A/N : Hi there all you lovely people out there. Thank you for the reviews and favourites and follows. I'm sorry for not updating more regularly but life has been really hectic and C.R.A.Z.Y...

This chapter is about Narcissa, Draco and Hermione BEFORE Caellum was born.

READING

Narcissa cast a critical eye upon her only son who looked like he had not slept a wink in ages; there were bags under his eyes and he looked thoroughly exhausted.

"Are you alright, Draco?"

His head jerked up and he ran his hand over his face while stifling a yawn. "Yes, Mother. I'm just a little tired."

"You look terrible! That's not a little tired!"

"Please, Mother... I just need a short nap and I'll be as right as rain."

Narcissa harrumphed sceptically but kept her peace.

They continued their breakfast in silence for a few moments before they were joined by Hermione who trilled happily, "Good morning, Narcissa! Good morning, darling!"

She bent to give a peck on Draco's cheeks and Narcissa saw him flinch while casting a wary eye on his wife. She observed them silently while sipping her tea.

Hermione had draped her arms around Draco's neck while smiling dreamily at him. Draco gave her a small, insincere smile then visibly shuddered when she winked naughtily at him.

Now what has my lioness of a daughter in law been up to?

"Isn't today a wonderful, wonderful day? The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, I'm so over my morning sickness and Draco has the day off!" Hermione looked absolutely radiant and Narcissa smiled inwardly at her uncharacteristic behaviour. The first three months of pregnancy had seen her miserable from morning sickness and she had been endlessly exhausted. She was now five months pregnant with Narcissa's first grandchild and for the last two months she had seemed exuberantly happy and full of energy. She had also begun to become more comfortable at showering Draco with lots of public displays of affection.

Draco looked like he wanted to run as far away from the mother of his child.

Interesting... normally he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her.

Hermione had now turned to sit herself on Draco's lap, smiling sexily at her now waxen looking husband. "What shall we do today, love?" she whispered softly at him.

Draco gulped audibly and replied in shaky, nervous voice, "Ohhh... maybe visit Harry and the Weaslette?"

Narcissa's jaw dropped unattractively. Her son wanting to visit the Potters? He must be suffering from a dreadful ailment or under a curse!

Hermione didn't seem surprised but instead looked disappointed at his reply. She pouted, "I'm not in the mood to go out anywhere. Why don't we stay at home and read some more?" She had emphasized the word read and her hands were caressing his chest in a circular motion.

Narcissa arched an eyebrow as she watched Draco blanching at his wife's suggestion. "Read?" he squeaked.

"Yes, read..." Hermione replied breathily. "In the library, or the gardens, if you want to."

Narcissa was beginning to understand what the euphemism reading stood for and tried hard to hide her smile. She cleared her throat to get their attention.

"You know, Hermione, when I was about four months pregnant with Draco, Lucius and I used to read a lot too..."

Draco's jaw dropped to his chest before he groaned, "Oh Gods, have mercy on me..."

Hermione blushed prettily but managed to say, "You... you... used to read a lot too?"

"Oh yes!" Narcissa sipped at her tea while her face worked hard to hide her mirth at Draco's discomfort. "We read all the time and everywhere. I'm sure you know it's the hormones causing you to ...er...wanting to read so much."

Draco made a gagging sound and tried hard to get his wife off his lap. "I... I need to... do something..." Hermione scowled fiercely at his attempts and he stopped reluctantly. She then turned and smiled sweetly at her mother in law.

"Did... er... Lucius enjoy all the reading?"

Narcissa prided herself in her self control and now summoned every ounce of that control to reply serenely, "Well, he enjoyed it immensely the first few weeks but then he started to ...how can I put it... lose his ... er... concentration, no... that's not it... he began to lose his vigour for reading due to lack of sleep."

Hermione giggled. Draco started to bang his head on the table and then pointed his wand at his forehead.

"What are you trying to do, Draco?" demanded Hermione, stilling his hand.

"I'm trying to obliviate myself, woman!"

"Oh stop being so melodramatic!"

"Yes, Draco, we are having a lovely conversation here" put in his highly entertained mother.

Draco sputtered indignantly," Conversation?! This is an outrage, that's what this is!"

Narcissa arched her brow until it nearly disappeared into her hair as she said in her snootiest voice, "I simply fail to see how a conversation about your wonderful wife's condition be considered an outrage. She is carrying your offspring after all, and I cannot believe a son of mine can forget what she has been through the last few months. "

Her softly spoken admonishment managed to quell Draco's ire and he settled down grudgingly.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and smiled at Hermione. "Malfoy men..."

"Now where were we before we had to handle that rude interruption? Ahh... yes... Lucius' vigour for reading."

Hermione giggled.

Narcissa sipped at her now empty teacup to collect herself and hide her own mirth. "He even began to lose weight when my reading needs continued to rise. I wanted to read ALL the time, you'd hardly believe it if I were to tell you how much!"

Draco was now the colour of a sheet.

"He looked much like Draco here at the moment" said Narcissa while looking innocently at her son. He glared but said nothing.

"Maybe you're carrying a son like I was... I mean we do seem to want to read so much more than usual, don't we, dear?"

Hermione glowed at the thought of carrying a boy and smiled happily at her mother in law. "Yes, reading seems to be all that I can think about nowadays." She turned to Draco who was looking at her tummy wistfully. "But Draco doesn't quite share my...er...enthusiasm. He was such a good sport before!" she pouted.

"Any man would find it bloody hard to be enthusiastic when he's being summoned to read all the bloody time!" spat Draco. "It's like being a slave! We need some rest to be enthusiastic or we'll all be chafed to a nubbin in a week!"

"Well, Draco Malfoy, I never thought I'd see a day when YOU, of all people, would complain of too much... er...reading" countered Hermione hotly. "You used to want to...er...read anywhere, anytime! Need I remind you that ...er... reading is what got me in this condition in the first place!"

Narcissa was torn between laughter and dismay so she chewed on her toast as if it was a piece of rubbery steak. After a few moments of watching Draco and Hermione exchanging glares, she dabbed at her lips with the linen napkin placed in her lap and proceeded to rise from her chair. "Well, I must be going now... I promised Andromeda I'll visit her and little Teddy today so I must be off."

Hermione smiled gloriously, "Will you be visiting them ALL day?"

Narcissa hesitated, stealing a glance at her son who was a bit slow on the uptake at the moment, most probably from lack of sleep due to too much reading, before making up her mind. "Oh no... I think I'll stay there overnight; I just adore little Teddy and it'd be a good practice for me to prepare for this little one."

By then, Draco had emerged from the mind fog that had surrounded him and a look of utter horror descended on his face. "Mother! You cannot be serious! How can you... what about... I mean it's not... No, you can't..." he was stumbling over his own words. Narcissa had to bite her lips hard to keep herself from laughing.

"Mother, please... I want to visit aunt 'Dromeda!" implored her only son beseechingly, his grey eyes darting from his mother to Hermione, who was looking like the cat who was getting all the cream in the world.

"Please, Mother, don't leave us alone! I'll... I'll die!" his last plea came out almost voicelessly.

Narcissa squared her shoulders and said severely, "Don't be silly, Draco! We will be spending the time having women's talk and we certainly don't want you around. Besides, Hermione here needs you; who'll read with her if you're not around? She needs her reading!"

She turned quickly towards the fireplace but not before catching the wink Hermione had given her and seeing the terror in Draco's eyes when Hermione's hands started to wander south of his body.

Her last thought before stepping into the Floo was whether anyone had really ever died from too much reading.

DMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDM

I hope you guys understand what 'reading' REALLY means here but if you are confused, here's a fact for you to chew on : It is widely believed that pregnant women get very 'enthusiastic for sex' (think of a 5 letter word beginning with h and ends with y) during their second trimester (around the fourth to seventh month of pregnancy). I personally can vouch for it *wink* *wink*!

Think about it and hopefully you'd get what 'reading' is all about here!

Cheers!