Just Around the Riverbend

Voracious Reader, angeles, Serin Blackmoon, alina, LaBibliographe, April, margaritama, hairsprayX12, Dawn, Josie, A.L. Blackwell

Thanks for the reviews.

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“That’s nice, dearling.” He mumbled, and put his head back down. Hermione looked at him, amused, before he jerked awake, and fell off of the bed in panic. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“I did. Just now.” Hermione replied.

“Merlin! Oh, we’ve got to get to St. Mungo’s!” he said, and rushed into the closet. He came back out with black slacks and a green button-up that was buttoned crookedly, and boots that really didn’t match. He also had a voluminous sleeping gown thrown over his arm, which was what Hermione would be wearing to the hospital. He helped her into the gown, and then he slipped her favorite furry blue slippers onto her feet.

He then grabbed the bag that they’d packed for this night, and Apparated her to the foyer of St. Mungo’s. He rushed her to the front desk.

“My wife’s having a baby!” he blurted. The receptionist looked up, and calmly blew a bubble with the gum she’d been chewing. Then she reached down and picked up a small sheaf of papers.

“If you will please fill out these papers, I will contact your wife’s Healer and her Midwitch.” The young woman said. Lucius growled.

“I don’t think you heard me. I just said my wife is having a baby. I do think she needs to be treated now.” He snarled.

“And as soon as we have her information we will put her in a room. I promise you the longer you argue the longer your poor wife has to stand and wait. Just fill out the papers and we’ll be done with it.” The receptionist said.

It took all of ten minutes for Lucius to run through the papers, and by the time he was finished, Hermione was experiencing her first real contraction. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was much worse than the little ripples she’d been feeling all day. This lasted for about half a minute, and when she looked up she saw Lucius looking at her with the most adorable concerned expression on his face. Another ten minutes and she was comfortably ensconced in the room that he’d paid for months ago.

“Okay, Lucius. I should be fine for a little while. I need you to go get my mum and dad, and tell Draco where we are. He can send off an owl to Daisy and Phelan a little later and tell what’s going on so they don’t worry.” She said.

“I don’t want to leave you, dearling.” He said softly. She smiled at him, and reached over to take his hand.

“I’m going to be here to several hours, if the materials I’ve been reading are any indication. And right now I’m fine. Eventually, though, I will probably be sobbing and wanting my mum, so if you could be a dear and fetch her for me, I would be most grateful.” She said calmly. Lucius’ face paled slightly.

“Of course, love.”

~~

Daisy woke the next morning firmly ensconced in strong, muscular arms. She opened her eyes with a sleepy grunt, and looked up at the person who was using her as the living equivalent of a teddy bear.

Phelan had made good on his promise for their bed. As soon as they had gotten back up to the castle, Phelan had called the house-elf assigned to them, and had politely asked- *coughcough* ordered *coughcough* - that the beds be combined. The little elf had given them a sly smile, kicked them out of the room, and then minutes later told them to come back.

Not only had the little elf combined the beds, but now instead of separate his/hers duvets, there was now a rich Slytherin green duvet. The sheets were cool grey cotton, and were most soft to the touch. They’d spent their first night together in the center of the large bed, simply holding onto each other.

Daisy reached up and touched Phelan’s face. His hair, which grew at an abnormally quick pace anyway, had lengthened in his sojourn from Azkaban, and a few wisps of thick silver hair were touching his forehead. She brushed them away with gentle care, and traced her finger over his features.

He did look a lot like his father, but it was the way they held themselves that set him so far apart. Fenrir Greyback’s countenance was always a snarling, cruel mockery of the human ability to express emotions. He was not considered handsome, but he hadn’t really been very plain, either. His face had been scarred from battle, and bitterness had scarred his visage.

Phelan, on the other hand, held a much more relaxed countenance than his father. He had the shape of his face and his coloring, but his much more pleasant expressions made him so much more handsome. His face was scarred as well, by the four lightly colored lines that ran diagonal across his face, a mark his father had left him. His eyebrows were thick, but not bushy, and he had the most amazing set of dark silver eyelashes. His lips were masculine and cool, and yet they could light such a fire inside Daisy that sometimes she wondered about their ability to keep the promise they’d made to her cousin. They still had a little over two years to wait…

“Is there some reason you’re studying me like I’m your Care of Magical Creatures project?”

Daisy jumped a little, and looked up to notice he was watching her with his amazing yellow eyes. The skin at the corner of his eyes was crinkled slightly, so she smiled shyly.

“Just admiring my husband’s handsomeness.” Daisy replied softly, before her hand moved away from his face and rested on his bare chest.

“So if I were ugly you wouldn’t bother to look at me?” he asked her teasingly.

“If you were ugly I wouldn’t have bound myself to you with blood!” she replied with a laugh.

“Is that so?” he asked, and promptly began to tickle her. She shrieked with laughter and tried to scramble away. After a few minutes, when she was gasping for mercy and her face was streaked with tears of mirth, he pulled away and she rolled to her back, huffing happily. He rolled to his own back as well, looking up at the canopy of the large four-poster bed.

“I love you, Phelan.” She said suddenly. He looked over at her, and noticed her expression had sobered slightly. His hand found hers, and he laced their fingers together.

“I love you too, Daisy.” He replied fiercely.

Later, when bother were showered and dressed, they walked hand-in-hand down to the Great Hall. They had simply lain together for quite a while, and as a result were rather late for breakfast. As they entered the hall, they were quite surprised indeed.

“It’s Greyback!” someone pointed out, and then all it took was for one of the Seventh Year Slytherins, a boy by the name of Alexander Kull, to stand from his seat and begin clapping for the rest of the hall to follow. The Slytherins began first, and were quickly followed by the Gryffindors, then the Hufflepuffs, and then the Ravenclaws.

Phelan stood speechless at the doorway, his hand still firmly wrapped around Daisy’s small hand. But what drew his attention even quicker than the applause was when three Gryffindors, presumably Muggleborn, decided to throw back their heads and howl victoriously. Phelan jerked slightly, his throat working as if he were trying to swallow a lump of peanut butter.

But he decided when he saw the grins on their faces that it wasn’t mockery in their howls, it was mirth. But they didn’t understand what they were doing. They were calling to a baser instinct of Phelan’s. They were using the call of his kind, however good their intentions. They didn’t realize that werewolves always responded to the call of their own kind, even if the call wasn’t from one of their own.

With one last hard gulp in an attempt to swallow the inevitable, he threw his head back and responded to the call the Firsties had sent out. He howled. It was all animal in its intensity. It was low and captivating, revealing all the power of the wolf even in the human form. This wasn’t a First Year attempting to cheer up a werewolf. This was the call of an Alpha. When he finally finished the call, he lowered his head and opened his eyes. The entire Hall had gone quiet, looking at him with surprise.

Alexander Kull stepped from his seat near the end of the table, and approached Phelan.

“As always, you redefine the boundaries of what one expects to find in the Great Hall.” He said softly, a light grin on his face. A smattering of laughs accompanies his statement, and Phelan found himself quite confused. “Your recent actions have proved to the entire school that nothing is ever as it seems. We have all come to the conclusion that this world needs quite a rearrangement. You may thank your friend Tom Rowan for this wake-up call.

It has come to my attention in the last few days that while you were allowed to come to Hogwarts to study, you were not legally allowed to become a student. And yet you have studied as hard as the rest of us, even going so far as to help a few students who you had no obligation to whatsoever. You have been on impeccable behavior, never rising to the taunts that others had so carelessly thrown at you. Even when physically attacked, you did not give them the satisfaction of retribution.” Alexander spoke clearly. There were a few glares at the Gryffindor table for three girls who had caused a lot of trouble.

“You have proven the cunning of Slytherin need not rest in those pure of blood, or even those completely rooted in humanity. You have also shown compassion, resourcefulness, and even courage in the face of insurmountable challenges. And so I, with the blessings of the other houses, present you with a symbol of our acceptance of you into this school, and into our world.” Alexander then calmly removed his school tie. Phelan stood speechlessly as the older student then placed the tie over his head. Alexander carefully fixed the green and silver striped tie underneath the collar of Phelan’s white button-up, and then stepped back once it was fixed the way it was supposed to be.

“Phelan Greyback, Slytherin welcomes you to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Alexander said, and then held out his hand. Phelan looked to Daisy, who was standing silently with her hand on her heart, tears marking her face. Phelan then looked back to Alexander with confidence, and took his hand.

The Great Hall burst into tumultuous applause.

~~

Draco paced the hallway silently, his hands clasped behind his back. It had been nearly eight hours since his father had come and woke him up to tell him that Hermione was in labor. They’d both gone together to get the Grangers, who were beside themselves with happiness.

Janine Granger and his father were in the room with Hermione, and his father came out over so often to tell them how everything was going. He swore the last time he’d come out he saw his father shaking his hand out slightly. John Granger had merely nodded, a knowing smile on his face.

In the room, Hermione was having a much less pleasant time than she’d ever expected. Her contractions were coming much closer together, and her patience and pain tolerance was growing thin. She cried out as another contraction hit her, and she immediately felt Lucius put the cool cloth to her forehead.

“You’re doing fine, dearling. I’m so proud of you.” He said gently. He knew with her contractions coming every three minutes that it wouldn’t be long now. He couldn’t wait to finally meet the child face-to-face.

“Hermione, hon, it’s okay to yell. I definitely remember throwing a glass of water at your father’s head.” Janine said softly. Hermione groaned as the contraction subsided.

“Me giving Lucius a concussion would not help anyone right now. But I am seriously contemplating castration.” She said. Lucius stiffened, eyeing her warily. Right now she was whimpers and hand-squeezing, but there was no telling when she would descend into cursing and bodily harm. He hadn’t been in the room with Narcissa when Draco was born, but he distinctly remembered the Midwitch sporting a black eye after coming in contact with Narcissa’s foot.

Hermione’s Midwitch was coaching her gently.

Hermione had been doing rather well until she finally entered the transition phase of her labor. As her contractions actually began to come at just two minutes apart, Hermione actually took hold of Lucius’ long hair and yanked hard. He yelped, and immediately began trying to untangle her fingers from his long mane. When her clutching fingers were safely away from the long hair, he made a point to tie it away from his face, much to the amusement of Hermione’s mother.

“I hate you. I hate you, Lucius. When this is over I’m going to kill you. I will skin you like a flobberworm and sell you to Severus for potions ingredients. I will feed your liver to Phelan during the next full moon, and I’ll bury your testicals in the forest with- argh!” and then she let out a stream of curses that would have made the Dark Lord blush. Then she took a decidedly more emotional approach after that contraction subsided only slightly.

“Oh Merlin, Lucius, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I won’t kill you. I do love you, you great blonde beast. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, and I’m so excited about the baby, I can’t wait to be able to play with our child. It will be so nice, won’t it? If only the little monster would get the hell out of me!” she hissed. Lucius’ eyes were wide with amazement at the way her moods were changing. The next contraction hit her hard, and she reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him close. Her eyes were slits of pain, and she glared at him.

“Y-you…..bastard!” she snarled.

And finally, after it seemed that the little blighter had decided to use her birthing canal as a permanent residence, Hermione was allowed to start pushing. Lucius gave her his hand as the first round started up. He didn’t realize she was so strong!

“Hermione, love. That’s my wand hand…that’s my-Merlin!” he said, and hissed as she squeezed the life out of his hand. He supposed he could relearn everything with his left hand. The magic wouldn’t be nearly as strong, but at least he wouldn’t be a squib…

“I see the head, Mrs. Malfoy. Give me one more solid push!” the Midiwitch encouraged. Hermione took a deep breath and bared down, a strangled scream escaping her lips from the effort. As she pushed, she squeezed Lucius’ hand, and he vaguely contemplated chewing it off in an attempt to stave off the pain.

The only thing that stopped him was Janine’s cry of joy as her grandchild started into the world. It seemed like an eternity after that, but Lucius had never been so relieved to finally hear the squall of a newly born child. He hadn’t heard the first scream Draco had taken in this world, but he was certainly here for his second child.

The umbilical cord was neatly cut, and the babe was cleaned with an infant-safe charm and wrapped in a soft white blanket and put in Hermione’s arms.

“What is it?” Hermione asked tiredly, looking at the Midwitch. The Midwitch actually looked quite excited.

“It’s a girl! You have a beautiful daughter!” she gushed. Hermione looked down at the baby, who was still shrieking healthily. Then she looked up at Lucius, who was looking at the baby with the most rapt adoration.

“Would you like to hold your daughter?” Hermione asked. She still needed to get rid of the afterbirth, and Lucius looked like he needed to show something off. Lucius, still shell-shocked, held out his arms and received the little bundle. The infant’s screeching died down almost immediately, and Lucius was left staring at the little red face.

“My girl. My baby girl.” He said softly, his voice barely a whisper.

“What are you going to name her?” the Midwitch asked.

Hermione and Lucius looked at each other, and then down at the baby in Lucius’ arms. Lucius had been so convinced it would be a boy that he had picked out several male names, but he hadn’t even thought of the possibility of a girl. To be starkly honest, the little girl in his arms was the first blood-born Malfoy female in a hundred and fifty years.

He’d been so excited to see this baby. And the excitement hadn’t waned, but as he held her in his arms, such a feeling of peace came over him as he hadn’t felt in a very long time. And as soon as the feeling struck him, he knew what he wanted to name his daughter.

“Serena.” He said softly. He looked up at Hermione for a confirmation, and she was smiling at him.

“Serena Nicole. I want to name her after her grandmother’s middle name.” she said. She looked up at Janine to find her crying softly as she watched Lucius with her granddaughter.

“Serena Nicole Malfoy.” Lucius said with finality, and the Midwitch moved off to fill out the paperwork and retrieve the main Healer to give mother and child an examination.

“I’ll go tell the others.” Janine said, and moved towards the door.

It was an hour before the others could actually see Hermione and Serena. Hermione had to have a few healing spells performed, and then she got a nice warm bath. Serena was given a much more thorough cleaning and dressed in a soft one-piece and nappy. Then she and her mother were safely ensconced in the newly changed sheets of the bed.

Draco poked his head in first.

“May we come in?” he asked. Hermione looked up at the door, much more alert and feeling much better.

“Of course! Come meet your sister.” Hermione said. Lucius was sitting in the chair next to Hermione’s bed, staring at the newest addition to his family. Draco made no comments as he and John entered the room. They both approached the bed with gentle awe as Hermione tilted down the blanketed bundle so that they could see her well.

“She’s so beautiful.” John choked, and Janine immediately went to him. John gathered his wife in his arms and they gazed lovingly at their granddaughter.

“Hey there, kiddo.” Draco said softly. Serena gave an infantile grunt, and waved one of her fists. Properly cleaned, Draco could see that she had the fine blonde hair of the Malfoy family, but Merlin help the child it already had a bit of a whorl to it. They wouldn’t be able to tell her true eye color for a bit, but Draco had a suspicion it would be ice blue. “I’m Draco, your brother.” He added. “I’ll be the one that gets to take you on trips and hex any boyfriend you might have because he’s not good enough.”

Lucius snorted.

“There will be no ‘boyfriends.’” He said with finality. John and Janine looked at each other, before promptly bursting out laughing. Lucius colored slightly and looked over at them. “What?”

“John said the exact words the day Hermione was born. Now look at us.” She said. Lucius looked at Hermione, her face still pale from giving birth. Then he looked down at the baby in her arms. His face lost its color as he realized the true emotional repercussions of having a daughter.

“Fuck.”

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