Meet Me In The Broom Cupboard

Chapter Thirty Two: 2000, August

Draco hated it when Hermione cried. He was never good at handling his own emotions, let alone other people's, but when it came to her he felt he never did or said the right thing to console her.

She hadn't been too emotional throughout the whole pregnancy, which he was silently thankful for, so when she randomly burst into tears that night he panicked.

'Hey, what's wrong?' He asked as he turned to face her back. She was lying on her side, facing away from him, her shoulders shaking.

'I'm too big!' She sobbed. 'I can't get comfortable no matter what. I'm tired because I'm constantly being kicked during the night. And I lost out on winning 90 Galleons ten minutes ago!'

'Mione,' he whispered, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. 'You're upsetting yourself for no reason over losing the bet. This isn't good for you and it's not good for the baby.'

'Oh, hush Draco.' She snapped. 'You still have a chance of winning if I give birth in the next twenty four hours.'

He tried not to laugh, knowing the bet wasn't the sole reason behind her tears, as he ran a comforting hand up and down her spine.

'Tell me what's really bothering you.' He whispered.

'I just want to have her now.' Hermione mumbled through her tears.

'So do I.' Draco replied. 'But we just need to wait a little longer until he arrives.'

Hermione scowled. They'd been having this argument for months now, she was so convinced it was a girl yet Draco was adamant it was a boy. They decided not to find out, which had been a mistake, and were now both hoping to be the one who was right.

'I can't wait any longer.' Hermione grumbled. 'She's long overdue, she should have been here a week ago.'

'He just wanted to make sure his Dad won the bet.' Draco smirked, attempting to cheer her up with humour. It worked, if only slightly, to calm her sobs.

She shuffled up the bed so that she could sit up, conjuring two extra pillows to place around her body for support, and placed her hands on her stomach. Though she complained constantly about being too big, she was actually surprised at how small her bump was, insisting on weekly midwife visits for the past month to make sure the baby was the right size. She was reassured that the baby was perfectly healthy at every appointment and whenever she asked the midwife why her bump was so small, they just said she was lucky.

Draco sat up beside Hermione and placed his hand next to hers on her abdomen. He heard Hermione hiss and pressed a kiss to her cheek, knowing the baby was moving around and making her uncomfortable.

'We can go to St Mungo's right now if you want?' He offered but knew she would turn down getting magically induced.

'No, it's okay.' Hermione whispered. 'I'm just getting impatient.'

Another kick pulled a groan from Hermione and Draco shuffled down the bed. He often spoke to her stomach after they found that it calmed the baby, potentially causing it to fall asleep, so whenever the kicks got too much Draco would lie down and tell stories.

'Have I told you about the time your mother punched me?' Draco whispered to the bump.

'Draco.' Hermione warned with a roll of her eyes. Her crying had stopped and she was finally calm.

'Truth is,' Draco continued. 'I wasn't very nice to her and I probably deserved it. If your mother is right and you are a girl, you'll have to get her to teach you how to punch like she did back then.'

'Why would I teach my child to punch if it's a girl and not a boy? Or at all for that matter?' Hermione grumbled.

'So that boys know to stay away until she's at least twenty.' Draco replied with a shrug. Hermione rolled her eyes again, but Draco's protectiveness warmed her heart.

'Or girls.' Hermione offered.

'Or girls.' Draco agreed before turning back to the bump. 'Point is, no relationships until you're old enough.'

'We can hardly comment.' Hermione stated. 'We were fifteen.'

'Yes but I knew you were the one. And you were sixteen.' Draco muttered, stroking her stomach as she winced in pain again.

'Draco,' Hermione whispered with a sigh. 'You are a softie.'

'Granger.' He grumbled.

'Don't start the last name thing again.' Hermione groaned, shifting back down the bed so that she could lie on her side and face him.

'Okay, Hermione.' He replied against her lips as he kissed her.

She hummed in appreciation at the feel of his lips against hers. Damn hormones made her cry one minute and turned on the next. She bit his lip, desperate for him to deepen the kiss, and he reciprocated by gently rolling her over so that his chest was pressed against her back.

'You know, I read that sex can induce labour.' Hermione muttered as Draco pressed his lips to her neck.

'Is that so?' He asked, nipping her shoulder as his hand slipped over her hip.

'Apparently.' She moaned, feeling his hand grip the inside of her thigh.

'Shall we test it?'

'I want nothing more.' She breathed as his hand came dangerously close to where she needed it the most. He pressed his chest against her back as his lips placed hot kisses against her skin, but he stalled when she let out a loud gasp.

He looked down and his eyes widened slightly.

'That's never happened before.' He mumbled.

'Draco, I think my water just broke.' She laughed.

'Damn, I'm good.' He smirked before jumping off the bed to gather the things they needed.

Hermione tried to move off the bed when she felt another twinge in her stomach, realising that the consistent "kicks" she had felt for the last couple of hours must have been the beginning of her contractions.

She sat on the edge of the bed when the pain passed and counted while she waited for another.

'Are you ready?' Draco asked, kneeling down in front of her.

'I should change first.' Hermione said, standing up from the bed after the next contraction ended.

Draco pulled his wand from his pocket and wordlessly changed Hermione into clean clothes, giving her a smile as he did.

'Thank you.' She said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

'Let's go. I'll tell Pippy to get mother and Andromeda to meet us at St Mungo's.' Draco said as he slung the packed bag onto his shoulder and held out his arm for Hermione to take.

Twelve hours later, Draco stumbled out into the waiting area at St Mungo's, and found eight expectant faces looking at him.

'It's a girl.' He said, a huge smile breaking out onto his face.