Three months later.
Hermione felt exhausted. She had been in labour for 12 hours and it had seemed like 12 days. As she lay in her bed while Madame Pomfrey, who had personally attended to her, fussed around Hermione contemplated the whole giving birth process. They were wizards for Merlin's sake! Surely there had to be a way to make this easier?
Her daughter made a little sniffing noise and Hermione reached over, gently touching her baby to make sure she was okay. She couldn't stop staring at her and she couldn't believe she was hers. She was a mother! The little girl had Draco's eyes, that was obvious already but her hair, although blonde wasn't the startling white blonde of Draco's. Despite only being an hour old, she was totally gorgeous and Hermione loved her with every ounce of her being already.
Draco came back into the infirmary, still looking slightly dazed but ecstatically happy. He had held the baby almost continually since she'd been born until he had popped out to tell everyone the news. He grinned at Hermione and sat on her bed before leaning over the crib.
"Incredible," he said and he gently touched his child's head. It was such a loving, tender touch that it brought tears to Hermione's eyes. He glanced over and noticed.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, just overly emotional." Hermione wiped her face and sniffed. Draco's eyes softened and he grabbed Hermione's hand, gently squeezing it.
"Thank you."
"What for?" Hermione asked.
"Everything." Draco's answer was simple but it said so much and it made Hermione feel like she was walking on air. Without a proper, logical thought she blurted out the words that had been on the tip of her tongue for weeks.
"I love you."
She saw Draco fight to keep control of himself and he gently leaned forward and gave her a very chaste kiss on the cheek. But he didn't pull away and instead he put his lips next to her ear. "Amorette."
Hermione pulled away from him. "Pardon?"
"Amorette." He repeated the word and nodded his head towards the crib. "Against all the odds our little daughter has two parents who love each other..." he grinned at Hermione who had blushed at his confession. Again it was said in a typical Draco way, no hearts and flowers but the message was the same. He loved her too. Draco continued. "So why don't we call her Amorette? It means..."
"Little love," Hermione interrupted him and then grinned. "You're not the only one who knows Latin!"
Draco chuckled. "Oops! I forgot I was in the presence of a genius!" He nudged Hermione's shoulder. "I knew we were having a girl!" He looked proud and Hermione sighed.
"Yes, okay – you guessed right. It was a 50/50 chance though, wasn't it?"
"I didn't guess! I knew!"
Hermione looked over at her sleeping daughter. "I love the name, it suits her already." She grinned again. "I think Abraham got it wrong anyway because she looks like The One to me."
They leant over the crib together and Hermione knew that everything was now how it should be.
Soppy I know! But with a baby involved it was bound to be. Sorry for the big delay in posting, it spoiled the flow a bit I think but there again, some authors leave it that long between every chapter. I'm just a lot quicker usually. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and as I said before, I have an idea for a new story in my head so I'll be back soon. Thanks. x