Always On My Mind

Opening her eyes, Hermione immediately surmised that she was in St. Mungo’s. The bright white walls and bustle of activity were unmistakable. Also unmistakable was the white blonde head of the man who was seated in a chair next to her bed. Looking at him, the sense of panic she had felt before her fainting spell came back to her. What if she was pregnant? The only possible father was Draco Malfoy and if he found out then he would force her to marry him, laws be damned. ‘Would that be so bad?’ the little voice in the back of her head asked. Hermione mentally blew the voice a raspberry and sat quietly, lost in her thoughts. When the break up had occurred, she had been very upset, but she told herself that it was for the best. She couldn’t help thinking that it was one of the worst possible things that could have happened to her. She had loved Draco fiercely and even though they were quite different she was willing to look past those differences because being with him made her feel alive and whole. With Ron, her intellect had detracted from her appeal, but with Draco it made her more desirable. All of the feelings she had for him, however couldn’t mask the fact that they wanted very different things out of life. When they had broken up, she put all of her feelings into a mental boxed and tucked it away in the back of her mind. She was nowhere near ready to open that box and reexamine the contents. However, if she was pregnant again, she would have to.

Thinking back to the immediate issue at hand, Hermione frowned. She didn’t know how to react. On one hand, she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Loosing Rosalyn had been devastating for her. She had wanted to be a mother since she understood the concept of becoming one and her baby brought her a sense of wholeness and well-being that she hadn’t experienced since she had lived with Draco. For five months she had been happier than she had ever been in her entire life. She didn’t know if she could take being that happy again only to have it cruelly pulled away from her. On the other hand, Hermione wanted this baby so badly her teeth hurt. She was more than ready for motherhood and even though her logical side told her that she didn’t know for certain, her dreamy, passionate side was already mapping out a nursery in her flat.
While Hermione sat there musing, Draco woke up and stretched. Looking over and realizing she was awake, he immediately bent towards her running his hands over her forehead. “You’re awake,” he stated. “You gave us all quite a fright. The mediwitch said for me to call her in as soon as you’re awake.” Hermione gave him a weak smile and he kissed her forehead before getting up to call the healer. ‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought.
Draco and the healer entered the room and Draco sat down next to Hermione on the bed, pulling her close to him and leaving his arm around her shoulders. The healer, an elderly woman with dark skin and salt and pepper hair looked at them over her red rimmed glasses before asking Hermione a series of questions. “So, Miss Granger, other than fainting what are your symptoms?”

“Well, I’ve been nauseous and very tired as of late. I can’t seem to get enough sleep and even though I can’t seem to get enough to eat, I never seem to be able to keep anything down, especially in the mornings.”

“I see. How long has this been going on, Miss Granger?”
“About a week and a half.”

“A week and a half! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Draco demanded.

“Because I thought you were part of the problem!” Hermione snapped back at him. She turned back to the healer. “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I’ve always gotten little to no sleep when I’m worried, so I just thought this would all go away and then I collapsed at work.”

The healer looked at Hermione over her glasses and Draco was strongly reminded of Professor McGonagell’s disapproving gaze. “Your health is nothing to take lightly, Miss Granger. Now, I need to do a series of tests and then if all is well, I’ll send you on your way.” The healer took out what looked like a cross between a telescope and laser pointer and after moving Hermione’s clothes aside, pointed it to her belly and a very bright orange light shown down on her pale skin. The healer prodded her belly in a few places before putting the device back in her pocket. She then asked Hermione to remove her knickers and pulled stirrups up from the end of her bed for her feet and gave Hermione a pelvic exam. Afterwards, she took some blood and then asked Hermione to drink a fould smelling potion. The three people in the room waited for a few moments and then Hermione’s stomach began glowing bright blue.

“Congratulations, Miss Granger. In about eight months you will be the proud mother of a bouncing baby boy. I’ll make an appointment for you to return in a few days so that we can start you on your pre-natal regimen. Until then, I must insist that you take a few days off from work.” With that, she left the room leaving a stunned Hermione staring at her still glowing stomach.

Draco had heard what the healer had said, but was certain that he would soon wake up from this wonderful dream. Hermione turned her head slowly in his direction and he looked at her with triumph in his gaze. She was his now. Everything he wanted was coming true for him and all it took was one shag. He was feeling extremely virile and proud of himself until he noticed that Hermione was quickly putting her clothes back in order and trying to escape from the room. “Where do you think you’re going?” he thundered after her.

“I’m going home. You heard what the healer said. Thank you for bringing me here and staying to find out what was wrong. Goodbye.” Hermione turned to walk away, but Draco picked her up in his strong arms. “What are you doing?” she screeched. “This is degrading, put me down this instant!”

Draco strode through the hallways of St. Mungo’s with Hermione in his arms until he got to the check out point. “Put Miss Granger’s bill on the Malfoy account and please send her appointment notice to the Manor as that is where she will now be living. Thank you and good day.” He walked over to the network of fireplaces and flooed the two of them into the front parlour at Malfoy Manor.

“What in the name of Merlin do you think you’re doing?” Hermione screeched. “I am not living here, I am not letting you pay my medical bills and I am not letting you further act as if we’ve got some sort of relationship! Have you gone daft? Put me down!”

“To answer your question, no I have not gone daft. I’m acting as if we have a relationship, because we do. You will be living here because it is unseemly for newly weds to live in different residences. I will pay for your medical bills because that’s what husbands and fathers do. I understand that you are perfectly capable of paying it on your own, however since we will be getting married in roughly a week, that duty falls to me.”

“Getting mar- What are you talking about?” Hermione sputtered. “I still have to meet with Lee Jordan and if you think I’m going to marry you just because I’m pregnant, you are mad. Besides, you don’t even know if this baby is yours.”

“Don’t you even consider passing my child off as another man’s!” Draco dropped her on the lounge and gripped her shoulders, his face only a hair away from her own. “I took care of Finnegan and if need be I’ll take care of Jordan as well. Besides,” he smirked, “we both know I’m the only possible candidate for a father.”

“You assaulted Seamus?”

“No, I merely suggested to the right people at the ministry that all our owls needed a proper check-up and that he was the man for the job. I suggested also that Abraxan horses could be very useful and that Finnegan brat was the best candidate for the breeding. It isn’t my fault he can’t control them.”

“You made them attack him, didn’t you?”

“I might’ve been there when it happened, but it was my third warning to stay away from you. MacLaggen listened much better. That brings me back to my next question: Are you going to try to pass off my child as Jordan’s? That would be quite difficult considering the differences in our appearances and Malfoy genes have always won out.”

“I would never keep your child from you,” Hermione replied. “I just won’t marry you because I got pregnant. That’s a stupid reason to get married.”

“And this law is a better one? Hermione, I wish I had time to do this right and convince you in a proper way. As it is, I don’t. I have very little time and a very stubborn witch whom I’ve both wronged and gotten pregnant and don’t think I’m not above getting the Minister to order you to marry me. Let it be your decision and I promise I’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to make you and our little boy happy.”

Hermione looked at her feet and started crying. She wanted to believe that this was her happy ending, but experience had taught her that it couldn’t be. She wanted to trust Draco, but she couldn’t. Marrying him would make her vulnerable to him again. On the other hand, what choice did she have? Draco was right, it was better to go when she had a choice then to be publicly ordered to by the Minister. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, she looked up at Draco and said, “Okay, I’ll call Lee and tell him it’s off. I’ll call my mum and tell her I’m getting married next Saturday.”

Draco leaned forward and gathered her up in his arms. She weighed next to nothing and it seemed impossible to him that a tiny life was already growing inside of her. But it was, and that tiny life would be the irrevocable connection between the two of them. He didn’t say anything as he carried her up the stairs to his bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He climbed in next to her and molded their bodies together and reveled at how wonderful it all felt. In five days she would be Hermione Malfoy and living with him full time. Already he could feel the tightness in his chest releasing as he settled next to her already sleeping form. He drifted off next to her, thinking how wonderful life could truly be.