If This Were A Normal Day...

Yep, you guessed it, I don’t own Harry Potter nor did I create him.....but I really wish I had.
Chapter 29
Home Sweet Home

The carriage ride back seemed to take mere seconds compared to the last one.

And though it was already late evening, Hogwarts came into view much quicker than Hermione would have liked.

Before she knew it, they were once again standing in their common room.

“Home, sweet home.” Draco smiled, letting their levitating trunks hit the floor with a hard thud.

Hermione could safely say that being back in the familiar surroundings of the common room was very comforting, though she had grown to feel quite at home at Malfoy Manor.

“Scratch that up on the list of things I never thought would happen.” Hermione smiled to herself.

“Everyone’s probably down at dinner. Shall we go make our presence known?” he asked, slipping his arms around her waist.

“Sure.” smiled Hermione. “Let’s go give them something to talk about.”

********************************************************

They pushed open the doors to the Great Hall and all faces turned to stare.

There were hushed whispers and murmurs as Draco and Hermione parted ways and headed toward their respective tables.

She spotted Ginny, Harry, and Ron sitting across from Neville and Seamus. She was quickly waved over by an ecstatic Ginny.

Upon approaching, Hermione saw Neville jump several inches in the air and the clamber out of his seat.

“Would you like to sit down, Hermione?” he stammered, offering her his place.

“Why thank you Neville! That\'s so nice of you!” she smiled warmly at him.

As she moved to take her seat, she felt Neville take hold of her, obviously trying to help her ease down into her seat as though she were delicate and would break if not handled carefully.

Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle at the fumbling boy.

“You’re going to make some lucky young lady a nice husband one day.” she beamed at him, making his cheeks flush red.

“You look like you feel loads better!” Ginny smiled at her.

“Well, I do.” Hermione smiled. “I had such a good time. I really didn’t think I would, but,” she chuckled, “I did! Come by the common room after dinner and I’ll tell you all about it. We have tons of catching up to do!”

“Of course I will!” Ginny said.

Hermione’s eyes lighted on Ron. He was staring intently down at his plate as though his roast beef were about to do something very interesting.

Hermione half smiled to herself, thinking he must be nervous about seeing her again too.

She inhaled deeply, then extended her hand to rest on his.

“How are you feeling?” she asked softly, patting him gently.

“I’m better.” he said, looking sadly up at her before pulling his hand away.

She frowned at his action, but didn’t push the issue.

“I’m not really hungry.” she stated, turning to Ginny. “You want to go ahead and walk back to the common room with me?”

“Sure!” Ginny grinned. “I’m done with this anyway.” she said, tossing down her fork.

Both girls strode toward the door and exited the Great Hall.

“So, judging by Neville’s display, everyone must know, huh?” Hermione frowned.

“Well, umm....yea, pretty much everyone knows. You owe a great big thank you to Pansy Parkinson for that one. The minute she learned you and Draco were shacking up at Malfoy Manor, she told everyone what was going on.”

“First of all,” Hermione laughed. “We weren’t shacking up.”

“Oh really??” Ginny grinned. “And what would you call it you naughty, naughty girl!”

“We were......well.....it was just.......okay, yea, we were shacking up.” she grinned back, giving Ginny a playful elbow.

They arrived at the common room door and Hermione gave the password to a portrait who was obviously thrilled to see her.

The door swung open and she and Ginny stepped inside.

“I’m so happy to be back!” Hermione said, letting her cloak fall from her shoulders.

“Well, I’m happy to hav-Oh my goodness!!” Ginny squeaked and extended her hand for Hermione’s tummy.

“Yea, she flutters every now and then.” Hermione smiled at the expression on Ginny’s face. “Yes, I said ‘she”

“I knew it!” Ginny declared. “I told you, I have a sense about these things!”

Hermione chuckled at her friend.

Soon the girls were curled up in front of the fire place, sipping hot chocolate and giggling.

“Draco took me shopping in Diagon Alley.” Hermione said. “I think his mother was more excited about it than I was! She bought one of everything in every color!”

Ginny’s eyebrow raised.

“So, she\'s not upset?” she asked, disbelievingly.

“No!” Hermione said, raising her eyebrows as well. “She took it marvelously! I mean, I never would have expected it, but she is so sweet!”

“Well, that\'s a surprise!” Ginny said, taking another sip of her hot chocolate. “So, how did your Mum take it?”

Hermione’s stared into her cup, frowning.

“Not so well.” she murmured. “She had a fit and said some horrible things and then there was a big confrontation between she and Draco. It was a mess, a holy mess.”

“Aw, don’t worry darling.” Ginny smiled at her, patting her hand. “It will all work out.”

“I hope so.” she frowned. “As of right now, I’m barred from contact with her under King Draco’s orders.” Hermione cracked a smile.

“He’s just trying to look out for you.” she said. “It will heal itself. Just give it time. So, what else did you do?”

“Well, not really much else.” Hermione grinned. “Well, not really much else you’d be interested in hearing about.”

“On the contrary,” Ginny’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m very interested in hearing!”

Hermione bit down on her lip and grinned wickedly.

She proceeded to fill Ginny in on her relaxing night.

“Oh Merlin!” she cried. “I am so jealous!!”

“Yea,” Hermione grinned sheepishly, trying to conceal the fact she was blushing. “It was pretty great.”

“I knew I should have grabbed Draco Malfoy when he was available!” Ginny grinned, smacking Hermione with a pillow.

“Aw, come on!” she said playfully. “Harry can’t be that bad.”

“Well,” Ginny said, wrinkling her nose slightly. “He’s not really what you would call bad. Just, I don’t know. Boring I suppose.”

Ginny covered her mouth and giggled as did Hermione.

************************************

Draco stood just inside the doorway listening to Hermione and Ginny’s conversation.

He had noticed the two girls leaving the Great Hall and had followed

He grinned broadly as he heard Hermione’s recount of their night together and almost laughed out loud at Ginny’s confession about Harry.

“Guess he’s not the best at everything.” he thought to himself with a smirk.

He listened intently to Hermione and Ginny’s conversation.

“Lemme see your tummy.” Ginny squeaked.

He watched Hermione lift her top.

“It’s so cute!” Ginny squealed.

“Ugh, it’s fat.” Hermione frowned.

“No it’s not!” she replied, narrowing her eyes at Hermione.

“Aw, she’s moving!” Hermione smiled warmly.

“Where? Put my hand on it.” Ginny instructed.

Hermione took her hand and placed it on her lower stomach.

“Oh!” Ginny cried. “I feel it!!”

“WHAT?!” Draco cried, giving up his hiding place in the doorway.

Both Hermione and Ginny jumped out of their skins.

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she was quickly brushed out of the way by the insistent hand of Draco.

“Move, move!” he grumbled at her.

His hand groped at Hermione’s stomach, but there was nothing.

“Why is it that Ginny gets everything before me??” Draco practically screamed, a very exasperated look on his face. “It’s my baby, damn it!”

He turned to look at Ginny, who was desperately trying to suppress a violent fit of laughter.

“Would you like to be her father?? She seems to like you better!” he cried, shaking his head in disbelief.

“That\'s nonsense. Just because Ginny felt the baby kick before you doesn’t mean she likes you any less.” Hermione stated. “It just means you’re catching her at bad times.”

Draco scowled and shot a dirty look over his shoulder at Ginny.

“Well, as entertaining as this has been, it’s getting late. I’d better get to bed.” she smiled, giving Hermione a hug and making her way toward the portrait hole. “Good night!” she called before stepping out.

“Good night, Gin.” Hermione called back.

She heard the door click closed, then turned to Draco.

“So,” she began. “You were eavesdropping?”

“No!” Draco said, scowling at her once again. “I was simply standing in the doorway and overheard your conversation.”

“That’s eavesdropping, love.” she said, almost smiling.

“No, it isn’t. It’s overhearing. So,” he began once again. “Potter’s boring in bed. You know, I could have guessed that. He seems like a strictly missionary type guy.”

Hermione’s eyes widened and she slapped Draco’s arm.

“I didn’t realize you devoted that much time to thinking about Harry in the sack! Is there something you’d like to discuss with me?”

Draco grinned at her, then kissed her forehead.

“We should go to bed. Classes start tomorrow and it’ll be a big day.”

“Suppose you’re right.” Hermione half-smiled at him.

“Come on,” he said, ushering her toward their bedroom. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”

A/N: Hi! Hope you enjoyed the Chapter!! Its kind of like a ground work/filler chapter so....umm...YaY.
Okay, ::reads through my reviews:: Alrightie, I had one a long time ago asking what kind of writing background I have. Sadly, I have none. I took a class in middle school for a semester, but that\'s it. These are the first stories I\'ve ever attempted to write. Hopefully, I’ll get better with practice.
Angiil: Thank you! I’m glad you like my portrayal of the characters! ( some people didn’t) With the Harry and Ron thing: In my opinion, everyone has a darker side and there\'s a point where even the best of people will snap and show that bad side to you.
With Ron, I guess I used the shock of seeing someone he was sooo sure was going to end up with him fall into the arms of his arch enemy, so to speak.
With Harry, I used the fact that he’s lost everything, his family, his home, etc. I guess I used his fear of losing Ron to have him support him even though he obviously did something wrong.
With Draco. well, no one has ever seen the way he acts around someone he actually likes. lol
So I naturally assumed, if it were someone he loved, he’d be nice to them ::shrugs:: maybe I was way off base, but i liked it.
Narcissa is definitely my current favorite. lol I don’t really guess i had much logic behind her. I just thought it would be cool if Hermione showed up there so intent that Draco’s mother was going to hate her because of her bloodline, only to see that she’d prejudged Narcissa.
lol Well, now that everyone’s been well informed, i suppose i can end this note with a great big thank you to everyone who reviewed and my kick ass beta reader Audrey. I love yoooooou!!! :o)