The Baby Project

Chapter Eleven:

'How many times have you been pushed around?
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
And how many times have your friends let you down?
Is anybody there?
Did anybody stare?'


WEEK SIX SIXTH MONTH

....'Your baby's skin has become opaque (it had been see-through), but it
is still immature. The retina of the eye continues to form, but that also is
not mature yet. The circulation to the lungs is forming, and the lungs are
beginning to develop surfactant (a substance that keeps the lungs from
sticking to themselves), however the lungs will be one of the last parts of
your baby to fully mature.
His body has caught up with his head, and although the head is still large
compared to an adult, your baby's body and head are in the right proportions
for a newborn. His brainwaves also resemble those of a full-term newborn. He
is developing a sleep-wake pattern and may be developing an active time that
is pretty regular from day to day.
At the end of the 24th week your baby will be around 10 inches from crown to
rump and weigh 2 pounds.....


Hermione's eyed widened in shock.
Every time, she seemed to discover something fascinating about her child.

She wasn't the only one reading up.
Looking around at her fellow pupils in their 'Life Lessons' Class, she saw
them all captivated by the baby books that McGonagall had given them.

Harry seemed to be getting on a little better with Millicent.
Maybe it was because he had to...or maybe it was because he
wanted to.
Either way, it was awfully mature of him.

On the other side of the class room, two things had caught her attention;

1. Pansy had Neville down at her feet, giving her disgusting feet a
massage...

2. Ron and Parvati were practically having sex with their eyes.

It was disgusting.

"Thats disgusting" Malfoy said, sitting partially next to her.

At least he wasn't jutting into the middle of the walk-way now, anyway.

She was about to agree with him, as she seemed to think he was talking about
the two scenes that she was looking at from across the room.

But when she glanced over at him, she nearly choked.

He was actually reading the book McGonagall had given him.


His head was bent over it, and his hands were perched on either side of his
face as he read.

"Are they trying to tell me that my sprog was see-through at one stage?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.
It seemed like he had missed a lot, considering he hardly ever paid attention
in class.

But she didn't like the way he said; 'My sprog'... it was almost as
if he was taking the lead role already.
Like he was planning on taking over their child and molding it into another
form of himself...

Hermione shuddered.

Over her dead body.

"If you would have got down off your box, and actually came and asked me or
the Professor, we could have told you what was going on"

Draco shuddered.
"This information isn't something that a lad needs to know..." He told her,
skimming through the pages absentmindedly. "Whatever goes on inside a
woman's body is their own business...."

He then took a closer look at the page he had stopped on.

"What's after birth?"

Hermione snorted.

She couldn't wait for him to find out about that little surprise.

_____________________________

Hermione had decided to take a walk with Harry.

When he had asked her whether she felt like taking a stroll up the hills on
their break, she knew that it would be a good time to catch up on everything
that she seemed to be missing.

"-and she's not too bad, really. She's really quite brainy, but I guess she
doesn't like to show it when she's with her Slytherin mates..." Harry told
her as they walked up a small gravel lane.

The wind had picked up now that it was October.
The trees were losing their leaves, allowing them to fall to the ground and
be carried off by the wind.

"I'm glad your getting on with her" She told him with a smile, tightening
her scarf around her.

Harry looked down at her. "And how is everything going with shit
face?"

Hermione laughed.

But she wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer that question.

How was everything going with her and shit face?

She decided to be honest.

"I don't know"

"Why?" Harry asked her curiously.

She shrugged.
"He's accepted it, I think..." She told her friend. "...but I don't know if
he's liking the idea or not"

Harry laughed.
"I don't think any of us are really liking the idea" He nudged her
playfully. "But I see where you're coming from"

"He's Malfoy" She stated, as if she had given him the answer.

Harry knew what she was talking about.
"He's an arrogant twat, but at the end of the day, if he's making any kind
of attempt then I guess it's a step in the right direction"

Hermione knew he was right.
Malfoy was doing a lot better than he was a few weeks ago.

At least he was attempting to work with her.

On Tuesday, after everyone had been in the great Hall having dinner,
Hermione had walked back to her head of year Common room to relax by the
fire...


F L A S H B A C K



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


Hermione closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the burning embers
within the fire.
There was nothing like feeling the warmth of a fire when the weather was so
blisteringly cold outside.

She faintly heard the door open behind her.

His door.

She groaned inwardly, thinking he was going to say something sarcastic to
her.

Instead, he was silent.

She couldn't see where he was, because her eyes were closed.
But she knew he was close.

"Oi, half-wit" He said rather loudly.

He knew she wasn't asleep.

Hermione opened one eye and looked directly above her.
She jumped when she found him looming over her.

"What now?" She asked him, pushing herself up to lean on her elbows.

Malfoy moved out of her eye sight;

Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

There...directly behind him...

'It's beautiful...'

"I ordered it the other day" He told her matter of factly, running his hand
through his blond hair. "It came this morning"

Hermione looked at the moses basket in amazement.

The wooden frame...the white silken material that covered the basket...the
creme coloured silken quilt with the moving image of two little floppy-eared
rabbits cuddling up together....

"I thought you would find it adequate" He said with a smirk.

Hermione got off from the couch and walked around it.
It had to be one of the most beautifully simple things that she had ever
seen.

She looked at him curiously.
"Did you pick this yourself?"

Draco snorted.
"Oh, please" He told her with a smirk on his face. "Do you really think I
would have chosen something as frilly as that?"

Hermione should have guessed.

"It was the most expensive one they had" He added.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Well, at least he actually went through with what he said he was going to do.

She peered inside, to find a little gray teddy bear with patches allover
it...and it had a blue nose.

"Oh!" She exclaimed happily. "Me to You Bears!"

Draco shook his head.
Only a woman could get excited about a bloody cuddly toy.

"This must have cost you a lot" She told him sternly.

Draco shrugged.
"Would you rather the sprog slept on the floor?"

Hermione had to agree with him there.


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




E ND F L A S H B A CK

...Since then, Hermione couldn't tell whether she was coming or going with
the bloody Slytherin.


Harry was looking at her curiously.
She was a strong girl, and she could face everything that came her way.

But with Malfoy, Harry couldn't help but feel that she was way out of her
depth.

Malfoy was a nobhead at the best of times...but what happened when he wasn't
being one?

How would Hermione react when Malfoy was actually helping her out?
She wouldn't be used to it, that was for sure.

"Is Millicent getting really big, now?" She asked him, trying to take him
out of his thoughts.

Harry smiled.
"Yeah...she keeps complaining about backache, though" He told his friend
humorously. "...And now I keep thinking I'm getting sympathy pains..."

Hermione laughed.
"Awwwwww...Sympathy Pains..."

Harry smirked at her.

"Harry and Millie, sitting in a tree.....K - I - S - S - I - N - G -
ahhhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed as Harry gave chase, running after her all the
way back to the school.

_________________________

"Oh my god!"

Hermione couldn't believe it.

'OH MY GOD!'

There, in the middle of the Common room...

A baby bath...
Baby toys...
A baby changing bay...
An array of baby-friendly hygiene products...
Bottles...

Tiny baby grows...


She hadn't expected this first thing in the morning.

She had got up to get herself ready for her school day, and was about to run
down her stairs and straight out of her door...when she spotted the huge
pile of baby accessories in the middle of the room.

She picked up one of the little baby bibs; fingering the yellow flannel
material softly.

Everyday it became more and more real...
And she knew it would be happening soon.

She heard Malfoy's door open.
And then heard him groan at the sight before him.

"You haven't been doing any midnight shopping, have you?" He asked her
sarcastically, looking around at the clutter at his feet.

Hermione ignored his comment.
"I guess the professors think it's about time we were given our reality
check"

Draco looked at her.

For some reason, he had never noticed it before.
But she seemed to be glowing.
Her hair looked healthier...shinier...

'Bushier' He thought with a smirk.

Nah, her hair had been controlled back in fifth year.
Yes, it was still curly.
But it wasn't the untamable bush that it used to be.

"It looks like organised chaos in here" He told her, still looking around.
"How much stuff does a baby need!"

Hermione smirked.
Obviously Malfoy was in for a big surprise when the baby actually arrived.

"I think I should probably put some of this stuff in my room" She told him,
picking up a few of the baby grows on the floor.

"Why are they all whites and yellows?" Malfoy asked her curiously, looking
at the objects in her hands.

She noticed that he had picked up one of the baby bottles.

"Because white and yellow are both indifferent colours" She told him,
smiling happily as she looked at the tiny little clothes she had in her
hand.

Someday soon, her baby would be wearing them...
Hermione felt a pleasant jolt shoot through her.

"Why would they give you indifferent colours?" His voice came again.

This time, she saw that he was sat on one of the large chairs, still
inspecting the little bottle; the fluffy white clouded pattern moving
around on it.

"So the baby can wear it, no matter if it's a boy or a girl"

Draco's head suddenly shot up.
He looked into her eyes.

That was when both of them realised.

With all that had been going on...all the arguing, the fighting...the
arrogance.

They didn't even realise that through all of this; soon they would be the
parents of a little boy or girl.

Hermione hadn't even contemplated it.
She called it an 'it'...or even just 'baby'....

Draco knew the thought hadn't even entered his mind.
He never wanted it to.
Then it would make it all the more real...

But now...

But now, the thought of a son sent slightly unwanted tingles down his spine.

Someone who looked like him...his hair, his eyes...

Hermione searched his eyes.
She saw that barrier in the way again...

But she noticed something different.

That icy stare...
For a moment, it was replaced by a simmering warmth that Hermione had never
seen before.

And she knew that he was thinking about it.
For the first time since all this began, he was actually letting it sink in
and devour him...

And he liked it.

Draco snapped out of his trance.
He got up from the chair and put the bottle down on the floor.

Hermione watched his movements.
Obviously he didn't like things getting the better of him.

He maneuvered his way around the room, minding the obstacles in his way.
When he got to the same side as Hermione, looked at her for a moment.

Then he did something he had never done before.

He gave her a small smile.

It didn't last long.
It was gone before it had appeared.
But she had seen it all the same.

"I'll bet you ten galleons that it's a boy" He told her.

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, holding out her hand gingerly.

He inspected her hand for a moment, almost as if he was half expecting her
to have some sort of hidden device up her sleeve that would send a shock
through him as soon as he took it.

Malfoy slowly wound his hand around hers.

They stared at each other intently.

"You're on" She told him, a smirk playing on her lips.



_____________________________

A/N: I'm still reeling from the overwhelming response i am getting from this fic!!

I have no read 'future parents program', and i can say that i LOVED it!...but i am happy to announce that my fic was never intended to go down the road that the other one went down...so i'm glad theres a difference lmao.






VIC:
Never worry about how i take a review.
If it is critisism then i do my part to put right what I have written, but I do undertand that you were no implying that I was stealing lol.
I'm saddened that I can't understand German, because I would LOVE to read the different stories out there!!
Thankyou for your continuing support!


DONAVON:
Thankyou.
I never even realised I had written that Luna was in Hufflepuff lmao!
To be honest, I think i just write in a haze, and then don't even realise whatever I'm writing.
So thanks again!!!


JAMIEBLYE:
She will feel it move (i've already written it, but yet again I was going off what the internet says, so I apologise if I have put it in too late).
But I understand about making it all feel 'real' for your husband...and your review actually gave me a bit of inspiration for Draco ... All credit goes to you! lmao!!!!


ROBYN3091:
U know, I have seen fics out there that pronounce it 'Blaise Zibini'...maybe that's where I've got it from lol. But i shall walk the safe path from now on and just call him Blaise instead lol
Thankyou for pointing this out to me, though!
And keep reading and reviewing!!! Your review made me smile!!!


LEXY MALFOY:
I am so honoured that you would take the time to tell people about my story...it makes me feel like I am writing something special!
So a massive THANKYOU! And I hope you keep reading and reviewing!!!


JULES:
You review made me gush!!
I'm glad you are enjoying it! :-D Keep reading and reviewing!!


SANI, SAMANTHA, PUMKIN, PRINLITA, ANGELNOMIKO and JAYNA:
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou and THANKYOU again from the bottom of my heart!
I get all giddy when I see your reviews!!!!!!

You are a big help and support!!!!!!


PLEASE keep reading and reviewing!!!!!!