The Baby Project

Chapter Ten:

'She moves like she don't care,
smooth as silk.
Cool as air.
Oooh,
it makes you wanna cry.
She doesn't know your name,
and your heart beats like a subway train.
Oooh,
it makes you wanna die.'

WEEK FIVE : FIFTH MONTH

Draco lies on his bed.

Things were all wrong.

Everything was suddenly catching up with him.
The horrible truth of it all came crashing down on him.

'What makes the Professors think that I would even WANT a child in the
future?'

Ever since Thursday (And time had felt like it had stopped since then...even
though it was now only Saturday) , Draco had been dwelling on his thoughts
more and more.

It was all her fault.
Holding that horrible lonely emotion in her eyes...

Making him realise the responsibility that he actually had now.

He was in shit so deep, that he could smell it.

Draco beat his fist against his forehead.
What was he supposed to do?

Say;

" Hey Granger, we hate each others guts and everything..but I couldn't
help noticing that if I don't step in then it's more than likely you'll be a
single mother"

Nah, only a complete twat would say that.

The funny thing was that he knew she could cope quite well.
She was fully equipped with enough knowledge and plenty of stubbornness...she
could easily make it on her own for ten months...

But he couldn't have her keeping all the glory to herself.

Yeah...he hated the bitch.
But at the end of the day, he was at least 50% involved considering he had
shares in half the goods.

And if he didn't know any better, she would only end up 'raising' the kid
wrong anyway...

And he would be damned if any 'child' of his was raised like a Muggle.

'Stupid Muggles and their stupid Muggle ways...and their stupid bloody
spanners!'

And to make matters worse, BLAISE actually complimented her the other day!

Draco had been going on about how much the silly little bint infuriated
him...
How much he loathed her.

And then Blaise turned around and knocked the wind out of him with his
statement;

'You know, Draco...She's not so bad when you get past the Mudblood side
of her...'

He hadn't spoken to Zabini since.

Who the hell was he to tell Draco who was 'nice' and who wasn't?
Hadn't Draco been in contact with her for a lot longer?

Malfoy moaned angrily and rolled off the bed.
If he didn't get out of his bloody dorm room then he was going to do
something stupid.

Like act rationally.

It didn't help that his new instinct for 'Fatherhood' was starting to creep
into him.

He had sat there in potions yesterday, and he couldn't count on the amount
of times that he had stared at the steadily growing bump in Granger's
stomach.

It made him want to be sick...
And yet, at the same time he felt something rather peculiar going on inside
of him.

It was a nice feeling...

Draco had tried to forget about it and just carry on being defiant.
As long as he helped wherever was necessary, he couldn't exactly get marks
taken off him.

Malfoy opened the door to his dorm rooms and walked out of it.

Wherever he was going, he hoped to god that he was alone.

_________________________


How wrong could he have been?

There.
On the Quidditch pitch.


Potter.


And up there, in the Gryffindor stands...all alone.


Her.


Draco gripped his broom tighter.
Only he could run into someone he really didn't want to meet at the moment.

She hadn't noticed him.
Her head - as always- was buried in a book.

Draco tentatively got onto his broom and took off.
Instead of heading onto the pitch, he decided to fly around the grounds
instead.

From high up, it seemed different.
It was like he was looking down on his life...reflecting on the past few
weeks.

As he rose higher, he found himself heading towards the forbidden forest.


He flew over it, looking down curiously.
For once in his life, he just wanted to sit back and take it all in.

He wanted to see the shades of green mixing into shades of brown...discovering
the shadows creeping over the valley's in the distance, surrounding
Hogwarts.

And then he felt it.
That stare.

She could see him, even from way over here.
She was watching his every move.

He peered down, looking over the grass surrounding him.


For some reason, his eye line lead straight to her.

He was watching her watching him.

It was like a game.
A competition.

Even from a distance...


Draco flew towards her, slowly.
He stopped just before he reached the Quidditch pitch.


His broom was hovering slightly.
But he carried on staring at her.

If he looked away now, then he had lost.
With the two of them, it had always been a battle of wills.

Hermione hugged her coat closely to her.
She had spotted him over by the forbidden forest, and was highly curious as
to what he was up to.

She didn't for the life of her think that he would actually realise that she
was looking at him.
But somehow he had...and when he stared back, she felt squeamish.

She was far too stubborn to look away.
But so was he.

So what was she to do?

If she looked away then he would think that he had some kind of power over
her...
But if she kept staring...what then?

As he flew closer to her, Hermione's heart started to race.
Either she was in big trouble, or she was in a lot of trouble.

And then he stopped.
Not daring to come any closer.
Not needing to.

Hazel met metal in a glance...and only one would be victorious.

Draco found himself unable to look away now.
Her face held so much defiance...but his held more.

This had suddenly gone from a staring contest, and turned into a battle of
wills...

But what were they battling about?

Draco searched her eyes curiously.
What was he looking for?


Hermione could see straight through him...and then suddenly she hit a
barrier that she had never seen before.
The kind that would not allow anyone inside...

Draco suddenly saw it.
As plain as day, written on her face.

She was saddened..

Draco broke the gaze instantly, snapping them both out of the little bubble
they had found themselves in for the past few moments.

She had won.

He regretted it.

But he didn't care...no one had ever looked that closely at him before.

And it scared him.

______________________

It was a day later, and Hermione was still reeling.

She knew Malfoy wouldn't be in the common room all day, because the
Slytherin's had Sunday morning Quidditch practice.

She was glad he wasn't there...it gave her a chance to forget about
him...and his eyes.

She was irked by what she had found in them yesterday when he had arrived at
the Quidditch Pitch.

Harry had asked her if she fancied going and watching him fly around for a
bit, and she had agreed to go.
Now she wished she hadn't.
Because now she felt unsteady.

Malfoy was many things...
A prick, mainly.

But the one thing that she never expected him to be was lost...
And that was exactly what she had found when she had looked through his cold
gray orbs.

His arrogance hid so many of his flaws...he was one hell of an actor, if
that was the case.

No, she really couldn't face him at the moment...
not with all of these ridiculous thoughts going round in her head.

She was actually starting to feel sorry for him.

SORRY for Draco Malfoy...Public Dick head Number One.

Something was screwing up her brain...
maybe it was her hormones.

Yes, that was it.

With Malfoy's absence, it meant that Hermione had the place to herself.

For most of the day she had been doing some home reading on the progress of
her 'pregnancy'.
Apparently, according to 'Madame Cornigifer's Guide to Pregnancy and
Birth', there were definitely some drastic changes going on in her body;

'Your baby's senses are beginning to activate. His skin is sensitive to
touch, he is beginning to taste, he may respond to some sounds and his
eyesight continues to develop.
At the end of the 20th week your baby will be around 7.5 inches from crown
to rump and weigh 1 pound, and baby's kidney's are now functioning well
enough that they can make urine.'

Now it all seemed to be going a little too fast for her.
The baby could Hear her now?

When Hermione started to feel a little panicky, she decided that she needed
some kind of reassurance.

So she had invited Luna up for someone to talk to.
She had also invited Ginny, but she had declined the invitation, saying that
if she heard one more word about babies then she would vomit.

So it was just Hermione and Luna...
and the conversation obviously flowed...

"So...." Hermione said awkwardly, sitting on the couch drinking a cup of
tea. "...how is Seamus doing with everything?"

Luna shrugged. "He's ok, he's gone into Hogsmeade today to buy some teddy
bears for the crib"

Hermione smiled. "Really? thats sweet of him"

Luna nodded. "I told him I was going to knit the babies quilt cover...so he
told me he would get me some more wool"

Hermione felt slightly jealous.
Seamus sounded like he was coping rather well with everything.
He gave Luna support, and he was doing things spontaneously for the baby.

"He sound's like he will make a great dad" Hermione told her.

Luna looked up and smiled at her.
"I know. He was telling me yesterday that he wants to order another crib so
he can have the baby in his dorm one night, and then swap over with me for
the next night. I thought it was a terribly good idea."

Hermione agreed. "Yes, it sounds like a fabulous idea"

"Of course, it wasn't him who thought it up in the first place though" Luna
told her matter of factly.

Hermione thought as much.
Seamus was thoughtful...but she doubted his imagination would stretch that
far.

"I take it that Neville was probably the one that planted it in his head?"

Luna shook her head.
"No" She told her. "He told me that he had heard Draco Malfoy telling his
brown haired friend about it last week"

Hermione had to back track over what Luna had just said.

Was she highly stoned or something?

"Malfoy?!" Hermione spluttered.

Luna nodded.
"Seamus said he could hear them talking about it on the way to class...and
he thought it was a brilliant idea"

Hermione was utterly perplexed.
She was about to open her mouth to speak when the common room door suddenly
opened.

He stomped through...soaking wet from head to toe.

He stopped in the middle of the room and glared at both girls.
"Don't say a word"

Hermione looked away with a smirk on her face.

"Have you been swimming?" Luna asked him casually.

Draco looked at her in puzzlement.
Had she not heard one word that he had just said?

"If you haven't noticed...its storming out there, and I was close to being
blown off my broom" Malfoy told her matter of factly, taking off his
Quidditch robe and throwing it over at the couch, where Hermione's feet were
stationed.

She shrieked and kicked the wet robe off her.
"You complete and utter prick"

Malfoy shrugged.
He shook his hair like a wet dog, attempting to get some of the water out of
it.

When he stopped, his hair was sticking up allover the place.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"We were just talking about how good your idea is, Malfoy" Luna told him,
playing with the butterbeer necklace around her neck.

Malfoy looked strangely at her.
"What?"

"About you having the baby in your room one night, and Hermione having it in
hers the next"

Hermione's eyes widened.
WHY did Luna have to make situations so difficult?

Draco said nothing.
No one was supposed to have heard him and Blaise talking about that.

Last week, back when he was actually on speaking terms with Zabini, Draco
and Blaise had been walking to Transfiguration in deep conversation....


F L A S H B A C K



*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*


"I'm not sure what to do about this baby situation" Blaise told his friend,
walking along the corridor.

Draco shrugged.
He didn't have a clue either way.

"I mean...the baby is supposed to stay with the mother...but, what happens
to us?" He asked. "When the mothers have all the late nights, and we're in
our own dorms...how are we supposed to get the marks for responsibility when
we can't actually tend to the kid?"

Draco didn't know.
He didn't know if he should care, either.
"I'll let Granger deal with the sprog until it's old enough to understand
what the words; 'shut up' , 'no' and 'get a job' mean..until then, she can
take the reigns"

Blaise looked over at him.
"So you wouldn't be bothered about the fact that you would score
null-points in that section of the project?"

Draco thought for a minute.
No, that wouldn't do at all.
Why should Granger take all the credit?

"Ok....you have a point..." He admitted. He kept walking at a leisurely pace
towards his lesson.
Deep in thought, he didn't even realise that his friend was waiting on an
answer.

"Draco?" Blaise asked him impatiently.

"We'll share" He said matter of factly. "Ill just have to buy another crib"

Blaise's eyes widened.
"Not another one of those god-awful Muggle contraptions??"

Draco shook his head quickly.
"God no!...I think I'd rather see the kid sleep on the floor rather than set
another one of those bloody things up"

Blaise sniggered.

Draco felt insecure...
So now he was going to actually look after the sprog, too?


*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*




E N D F L A S H B A C K


...Now Draco felt like he was in deep shit.

Hermione looked over at him curiously.

What was with his change of attitude?
Did he just not want to admit it to her or something?

Maybe that was the case...maybe he just didn't want to say anything to her
because he was Malfoy...and Malfoy didn't speak to Hermione unless he
was arguing with her.

Hermione didn't look into his eyes at all.
She didn't want to.

Yesterday she had discovered something.

Draco Malfoy had a weakness.

He had something inside of him that he was not willing to let out.
Something that was set in stone, and he was unwilling to show it to the
world.

But what right did Hermione have to get a glimpse of it?
She didn't know him.
Hell, she bet his friends had no idea either.

But she did.
And it bothered her.

"I think it's sweet" Luna told them, interrupting both of their trains of
thought.

Draco's eyebrows shot up at her.

'Sweet?!' He thought in protest.

"Kittens are sweet....lesbians kissing are sweet...babies are-" He felt
Granger's eyes flicker over to him. "-horribly grotesque ugly
things...forget I said that one"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I think you'll do well with the responsibility" Luna told him honestly. "It
might make you a nicer person"

Hermione snorted.

Draco glared at her.

"I'm off now" Luna announced, getting up from her chair and walking to the
door in a dream-like fashion. "I wouldn't want to cause anymore trouble"

Hermione and Draco watched in awe as she shut the door.

Anymore trouble?

Was she serious?!

Hermione hesitated a look over at him.
"Is it true?"

Draco didn't meet her gaze.
Instead, he took the padding off his elbows and kneecaps.

Hermione sighed.
"Because if it was, then at least it would mean that you were finally
co-operating"

Draco looked at her sharply, tossing the padding onto the empty chair.
"Finally co-operating?" He asked her, sounding agitated.

Did it even strike her that he wasn't being half as harsh on her, than he
usually was?

Hermione shrugged.
"Well, you've been less than forthcoming with your support"

"Maybe that's because I don't feel like I need to give you any" He told her
as he pulled his boots off and tossed them towards the fire, which was
crackling loudly.

Hermione shook her head in defiance.
"You have to grow up sometime, Malfoy"

He stood there before her now, in a pair of black combats and a plain black
t-shirt, still soaked to the bone.
He looked very un-Malfoy like.

"I have grown up" He told her seriously.

"Then prove it"

"Make me"

Hermione huffed.
She knew she wasn't getting anywhere with him.
She never would.

"Just forget it" She told him, pushing herself up from the couch and
standing up.

Malfoy's eye flickered to her stomach briefly.
Maybe her school uniform was big on her...because in her slim-line yellow
t-shirt he could see the little bump protruding from her...

"No" He answered. "I don't have to prove to you that I have grown up...I've
already proved that to myself"

Hermione looked over at him.
"What use is that?"

Malfoy didn't need to answer that question.
Being able to admit something to himself was a much bigger step than
admitting anything to anyone else.

"I'm ordering the cradle tomorrow" He told her, ignoring her question.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes.
"If this is going to work, then you have to compromise with me"

Malfoy looked at her strangely.

What was she suggesting here?
Some sort of accord?

Hermione didn't know what she was saying.
It was almost as if the words were tripping over of her tongue to be let out
of her mouth...

"A compromise?" Draco asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.


Hermione thought about what she was saying, for a minute.
After a long pause, she had come to a conclusion.

Maybe one day she would surely regret it...but at the moment, the way things
were going she knew that they were going to go nowhere unless something was
done...

"A truce" She said quietly, looking over his facial expression as she
absorbed the information.

To say he was shocked was an understatement.
He didn't know Granger had it in her.

It was almost as if she was giving in...admitting that she did indeed need
his help.

Draco nodded his head slowly in acceptance.

She had a big point.
If this was going to work, and they were going to do this right, then there
had to be some kind of barrier that would stop them from going on at
each other like cat and dog...

And because SHE was the one to break first, well...he had to accept if he
wanted to be victorious.

"In order for us to get anywhere, we need to be able to be civil to
each other for at least 25% of the day..."

Draco smirked to himself.
He would try, but with her there were no promises.

"...So, if you want anything...ask me...and the same goes on your end..."

Draco looked at her.
And he saw something in her face that he had never seen before.

Defeat.

Malfoy suddenly felt like he was completely and utterly backed into a
corner.

It was almost as if he had finally realised that there was no way of getting
away from this...

They would work together...and they would have to help
each other raise this kid...

"...When the sprog is born, we will take it in turns to do the night
shift...anything up to that will probably be figured out along the way...."

"Ok, fine" Hermione accepted. "But you have to do some of the other stuff,
too"

"Like what?" He asked her.

"Feeding, winding, nappy changin-"

"-Hell no!" He exclaimed.

No Malfoy ever got his hands dirty.

Hermione rolled her eyes.
At the minute she would have to make do with what she had.

What surprised her was how calmly he was reacting to the fact that she was
finally telling him that he would have to help out...if not for them as a
pair, then him as an individual.

'Maybe he's had this in mind for sometime, and just hasn't voiced his
opinion...'

"You can't leave me to do everything, Malfoy"

He looked her over, seeing that she was all business.
Her shoulders were set back, her stance was formal...and her stomach was
sticking out.
Maybe not a lot, but at least he could tell she was pregnant now.

He didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"Haven't I just agreed to help you?" He asked her seriously. "I'm sure
McGonagall will take us through the basics when we're in her lessons..."

"But I need someone to know a little more than the basics" She told him, her
eyes suddenly glazing over.

Was she going to cry?

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of new at this" He told her. "I
haven't got any little brothers or sisters to look after, and I'm pretty
sure that I have no offspring hidden around the world anywhere... so I think
I can safely say that this is my first dip in the pregnancy pool"

Hermione realised that he didn't have a clue what she was going on about.

"I don't need someone who knows the basics" She told him quietly. "I need
someone who is going to be a father"

Lead suddenly dropped in Draco's stomach.

She needed someone who was going to be there.
She needed someone who would take over when it was too much for her.

What had he just got himself into?

Draco thought to himself quietly.

'Could I really be that person...?'

Feeling the last of his resolve melt away, he took a deep breath.

"Don't tell anyone" Was all he said, before walking away from her and
walking through the door that led to his dorm room.


Hermione smiled.
For the first time in weeks, she suddenly felt an invisible weight disappear
from her shoulders...

She knew that he had succumbed to the inevitable...after trying to fight it
for weeks.

Instead of planning a plot of revenge...doing something horribly conniving
to him...getting him back at his own game...

She had done something much better.

She had made him realise.
And that was sure to make him feel more pain than anything she could ever do
to him.

She knew that she wouldn't tell a soul.
They wouldn't believe her even if she did say anything.

She stood there for a few moments, contemplating the situation.

She rubbed her tummy absentmindedly, thinking the conversation over in her
mind.

She was in for a big change....


But she didn't realise how big the change was going to be....



___________________

A/N:

Sooo...a pretty heavy chapter...atleast now we all know that Malfoy is going to have some sort of involvement in his childs life.

I added two chapters today,
Not just because i was feeling generous (even though i was lol) but because chapter nine would not have fulfilled your draco/hermione appetite unless I gave you chapter ten hehehe!!!

I hope you enjoyed it....
atleast now we know that the two are actually going to work together!!!




SANI:
Erm...no, the baby is fine lol.
Although you are right...with Malfoy being a prick, i guess she could feel under the weather a little.
But mostly i would put Hermione's sickness down to her body having to accommodate a child that is growing inside her much quicker than it should be lol.


SHERYNE:
I understood you perfectly!
You speak better English than me (and i live in the bloody country lol)
Keep reading and reviewing, hun!!! thankyou!


ICHIRUKI:
You asked what would happen to the children.
If they would disappear?
And the answer is yes, they would...but if i told you exactly HOW they disappeared then i would be giving away the ending lmao!!!


MOXIE:
Your right...Malfoy will end up getting more protective...but not until he fully understands the situation he is in.
The way i see it, Hermione is still nothing to him. He doesnt see he her as the bearer of his children...because in a normal situation, she wouldn't be.
So the only thing that Draco would be protective towards is the child itself....at the moment, anyway hehehe!


PRINLITA:
As always, i LOVE reading your reviews!!
They make me smile!!
Keep it up!! thankyou!!


BRAYZEN:
The review you gave me made me gush with pride.
I'm absolutely delighted that you like this fic, as your own are incredible!
But don't worry...the way this one is going atm, i will be here for a looooooooooooong time lmao!!!


SAM:
There are loads of seventh years...but sadly i don't know the names of them all lol.
You are right with the living arrangements, though.
If won't be until just before the girls have the children, but they are going to move into 'apartments' with their significant other halves.
Dumbledores doing, ofcourse lol. He'll just turn an empty floor into apartments for them all to live in...should be fun!!!


HERMIONEMALFOY and LEXY MALFOY:
I am honoured that you think so much of this fic!
It means so much to me that people are enjoying it so much.
So i thankyou both from the bottom of my heart for all of the support you are giving me!!!


APPLEBLOSSUM:
What indeed is going on inside Mr.Malfoy's head?? ... Well, I can only guess that he's really starting to become frustrated about the events surrounding him...especially since he knows he has a duty, but hes much to stubborn to attempt to help....


PLEASE KEEP READING AND REVIEWING!!!
I appreciate the support I am getting, and would love it to continue!!

A big THANKYOU to everyone who has supported me so far!
I feel all giddy!! hehehe

xxx