The Baby Project

Chapter Twenty Three:

I'm everything you never wanted,
why does it mean so much to you?
Walking away,
I'm not begging you to please let me stay.

Should I say that we should still be friends?
Should I cry,
and should I just pretend?
That it's killing me,
and I don't want you to leave.
Should I make you think I suffer,
When it doesn't matter?'

Hermione twisted the sheets around her body.
She could hear Airyn's tiny form moving in the crib next to her bed.

It was useless...
How on earth was she going to get asleep at all in the next two weeks, when
she could feel Malfoy right there...just on the opposite side of her
upstairs landing?

Today on the train, when Malfoy had disappeared, Hermione had wondered where
he had got off to.
She shoved the thought to the back of her mind however, knowing that it was
not up to her if Malfoy decided to take a sudden trip somewhere.

What was bothering her was the fact that Parvati had also exited the
carriage a few minutes later.
The girl had seemed bothered for a while. Hermione couldn't quite put her
finger on it, but she knew there was something wrong with her.

When Parvati had returned, she had a face like thunder.
Ron didn't seem at all bothered, he just kept bouncing little Benny up and
down on his knee, finding his son far more interesting.

The Patil twin had sat down haughtily in her seat, folding her arms across
her chest with a huff.
Hermione had studied her for a minute.
Her face was angry, and her body language was giving off all the wrong
signals...she looked as if she had seen something that she didn't like.

Malfoy came back fifteen minutes later, looking a little disheveled and his
shirt seemed a little creased...
He slid back into his seat next to Hermione and began rolling the pram back
and forth absentmindedly...Parvati didn't take her eyes off of him the
whole time....

It shouldn't have bothered her.
At the end of the day, Malfoy can do whatever he wants...
But she couldn't help the fact that he brain had started working overtime as
she glanced at both Malfoy and Parvati...exciting the carriage and entering
the carriage...

Hermione rolled over in her bed.
She had to stop these burning thoughts before they made her jealous...and
Hermione Granger did not get jealous.

She rubbed her eyes, blinking slightly.
There was no way that she was getting sleep tonight.
She sat up in bed and fluffed the pillows behind her, turning on her night
light.

"God damn insomnia..."

She could still hear Airyn's low breathing in the crib.
She slowly peered into it, seeing the sleeping form of her baby lying there,
her hands balled into tiny fists.

She reached out to touch Airyn's soft pink cheek -


BANG!

Hermione almost shot right into the air with fright.

Within those few seconds, the whole house had managed to wake up.
Airyn had been woken from her sleep and was now crying from the loud crash
that had come from the hallway, and Hermione could hear her Mum and Dad
coming out of their bedroom.

She slowly picked the sleeping baby from her crib and put her onto her
shoulder, trying to calm her down.
Her heart was still racing from the thought of what that loud noise could
have been the impact from...she couldn't bare to think about it.

As she walked towards her door and opened it, she could hear mumbles from
voices across the hall.

Someone was laughing.

As her eyes sought out the dark silhouettes across the hall, she realised
that whatever the noise had been, it had come from Malfoy's room.

Her heart suddenly started beating faster.

But the laughter was still there.

"What's going on?" She asked, walking slowly towards the opposite side of
the hallway, where Malfoy's room was situated.

"Is that you, Hermione darling?" Came her Father's voice, still full of
laughter.

"Yes" She said quietly. "Whatever that noise was, it woke Airyn up"

A light switched suddenly flicked on inside Malfoy's box room.
The hallway seemed brighter, and Hermione had to squint her eyes to get used
to the light.

She tried to shush Airyn by rubbing her back gently; she was still wailing
from the shock of the big bang.

Hermione could see her Father's figure at the entrance of the room.
He was still laughing.

"He could have been hurt, Paul" Janet's voice came from inside the room.
"This is not a laughing matter"

"If you don't laugh, then you cry" Came Malfoy's voice...and surprisingly
she could hear laughter in his voice, too.

Hermione came to stand by her Father's side, wondering exactly what was so
funny.

And then she saw it.

Or...him.

Sitting there on the floor against the wardrobe, his bed sheet splayed out
around him...rubbing the back of his head.

"What happened?" Hermione asked curiously, wincing as Airyn's shrill crying
became louder.

"Draco took...erm..." Janet tried to explain, her face displaying the
smallest signs of a smile.

"I fell arse over tit off the bed" Malfoy told her simply, looking up at her
with a smirk on his lips.

It was a good job that he found it funny, because Hermione suddenly found it
hilarious.
But it wasn't hard to see why he had fell out of the bed...it was
basically the size of Airyn's crib.

"I couldn't have put it better myself" Paul said, smirking. He then looked
over at his 'Grand-daughters' face, seeing it a horrible red colour from all
of her crying. "What's up here, then?" He suddenly asked, changing the
subject and tickling Airyn's cheek affectionately.

"Malfoy woke her up" Hermione told him, sighing.

"Malfoy?" Janet asked curiously.

"It's not my fault, Granger" He told her defensively, still rubbing his
head. "I could be dead now if the wardrobe hadn't of broke my fall"

"Granger?" Paul asked, more curiously than his wife.

"You do realise that you have a house full of Grangers..." Janet told
him pointedly, giving him a smirk. "You will have to let us know which one
you want to address"

Draco put his head down, feeling a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.
He hadn't thought of that.

"Here" Paul said to his daughter, changing the subject. "Give Airyn to me
and your Mum and we'll see if she will take a bottle"

Hermione nodded and handed her daughter over, feeling an instant sense of
loss when she did.

"I hope you haven't bruised yourself too badly, Draco" Janet said, getting
up from the bed looking slightly concerned. "Let me know if your head still
hurts in the morning, and I will give you some pain killers"

Draco nodded in thanks, giving the woman a small smile.

Then Granger's mum and dad left the room...leaving only their Daughter
standing in the hallway.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at him.
He was sat there on the floor; naked from the waist up, white sheets all
around him from the bed, and his hair was sticking up on end.

If it was possible, he looked even more yummy than he did that night they
had kissed.

'Yummy?!' She thought scornfully to herself. 'Since when is Draco
Malfoy YUMMY looking?'

Since now, apparently...

"What are you smirking at?" He asked her from the floor.

She shook her head.
"Nothing...I just didn't think it was actually possible for someone to fall
out of a bed..."

Draco glared at her, before his face broke into a smile.
It was true...in all of his life, he had never managed to actually fall out
of a bed.
To say he was embarrassed about the situation was an understatement...he had
wanted the floor to swallow him up when he could hear Granger's Mum and Dad
entering his room, wondering if someone had tried to break in.

And it didn't help matter's when Granger's dad had taken one look at him,
and then started laughing!
NO ONE laughed at Draco...

Except...he started laughing himself.
And Draco never laughed at himself...because laughing at himself was not
taking himself seriously...

Not that he could help it.
Once the shock had subsided, he knew that the situation looked highly
hilarious to anyone looking upon it.
And he couldn't help but laugh harder once Mrs Granger had tried to check up
on his health, asking him if he needed medical assistance.

But then he saw Granger walking through the door...
And remembered the exact reason for WHY he fell out of the bed.

You see;
Once Draco had finally gave into sleep tonight, he had found himself in the
middle of a very weird dream...involving himself and the Head Girl...a very
weird dream indeed...

@--,--'----




"Please..."
Hermione absentmindedly felt him fondling the buttons of her checkered
shirt.
But she didn't care, as long as he didn't stop touching her.

"Please, what?" He asked her, his voice whispering in her ear as he nipped
at it.

He unfastened the last of her buttons and looked down at her momentarily.
The plain white bra she had on showed her innocence.
Her breasts were held in tightly, spilling out slightly over the top.

He reached up and grabbed one, testing the waters.
He felt her shudder against him.

"I don't know" She told him, wincing slightly when he touched her breast.
They were still a little sore.

But he seemed to sense it, and started kneading it softly through the
fabric.
He began kissing her slowly all over her face. Soft, sensuous kisses that
left her skin tingling.

When he reached back to her ear, all of her senses were lost.
"I think I know what you want..."

Somewhere between being kissed thoroughly, having her breast kneaded and
having his leg ground against her, Hermione had lost all sense of logic.
All she wanted was to feel more of him.

Draco's hand left her breast, and then moved through her open shirt, to her
back.
He unfastened her bra, and let it fall slowly down the front of her body
until it couldn't move past her arms.
His eyes widened when Granger removed the offending shirt from her body on
her own accord, and then removed the bra until it fell to the floor.

And there she stood;
His eyes exploring the contours of her naked chest.

Hermione felt a twinge of embarrassment hit her when he looked at her.
She had never been in this situation before, but her lust-addled brain had
been doing things of its own accord, without questioning her senses.

But she didn't need to think anymore when she felt Malfoy's breath against
her right breast.
She closed her eyes and held back a moan when she felt his lips placing
small kisses all around the globe, before taking the nipple in his mouth
delicately.

It wasn't like Airyn.
It was nothing like Airyn.

With Airyn, she was taking something....but Malfoy was giving to her,
instead.
And if felt unbelievably good.

Draco couldn't help it.
This girl was doing something to him, and whatever it was...he liked it.

Her rosy nipple had called to him, and when he took it into his mouth
slowly, he could feel her shuddering against him.
He ground his knee into her core as he placed his other hand onto her other
breast, rolling the stiffened nipple between his thumb and forefinger
softly, listening to her throaty moans.

Hermione could feel the wood from the pillar digging into her bare back.

Who would ever have thought that she would be doing this with Draco Malfoy?
And that she would like it?

Draco pushed harder against her, and heard her moan slightly.
He opened his eyes and saw the look of pain on her face.

"Are you ok?" He asked her, coming to her face level and kissing her cheeks.

"Yes..." She breathed, arching her back as he continued to play with her
breasts. "It's just the wood..."

"Which one?" He voice asked, innuendo definitely playing on his mind.

Hermione smirked, before his lips descended down on to hers again.

And then she felt him lift her up.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her to the bed,
making them fall back onto it.

Hermione's eyes widened.

Draco looked into her orbs, his eyes dark with lust.

His dick was positioned directly in between her thighs.
And he knew she could feel him where she needed him most.

'Thank god she decided to wear a skirt today...' He thought, smirking
to himself.

Not a mini skirt..that just wasn't Granger.
But a sensible knee length one...and it fitted her curves beautifully.

Draco bent his head and kissed her passionately.
He felt her hands go south slowly, towards his ass.

He ground himself against her against his will, loving the way she felt
beneath him.

"Oh, god..." He heard her breath between kisses.

Draco felt exactly the same.
He was using all of his self-restraint to not rip her remaining clothes from
her body and slam himself into her.


Hermione squeezed his ass and pushed his groin inwards towards her's again.
She loved the way his body was strong and demanding...making her want him
all the more.

"What do you want, Granger?" He asked her, whispering in her ear.

His right hand holding his weight on top of her, he let his left hand drift
downwards slowly...under her skirt...
His fingertips met her creamy thigh, and he saw the look of pure lust in her
eyes.

She brought his ear close to her lips, boldly nipping the outer shell of it,
feeling him shudder on top of her.
"You know what I want.." She said quietly.

Draco had to tense as her words had affected him so badly.
His fingertips were still stroking her thigh; he moved his hand upwards so
slowly, that Hermione hardly felt him move.

Until she felt his thumb graze her outer lips through her underwear.

She bit her lip to stop herself from shouting.
She had not expected that.

Draco smirked when he saw the look on her face.
She was completely lost; her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were large and
her hair was tousled...and she had never looked more beautiful to him.

Draco slowly moved his thumb over her sensitive area again.
This time she couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips.

"Do you like that?" He asked her, still looking into her face.

Hermione looked away embarrassed.
For some reason, she felt a lot more open than he looked.
But then...she was the one that was half naked.

Suddenly; and without warning, Hermione dragged Draco's shirt upwards and
didn't stop until she had pulled it over his head, causing his hair to fly
in all directions from his head.

"I like this, better" She told him, smiling wickedly.

Draco melted.
He bent his head down and kissed her roughly, his tongue searching for hers
in her mouth.
His fingers gently eased away the material of her underwear, and then
started teasing her folds slowly.

Hermione's head shot backwards onto the bed covers, not expecting this new
attack.

Nothing like this had happened to her before, and she sure as hell wasn't
expecting it to feel that good...


Draco took advantage of this, nipping and licking at her neck as his fingers
continued to tease her clit.
He pressed his chest against her's firmly, loving the feeling of her warm
breasts against him.


Hermione could feel his fingers attacking her, and it felt so good.
She had to bite her lips so many times to stop herself from groaning...

But her eyes widened once more when she felt a finger slip inside of her.


Draco looked deep into her eyes as he slowly entered her with his middle
finger.
He almost lost it when he realised how tight she was.
He moved it in and out of her a few times, before curling it
upwards...reaching for something.

Hermine couldn't take it.
It was too much.
She knew he breath was coming in gasps, and she knew she probably looked
very weird in the throws of passion...but all she cared about was how
Malfoy's fingers were making her feel.

As his finger moved in and out, he added a second one quickly, hoping she
wouldn't notice.
But she did.
And it was no wonder...that was just about as far as he could stretch her.

Draco felt his cock twitch at the thought of being deep inside of
her...feeling her muscles tensing around him as she came...

"Don't stop.." She whispered, not being able to keep it in any longer.

Draco's fingers instantly sped up, and as he watched her face he could see
her pleasure spread out for him to see.

"I'll never stop.." He answered, kissing her neck as she threw her head back
again when he circled her clit with his thumb.

She could feel something...it was creeping up on her...

"Stop..." She moaned, feeling it getting stronger...she wasn't sure if she
could handle it.

Draco smiled against the skin of her neck.
"You really want me to stop?"

"No" She told him, breathing heavily and clutching him to her as she felt it
rising from her toes.

Draco could see she was close...
Just a few more thrusts with his fingers and -


@--,--'----


Life was a bitch.
He was so close to conjuring up the image of Granger falling apart in his
arms...and then suddenly he had that falling sensation.

Obviously he was perplexed when the floor had broken his sleep...and his
fall.

He grew angry as soon as he had realised what had happened.
He had been so engrossed in his dream that he had somehow managed to wriggle
around in the bed so much that he eventually fell out of it...

So this is what dreaming about the Head Girl did to a lad?

He would have to remind himself to never do it again.

But he couldn't help himself.
It was that day...the day they had kissed.
He had thought about it so often in his day dreams that it was obviously
crossing over into his night dreams...not that he minded too much...

He was just glad that Granger's mum and dad had been too busy being both
humoured and concerned that they didn't notice Draco's painful erection.

Bloody good job, too...imagine the embarrassment!

"Malfoy?"

Draco shook away his thoughts and looked over at the girl in question.
She was sat there on his bed now, with only a white tank top and a pair of
pink pajama bottoms...absolutely ravishing.

"Sorry...I think I must have some kind of head rush"

Hermione smiled at him.
"I don't blame you, you must have taken quite a fall"

Draco stood up from the floor and grabbed the sheet around his midriff,
before sitting down beside her on the bed.
"It's called falling with style..."

Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You're hilarious, Malfoy"

Draco looked at her for a moment.
"I think it would be best if you called me Draco while we are at your
house...you Mum and Dad are getting a little confused about us calling
each other by our second names"

Hermione didn't know what to say.
How could she call him Draco? He wasn't Draco to her, he was
Malfoy...
She had familiarized herself with Malfoy over the past seven years...to
suddenly start calling him Draco would be like thinking he was a completely
different person...

But then again;

Wasn't he?

He wouldn't have been caught dead a year ago in her house...he would have
much rather killed himself, than even consider stepping foot over her
threshold...

Draco was having the same problem.
Yes, he had suggested the change...but it didn't mean that he didn't find it
strange.
Granger was the buck-toothed, bushy haired know it all that had graced his
presence in school ever since the first day of term...all the names they had
called each other...all the fighting and the arguing....

Calling her Hermione would almost be like calling her a friend...like
Potter and Weasle did....
But she was a friend, wasn't she? If the past few weeks were anything to go
by, it might even be possible that he would want her to become even more....

Possibly...

Maybe...

Best not to think about it right now...much too messy.

"Ok" She said finally. "We'll address each other by our first names in the
presence of my parents...it's too weird otherwise"

Draco smirked at her.

Well...at least they were reading from the same page.


________________________________


"I think we should do something about that bed young Draco is sleeping in"
Paul said absentmindedly, eating a piece of toast in the kitchen the next
morning.

It had been an awfully long night.
Airyn was not settling very well, and after many attempts to try and get her
to sleep, the night finally came to an end when Draco had taken over the
duties and calmed the baby down in his room.

To say that Paul was not used to this was an understatement.
Hermione was an only child, and he intended it to stay that way. Don't get
him wrong, he loved kids...they were great when you could give them back at
the end of the day...but raising your own child is something that no one can
prepare you for.

Which is why Draco and Hermione surprised him.
He knew they found it hard, but he could tell that they doted on
Airyn...almost as if she were a real baby.

'I hope they will be alright when it comes to letting her go...'

The thing with children was the attachment...
You don't see it creeping up on you...until the day they scrape their knee
for the first time, or pull out their first tooth...or ride their first
bike.

That's when you really feel love.

"We have nowhere else for him to sleep, Paul" Janet told him, frying
sausages in the pan.

Paul thought for a minute.
"Well, we do have a sleeping bag...I'm sure we could put an extra mattress
down on to Hermione's floor and let him sleep down there"

Janet gave him a look of discouragement.
She didn't like the thought of a boy sleeping in the same room as her
daughter. She didn't even like the idea of a boy LOOKING at her daughter...
"As much as I trust Hermione, I don't think that is such a good idea"

Paul rolled his eyes.
"It would be more convenient for Hermione if he was there. If Airyn woke
up, they could both be there together to help out"

Janet poked the sausages vigorously.
"And what if I go into Hermione's room one morning and find the mattress
empty, and Hermione's bed occupied by TWO bodies?"

Paul snorted into his cup of tea.
"Do you really think our Hermione would be so disrespectful?"

Janet knew he was right.
She looked around at him, an odd twinkle in her eye.
"I remember what YOU were like at that age"

Paul shrugged.
"If you mean Draco, then I don't know what his intentions are towards
Hermione. He could be here purely to help out and bond with his daughter..."

"...or with ours"

Paul gave her a look.
"Just because a boy has hormones, it doesn't mean that he's going to be bed
hopping from one girl to another...I certainly didn't..."

"Oh, I do believe that you did"

Paul didn't say anything.
He drank his tea in silence as his wife studied him.

So what if he had a mis-spent youth?
He was a rock and roller...he didn't give a shit about what anyone thought
about him...until he met Janet.
She made him see the better things in life, and he had never looked back
since.

"You didn't complain" He told her suddenly; giving her a small wink, before
picking up the paper and beginning to read the front page.

Janet was about to retort when she hear footsteps on the stairs.

Hermione suddenly appeared, looking worse for wear.

"Sleep well?" Paul asked her casually as she plopped down into a seat beside
him.

She shook her head.
From the circles under her eyes, she didn't look like she had slept much at
all.
"Mal-" She instantly changed the name "-Draco didn't get Airyn off to
sleep until six this morning...I heard her the whole time until she stopped"

Janet placed a plate full of sausages and eggs in front of her daughter,
patting her on the head sympathetically.


"Is Draco coming down?" She asked her Daughter.

Hermione looked at her.
"I thought he was already down here?"

Both Paul and Janet shook their heads.
Hermione got off her seat suddenly, and made for the stairs.

She climbed up them until she reached the landing to the second floor,
walking slowly to Malfoy's room until she was outside of the shut door.

She gently pushed the door open, until she could see through the crack.
She poked her head in curiously to see if he was still in there.

He was.

Lying down on top of the covers on his small bed...Airyn lying on her front
in the middle of his bare chest...both soundly asleep.

A smile crept across her lips.
It was such an innocent moment...one she never really got to witness
considering they didn't share close proximity at bed times, besides the
Common Room.

If it was possible, Malfoy looked all the more masculine to her.
Maybe it softened his toughened outer shell...or maybe it just showed her
that he could love something other than himself...

Whatever it was; it was change.


Hermione crept slowly into the room until she was looking down at Malfoy's
sleeping face.
She gently reached out and plucked a stray hair from his forehead, pushing
it back out of his fluttering eyelashes.
His cheeks slowly tried to nuzzle her hand in his sleep.

Hermione watched as Airyn wriggled slightly on his chest, kicking her little
legs out almost as if she were stretching them.

That's when it hit her.
This really was her family...

If not forever, then for the meantime at least.

But what really hit home...what really caused a sense of panic to rise up in
her stomach at the very prospect of her thinking it....

Was the fact that she didn't think it could get any better than what she had
right now.

Right in this moment, she had everything.

And one day...one day when this was allover, she would have nothing.

And it scared her more than she liked to imagine.


_________________________________

A/N:
Just want to thank everyone for their patience!

Ive had alot of my plate recently (my step mother has just had breast cancer sergery, so i have been helping her out in every way imaginable) and i haven't been able to find the time to write like i thought i would.

But i should be getting myself back on track now, so hopefully i will be back to my old writing habits pretty soon!!!

THANKS to everyone who has been so supportive, i really appreciate it!!!

shell
xx