The Baby Project

Chapter Twelve:

'There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain;
My power,
my pleasure,
my pain.
Baby ...
To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny.
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby? '


WEEK SEVEN : SEVENTH MONTH

...'Your baby is growing fast, and space is getting tight. He may wiggle
if he gets uncomfortable. As he becomes more oriented in space, he may move
to a head down position.
Your baby can see, although the view from the uterus looks mostly like a
dull glow when it is bright and just black when it is dark. Even this little
difference in lightness helps him begin to adjust to the day and night cycle
where he lives.
He can also hear, although most sounds are muffled. He is already becoming
accustomed to mommy and daddy's voices.
He can also taste, although the flavors of the amniotic fluid are subtle.
His lungs are preparing for breathing, and his movements give his muscles
exercise. There is tremendous brain and nervous system growth taking place
this month. His bone marrow is now fully responsible for making his blood,
and he passes about 1 pint of urine every day. The fat developing under his
skin helps to smooth out the wrinkles as it gives him energy stores for the
first few days of life.
At the end of the 28th week your baby will be around 11 inches from crown to
rump and weigh 3 pounds.' ...

Hermione lay on her bed, feeling very uncomfortable.

For the past week, all she could do was look down in awe.
She was getting so big!

She hadn't really paid too much attention; just getting on with it, as she
was more concerned about other aspects of her life ...

But now.

It had just crept up on her.
She hadn't realised how much the baby had grown, until yesterday when Harry
had pointed it out to her with a huge smile.

Now she couldn't help but stroke it.
It was as if she was nursing it somehow.

Suddenly, almost as if the baby could sense that there was someone there...
She felt a flutter in her stomach.

Her eyes widened.

'The little shit kicked me!'

She laughed to herself.
So it was actually alive in there!

She wanted to shout to someone.
Tell them what had happened.

But found no one there for her to tell.
All cooped up in her room, with nowhere to go on a miserable Wednesday
evening...she could have done some of her homework, but for once in her
life...she couldn't be bothered.

Now she had something much more exciting to do.
She had felt her baby kick for the first time.

McGonagall had told the class that between 18 - 28 weeks of a normal
pregnancy, the baby would usually start to kick.
Hermione was terrified, thinking that she would be caught off guard when the
baby would kick her in the gut.

She thought it would hurt...
but it didn't.

It felt nice.
Almost like it was trying to communicate with her.

Hermione decided she had to see her friends.
She struggled off her bed and went to her door. When it was shut behind her,
she made her way up the stone steps which lead her to the Gryffindor common
room.

She opened the side door with a creek, peering around for anyone in her
eyesight.

She wasn't planning on seeing the scene before her.

They were hugging each other happily.

Hermione tried not to sneer when she walked through the common room, tapping
Harry on the shoulder so he knew she was there.

He turned around; startled.
But he smiled when he saw who it was.

"HERMIONE!"

Harry hugged her.

Hermione looked around the room, to see the students buzzing around
happily...something was going on....

"What's everyone so happy about?" She asked Harry, still keeping her eye on
Ron and Parvati, who were still held in their happy embrace.

Harry looked at her.
"Have you not heard?"

She shook her head.
Did everyone forget that she didn't live in the tower anymore?

"It's Ron and Parvati" Harry told her, pointing at them and smiling brightly.

"They're having twins"

Hermione's stomach took an unsuspected turn.


______________________________

Oh, what a stereotype.

Just because he was a snarky, egotistical, arrogant twat...it didn't mean
that he had no heart.

His heart - albeit as small as it was - seemed to be in full working order,
lately.

Especially when it came to Quidditch.
Oh, how it raced.

It seemed to be working overtime lately.
Every now and again; against his better judgment, Draco had fleeting
thoughts about the baby.

'It's only a sprog, it's only a sprog...it's only a bloody sprog!' He
had chanted to himself, trying to rid the thoughts away.

He wasn't ready for all the mushy thoughts and feelings that he knew were
irking him.
He didn't want to become attached to something that would only be there for
his remaining last few months at Hogwarts.

He knew it would be inevitable.
But right now, he didn't really want to think about it.

Draco walked the corridors of the third floor, his proud walk attracting the
stares of a few of the Ravenclaw girls.

'Dammit...I'm so sexy...' He thought to himself with a grin.

A Ravenclaw girl with long brown hair turned to her friend.
"Is that the Slytherin that won't take his responsibilities seriously?"
She whispered.

Draco's ears pricked up.

He stopped walking and turned around, looking at the girl curiously.

"Repeate, S'il vous plait?" He asked her sarcastically, his eyes
holding hers with an icy stare.

She gave him a snotty look.
"You're leaving your partner to do all of the work on her own" She told him
matter of factly, crossing her arms over her chest.

A few other students from different houses had turned to look at the
conversation.

Draco scoffed.
"I'll have you know, I've done more than my fair share in our partnership"

"Only because you have to" She told him. "We've heard all about it"

Draco looked around at the little crowd gathered around them.
"What exactly have you heard?" He asked her accusingly.

"That you've told her that you won't help her with the baby when it's born.
You've told her you want nothing to do with it, and that she can take care
of the child all by herself"

Draco stared coldly at her.

How come it sounded so much cruller when it came from someone else's mouth?


And anyway, it wasn't as if he wasn't helping...in fact, he planned to do
whatever he could to bring the sprog up in the right way...none of
that Muggle rubbish.

"Who told you this?"

The girl shrugged, turning her nose up at him.
"It's been going through the grape-vine for a while..."

"I think it's horrible" One girl with black, bobbed hair piped in. "No girl
should suffer alone through pregnancy."

Draco looked at her, feeling the need to leave the conversation.

"I know" Piped in another girl from the crowed. "At the end of the day, it
takes two to tango...lads need to face responsibility, too"

Soon, many accusations were thrown at him.
All from women.

Draco felt like he was trapped in some kind of 'woman power' protest...

As the crowed became bigger, and more and more girls were joining in the
argument, Draco did the only thing that he could do....

He ran.

_________________________________


Hermione stood in front of her mirror, holding one of the many baby grows to
her stomach adoringly.

She turned to the side and looked upon her size.
She was so much bigger than she actually thought.

And now her breasts were increasing, too.

Had she gained weight?

She didn't really care; she was far too absorbed in the feel of her baby
kicking her again.

It just served the purpose in making all this seem so real.

After she had heard about Ron and Parvati, Hermione had come straight back
to her room again.
They looked so happy.

Too happy.

Hermione was seething.
Any other couple would be completely and utterly furious that the professors
had actually allowed this to happen...

But not them.

And the happier they were, the more Hermione's heart sank.

She knew she would never have Ron now.

Hermione pulled the Pink Kaftan back over her head.
She had taken it off to look at her protruding stomach.

She suddenly heard the door slam in the Common Room.

Honestly.
Couldn't he go one day without the over dramatics?

"GRANGER?!" He shouted.

Hermione sighed. "WHAT?!" She shouted back down at him.

"GET YOUR OVER-SIZED ASS DOWN HERE NOW!"

Hermione ignored him.
No one talked to her like that and actually got a reaction out of her.

"No" She stated simply. "Say 'please', and I might think about it"

She went to her door, to find him standing at the bottom of her stairs.

He glared at her.
Hadn't he said that word once to her already?

Hermione was adamant that she was staying where she was.

Draco was adamant that he wasn't even going to give her the one word she
wanted.

Instead;

"Would you do me the honour of gracing me with your not-so-wanted
presence?" He asked her, a smirk playing on his lips.

He knew his way with words, she would give him that.
But she wanted respect, dammit.

"Say it like you mean it" She told him, folding her arms over her chest,
making her stomach look bigger.

Draco stared at her for a minute.
She really was getting huge.

She swore she could hear him growling, low in his throat.
What was with his animal antics?

Draco closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Just get down here.... Her-my-oh-nee....

Hermione watched him as the alien name slipped from his tongue.

She didn't like it.
It was too personal.

Only her friends called her that name.

Slowly, she descended the stairs.


She looked like a duck....waddling her backside behind her.

Malfoy chuckled under his breath.

Hermione nudged past him and walked into the common room.

She turned around and faced him, looking irritated.
"Well?" She asked him. "And don't tell me you have brought me down here for
no reason...you have no idea how hard it's getting for me to walk up and
down those bloody stairs"

She half expected him to comeback with a sarcastic comment.

Instead, he did something she never expected in her life.

He linked her arm in his and dragged her through the common room door.

Hermione was perplexed as they walked along the corridor in a hurry.
Something was really wrong with Malfoy.

He was actually touching her....

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked him with a hiss in her voice, as
they turned a corner and walked along another corridor filled with students.

"Play along" He told her, his voice also hissing.

She could tell he was forcing himself into doing this.

Hermione got the feeling that all was not well in the land of Malfoy.
For some reason, he was getting glares from many of the girls he was
passing...

Maybe it was because he was gripping Hermione by the arm like his life
depended on it.

Maybe they were jealous of her...

'That'll be the day' Hermione thought to herself with a smirk.

Malfoy found that familiar brown hair in the distance.
With determination, he walked faster.
Hermione was almost jogging to keep up with him.

As he approached the brown haired Ravenclaw, Malfoy slowed down his pace,
and loosened his grip on Granger's arm.

And then he did the unthinkable.

He put his arm around her.

"Are you out of your mind?" Hermione asked him sternly, looking at the arm
around her like it was an insect.
She stiffened in his embrace, and was about to struggle out of it -

"You know, Granger" He told her, his voice overly loud and full of fake
cheer. "When this baby is born, I think I'll have to buy it a few toys to
play with..."

Hermione looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Like what?" She asked him. "A grenade?" Her facial expression showing her
uncertainty of where he was going with the conversation.

She noticed his eyes were set on something.
She looked in the direction he was staring in, and found Felicity Crumbmore
staring back at him angrily.

What was he playing at?

"Yeah " He answered her. "And I'll buy it a broom, and it can practice
flying on it-"

"It's hardly going to grow past four years old, Malfoy" She told him.

He glared at her for a moment, before the look was replaced by one that she
had never seen before.

Adoration.

Fake adoration...but it scared her all the same.

She knew he was off his rocker.
And he was definitely up to something.

"Hey, Hermione" Felicity said, stopping both her and Malfoy in their tracks.

"Hi" She said timidly, unable to move under Malfoy's arm.

It was highly irritating.

Felicity turned to Malfoy and glared.
"What are you trying to prove, now?"

Malfoy smiled.
"That we are a unified front." He told her. "The last thing I would want
would be for you ladies to get the wrong impression of me.."

Hermione scoffed.
"Oh please" She said, humour in her voice. "I got the wrong impression the
moment I saw you...and I'm sticking with it"

Malfoy shook his head.
She was supposed to be playing along.

He needed her to at least pretend that they were getting along a little bit.
He wasn't going to be glared at and tormented by a gaggle of girls for the
rest of his days at Hogwarts...

It felt as if he had stepped into a lesbian convention, and he was the only
one with a penis.

"I hope your ok with him, Hermione" Felicity told her. "I mean, you're strong
and everything...but I doubt you could cope with a baby on your own"

Hermione frowned.
She could cope with a baby on her own.

"What are you getting at?" She asked Felicity, looking from her, and then
back to Malfoy.

"Well...your a smart girl and everything...but you wouldn't be smart enough
to look after a baby all by yourself"

Hermione scowled.
Who the hell was she to tell her what she could and couldn't do?

Malfoy smirked.
Well, at least the heat was off him, now.

"I could cope quite well, now that you mention it" Hermione said stiffly.
"But it just so happens that Malfoy and I have decided that we should
attempt to do it all together..."

Felicity stared at Hermione.
Was it just her imagination, or was the Head Girl glaring at her?

"No one will ever tell me what I can and cannot do" Hermione continued. "Not
you, not Malfoy, not anybody"

Felicity's face set to stone.
"Well if you can't face criticism, then your not a very mature person, are
you?"

Malfoy's smirk grew into a smile.
This was almost interesting.

"A mature person will make do with what they have" Hermione told her. "And
if I happen to have Malfoy, then I guess I will have to make do with him"

"Oi" He said, prodding her with his free hand.

Hermione glared at him.

Then she looked back at Felicity.
"That said" She continued. "Both Malfoy and myself are both very capable of
going it alone...but our mature decision to do it together was the
better idea of the two...."

Malfoy wanted to laugh.
He knew she was talking complete and utter bullocks...but at the end of the
day, she was doing exactly what he had brought her out here to do.

Defend him without even realising it.

Save him from being a tortured soul to a gaggle of angry, and highly
hormonal girls.

Yeah, he didn't want anyone to know about their little 'truce'...but if he
was going to get in more shit for people not knowing that he was
getting on with it, then he might as well let it all out...

Let people know that Draco Malfoy was finally going absolutely bonkers.

But purely for the grades, of course.

"So he's finally deciding to help you, then?" The girl asked Hermione,
looking Draco up and down scornfully.

Hermione looked the girl dead in the eyes.

"He's been helping me all along" She looked up at Malfoy pointedly, who had
now taken his arm from around her shoulder. "He just never wanted to admit
it to anyone"

Draco looked at her curiously.
Was this her way of defending him?

Was she actually lying for him?
Or was she doing it for herself?

"Well, good luck with that" Felicity told her spitefully.

"Thank you" Hermione told her, using the same tone of voice.

Both girls turned away from each other and marched down the corridor.
Malfoy was being dragged by the cuff of his sleeve.

"Don't ever make me defend you like that, ever again" She told him angrily.

"I didn't ask you to" He told her, trying to keep up with her pace.

Hermione glanced at him from over her shoulder.
"And normally I wouldn't, but when someone insults my life, I have to
protect my decisions"

"And your telling me that I'm a decision?" He asked her, coming to a
halt when they got to the door of their common rooms.

"Yes" She told him. "And I am a decision that you made"

They both walked into the Common room.

"How so?" He asked her curiously.

Obviously she was taking this far more seriously than he first anticipated
she would.

"I made the decision to involve you in my life this way, the same as you
have done with me" She answered him. "We both decided to take the moral
ground and do the mature thing...this road we have both decided to go down"

Malfoy understood where she was coming from.

It was all about pride.

"So, if I had to protect the path I chose, that meant that I had to protect
you as well"

He looked at her, searching her face for a moment.

Then he smirked.
"And you got me out of a whole lot of shit along the way"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"That was unintentional"

"Fair enough" He answered, taking a seat on the couch.

Hermione went to walk back up into her dorm room when she felt it again.

"Ouch....oh, you little shit!"

Draco looked over at her, thinking she was talking to him.

When she had her back to him however, he looked at her curiously.

"Granger...you do know that talking to yourself is the second sign of
madness?"

She looked round at him.
"I wasn't talking to myself" She told him. "I was talking to the baby"

Draco chuckled.
"That's the first sign of madness"

Hermione glared at him.
"The little shit kicked me" She continued. "Its been doing it all day, but
that was a big one"

She could see the puzzlement in his eyes.

"How the hell can it kick you?" He asked her, his voice mocking her as if
the very conversation itself was complete and utter bullocks.

"It moves inside me, Malfoy" She told him, rolling her eyes.

His eyebrows shot up.
What the hell?

She walked over to him, her hand pushing into her stomach. She could still
feel it fluttering slightly.

Malfoy backed away, his back hitting the arm of the couch.
unsure of what she was going to do.

"Don't come any closer....you freak"

Hermione laughed.
"You dick" She told him.

"I knew it wasn't human" Malfoy told her, looking at her stomach as he was
by his head, near the couch.

"All babies move inside their mothers, Malfoy...even you did at one point"

"I did not" He told her indignantly.

She wasn't going to argue with him.

"Suit yourself" She told him with a sigh. "I was going to let you see for
yourself, but obviously your not mature enough to understand yet..."

Malfoy's eyes snapped up to hers.

She knew he hated being goaded.

"Not mature enough, am I?" He asked her.

He glanced at her stomach, wondering if he could actually see it
moving...seeing is believing, after all.

"I don't think you are" She told him defiantly. "If you were, you would just
accept what was happening and just go with it"

He was still staring at her stomach.
It was the first time he had ever properly looked.

Somewhere inside there, was a part of him.

His hand was on top of the couch, close to where her stomach was residing
behind the back of it.

Hermione glanced down at his hand.
Would he dare?

"What if I don't want to just 'go with it'?" He asked her, his eyes
still looking at the bump....

His DNA was residing in there...

His hand unconsciously moved a little closer.

"Then you're not ready for any of this" She told him simply, watching as his
hand moved, oh so slowly, towards her stomach.

It began to flutter a little more.
From nerves, or from the baby, she wasn't quite sure.

This was the most bizarre predicament she had ever found herself in.

There she was;
Standing there behind the couch, watching the hand of a boy she loathed as
it made its way towards her pregnant belly.

Did she want him to touch it?

Yes; it would show him something else that he didn't know about
babies...call it an education lesson, if you will.

No; for some reason, she felt some sort of emotion descending on
her....

She felt his finger tips graze the fabric of her Kaftan.

She looked down.

His hand rose higher...skimming the material...daring to add that little bit
more pressure....

She looked up at him.

He was staring at it.
Mesmerized.

Malfoy wasn't too sure what he was doing.

He felt this powerful urge to reach out and touch...discover for himself
what this baby business was really all about...

Did he want to touch it?

Yes Nothing like that was likely to ever happen to him again...it
was an education lesson, per say.

No; There was some sort of emotion forcing its way into his
heart...it was vaguely familiar to him....

Hermione felt his palm press against her stomach slowly, testing the waters.

Neither looked at each other.

They didn't need to.

This wasn't about them.
This was about the creation inside of her.

Malfoy felt the swell of her stomach, hating himself for liking the way it
was hard, yet soft at the same time.

Hermione gave an involuntary shiver when she felt the full pressure of his
hand upon her stomach.
She looked at it..timidly exploring the bump.

Draco knew what that feeling was that had been trying to get at him.

He smirked to himself.

'Hello, Happiness...'

"I'm ready for this" He said quietly, almost at a whisper.

Neither of them still looking at each other, they finally accepted what was
happening between them;

Life.


____________________



A/N:

Yet another chapter, eh? lol
hope this one showed alot...i tried to make it as 'draco-like' as possible...i just hope i achieved it lol.




LEXY MALFOY:
I LOVE YOU!!!!!! hehee!
You don't understand how good it feels for my fic to even be complimented in the way that you have! It no way compares to the brilliance of 'the future parents program', but i like to think that it has its own edge lmao!
But THANKYOU so much, your brilliant and I can't thankyou for all the support you have given me!!!!


SOPHIEFAUX, BRITT and LAURA:
Thankyou so much for your support! I hope you keep enjoying this fic!


NIKK-TIKK:
I'm so happy you have taken the time to review this story.
I hope i can continue to do you proud hehe!


KONEKO-CHAN, MAGICAL HEATHER, SANI, SAMANTHA, JAYNA, MOXIE and ANGELNOMIKO:
Thankyou for the reviews and support!
I couldn't do this without you!


BRAYZEN:
Thankyou for the cookie....every little helps lmao!!!!


TANK:
I'm glad i can extract your fluffy side lmao.
Leaving people feeling all warm and fuzzy inside is what I do best lmao!


JEANNE:
Thankyou for the spelling on the name.
I shall take it into account, and will be calling him Blaise from now on lmao.


SAM:
I guess your question was answered in this chapter lmao!


PICKLES87:
Read whenever you like, lmao. This fic aint going anywhere for a while lol


RAZZA:
I'm awfully glad you clicked on the wrong link lmao!!!!


PLEASE keep reading and reviewing!
I love everyone's input, and like reading what people like, and what they don't lol


Also...I've chosen the sex of the baby (because im about 4 chapters ahead in writing lol) so you will have to wait and find out!!!!!!


Again,
THANKYOU for all of your support!
You have no idea how much it means to me!!!!!

Keep it up!!!!

xxxxx