Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters, as they are all the property of J.K Rowling. I do however own this storyline, a rather large pile of Harry Potter and Harry Potter related books, and a cat which looks like Crookshanks.
***
Hermione woke up to an empty bed and frowned. Draco’s alarm hadn’t gone off, but he wasn’t in bed. Still concerned about her husband’s whereabouts, she rolled out of bed and threw on a robe over her pajamas and padded to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“Shit,” she heard someone mutter, and she smiled to herself as she leant in the doorway to the kitchen where Draco was hovering over the stove with a spatula in hand. She could smell the pancakes cooking, and they made her mouth water.
“Need a hand?” she asked, trying not to laugh as Draco jumped and almost hit his head.
“I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed…then I remembered that I can’t cook,” he grinned and she laughed, walking over to him and encircling his neck with her arms.
“Being able to cook is always a plus when you are cooking,” she murmured against his lips. “Let’s just go out for breakfast.”
“Seeing as this is the third batch of pancake batter I’ve ruined, I think that would be a fantastic idea,” he laughed as they separated. “You go on ahead and have a shower. I’ll…well, I’ll try and save this pan from the horrors of terribly burnt pancakes which have been inflicted upon it.”
With another laugh, Hermione returned to the bedroom, shedding her robe and pajamas before stepping into a warm shower. Her thoughts were clear, screaming everything was wonderful. She was in love and married to the man of her dreams, she had a good career and she was going to have a baby. Smiling to herself, Hermione stepped out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy towel around herself and stepped back into the bedroom.
She decided that they would go to a muggle café for breakfast, and therefore muggle attire was in order. Perusing her rather extensive wardrobe, which was rather large thanks to Ginny, she thought to herself about how long she would be able to wear these clothes before her large stomach would get in the way. She decided to make the most of it and pulled out a white dress with a lacey trim, one of her favourite items in the wardrobe, and put on some thick black stockings beneath it. Shrugging into a black jacket, she slipped her feet into a pair of black ballet flats and smiled at her reflection as Draco walked in.
“You, my love, look absolutely mouthwatering,” he said, issuing a low whistle as he appraised her outfit.
“Are you saying that I don’t look mouthwatering all the time?” she pouted and he grinned.
“Of course you do, love. But that dress looks stunning,” he compensated as he changed into his usual attire of all black clothing. She admired the contrast between his pale skin and the black jeans he wore teamed with a black coat over a black shirt.
“Do you own any clothing that isn’t black?” she mused and he let out a low chuckle.
“Of course. Several items of my clothing are a distinct shade of midnight blue or grey,” he joked, wrapping a black scarf around his neck. “Shall we?” he asked, holding out his hand and she nodded, picking up a black back and slinging it over her shoulder before grasping his hand.
As they stepped from their apartment building and onto the street, snow started to drift down from above, lodging itself and then melting in Hermione’s tangled curls as they walked along towards her favourite café. The tiny hole-in-the-wall café was welcoming with a blazing fire going in the corner, and a server who had seen Hermione there regularly bustled over to the couple and led them to a table near the warmth provided by the flames.
“Can I get you two any drinks to start with?” the server asked, whipping out a pad and a pen.
“I’ll have a chai latte, and he’ll have a cappuccino, thank you,” Hermione said, knowing exactly what Draco would order without even glancing at his face for confirmation.
“So, who do you think we should tell first?” Draco asked as they perused the breakfast menu.
“Tell who what?” Hermione queried, clearly confused.
“Oh, I don’t know, love. Maybe we should tell people that in about eight months there will be a little Hermione running around.”
“Oh, right. The baby,” Hermione said suddenly. “Who do you want to tell?”
“Everyone’s going to find out soon enough, but maybe we should just start by telling Harry and George and their families?” Draco suggested, thanking the waitress with a nod as she brought over their drinks.
“Now, what can I get you two?”
“I’ll have the porridge with raspberries and brown sugar,” Hermione said, handing her menu to the waitress.
“And I’ll get the fruit toast, please.”
Nodding, the waitress departed once more.
“So when should we start telling people?” Hermione asked as she watched the waitress’ retreating back.
“I’m not sure. George will be working today, but Harry took the weekend off to be with Ginny and James, so we could pay them a visit.”
“I should probably apologize to Ginny. I sort of got mad at her yesterday and she stormed out,” Hermione explained.
“Then it’s settled. We’ll go and see Harry and Ginny and tell them the good news. How about we go to see George afterwards?” Draco offered, and Hermione nodded in agreement.
“Here you two go, enjoy!” the server returned with their meals and placed them on the table, whisking away their now empty cups.
“I just realized that it’s the first of December today,” Hermione smiled, and Draco nodded. “We should set up the Christmas tree tonight.”
Draco let out a groan. “Really? Do we have to?”
“Honestly, Draco. Yes, we do have to set up the tree, and you’re going to be helping me, so there. I don’t see why you don’t like putting it up. You seemed to enjoy decorating the apartment when we moved in,” she noted, and he reluctantly agreed. When they had decorated the apartment a month after moving in, Draco had been very vocal about the style they had.
“Fine,” he muttered, sounding like a child who hadn’t gotten his way. They finished their breakfast in silence, Hermione thinking about how she was going to decorate the tree and Draco dreading the approaching evening with an unreasonable level of apprehension. Draco paid for the meal at the counter before wrapping his arm around Hermione’s waist as they walked towards a nearby apparition safe zone where they would send a Patronus to Harry and Ginny before visiting.
Harry’s stag came with a response only moments after Hermione’s otter had left, informing them that the young family would be happy for the visitors. Draco and Hermione spun on the spot, appearing a little while away from 12 Grimauld Place in a deserted alleyway, and they walked hand in hand until the old headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix appeared.
Hermione knocked on the door twice, smiling up at Draco as she did so.
“Are you ready for this, love?” he murmured, releasing her hand and pulling her close to him in a more protective manner.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she whispered back as the front door opened onto Harry’s smiling face.
“Hey, guys. Come on in. Ginny and James are in the kitchen,” Harry grinned, hugging both of them and preceding the couple to the kitchen. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“Can’t a girl and her man just visit their best friends without there being a reason?” came Hermione’s retort.
“Hello Draco, Hermione,” Ginny said, her greeting towards the latter much colder. She was bent over a crib, where James was gurgling happily.
“Gin, listen. I’m really sorry about yesterday. I was tired, and I have a very good reason for why I was acting so harshly all of a sudden,” Hermione grimaced.
“Oh, really? Care to enlighten us then?” Ginny snapped, looking up at Hermione.
“It was the hormones. I’m pregnant.”
After a moment of shocked silence, Harry was the first to react.
“Bloody hell, that’s brilliant! Congratulations!” he said, kissing Hermione’s cheek and hugging Draco again. “When did you find out?”
“Yesterday morning, after Ginny left,” Hermione beamed, still anticipating Ginny’s reaction.
“Yesterday morning?!” the red-head shrieked. “You found out yesterday morning, and it took you this long to tell me?” she asked, flying towards Hermione and nearly knocking her down with a hug.
“Oops, sorry, Ginny,” Hermione said sheepishly. “If it’s any consolation, you were the first we told.”
“So, there’s going to be a little Malfoy running around the place,” Harry mused, and Hermione smiled.
“That’s for sure. We’re going to have a little boy who will look just like Draco,” she said, unconsciously resting her hands on her stomach.
“That’s what you’d like to think, love, but in fact there’s going to be a mini Hermione with the same bouncing brown curls,” Draco said warmly, wrapping his arms around her from behind and placing his hands on top of hers.
“Either way, with your genes the kid is going to be damn good looking,” Harry said with a wink, bending down to pick up James who reached up at his father’s face.
“James is absolutely adorable,” Hermione cooed, smiling at the baby who was now in Harry’s arms.
“You better start taking notes, Hermione, because in about nine months you’ll have your own little one to take care of,” Harry laughed, jiggling James up and down gently, the baby responding with a happy gurgle.
“Oh dear. I wonder how that’ll go done,” Hermione frowned, and the others all laughed.
“Hey, Hermione, guess what I found out,” Ginny prompted.
“What?”
“Ronald has a new girlfriend,” grinned Ginny, sitting down at the dining table and gesturing for Draco and Hermione to do the same.
“Seriously? Who is it?” Hermione asked, following Ginny’s lead and sitting down.
“Susan Bones,” Ginny said, arching a brow at Hermione.
“Susan Bones? Are you kidding me,” Hermione gasped incredulously.
“Draco, shall we leave the women to their gossip? I need to talk to you about something,” Harry suggested, and Draco nodded. Planting a swift kiss on the top of Hermione’s head, he followed Harry and baby James from the room.
“Let me guess, it’s about the case?”
“Yeah, and I’m sorry for troubling you with it on the weekend, but I don’t really have much time to come up and talk to you during the week. I trust that you know there’s another meeting on Monday night?” Harry asked, swapping James in his arms.
“Rose mentioned it, and apparently Nott specifically requested my presence there,” Draco shrugged.
“What do you think of Rose? I haven’t really seen her on the field before. She was just chosen because she was pretty, and Kingsley thought it was best for a member of the Ministry to try and seduce Nott.”
“She’s pretty good. She knows what she’s doing, and I don’t think Nott suspects her at all. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. Something about her just seems a little…off,” Harry decided after a moment.
“I suppose I get what you mean, but I don’t think that’s anything to hold against her,” Draco frowned, and Harry nodded.
“You’re right. My constant suspicions tend to get out of hand some times,” he laughed.
“I’ll keep an eye on her for you though, don’t worry about it,” Draco smiled. “Hermione and I should probably be heading off in a moment. We’re planning to go and see Angelina and George to break the good news to them, and then Hermione wants to set up the Christmas tree tonight,” Draco suppressed a groan.
“Ginny wants to do that tomorrow, and I’m dreading it. She’s making a huge fuss about it all because it’ll be James’ first Christmas, but it isn’t like he’s going to remember it,” Harry sighed, and Draco gave him a comforting punch on the arm.
“Oh, the things we do to please our women,” he joked. “Hermione, should we go and see George and Angelina now?”
“Yeah, I totally forgot,” Hermione said, flustered slightly at Draco’s silent entrance. “Anyway, thanks for having us over. We’ll see you soon, ‘kay?”
After saying their goodbyes, Draco and Hermione decided to floo to George and Angelina’s from Grimauld Place, and their news about the pregnancy was greatly accepted.
“Mum’ll be happy. She’s been pestering you two to settle down and have kids for years now,” George said, hugging Hermione happily.
“Congratulations, you two. You’re going to be great parents,” Angelina smiled, and the group exchanged small talk for a while before the hour grew late, and Hermione and Draco decided it was best to return home.
***
“I hate doing this,” Draco groaned, pulling out the pinecone which he had picked up on their way home from George’s.
“Put it in the corner, over by the window,” Hermione instructed, and Draco obliged. As he stepped back, Hermione waved her wand, and the pinecone began to grow into a tree trunk which then transfigured into a full tree, the top of which was just a foot below the ceiling. Hermione grinned triumphantly at her handiwork and, with another wave of her wand, lights shot from the tip of her wand and wrapped themselves around the trunk of the tree. This was followed by silver tinsel, which was then followed by a series of blue baubles which hovered towards the tree before looping themselves over the branches of the tree. “See, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“We’re still not done. You forgot the star, love,” he drawled, waving his own wand. An elegant silver star, lined with what appeared to be emeralds and rubies, appeared atop the tree, and Hermione gasped.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as her eyes grazed over the star. She let out a yawn and stretched.
“You should get to bed, love. I don’t want my girls to get tired,” Draco smiled.
“Your girls?” Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, my girls. My gorgeous, sexy, intelligent, beautiful, funny, amazing wife, and our tiny little girl who will be with us in eight months,” Draco grinned, placing a hand on Hermione’s stomach.
“Psh. I still think we’re having a boy,” Hermione said, stifling another yawn as she put her hand on top of Draco’s. Noticing her tiredness, Draco smiled to himself and scooped her up into his arms, bridal style. “What are you doing?” Hermione shrieked, shocked by his actions.
“I’m making sure my girls get to bed safely, and what better way to do that than if I escort them myself,” he murmured, kissing her head softly.
“I can walk there myself,” she huffed, but she was trying to restrain herself from smiling.
“Oh I know, but this way is much more fun,” Draco smirked, placing her on the bed and kissing her lips softly. “Goodnight, beautiful.”
Yawning, Hermione wriggled out of her clothes and pulled on her pajamas before climbing beneath the bed sheets. “G’night, Draco,” she mumbled before letting sleep claim her.
***
A/N: There you go! Please review, as reviews make me smile and encourage me to churn out the chapters faster. The next chapter will be more exciting, I promise. This one was just…meh. Also, the title is after the song “I Want To Tell You,” by The Beatles.
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