Something In The Way She Moves

Chapter 19: Discovery







Christmas Eve morning found Hermione and Draco at the small table in her kitchen having their breakfast. Studly was sitting on the floor at Hermione’s feet happily accepting the pieces of food she was passing to him off of her plate. Draco was sitting in the chair across from her in a pair of baggy red sleep pants that tied just below his navel reading the prophet.





“You need to eat that, Hermione, not feed it to Studs.” Draco said, peering at her from around the paper.





“I ate most of it, my tummy is protesting the eggs.” She said, shoving at the fluffy scrambled eggs with her fork.





“Are you going to be ill again?” He asked. His wife’s morning sickness troubled him even though the healer assured him that it was perfectly normal and would eventually pass.





“I don’t think so.” She said, tightening the belt on her robe as she scratched Studly’s head. “I think it’s nerves. Do we really have to tell everyone on Christmas?”





Draco had decided that they would wait a week until Christmas to tell their families and friends about their marriage. Hermione was on holiday from work, so she didn’t have to worry about people noticing her ring or the fact that she made several running trips to the loo in order to lose the contents of her stomach. She had thought it a great idea at first, but once they returned home she realized that their nuptials and impending parenthood might not be the gift they anticipated.





“Well, that was the plan but I think it may be blown to shit now.” Draco said as he folded the paper and passed it to her.







Malfoy Heir Marries Muggleborn in Secret Ceremony!





Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune is officially off of the list of available pureblood bachelors. Over the weekend the only son of famed death eater and aristocrat Lucius Malfoy changed his status when he secretly wed none other than war heroine Hermione Granger. The ceremony took place in Gretna Green. Witnesses say that the couple were obviously very much in love and couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. Sources tell us that the two have been together for several months but were opting to keep it out of the public eye. This is a sad day for pure blood witches everywhere who had hoped to land the wealthy young man themselves.







Between the headline and the article itself was a photo of the two of them taken by a photographer that Draco hired so that they would have the memories of that day.





“Oh no….how…who?” Hermione’s eyes were wide as she stared at the announcement in the paper. “This isn’t good.”







“Someone obviously recognized us and clearly they had access to the photographer, probably was the bloody photographer.” Draco said, shaking his head.





“What are we going to do?” She asked.





“Well, first…” Draco was interrupted by the sound of several loud cracks that sounded like thunder and shook the house. “Scratch that…we are about to be ambushed.”





Loud voices, several of them, could be heard coming from the patio in back of Hermione’s house. Then came the pounding on the door that shook it on it’s hinges.





“Oh no, Draco!” She looked panicked as she stared at the back door.





“It’s a good thing they couldn’t apparate into the house. Smart idea to ward against that one or they would have all been in our lap.” He grouched as he unfolded himself from the chair and unlocked the back door. He swung it open to find Potter and an army of Weasley’s, along with his parents, glaring at him with papers in hand.





“What is the meaning of this, Malfoy?” Harry demanded as he held up the news paper clutched tightly in his fist.





“What? No congratulations?” Draco asked. “Come inside and we will explain.” He stepped back as they filed through the door one by one. Potter…Ginny, with a child on each hip…Molly…Arthur….Ron…Bill…Fred….Fleur….George….Percy….Charlie…

Lucius and finally a weeping Narcissa.





Draco led them into the living room where Hermione sat on the edge of the sofa. Studly immediately spotted Lucius and without a moments hesitation he dove for the older wizard and knocked him back onto the chaise near the window, avidly licking his face and whimpering in delight.





“Draco, get this bloody animal off of me!” Lucius shouted, shoving at Studly’s sizable form. Draco whistled and Studly turned his head to look back at his master, then with one last lick he trotted back over to sit at Hermione’s feet.





Everyone began talking at once, the sheer volume of their voices was deafening as Hermione and Draco sat side by side without understanding a word that was being shouted at them. Draco leaned back on the sofa, a snarky grin on his face as he stroked his wife’s back comfortingly.





“Enough!” Lucius shouted above the din. Everyone went silent and stared at the large, blond wizard as he shoved his way to the front of the room. “Be quiet, the bloody lot of you! He is my son and I will address the questions here.”





Lucius looked angry as he glared down at his son and new daughter-in-law. His lips were drawn tight and his cheeks were ruddy.





“What in the world were you thinking?” Lucius’s voice was pitched low and Hermione shuddered at the menacing tone.





“I was just thinking that the lot of you are rather rude to barge in on our breakfast.” Draco was not going to let them make him or Hermione feel badly about their marriage.





“Don’t be a smart aleck, Draco!” Lucius snapped as he began pacing the floor.





“Is the article true?” Harry asked. “Did the two of you run off and get married?”





Draco smiled and held up his left hand where the glittering ring encircled his finger. Once more the room erupted into a roar of indefinable voices.





“SILENCE!” Lucius roared and the room went quiet. “We will never get an answer if you imbeciles insist on all speaking at once!”





“Draco darling, why would you do such a thing?” Narcissa asked tearfully.





“Oh stop with the tears, Mother.” Draco said, rolling his eyes. “THIS is why we did it the way we did, because I knew that doing it any other way would turn into a bloody circus!”





“So you sneak off and get married? Show up with a brand spanking new bride and expect us to be overjoyed that you didn’t tell us or include us?” Lucius asked.





“We were going to tell you tomorrow, on Christmas.” Draco grinned. “And I have never spanked my wife…yet.”





Hermione groaned and shook her head, leave it to Draco to make a joke in such an uncomfortable situation.





“Did you not think that your family and…these people…would like to be with you? To be a part of your marriage?” Lucius asked as he paced back and forth in front of them.





“Mr. Malfoy?” Hermione whimpered as she watched him. His constant movement was making her stomach roll.





“You are our only child, Draco! The heir to the Malfoy line, did you even consider what that means?” Lucius’s pacing became more and more agitated as he went on.





“Mr. Malfoy…” Hermione swallowed hard and laid her hand on her stomach.





“I can’t begin to tell you how upset I am over this! And NOT because of who you married, loathe as I am to admit it, I actually like the girl, even if she is a mud…erm…muggleborn.” His cane was ticking against the wood flooring as he paced.





“Mr. Malfoy, please stop moving…”





“Your mother and I are deeply hurt that you wed without us present….”





His non-stop motion combined with the tension was too much and before she could flee Hermione’s stomach heaved and her breakfast reappeared all over her father-in-law’s well polished shoes and the hem of his trousers. The tension in the crowd eased instantly and a roar of laughter erupted.





Hermione sat on the sofa staring in mortification at the mess. Draco slid his arm around her shoulders, his body shaking with laughter as he tried to comfort her. The look on his father’s face was one of complete shock and utter disgust. It was priceless.





“I’m so sorry!” Hermione cried, burying her face in her hands.





“You…are ill?” Lucius said in disgust as he cast a cleansing spell over his feet, vowing that he would have the trousers and shoes burned upon his return home.





“You have upset her!” Draco said as he accio’d a glass of water from the table and pressed it into her hands.





“Does she vomit on people every time she gets upset?” Lucius asked bad temperedly.





“No and she asked you to stop moving so much.” Draco said. “Are you alright, Luv?” He asked as he pushed her hair back from her face.





“No…I just threw up on your father.” She moaned.





“If she is ill you should take her to a healer so she isn’t going about losing her accounts on unsuspecting individuals.” Lucius snapped.



“She isn’t ill and she isn’t the one who was made nauseous by your endless pacing and posturing, it was your grandchild who took offense.” Draco said, a smug grin lifting the corner of his mouth when the news began to register with the group.





“Grandchild?” Narcissa’s head perked up instantly and her cheeks flushed, her blue eyes wide and glittering. “Did you say grandchild?”





“Yes, Mother, Hermione is carrying my child.” Draco said proudly.







“So you married her out of a sense of duty….that makes sense.” Lucius said straightening his robes.





“No, I married her because I am in love with her.” Draco said. “I was planning to propose tomorrow but when we found out about the baby I couldn’t wait.” Draco said, threading his fingers through Hermione’s once more. “I am the one who pressed the marriage. I planned it all. It was my idea.”





“But…Mione?” Harry looked down at his friend and she smiled.





“I didn’t marry him just for the baby, Harry. I love him.” She said.





“You’re pregnant?” Ron asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “How?”





“Well, Weasley, I am so glad you asked.” Draco smirked. “You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much....”





“Draco!” Narcissa scolded.





“Forgive me mother, I forgot, no sex talk in front of you.” Draco said.





“You are being a brat, Draco.” Narcissa said. “And why are you entertaining people half naked? It isn’t polite. You two are going to have to start wearing clothing if you are going to be raising my grandchild.”





“We were having breakfast, Mother, and not expecting you to come over. You weren’t invited, same as the last time the two of you decided to visit unannounced. At least this time Father isn’t ogling my naked wife.” Draco rolled his eyes, his mother was a bit of a ninny at times.





“Wait…your father saw Hermione naked?” Harry asked, suddenly confused by the change in conversation.





“It wasn’t as though I set out to see her au natural, it was purely accidental I assure you.” Lucius drawled with a grin.





“Okay, stop, all of you!” Hermione said as she stood quickly. Dizziness washed over her and she swayed a bit. To her surprise it was Lucius who put his arm around her waist to steady her.





“You aren’t going to be ill again are you?” He asked.





“No, Mr. Malfoy. Look, I know you are all worried and that you are here because you care, but this doesn’t really concern you all.” Hermione addressed the group. “This is MY life, my choices, my family. I love Draco very much and I am very happy to be his wife and to be having his child. I am sorry if you feel left out, if our eloping hurt you, but it is done. It wasn’t deliberate. It was like everything else about our relationship, it just happened.” She said. “Please be happy for us because we are so very, very happy.”





“It was just such a surprise, Dear.” Molly said stepping forward to lay her hand against Hermione’s cheek. “And you know how the boys are, hot headed and protective. The rest of us were just…well we were nosy is what we were.” She laughed. “If you are happy then we are happy for you.”





“Thank you.” Hermione said as she pulled the short, plump woman into a hug. One by one the Weasley’s stepped forward and congratulated them, hugging Hermione tightly and shaking Draco’s hand. Charlie winked at Narcissa, his broad smile revealing the stud in his tongue and causing Narcissa to gasp and fan herself. Harry and Ron were last.





“You sure about this, Mione?” Harry asked.







“More than sure.” She answered.







“Malfoy? Seriously, Mione.” Ron said, shaking his head.







“Be nice, Ronald.” Hermione said as she put an arm around each of their necks and pulled them to her for a group hug. She kissed each of their cheeks and pulled away. “I’m happy, boys. I promise you that if that changes I will let you have at him, does that make you feel better?”





“Much.” They replied in unison.





“Well, as shocked as I am I can not say that the idea of a grandchild upsets me.” Narcissa said as she approached. She smoothed her hand down Hermione’s hair and her brow furrowed. “I hope it has the Malfoy coloring.”





“I’m sort of hoping for a bushy haired little menace to wizarding society.” Draco said, grinning.





“Nonsense! Your son will be groomed from birth to be the next Malfoy heir, one that the family can be proud of. He will need to be exemplary given that he is going to be the first half-blood to inherit.” Lucius said. It wasn’t exactly the legacy he had hoped to leave, but perhaps a half-blood heir would overshadow his dark deeds.





“It could be a girl.” Hermione said.





“It’s a boy.” Draco, Lucius and Narcissa said at the same time.





“On that note I think we will just return home.” Arthur said smiling. “Congratulations to you all. Grandchildren are certainly a blessing, Lucius.”





“Well you would know, Arthur, your family breeds like niflers.” Lucius sneered. He and Arthur would never be ‘friends’ but they kept their altercations verbal in recent years. It seemed that he would be forced to socialize with them more often now. Well it would prove interesting that was for certain.







The four Malfoys soon found themselves alone and Draco encouraged his parents to have a seat.







“This is a lovely little house, Ms…well I suppose we can call you Hermione now that you are family.” Narcissa said.







“That would be lovely, Mrs. Malfoy. And thank you for the compliment.” Hermione said as she settled back onto the sofa.





“You may call me Cissy, everyone does.” She said. Hermione smiled.





“And you can call Father Big Daddy, he likes it.” Draco said, laughing at the derisive snort coming from his father.





“I wouldn’t take the advice of my son on….well anything as he obviously has no sense.” Lucius said.





“Are you extremely angry?” Hermione asked Lucius. He tipped his head to the side and looked at the pretty witch for a moment as he weighed her question.





“I am hurt to have been left out of my only child’s wedding.” He said, seeing the guilt flash in her eyes. “I am going to assume that you wish to know if I am angry that Draco has diluted the blood line. The answer is no, I am not angry exactly. I wont lie to you, I am not exactly thrilled, I do not adapt to change well and this is certainly going to be a change. However, I will adjust. After all, it is done. You are wed and my grandchild grows in your womb as we speak.”







“I am sorry our elopement hurt you. To be honest we weren’t really thinking about it.” Hermione said softly.





“Not to worry. We will simply hold a large reception in honor of the marriage.” Narcissa said, her eyes alight with the idea of a party.







“That would be nice, Mother.” Draco smiled at her.







“Well, this has been some morning.” Lucius said as he got to his feet. “We will leave the two of you alone now. What are your plans for tomorrow?”





“We have breakfast with Hermione’s parents, they need to be told. Then a luncheon at the Weasley’s and we will be at the Manor for supper.” Draco said.





“Well, we will see you then.” Lucius said. He surprised them all when he bent down and kissed Hermione’s cheek. “You may call me Lucius.” He said before standing up straight. “You may call me Big Daddy when we are alone if you like.” He winked and she couldn’t help but laugh. So that was where Draco got his sense of humor, she never would have guessed.





“Have a good day, My Darling.” Narcissa said as she caressed Draco’s cheek. “Oh I can’t believe my baby is married and having a child.”





“Take it easy, Mum, we will see you tomorrow.” Draco said, kissing his mother’s cheek before his parents used the fireplace to return home.





“Well, that was interesting.” Hermione said.





“Well telling them all at once certainly made it easy. Now tomorrow we just have to worry about your parents reactions.”





“I’m not worried, my mother is in love with you.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes.





“Mother like daughter.” He said, pulling Hermione into his arms. “You throwing up on my father was genius, I have never seen anything so funny in all my life.”





“Please don’t remind me, I am horrified!” She groaned, laying her head on his chest.







“Are you feeling okay now?” He asked, his hands sliding down her back and over the curve of her bum.







“I’m fine.” She snuggled into him.







“Good, let’s go back to bed, Mrs. Malfoy.” He lifted her high against his chest ad carried her off down the hall to their bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.





Studly groaned and walked in a circle before curling up on the rug with a sigh. The way his master and mistress mated there would soon be a little army of ear pullers and tail biters crawling all over him. He could barely contain his excitement at the thought.









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2 chappies in one day! Im feeling generous and things are wrapping up here, my mind pleasantly distracted elsewhere. =)







Gennastar – I will agree that marriage is very important. But I don’t think it really matters if it was a long, thought out process that led to it or a whim. It either works or it doesn’t. My parents were married on a whim and they have been going strong for 34 years. I have friends who were engaged for years, with huge carefully planned weddings and they divorced in a year. I think, like with everything else in life it is subjective to the people in the marriage. I don’t think that there is any set plan that can be followed for success, what works for one couple isn’t going to work for another. Honestly, it is a miracle I even had them get married. I have been married 14 years with 3 kids and it was never work, our relationship always sort of just happened. It always came easy to us until the day he was deployed to Iraq. Then it all changed and now I am in the middle of a divorce that I don’t understand because it came out of the blue with him STILL in Iraq. My views on marriage are highly jaded at the moment. I appreciate your opinion on the subject and appreciate you sharing it. But I don’t think that every couple can be painted with such broad strokes, different strokes for different folks and all that jazz =)