To Save the Life of a Mudblood

Chapter Seven

The Malfoy Heir

or

To Be or Not to Be

After the Flints had left, Hermione and Draco retired to the library once more. Hermione began to search through their stack of books once more while Draco took a seat in a large leather armchair by the fire.

"Granger, I think there was something you wanted to talk about?"

Hermione glanced over at the rigid blond wizard before taking a deep breath and making her way over the the armchair opposite his.

"Malfoy, we forgot something last night," she said, stating the obvious.

"And what was that? Our brains?"

"Well, that too," she muttered, turning angry eyes on him. "You know what I'm talking about. The question is, what do we do about it? Daphne said there was a potion..."

"What? The idea of carrying the Malfoy heir is so hideous to you that you would prefer a cursed half-life to it? You do know what is in that potion she is talking about, right?"

"She told me one potion that has unicorn's blood, but surely there is another one."

"I only know of one, but that doesn't really matter because you aren't going to take it anyway."

"What right do you have to tell me what potions I can and cannot take!?"

"I am your husband. And, if you were to fall pregnant, then the father of your child."

"You may be my husband legally, but that won't last long!" she growled at him, her anger causing her face to flush. She knew she wouldn't take any potion that contained unicorn blood, but the fact that Draco Malfoy was trying to make the choice for her was appalling to her. She would just have to take care of this the Muggle way.

"Granger, just stop. We will get nowhere arguing like this," he told her with a resigned sigh.

Hermione bit off the retort that was sitting on the tip of her tongue.

"You're right. There are Muggle ways to make sure that we don't have to add a baby into this whole mess and we'll just have to be more careful next time."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her words.

"Next time?"

Hermione blushed.

"If we don't figure a way out of this before next month, which I'm sure we will."

Draco just smirked, then frowned.

"There's really nothing I can do to stop you, is there?"

Hermione turned back to him, a gloating smile on her face, but she paused when she saw the hurt look on his face.

"I really thought that the chance of having a healthy child with you would have been ten times higher than with Astoria, but I seem to be wrong. While she may not have been able to carry a child, you will chose not to," he scoffed bitterly before making his way to the library door.

"Malfoy, wait. This is riddiculous! We are arguing about a baby that doesn't even exist!"

"And it won't exist, thanks to you," he snapped at her.

"Argh!! If I were pregnant, I would be thinking about this differently! But I'm not! I just want to make sure that I stay that way!"

"You don't know if you aren't! What if you did get pregnant last night?"

Hermione paused, unsure what to say. She hadn't really thought about how long it took for an egg to get fertilized, she had just assumed that she could still keep that from happening, but what if she was wrong. What if... what if that had already happened? Did that make it a baby she would be destroying? Or was it still just a jumble of cells? At what point could she call it a baby? At what point was she taking a life rather than merely preventing one?

Malfoy was nearly out of the library before she called to him.

"Wait," she whispered, unsure if he would hear her or not. Luckily he did and paused.

"What?" he ground out.

"I'll wait. I... I won't take anything. The chances are nothing happened any way, this way... this way you... and I... won't have to spend out entire lives wondering, 'what if'."

Draco regarded her with surprise in his eyes before returning to the fireplace.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Don't thank me yet, we aren't out in the clear yet," she mumbled before turning her attention once more to the books before her.

Draco watched her reading and wondered how he was lucky enough to win this round. He also wondered if he would be pushing his luck to bring up the possibility of staying married to him. After a few moments of watching her working furiously, he decided he wouln't broach that subject just yet. One win for the day was enough for him. He had time to persuade her to see things from his point of view.

A few hours into their research, Narcissa entered the library.

"Hermione, dear, how are you faring this morning?"

Hermione glanced up from her book, surprised to see the Matriarch in the library rather than her lovely sitting room.

"I'm fine, how are you Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Dear, I've told you, call me Narcissa."

"I'm sorry, it is taking some getting used to, Narcissa."

"Much better. The house-elves have just finished lunch and Lucius would like a word with his son," at this she glanced over to Draco, motioning for him to leave and meet his father, "and I thought you and I could enjoy a nice, intimate lunch in the solarium."

"Umm... sure, I guess," Hermione responded hesitantly.

"Very good! Follow me."

Hermione placed her book down after marking the page she was on and followed the elegant woman out of the library and down a very long hallway until they came to a beautiful, sunlight room with a small table in the center, set for two and a side board heaped with food.

After the two ladies had chosen their afternoon fare, they sat down in silence to eat in peace. However, Hermione should have known that a meal with Narcissa Malfoy would be anything but peaceful.

"Hermione, dear, I really hope Draco has been treating you appropriately. I have always taught him to be a gentleman, but I have often wondered if my lessons had fallen on deaf ears."

Hermione regarded the older woman and wondered if she had any idea how Malfoy had treated her in school, or if she would really care. She had a feeling the only reason Draco's mother cared now was because she suddenly found the Muggleborn her new daughter-in-law.

"He has been the perfect host," was her chosen answer, though she did add, "and he has been kind to me," when she noticed the disappointed look in Narcissa's eyes.

"My dear, may I speak candidly?"

"Of course."

"I know that our history, the bad... blood between us, has been horrible, but I do hope you will believe that my husband and I wish you no harm. We have seen the error of our ways and while we will always hope our way of life is preserved and lasts through many generations to come, we understand that Muggle-borns and others of... not Pure ancestry are instrumental in securing our future. You are a bright witch, and Draco could much worse than to be married to you. The children you could bare him! They would be both powerful and bright. Please, reconsider dissolving this union.

"There was a time when Lucius and I would have balked at the thought of the Malfoy blood being diluted in any way, but now... now I believe you would be a burst of fresh air in the dwindling Malfoy line. You could be the one to save this family from the disastrous course it has been going on. I love my son, and I know he has many faults... but perhaps you could see past those, perhaps even correct a few of them. Just think about it, please?" she begged of the younger woman.

Hermione was shocked at the desperation evident in Narcissa's voice. She had not stopped once since discovering the unwanted union to wonder, "what would it be like to stay married to Draco Malfoy?" Could she really do something like that? What would her friends think? What would her family think? What was she thinking!? Of course she couldn't stay married to him. She cursed her mind for even straying to thoughts like that. She gave Narcissa a small smile.

"I really think that Draco and I would both be happier if we could dissolve this union as quickly as possible. We would probably end up killing each other otherwise," she joked, turning back to her lunch.

Narcissa gave a sad sigh before returning to her own lunch.

Oh, well, she thought, perhaps Lucius will have better luck.

A/N: Thank you for reading and thank you to anyone who has stuck with this story for the LONG time in between. I am hoping to get back to some semblance of regular posting. Sorry this is short, but I really just need to get back in to the swing of things and I don't have a lot of time. The baby actually just started crying because she is hungry, so I have to run, but REVIEW PLEASE!! Thanks Kady for betaing!!