You Raise Me Up

The long-awaited chapter! The baby will be born! But I'm not giving away any details, people, you gotta read!

And there will be two or three chapters after this one, including the Epilogue. READ ON, FAITHFUL FANS!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry and Draco sat at a table together, talking and laughing over butterbeer and sandwiches. Over the past few months they had formed a strange friendship. They discovered that each liked to get a rise from the other, and took guilty pleasure in coming up with new and creative names to call each other.

“So…have you asked the little Weaslette out on a date, yet?” Draco asked, taking a swig of his warm butterbeer to ward off the cold. The two had bumped into each other at the Quidditch supply shop around the corner, and after a friendly exchange they had decided to walk to a small deli down the street for lunch.

Draco had called Hermione on his magically enhanced cellular phone, and told her not to wait up for him at lunch. At nine months pregnant Hermione had all but been put on bed rest, much to her chagrin. Her petit form wasn’t taking the last month of pregnancy very well, and her activities were restricted to basically walking from room to room.

“I took her on a date last week, but it was really awkward. After all this time…she’s more like a sister, and it was just plain weird…” Harry said, shuddering slightly at the thought. “She agreed with me. She’s got a date with Neville tonight.” He said, finishing off his sandwich.

“Longbottom? I saw him the other day when Uncle Sev sent me to get him some Aconite for Lupin’s Woldsbane Potion.” He said. “He was selling some sort of herb to the shop. Apparently it’s really rare, and terribly hard to grow. He’s making a small fortune just selling some of the harder to procure potions ingredients.” Draco said. “I told Uncle Sev, and he nearly had a heart attack. He said the thought of using potions ingredients that Longbottom had produced was more disturbing than the thought of French-kissing the Dark Lord.” Draco finished. Harry, who had been taking a swig of his drink, cough violently, sputtering the sweet drink down his chin and onto his shirt. Draco snorted.

“That’s disgusting!” Harry said, using his napkin to wipe up the mess.

Draco chuckled softly. A soft ringing in the vicinity of Draco’s pocket distracted Harry momentarily. Harry’s dark eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he picked up lyrics about a ‘honkytonk badonkadonk.’

“That’s…that’s Hermione…” Draco said, his pale cheeks coloring slightly. Harry shook his head as Draco fished out the small silver phone, answering it quickly.

“Hullo, love.” He answered, bringing his bottle to his lips. Harry heard the soft murmur of a voice on the line, and nearly jumped from his seat when Draco sprayed butterbeer from shock. “Wh-what?” he asked, trying to mop up his mess. “I’ll be right there. Just stay calm. Uh huh…I love you too.” He said. Draco quickly slapped a handful of galleons on the table. “Here, Potter. Pay for this.” He said, and threw on his thick winter cloak.

“What’s wrong, mate?” Harry asked, his brows furrowing.

“Mione’s water broke!”

~~

When Draco got to the Manor, Hermione had already been moved to the Birthing Room. She was settled on the bed, soft pillows surrounding her, a book in her hand. Her Midwitch, none other than Molly Weasley, had already arrived, and was knitting in a chair by her bed. Hermione had wanted Molly nearby for this part, and they had arranged for a Healer to come by afterwards to check the mother and child.

“Wha…what’s going on here?” Draco asked. Hermione smiled.

“Well…right now is the easiest part. I’m in true labor, but my contractions will be pretty far apart at first. So we wait.” She said softly, turning the page in her book.

“Do…you want me to wait with you?” he asked. She smiled.

“Of course I want you here.” She said softly. He pulled a chair up beside her bed, and sat down gingerly. Molly smiled at the young blonde.

“Oh, it’s so wonderful, isn’t it? I remember when I was in labor with Bill. Arthur and I were so excited. And I’m so happy for you two.” She said, and then went back to her knitting. Hermione smiled, and rested her hand on her stomach.

“We’re happy too. And we’re so excited. Aren’t we, Draco?” she asked. Draco gave a genuine smile.

“I can’t wait.”

~~

By the time Hermione reached the final part of her labor, she was in emotional tatters. Her petit body wasn’t handling the hard labor well at all, and poor Draco wasn’t sure he was emotionally strong enough to deal with the tiny witch in extreme pain.

When a particularly nasty contraction hit, and she cried out, he swore he felt his heart break. He grabbed her hand in his, and laced their fingers together. He winced when her hand immediately clamped down on his, cutting off the circulation to his fingers.

“Careful, love….that’s…that’s my wand hand…” he urged gently, trying to loosen her grip.

“Muggle-fucking-troll-shite! Don’t worry about your f-fucking hand, you arse! I’m having a b-baby, here! I s-swear to god when th-this is over, I’m g-going to cut off your c-cock and shove in down your throat!” she snapped. Draco’s pale face lost what color it had, leaving the skin a sickly grey color. Molly pursed her lips. She remembered saying something along those lines to Arthur when she was delivering Charlie….and they all knew how well that turned out…

“Come on, dear, just a few more pushes. Can you do that?” Molly pleaded gently. Hermione’s hand squeezed Draco’s even harder as she bore down, pushing as hard as she could. Draco bared his teeth. Damn, the little firebrand had a grip!

Tears had begun to leak from Hermione’s eyes, and Draco pulled out a soft handkerchief with his free hand, gently mopping tears and sweat from her face.

“I can see the head, my dear! Just one more good push!”

With a strength Hermione didn’t know she had, she bore down with all her might. A few moments later, the wail of a newborn baby pierced the air. Hermione fell against the pillows, completely exhausted, as Molly dealt with the newborn.

A few baby-gentle spells later and the umbilical cord was cut, and the infant cleaned.

Draco was a bit preoccupied trying to pry Hermione’s hand off of his. He knew the baby was crying, so it was okay.

“Mione….my…my hand…” he said softly. She looked over, and registered he was in pain. She let his hand go, and he groaned in relief. Hermione watched, light-headed, as Molly wrapped the baby in a blanket. But she didn’t get to see her baby’s face, because she blacked out at the moment, going limp against the pillows. Draco was in a right tizzy.

“What happened?” he asked, alarmed. He stood to his feet, looking between Hermione and Molly.

“Shh, it’s okay, Draco. She’s only blacked out. I promise she’s fine. Here, hold the baby, and I’ll go call for the Healer.” She said, and deposited the whimpering bundle in his arms. She she reached the door, Draco realized he hadn’t yet found out the gender, and looked up to stop her. Molly had already closed the door.

He looked down at the baby in his arms. The babe had settled down, and was content to squirm in his arms. He smiled, gently rocking the infant.

The child had the famous Malfoy hair, pale as silver, but he was pleasantly surprised that he could already see honey-brown eyes looking at him. Unable to wait much longer, he decided he would discover the baby’s gender himself.

“I’ll find out sooner or later, but I’d like to know if I’m going to have to duck when I change your nappy…” he said softly.

Gently balancing the baby in one arm, he began to peel back the blanket Molly had swaddled the baby in. A slow grin spread across his face when he made sure of his child’s gender, and he tucked the blanket back.

It was then that both Lucius and Narcissa came into the room, both eager to see the grandchild.

“Well? Boy or girl?” Narcissa said, walking up to the bed to gently smooth over Hermione’s hair. The poor witch looked the worse for wear.

“It’s a boy, of course, Narcissa. I’ve told you a million times, my dear…blood Malfoy females are fairly nonexistent.” Lucius said. Draco actually threw back his head and laughed.

“Be prepared for princesses and ponies, father, because you are now the proud owner of a granddaughter!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It's a GIRL!!!! Yay!

Do tell me what you think. And brownie points if anyone can find my odd little reference within the chapter. NO hints! You either know it or you don't!!

REVIEW!!