A Marriage of Inconvenience

Chapter 7

It took precisely three weeks before they could be away from each other for more than a few hours at a time without that burning hunger and need overtaking them. They still craved each other madly, but it slowly settled to a level that was sustainable and compatible with having a life outside the bedroom.

Being a Malfoy had some privileges, along with being one of the Golden Trio, because her job was still waiting for her when she was actually able to physically tear herself from her husband's bed and go in for nine-hour shifts. Her boss had never uttered a peep of protest at all her time off, and Kingsley Shacklebolt himself came down to say hello to her one her first day back.

That had been another change. She was no longer stuck on the nightshift. Hermione imagined there was a bit of preferential treatment going on, and that she might have been brought to the day shift before someone with more seniority, but it was hard to stir much concern for the notion. The unfairness bothered her, but she had other matters that consumed her thoughts far more intensely.

In the beginning, she had been determined to maintain her independence, to be prepared to move out of the Malfoy Manor as soon as she could stand the wrenching pain caused by being apart from Draco. As the days passed, and they settled into a routine, Hermione realized she hadn't thought about leaving him for weeks.

She frowned as she mentally counted back how long she had been with Draco. Had it really been seven weeks? That seemed impossible, but she couldn't deny she had been happy. Happier than she had ever been before even with Ron, whom she had thought she loved despite the many times she didn't even like him all that much.

Thinking of Ron reminded her she hadn't been a very good friend to anyone lately, so she sat down to write out notes for Harry, Luna, Neville, Ron, and Ginny. Ron's was difficult, but she tried to keep it light, while letting him know she would always consider him a friend (emphasis on friend).

It wasn't until she was finishing Ginny's note, adding a postscript asking if the morning sickness had resolved, that she realized she hadn't had a period in all the time she'd been with Draco. Her fingers froze on the quill. After a moment, she forced herself to finish the note and summon Talos, the arrogant owl of Draco's that barely deigned to answer to anyone else. "Deliver these please." At his imperious hoot, she said, "Go on. Lady Malfoy gave you an order."

As the owl flew away, she resisted the urge to giggle at having used her title—something she studiously avoided—to gain the cooperation of an owl. Only the fear that she would dissolve into peals of hysterical laughter that would never end checked the impulse.

Tentatively, she touched her stomach, wondering if the next Malfoy was growing inside her. She didn't see how it could be so, since she had brewed and continued taking the contraception potion daily, but there was only one way to be sure. In the Muggle world, she could pop down to the corner drugstore for a pregnancy test, but in the wizarding world, a trip to St. Mungo's was the easiest way.

She sent a note to her boss informing him she would be late—really hating how her work ethic had slipped lately, but unable to make herself wait even a few hours longer for an answer—and then Apparated to the main lobby of St. Mungo's.

~~~

When she returned to the Manor hours later, it was with the information that she was expecting a child. The Healer had pointed out, when she had denied the possibility, that even the best contraception potions might fail from time to time.

She was convinced it had something to do with the binding that had joined her to Draco. In an effort to distract herself from the looming task of informing Draco they were going to be parents, and dreading his reaction to an event they had never discussed or planned, she decided to research the spell that had married them.