaned into the wind and they came around another bend.
Hermione squealed as Draco pulled a loop through the air. He was taking full advantage of her willingness to join him tonight.
“Okay that’s enough!” She said digging her fingers into his chest as he pulled them back up again, presumably to do another midair loop. He slowed immediately, glance back with a smile still plastered on his face.
“I can’t believe you let me even make it to loops this time.” He said as they descended back towards the box. She shook her head.
“Me either!” She breathed. They landed gently in the box and Draco put the broom aside with a smile.
“So shall we shag right here or want to try to make it home this time? I think I can successfully sneak away at this point.” He said, turning to her with a gleam in his eyes.
She felt her heart pounding in her chest, this time not from the thought of falling off a broom. It was time. She had been thinking about it since the idea had come to her. She didn’t really know what his reaction was going to be. Happy, presumably, but there were so many factors in play here.
“Well, actually.” She said scooping up her beaded back and opening it to dig around.
Draco furrowed his brow as he watched her.
“I have something for you, it’s quidditch related so I thought I’d give it to you here.” She said as her hand finally grasped the wrapped parcel in her bag.
Draco watched her carefully, one eyebrow raised in confusion as she pulled the long rectangular parcel out of her bag and handed it to him.
“Is this also sex related?” He asked taking the parcel. It was wrapped in simple brown paper, a ribbon or sage green tied around the middle. Hermione held back the urge to laugh and just smirked at him.
“I guess that depends on how you look at it.” She replied, hoping he wouldn’t be too suspicious.
“Alright, cheeky.” He said, finally tearing gracefully at the edge of the wrapping.
Hermione had to hold herself still so she would shake with anticipation as he unwrapped the box. He tossed the wrapping aside and gingerly lifted the lid with one hand. He peered down into the box for a second before glancing up at her skeptically.
“Love, I think this might be a bit small.” He said pulling out the kids-sized broom nestled within the box. Hermione rolled her eyes as he held it, his eyes regarding her like she’d lost her marbles.
“There’s something else.” She urged. He huffed and set the kids broom down to dig through the wrapping some more. Finally he froze, eyes flicking up to her’s.
His face was completely unreadable for a moment and Hermione felt her heart stutter in anticipation.
“Really?” he asked, his voice was quiet and serious. All the mocking and playfulness had drained from his face.
Hermione nearly jumped up and down as she nodded. Finally, he moved, pulling out the small babygrow that was folded at the bottom of the box. It was in the same colors as his team and had ‘Malfoy’ 01 printed on the back like miniature quidditch robes.
In a flash he had discarded the entire box and was dropping down to his knees in front of Hermione, gripping her sides tightly as he pressed his face to her abdomen.
Hermione tangled her fingers through his blond hair as he sighed into her. For a moment he just gripped her waist, breathing into the soft fabric that covered the bump that wasn’t there yet, then he was leaning back, brow furrowed in anger like he’d just realized something terrible.
“I can’t believe you let me take you out on that broom.” He breathed. Hermione laughed and shook her head.
“Draco, I think at this point I trust you enough to not let me fall to my death from your broom.” She said brushing her fingers through his hair again. He sighed and pressed a kiss against her stomach before standing and taking her face in his hands.
“When did you find out? Are you okay? Have you been ill? What did I miss?” He asked in a flurry, his eyes searching hers impatiently. Hermione leaned in and captured his lips in another kiss to silence him.
“Just today Gorgeous, I was at the healer to confirm when you showed up at home. There’s been morning sickness but it’s not been that -” she was cut off by Draco pressing another kiss to her mouth and then leaning back to look at her with concern again.
“I would have been home, I wouldn’t have left if I’d known.” There was an intensity in his eyes that told Hermione she could expect to have him not leaving her side for the next few months.
She squeezed his sides and smiled.
“I’m fine, everything is okay, I wanted to surprise you! It’s barely been a day.” She said.Draco leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing out a sigh.
“Gods I can’t believe it, I’m so happy. Are you happy? Is this what you want? Are you completely sure?” He asked, his eyes snapping open again. She could see the anxiety building behind his eyes.
He had been so touchy about the blood curses and the thought of having kids from the beginning. Not that he didn’t want them, he very much did and had assured her again and again, but he knew what his mother had gone through and was very much afraid to subject Hermione to anything that might hurt her.
“Draco.” She said keeping her voice even. “This is the single best thing that has happened to me since marrying you.” She replied.
His eyes dug into her soul, silver irises churning like the sea. She knew her husband to bee a man of many deep feelings, but he was rarely so unabashedly vulnerable with even her.
He liked to smirk and laugh or yell, cover up anything he was feeling with a distraction of Malfoy proportions. But now, at this moment it was just them. He was looking at her in very much the same way he had when she’d first kissed him. It was a look of excitement mingled with deep painful fear.
“You’re going to be such a lovely mum.” He said finally, his hand caressing down the line of her jaw. His voice was hardly above a whisper.
“Draco.” She said raising her hands to cup his face and force him to look at her.
“We’re doing this together, you and I. This baby is going to be proud to have you as their father and they’re going to love you probably even more than I do and I don’t know how that’s physically possible.” She said, staring into his silver eyes with hers.
He blinked, eyes downcast for a moment before returning to hers. He nodded. It was acceptance. She knew what he was thinking, the person whose face was glaring at him behind his eyelids as he looked away. But that wasn’t him.
Draco was not his father. And no matter what it took she was going to convince him of that.
“Together.” He said.
“Together.” She agreed.