The Baby Project

Chapter Eighteen:

' Please allow me to introduce myself,
I'm a man of wealth and taste.
Pleased to meet you,
hope you guessed my name.
But what's puzzling you,
is the nature of my game'


Draco sat there, still mulling it over in his mind.
Wondering how the hell he had come to be in the situation he was in.

Who in a million years thought he would be sat on Potter's couch, watching
him and Weasle attempt to change their babies nappies together?

Harry suddenly turned around and looked at him.
"Oi!" He shouted. "I thought you were supposed to know what to do?"

Malfoy shrugged, smirking at him.


"Get down 'ere and give me a bloody hand" Ron told him, trying to hold both
of his children down with one hand, whilst holding a nappy full of shit with
the other. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got a two for the price of one
deal going on here!"

Draco chuckled.


And then he got down onto the living room floor to kneel behind them.
Was he going mad?

Who would ever think that he would actually say yes to helping Potty
and Weasley?

Something was definitely amiss here....

'A strange ending to a very strange day...'


F L A S H B A C K





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

Draco strutted as proud as a peacock through the streets of Hogsmeade.

He had got himself and Granger a day's pass into the village, as they found
themselves without the aid of a stroller to cart their daughter around in.

It had been exactly one week since that thing had happened in
Granger's room.
After that day, neither of them had spoken about it. They didn't need to,
because at the moment they had more important things to worry about.

Like the sleepless nights that they have been having.

Draco felt like he was a walking grouch; snapping at every little thing,
from student's dragging their feet in the hallway's, to the little sniffing
sound that Granger kept making with her nose, because she had a cold coming
on.

The first night Airyn had spent in his room had been the worst.
After Granger had gone with him to put her into the moses basket, she told
him that he will probably end up getting up at least three times that night.

Draco wanted to bring it on, thinking he could take it.
But he couldn't.

And judging by the dark circles underneath Granger's eyes, he could see that
she was struggling too.

"Can you slow down?" Came Granger's voice from behind him.

Draco looked around at her, the wind whipping his face as he did.
He pulled his house scarf tighter around his neck.

She was walking behind him, with their baby in a hammock-like sling.
She looked incredibly cozy, her little woolly yellow bobble hat sticking out
of the sling.

Draco slowed his pace.
"We're nearly there" He told her. "I'm sure theres a shop just down the road
that sells what we're looking for"

Hermione followed him as he kept walking.
She was too tired to even want to come out today, but she had told him that
she would to get the baby stroller.
All she really wanted to do was sleep...lay her head back onto a pillow and
dream.


But dreaming didn't come easily lately.
She woke herself every half an hour, just in case her baby was crying.
And when Airyn wasn't in her room at night, she would lie awake
wondering how Malfoy was doing.

"Here we are" Came his voice from in front of her.

Hermione hadn't even realised that she was even walking.
She must have been really out of it.

Hermione looked upon the little shop; the windows were frosted over, and the
little blue door held a circle of holly in the middle of it.
Hermione hadn't even realised that Christmas was upon them.

Draco held the door open for her, before she walked inside the shop.
He followed her, welcoming the instant warmth he felt once he stepped over
the threshold.

Hermione looked around in amazement.
Everything she could possibly want for her baby lay within this shop.
But it all looked very expensive.

Draco looked over into the corner, seeing the little section for prams.
He tapped Hermione on the bottom of her back to get her attention. She
looked around at what he was trying to tell her, and then saw his hand
pointing to the corner.

She walked in front of him.

Noticing his hand was still placed upon the bottom of her back.
Dangerously close to her backside.

When she stopped, she saw an array of pretty little strollers.
She wanted them all, but unfortunately she could only pick one.

"Shall we try them out?" Draco asked her with a smirk.

He then turned Hermione around slowly, looking down and reaching for
something.

Her eyes widened, until she saw that he was picking their child up and
putting her in his arms.
She didn't realise what he was doing.
For some reason, her mind had betrayed her into thinking he was turning her
around to look at her...

'Stupid brain' She thought angrily.
Obviously she was a lot more tired than she first thought.


Draco was busying himself with putting his child into all kinds of different
sized prams.
He didn't want to think about the way Granger's eyes sort his out when he
had turned her around.
The look in her eyes felt like she was slowly melting him...
Something that only Airyn had managed to do so far.

Why was everything becoming so bloody difficult?
Airyn was supposed to be a distraction for him...not make him think about
Granger all the more.


Draco pulled his nose up at one of the prams that he had put his baby into.
She just looked too small inside it.

Hermione smiled.
Of all the things in the world, she had never expected Malfoy to be so...out
in the open about his feelings towards Airyn.
In school, he had this aura of being cool, calm and collected.
Now he was jolly, upbeat and too busy indulging his time in his baby girl to
even think about anything else.

Hermione looked around the rest of the shop, looking at all the cribs and
other baby contraptions.
She spotted the moses basket in Malfoy's room out of the corner of her eye.
She took one glance at him -

Still testing out the prams.

- and then walked over to the replica of the moses basket.

Her heart almost stopped when she saw the price.
Why did he bother buying something so expensive?!
Airyn will have grown out of it within three months!

Hermione thought about that fact for a moment.
When February came along, Airyn would be two months old...and apparently
after those first two months, she will then somehow 'transform' into a ten
month old... and then from then on she will continue to change until she
became a four year old...

Hermione thought that was a little odd...
But then, there was nothing about this project that wasn't odd.

Hermione was startled out of her thoughts, when she heard a baby start to
scream the place down.
She instinctively looked over at Malfoy, ready to glare at him for making
Airyn cry.

But upon looking over, she saw that both Malfoy and Airyn were still quite
content with each other, playing with the strollers.

"Just take him, will you"

Hermione looked to her left.


So that was where the noise was coming from?

Hermione watched as Ron was handed one of his children from their twin
stroller, a look of utter panic on his face because the baby was crying so
loudly.

"Hey Ron!" Hermione beamed, walking over to him.

He looked around curiously, looking for the person who had called his name.
When he finally caught sight of Hermione, he smiled broadly.

"Hermione!"

Ron walked towards her stiffly.
Obviously not too comfortable with holding one of his twins.

'He doesn't look as comfortable as Malfoy does' Her brain thought for
her.

Hermione scowled inwardly.

"How's it going?" He asked her, putting the baby one shoulder, and then
swapping it when it made no difference to the screaming.

Hermione winced slightly. It had a good set of windpipes on it.
"It's ok" She told him. "Tiring, but I'm getting along"

She glanced at the back of the babies head.
"Can I see?"

Ron wondered what she was talking about.
And then it dawned on him.
"Oh, yeah sure"

As he brought the baby down from his shoulder, he cradled the baby in his
arms awkwardly.
"This is Benny" He told her.

He looked just like Parvati.
The skin, those same big brown eyes.
The only thing that remotely resembled Ron was the telltale flecks of auburn
hair that lay on top of the babies head.

If felt funny, seeing Ron's baby.
But for some reason it didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would.


Since the babies had been born, Hermione had only managed a quick glance at
them.
She had been far too busy with her own.
That, and sleep.

"Where's Annie?" He asked.

Hermione looked at him with a scowl.
"Don't you mean Airyn?"

Ron nodded, his cheeks flushing.
"Sorry, it's a hard name to remember"

Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"She's with Malfoy, over at the pram section"

She noticed Ron's stance become much more defensive at the mention of
Malfoy's name.


Draco kept one eye on her the whole time.
The way her body language seemed to heighten whenever she spoke to him...
He knew she would have preferred to be partnered with Weasley, any old dolt
could see that.

'Except for Weasle, apparently'

Draco almost snarled when Granger smiled at him.
What the hell was wrong with him?

Draco took a step closer to their conversation, trying to listen in.
He didn't want to seem like he was prying...but at the end of the day,
Granger was supposed to be helping him look for prams, not start flirting
with the nearest Ginger-nut she could find.

'Stupid Weasle-nut' He thought, scowling.

Why was he being so defensive, all of a sudden?
What did he care that Granger had an infatuation with him?
It wasn't his problem...

But it was.
At the end of the day, she was Airyn's mother. And if she was Airyn's mother
then that meant that Granger had responsibilities to her child.
Which meant that no flirting should be conducted during their project.

'Unless it's with me'

Dammit!
He had to stop his brain from thinking.

What was the attraction?
Her looks?

'Not really...'

Her knowledge?

'Nah...'

Her figure?

'Good...but its not the right answer...'

Then Draco settled on the answer.

She was a good mother.
That was the attraction.


'Well' he thought with a smile. 'At least its not sexual...I can
handle it better when I know its not sexual...'

But with the image of Granger's single breast coming into his memory again,
he knew he was living in a world of denial.

"Malfoy?"

Draco shook himself from his thoughts.
He looked over as both Granger and Weasley were looking at him strangely.

"What?"

Hermione looked around, slightly panicked.
"Where's Airyn?"

Draco looked down to see his arms were childless.
He looked around in all different directions, hoping to see his baby on the
floor somewhere...

But she wasn't.

Hermione walked past him, glancing round quickly.
"Where is she?" She asked him, her worried voice sounding like it was going
to break.

Draco couldn't say anything.
Because he didn't know.

Hadn't she just been in his arms-

An Earth-shattering cry suddenly erupted from on of the prams.

Both Hermione and Draco instantly ran in the direction.
And there...in a pram covered with white daisies and a canopy....lay their
baby.

Hermione turned and glared at him.
"Why did you leave her there?"

Draco looked down at the floor.
He couldn't tell her that it was because he was trying to listen in on her
and Weasley's conversation...

"She seemed happy"

Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Well obviously not, considering she has just screamed the place down"

Hermione picked the baby up, putting her tiny head on her shoulder, stroking
her soft brown hair.

She gave Malfoy a shake of the head in disapproval.
"I guess she doesn't like that pram"

Draco couldn't help but smirk at that comment.
"I think she prefers the more expensive ones"

Hermione couldn't help but smile slightly.
For some reason; she found herself unable to stay mad at him lately.

And that thought disgruntled her.

"'Mione?" Came Ron's voice from behind her.

He still had hold of Benny, and Parvati was behind him with the stroller
with the other child inside of it.
On the undercarriage of the pram, there was a rather large box...some kind of
parcel.

"Are you going now?" She asked him.

He nodded.
However, he didn't seem to be looking at Hermione...he kept his eyes on
Malfoy the whole time.

"We're going to the Three Broomsticks to meet Harry and Millicent, if you
want to join us when you're finished" Parvati told both Hermione and Draco,
keeping her eyes on Draco the whole time, too.

Hermione had noticed this as well...
And for some reason, she felt a twinge of jealousy.

Hermione nodded.
"Sure, we'll be there when we've found a pram decent enough for Her
Majesty" Hermione told them, looking sideways at her daughter proudly,
whose head was turned to face her on her shoulder.

Obviously she had acquired her high maintenance taste from Malfoy.

"Ok, we'll see you then" Ron told her; finally taking his eyes off Malfoy,
before giving her a small smile and walking out of the shop with Parvati.

Draco looked at her for a minute.
"We'll buy the buggy, and then I'll take Airyn home" He told her.

Hermione frowned at him.
"Why would you need to take Airyn home?"

He shrugged, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
"You want to see you mates, so I'll take her home"

Hermione smirked.
"Don't be so ridiculous" She answered, putting the baby onto her other
shoulder. "You're coming with me"

_________________________________



Draco felt uncomfortable.
Sitting there with all her friends...the only person he actually
really spoke to was Millicent.

And Parvati was looking at him strangely, too...
Her eyes were darting to him every now and again.

And Weasley was at it as well!
Draco hated the Weasle...he would have no problems knocking him out.
But for some reason he was holding back on his snarky comments...because
Granger would only hate him all the more if he didn't.

But since when did he care what Granger thought?

'Since she became the mother of your virtual child...' His
subconscious bit back at him.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place...

Harry glanced at the blonde boy sitting in the corner, protecting the baby in
the pram as if his life depended on it.
There was still something about him that had changed...
It was subtle, but Harry knew instantly, just by the look in his eyes...

They held a warmth that had never been there before.

Harry didn't care that Malfoy was sitting there.
At the end of the day, if he didn't want to be there in the first place then
he would have walked away...

But he knew that Malfoy was there because Hermione had asked him.
And he didn't say no...

Maybe there was a heart inside his chest after all.

"Harry, he's absolutely adorable!" Hermione cooed, holding baby Freddie in
her arms.

He didn't have Harry's slight figure.
He was built like a brick shit-house...stocky...obviously he took after
Millicent in that department.

His hair was like Harry's, however.
And much like her own child, the baby had dark hair on top of his head.
Dark...almost black.

"Madame Pomfrey had told us that Freddie will need glasses in a few months"
Millicent told her, looking happily at her child. "But we don't care, as long
as he's healthy"

Draco almost snorted into his glass of coke.
Trust potter to have a child that would be the replica of himself.

"Apparently Joon will have asthma" Parvati told the party, sitting at the
table.

Ron nodded, looking down at the child in question, who was sitting upright
on his knees. Ron was supporting her by putting her back against his
stomach.

Draco looked around at all of the children.
It was odd to see so many babies having some characteristic to their
parents...
Although it was barely visible now, he knew that by the end of the year that
they would start looking very much like them.

"I think someone needs a nappy change" Parvati announced, picking Benny up
and smelling his backside. She almost borked at the smell.

Harry laughed.
"Millicent has been good enough to do all of those up to yet"

Ron shook his head.
"It's alright for you, you've only got the one" he told his friend, sipping
on his drink. "Could you imagine trying to do that task when they
both need changing?"

Parvati scowled at him.
"So far that hasn't happened" She almost shouted at him. "And you have yet
to do a nappy change yourself"

Draco looked at both boys, a smirk appearing on his face.
Had he been the only one to try it?

He should have felt embarrassed that he was the only one to have attempted
it...that it somehow made him weak to have to change a diaper...
But it made him feel stronger.
It made him feel better than them, because he had accomplished something
that they had not.

"Malfoy's changed Airyn a few times, now" Hermione told the group.

All eyes looked at him, most of them in shock.

He noticed Weasley's stare the most though.
Utter loathing...but did he expect anything less?

"Thanks for announcing that, Granger" Malfoy told her.

He decided that it would be better to look down at the pram, in which his
baby was lying down in.

Still asleep.

Was that all she did?

"I don't suppose you were sick at anytime, were you?" Harry asked him
casually.

Malfoy looked up at him.
Shocked more than anything by the tone in his voice.

It wasn't full of hate or loathing...it was full of normality....

"No...but I felt like heaving a few times"

And to his surprise...Potter laughed.

Not at him.
But with him.

Hermione smiled to herself.
This was definitely new.
And she liked it.

"Breast feeding is a bitch" Parvati stated.

All the boys looked at her.

"Thanks for that" Ron told her.

"It is" Millicent agreed. "You boys get it easy"

Hermione giggled.

She saw Malfoy glance at her, from the corner of her eye.

For some reason he liked it when she laughed.
He couldn't think why...but he did.


"Well, you try bottle feeding..." Ron told her. "There's no maternal instinct
there, at all"

Draco had to agree with that.
That was true.

When Airyn needed to be fed at night, he dreaded it.
Last night, it took him almost an hour to get her to take her milk.

For the first time, he had found it absolutely exhausting.
The thing that spurred him on was knowing that it would eventually get
better...

At least he hoped it would.

He just didn't feel like he could bond with her whilst he was feeding her.
Maybe it was because Granger had bonded with her because she had the breasts
for the milk...but it wasn't as if he could grow any...

Maybe this was how all dads felt.
Wondering why the bond between mother and child was so strong...

Well, Draco would just have to bond in a different way...

'And spoil her rotten' he thought, smirking to himself.

The door to the Three Broomsticks suddenly burst open, bringing in a flurry
of wind.
Hermione hugged her cloak tight around her body.

"There they are" Came a voice from the door.

It was Luna, Seamus and Neville...who was on his own.

Draco frowned slightly.
Trust Pansy to not want to take her responsibilities seriously.

The three students walked towards the table, and then brought chairs around
it to sit on.

Neville began bouncing his baby on his knee.
"He loves it when I do this" He announced. "Its the only time when he
doesn't cry"

"What did Pansy call him, in the end?" Draco asked, seeing eyes glance at
him.
Obviously a few of them were still finding it awkward that he was sat there.

Neville looked up at him.
"Well, Pansy wanted to call him 'Oi'" He answered, shaking his head
in disgust. "But I called him Bert, after my great-great Grandfather"

Draco smirked to himself.

'Poor Bert...'

Hermione smiled when she saw Luna holding her baby in her arms.
Small blonde hairs on her head, and those same big round eyes that her
mother had.

"This is Antonia" Luna announced to her friends, showing them the baby in
her arms.

Then she noticed Draco sitting at the table with them.

"This is odd" She said, still looking at Draco. "I didn't expect to see you
here..."

Then she beamed at him.

"But it's nice that you are"

Draco put his head down to the floor.
What was he doing here?

Was he there because he wanted to be with his daughter?
Or was he there because Granger had asked him?

This time last month; if anyone would have told him that he would be sat
there making small talk with Potty, he would most probably have cursed them
on sight...

But now...

Well, now he found himself sat there taking everything in for the first
time.
The closeness of the whole group...the way they responded to
each other...they were all so fond of each other.

Draco had nothing like that.
On a good day, he had Blaise to keep him company...and that conversation
seemed forced at the best of times.

But these people seemed to flow with each other.
They knew what each other liked, and what they didn't like...

And to his surprise, he realised that he may have been a little jealous of
it.

He had never really belonged anywhere before...not even to his own
family.
Draco had been lead to believe that Malfoy's did not need to belong
anywhere...all they needed was their brains, their money and their power.

At the moment, Draco was beginning to realise just how wrong his father had
been.

"-thats a great idea" Hermione said beside him.

She looked at him with a small smile.
"Do you want to?"

Draco frowned.
He hadn't been listening to the conversation for a good five minutes...

"Er..." He said hesitantly, looking around him and finding everyone looking
at him. "...Sure?"

Hermione smiled widely at him.


Suddenly everyone was putting their children back into their prams and
moving away from the table.

Draco looked at Granger anxiously.
"Where are we going?"

She frowned at him.
"Everyone decided - including you - to go back to Ron and Parvati's
Apartment for a baby party"

Draco's eyes went wide.

'Note to self...remember never to agree with anyone, ever again...'


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


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


...And he was still sat there, now.

In the end; the girls had scampered off to Parvati's room with Neville to
talk about feeding their babies...

It seemed odd that Neville had decided to join them...but at the end of the
day, he was about as clueless as Pansy was, so he needed all the help he
could get.

Which left Draco with Potter, Seamus and Weasley.

Which was hilarious, if he thought about it ironically.

But what was even more ironic was the fact that he was actually helping them
to change their kids...and it made him feel all the more aware of just how
out of control he was with his emotions...

Who would have thought it?
Draco, teaching Potter and Weasley how to clean shit off their babies
bottoms...

Damned near unthinkable!

A door opened at one end of the apartment, as the girls and Neville stepped
out of the room.

"I'm off" Neville announced, carrying his baby in both arms awkwardly. "I
need to set a regular bedtime pattern for him, or he just ends up waking up
every five minutes"

Harry finished with Freddie's nappy, and began to dress him.
Millicent walked over to him and beamed.

"Do you mean to tell me that you have actually changed a diaper?!"

Harry smiled up at her, looking a little embarrassed.

Ron was still struggling with his.
"It won't attach!"

Draco looked over Weasley's shoulder, to find him in a mess of all sorts.

He rolled his eyes.
"Here" he said finally, nudging Ron in the shoulder and taking charge. "This
tag here needs to attach to this part here..."

Hermione watched him in amazement.
Not one fight.
Not one cuss word...

I'll bet, there were a few glares and phrases they had thrown each other now
and then throughout the day...but other than that, Malfoy had been
absolutely unlike his usual self around her friends.

Hermione looked down at Airyn.
She would need her feed again soon.

"Are you ready, Malfoy?" She asked the blond, who was sitting on the floor
with Ron.

He looked over at her, smiling slightly.
"Yeah" He told her. "Just give me a minute; Weasley has twisted this bloody
thing into all sorts of knots"

Ron frowned.
"I didn't realise it was inside out"

Hermione sniggered.

"We're going to get going" Harry announced, getting up from the floor and
hand Freddie to Millicent.

"Us, too" Seamus told everyone, picking up the baby bag as Luna wheeled the
pram out of the apartment.

Soon there was only Herself and Malfoy left to leave.

"I'm putting Joon to bed" Parvati announced, walking into the room in between
her own and Ron's. "When you're done messing around with Benny, you can put
him down for the night"

Ron looked at the masterpiece he had just achieved.
"Brilliant" He said triumphantly.

Malfoy smirked.
Then he took another glance back at Granger, and smiled when he saw her
looking at him.
"That's exactly what I thought when I first did it"

Ron studied him for a moment.

Draco noticed that Weasley was looking at him, and turned back around to
face him.

Ron frowned.
His expression...his eyes...the way his attitude seemed to have changed
when Hermione was present...

Hermione felt the tension crackle in the air as the two boys stared at
each other.

And then it was gone.

Malfoy stood up and walked over to Hermione, shuffling her out of the door
as she said her goodbyes.

Then he looked back at Weasley.

"Don't try and psych me" He said simply, his eyes staring directly into
Ron's. "I know what you tried to do just now, and I'm not one to let people
look any further into it than they have to"

But Ron didn't need to look any further.

He knew.

Malfoy had feelings for Hermione.

And jealousy was suddenly biting at his heels.




_________________________



A/N:
Woohooo! All of the reviews!!!!!
THANKYOU for everyone who has commented!
I appreciate your points of view!!





EGELLA:
Thankyou for the wonderful review! I'm glad that you and everyone else is really taking on board the build-up of the fic...at the end of the day, this is how it would have to go for them to even get anywhere in a real relationship lol.
Feel free to review anytime, i love hearing everyone's opinions!!!


CURIOUS:
Well...hermione is a virgin herself (in this fic, anyway lol) and i think some of the girls maybe, too.
The birthing situation happened quickly...and the professors wanted to make it as painless as possible so that the girls weren't put in any danger...so i guess they would have to take into account the fact that some of the girls must be virgins, so that they didn't encounter any potentially dangerous problems...thats as accurately i can answer that question lmao! I hope that explains it enough??

SESSH'S SANGO:
Glad you enjoyed chapter 17!!
And i hope you equally enjoyed chapter 18!!!!
I value your opinions, as i do with everyone else!!! Thankyou!!


WENMEI:
Thankyou for making me feel that i am making the right choice by holding off on the smut lol. Some reviewers WANT the smut...but the way I see it; the longer you wait, the better it will be lmao! And thankyou for saying that my writing as improved!
I thought so too, so thankyou for acknowledging it!!!!! :-D

BOBOZZA:
I can understand if you are a hermione/harry shipper and therefore this story is not for you lol. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but i really appreciate that you attempted to read this fic! It makes me feel proud to know that i am writing something that other ships can read, too!! So thankyou!


SEXIMEXI27, STEPH, APPLEBLOSSUM, JAYNA, CATYSMOM and SKYLAR SCHAEFFER:
Thankyou for your continued support!!!!
I love reading your reviews!! And Steph, I'm really honoured that you think my fic is amazing lmao!!!


WILLOW ERIS:
I'm glad you stumbled upon this fic, lol. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and i hope that you continue to do so!!!
Thankyou for reviewing!!

LEXY MALFOY:
My life line...lmao!
I'm so happy that your still enjoying this fic!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thankyou for ALL of your support!!!!!!



Ok.......A little teaser BUT:

THE NEXT CHAPTER HAS SOMETHING WHICH SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!!!!!

*winks*

Hehehehehehe!!!

xxx