The following weeks leading up to Christmas and Liam's birthday were dreamlike. Hermione and Draco got on like they never had, enjoying every moment of early love. And while Liam and Hermione settled into the townhouse and Draco went back to his flat, he was with them more often than he wasn't. If either of them had ever envisioned a perfect life, they seemed to be living it.
When Liam's birthday party arrived, keeping Draco, Narcissa, and, yes, even Lucius, from turning it into a gala of epic proportions was difficult. However, she was able to talk them down and managed a small but full party at the London townhouse.
Liam requested a Hogwarts themed affair, and upon entering everyone was sorted by The Hat, which was Liam wearing an oversized mockery of the Sorting Hat.
He had far too much fun mis-sorting everyone who came by.
Hermione was in Ravenclaw, and Narcissa ended up in Gryffindor, which bristled her to no end as she donned her red and gold scarf. Lucius and Draco remained firmly in Slytherin. And when asked which house Liam would be in, he stated that, "It wouldn't be fair for The Hat to have a House, so he would remain neutral until his selection on his first night at Hogwarts."
Hermione laughed from the fringe of the party, her fingers hovering over her lips. For a boy who didn't much like people, he seemed to enjoy the spotlight at his first real birthday party. With every day that passed, Hermione knew she'd made the right decision.
The Potters arrived and Liam was currently in a standoff with none other than James Potter, who was staunchly opposing The Hat's decision that he was a Hufflepuff.
Liam smirked, his eyes sparkling and Merlin, the child looked exactly like his father. "Sorry, James… The Hat doesn't lie. Here is your scarf."
"I'm in Gryffindor!" James sputtered, his cheeks flushed bright pink. "My entire family is Gryffindor!"
Shrugging, Liam thrust the scarf at the eldest Potter. "Time to shake things up, Potter."
James turned to his parents, gesturing for them to intervene.
"It's his birthday, James," Harry pressed. And finally James relented and snatched the yellow and black scarf and hid behind his mother.
"Albus, answer these three questions to learn your house. One: what is your spirit animal?"
"A monkey."
"Interesting. Two: what is your favorite color?"
"Orange."
"Three… What is your favorite food?
"Cauldron Cakes."
"The Hat says… Gryffindor!"
"Bullshit!" James shouted and both Molly and Ginny had him snatched up quicker than Hermione thought possible. Truly, Hermione tried not to laugh but it was a lost cause. Draco settled behind her, resting his chin on the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her middle.
"Another round of Potter against Malfoy, how will you handle it?"
Chuckling, Hermione pulled a face and turned to look at him. "Me? Hardly seems my problem."
"It will be if you take the position at Hogwarts."
A smile twitched on the corner of her lips. "Merlin, you're right."
"You still haven't told me what you're thinking of doing."
Quickly, she looked away, unable to keep eye contact. "There are a few things I'm still waiting on; I want to see how they pan out first."
"You have secrets," he said with an amused smirk, his fingers lightly digging into her ribs as she squirmed and giggled.
Her gaze travelled over to their son, sitting on his throne in a mangy hat with the broadest grin she could remember him ever wearing. "For now," she said, her hand drifting to where his was splayed over her belly.
xXx
On Christmas morning, Hermione left the bathroom with her stomach in knots and her teeth freshly brushed. Shaking away the nausea rolling in her body, she fixed a smile on her face at the sight of Draco splayed belly down across her bed, naked and snoring.
She tiptoed to his side and crawled over his back, her lips at his ear and fingers in his fine hair. "Draco?"
He grunted and pouted.
"Draco, love? It's Christmas. I have a present for you."
His pout pulled into a smirk and he rolled so she was now straddling his lap. "Does that mean Christmas sex?"
Laughing, she shook her head and said, "Probably later but something else for now." She stretched over him and reached for her wand. Sitting back over his lap, she smiled at the confused twist to his brow.
"Please don't tell me this is when you kill me."
After severely rolling her eyes, she pointed her wand at her belly. "Gravidate Revelio."
Magic poured from her wand and entered her body, the warming feeling of the spell searching for its target. When it found her womb, a soft golden light wrapped around her and the magic glowed and pulsed.
Draco's eyes blew wide, and he pushed up on his elbows, gawking. "Is that—"
Tears sprung free, slipping past her lashes and over her cheeks. "You're going to be a father… again."
"Holy fuck. Oh my— Right. Yes. Pregnant. Baby. Father."
Hermione laughed and swiped at her cheeks. "Is this happy stuttering?"
"Are you kidding me?!" He was sitting up in an instant, arms banding around her waist. "Good Godric, witch. How much more are you giving to me?" His fingers slid into her curls and he pressed his lips hard against hers until he broke free laughing. "I'm in love with you."
"I love you… but you're rubbish at contraception charms." Draco rolled her on her back and settled between her thighs. She could feel the hard ridge of his erection against her sex and she keened, knees lifting over his hips.
His tongue swept inside her mouth as his fingers roamed freely, slipping up her satin camisole and finding her sensitive breasts.
"Mum!" A small fist beat on her door and quicker than she thought possible Draco was off of her and scurrying off the far side of the bed. Hermione laughed and sat up right as Liam entered without further warning. "Dad?"
"Hi, Bud." Draco said from the place where he cowered, only his eyes visible. "Merry Christmas."
"You said we had to wait until six o'clock to open presents, and it's four minutes past."
"Okay, love. We'll be right down."
Liam turned on his heel and left the room just as Hermione fell flat against her back again. Draco's laughter spilled through the silence as he crawled back towards her, kissing her upside down for a moment before pulling back to grin at her. "Do we tell him?"
She shook her head. "Not yet, it's early still. A few weeks, I think."
"Will he be happy?"
Hermione grimaced. "I told you, Malfoy. No matter what we think might happen, Liam always has a way of surprising us."
xXx
Hermione, Draco, and Liam sat around a beautifully decorated Christmas tree surrounded by discarded wrappings and bows.
There had been six Christmases and Hermione wasn't one to brag, surely, but she'd done a good job on each one. It'd been just them but she made sure her son wanted for nothing and received every last thing on his list.
She never thought it could get better than seeing his face as he opened present after present.
But it did; it got better when you had someone to share it with. Draco was beside himself, nearly vibrating with excitement as paper was torn from each and every box.
When they were down to one last gift each, the static in the air shifted and Hermione felt excitement thrum through her veins.
Liam went first, tearing through the silver wrappings and discarding it haphazardly as he revealed a small, child-sized broom. The box read Nimbus 500. His silver eyes darted to his parents, his mouth falling open.
"It's for beginners, so you'll be able to take your time," Hermione said with a smile fighting it's way onto her lips. "And you're not to ride it at all without your father or I present. Is that understood?"
"Yes! Yes, Mum!" Liam was on his feet, broom placed reverently down as he sprang into her arms and whispered his thanks, then he was off to Draco to do the same and Hermione's heart felt overrun with pure joy.
The last present in Draco's lap was from Hermione and Liam. He gently lifted the red wrappings and found a beautifully stained, thin wooden box with his initials engraved in it. His fingers drifted lightly across the top and finally lifted the golden latch.
Hermione's heart galloped inside her ribs, running away with her as she waited with bated breath.
Two pieces of paper were inside and Draco read them aloud:
Dad,
We never knew how much we missed you until you were with us. Thank you for being a part of our family and we hope you will stay forever.
Love,
Mummy & Liam
Draco fought to swallow, tears brimming at his pale lashes as he unfurled the second roll of parchment.
Even though Hermione wasn't looking at it with him, she'd studied it a dozen times. She knew it by heart, although now it had a single— official— amendment.
Where Liam's birth certificate used to say Liam Stephen Granger, it now had a hyphenated -Malfoy at the end.
Draco's features pinched and crumbled; he hid his face as a torrent of tears took over his body. There was little stopping the quiet sobs that escaped her even while Liam stared strangely at the both of them.
"I thought this was a happy gift." His brows pinched in concern.
"It is, my love. It is."
Hermione picked up her gift, a small box. Her heart hammered at its suspicious size. He'd said, afterall, that he wanted to buy her a matching ring for Christmas, and it was, alas, Christmas. Anticipation raced through her veins and when she finally opened the small leather bound box, her breath left her in a huff.
It wasn't a ring.
It was a… a snitch.
"Oh!" Hermione blinked and picked up the small golden ball, forcing a smile on her face. "It's… it's a snitch."
Draco laughed and held his hand up. "Is it?" He smirked. "Toss it here."
She did just that, and he caught it deftly from the air. Once in his palm, the stitch opened.
Draco stood and Hermione's breath rushed from her lungs. He was on his knee in front of her, Liam at his side.
"I'm in love with you and despite the lovely gifts you've given me today, I've had this wrapped and under this tree for weeks. You are my perfect match; you are my constant challenge. I want to be better for you, more for you. Everytime you come into my life, you're a whirlwind; you steal my heart and this time I don't want you to run away with it. I want to marry you, have babies with you, give you everything I have and share our lives until we are old and grey and bickering. Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"
Tears coated her cheeks and before she answered she looked at Liam, the only man in her life for all these years. "You knew about this? You're okay with this?"
"'Course." He grinned. "I helped pick out the ring."
"Sneaky little Slytherins."
"That's not an answer, Hermione," Draco deadpanned.
"Yes, you git! Of course, I will!" Hermione shot from her seat and barreled into him, tackling him to ground and covering him in kisses as Liam groaned from over them.
xXx
"Draco Lucius Malfoy! How dare you keep your old mother in the dark like this… it's not right!" She chided, as she gripped Hermione's fingers and gawked at the stunning diamond sitting on the third finger of her left hand. "Hermione, please say I can help with the planning!"
Hermione lips pulled into a smile and she nodded eagerly in the foyer of the Manor. "Of course, Narcissa. I dare say you can do it all."
An excited squeal shot around the room as Lucius shook his son's hand in the background and led him towards the dining room.
Narcissa prattled on about wedding aesthetics and a possible June wedding as the Floo roared to life. Completely overdressed and her chin tilted high, Pansy Parkinson strode through the grate and smiled falsely when she saw Hermione.
"Cissy!" She cooed and kissed both of Narcissa's cheeks. "Granger. Happy Christmas."
"To you also," Hermione said with a nod.
"We were just celebrating the very recent engagement of Hermione and Draco." Narcissa gripped Hermione's fingers and lifted them into Pansy's face, who grimaced when face to face with the diamond.
"Narcissa," Hermione said kindly, "Would you give Pansy and I a moment to catch up?"
"Of course, love." Narcissa kissed her cheek and escorted Liam towards the dining room where a handful of other guests were waiting.
With a long suffering sigh, Hermione fixed her glare on Pansy. "I know it was you who leaked Draco and I's situation to the press."
"No, you don't."
"No, actually I do, and I won't have you do the same with our engagement. I know that you meddling in the happiness of others is a bit of a pastime; but it ages you, Parkinson. Let it go."
Pansy's lip curled.
"Now more than ever, I am going to be in your life for the foreseeable future. Would you like to agree to a cease fire?"
"What does that mean?" The witch said with a wrinkle to her pug nose.
"It means that we let everything go and you stop fighting me. It's not worth it, Pansy."
Her dark eyes rolled in the back of her head and her lips mashed together in thought. "Fine, for Draco."
"No." Hermione shook her head. "We end this for us. Things are going to keep changing, and if you can't be with us then you need to leave."
"You can't— You can't just kick me out of Draco's life. Trust me, many a witch has tried."
"Actually, she can," Draco's voice sounded from over her shoulder, and Hermione turned with a grateful smile, sighing as his arm settled around her waist. "She's going to be my wife, Pansy. If you can't respect her position in my life, then you can go."
"Draco—"
"No."
Pansy dragged her tongue along her teeth and then wrinkled her nose. "Fine, we'll be friends."
Next to her, Draco snorted. "Don't push it."
xXx
Three weeks passed and Hermione's fatigue and nausea skyrocketed. Even Liam noticed and even though Draco tried to distract him and Hermione tried to hide it, he, of course, figured it out.
"You're sick."
"No, not sick…"
"You're vomiting often and you're cranky and tired."
Hermione flinched. That was true.
She sought out Draco where he sat on the couch and a silent conversation passed between them. He nodded and with a long breath she relented.
"Liam, we have some news we were hoping to wait a little longer to tell you."
"You are sick." His little jaw trembled.
"No, love." Hermione smiled and her hand curved around his cheek. "No, I'm healthy. I'm just pregnant."
Liam blinked. "Pregnant?"
With a small laugh, she nodded and her other hand rested over the barely there swell to her abdomen. One hand on each of her babies. "Pregnant."
His small brows tugged together and he turned to Draco with a stern expression. "You really are rubbish at contraception charms."
THE END
A/N: Well that's all she wrote! Well.. I wrote. Thanks for reading along and if you're interested in a much sloppier and far more random plot threads that amount to nothing version of this story, check out the original! This one did end up deviating a great amount but I thought it didn't call for the unnecessary angst.
A big thanks to BoredRavenvlaw for her help on these last few chapters and to MCal for her eyes earlier on.
This was the second story I ever wrote and reading it back through has bee lol but I'm so glad I can share a version with you all that I'm more proud of and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.
See you soon!