~A/N> I know, I'm two days late and I'm sorry. This chapter needed lots of details and I took my time so
that I covered everything. I think you'll like it, it's almost four thousand words long (longest chapter so
far!) and has lots of fluffy goodness :) I am going to try to make the normal update Saturday but I'm not
promising. Special thanks to poppywillow (aka Willow here on Portkey) for her help and a big thank you to everyone who
has read and/or reviewed so far!
The next six weeks seemed to fly by for Harry and Hermione. Since Hermione's due date was drawing near, Edna had scaled her work days down from five a week to three. When confronted by a belligerent Hermione, Edna calmly explained that she could barely reach the books on the shelves anymore due to her ever-growing stomach and her magic had been a bit wonky lately. Hermione grumpily agreed to it and made sure that those around her knew how unhappy she was about spending so much time at home with nothing to do but watch her stomach grow and her ankles swell.
To those around them, Harry seemed to be the most caring man in the world. He would come into the shop every day that Hermione worked to have lunch with her and always waited on her hand and foot. It was obvious to all around them that Harry cared for her a lot, and that she felt the same. She had gathered the courage to ask the Healer about intercourse during pregnancy, and even though Healer Murphy had said it wouldn't hurt the baby, she and Harry had agreed not to go further than snogging until after the baby was born.
On a chilly February afternoon, exactly three weeks until Hermione's due date, she and Harry decided to stay inside. Harry was sitting on the couch reading the most recent Quidditch Weekly magazine while Hermione lay comfortably on her side with her head in Harry's lap. When there was a rap on the door Harry waited for her to raise her head enough so that he could get up to answer it. Unable to see the door from her position on the sofa Hermione heard Harry open it and in a cold voice she had never heard him use before ask, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I want to see Hermione," came the reply. Hermione's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice...she knew that voice well...it was Michel. Sitting up carefully, Hermione placed her hands protectively over her stomach unconsciously and listened to see what Harry would say.
"I don't think so...you're not welcome in our house," Harry said with venom dripping from his voice. "Where do you...listen you...wait..." Hermione heard him say in broken conversation along with the sound of the two of them scuffling.
She watched as Michel fought his way into the sitting room, panting from fighting his way past a very irate Harry, who was hot on his heels. "Listen you sodding bastard," Harry said angrily, "You have no right to just barge in here like that."
"I need to speak with Hermione," Michel replied, matching the hatred in Harry's voice, "Alone, if you don't mind."
"W-What do you want?" she asked, hating that her voice broke. Taking a deep breath and gathering her courage she said, "I don't want to hear anything you have to say Michel, so please just leave."
"I don't think so," Michel replied, taking two steps closer to her, "You and I have something to discuss."
"And what would that be?" Harry asked, taking a step toward him.
"That would be none of your bloody business!" Michel replied shortly.
Fed up with the man's disrespect for their home and his threatening attitude toward Hermione, Harry charged toward Michel and pushed him into the wall. "Harry!" Hermione said, shocked by his behavior, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to escort this piece of shit out of our house," he replied as he grabbed onto Michel's shirt and swung him around, away from the wall. Turning Michel to face the door once more, Harry put his hand on his back and started to push him toward the door.
Undeterred, Michel turned around quickly and pushed Harry away from him. Hermione watched as he started walking toward her once more, and when Harry started after him again she quickly said, "No! Harry let him talk. The sooner he's said his piece the sooner he'll leave."
Straightening up his shirt, which Harry had messed up when he had grabbed it, Michel glared as he walked by the other man and sat down next to Hermione. With a falsely sweet smile on his face Michel looked at Hermione's bulging stomach and then up to her face. "You're quite big, aren't you?" he asked maliciously.
"Of course I'm big you prat, I'm carrying a baby," Hermione replied with venom in her voice and her eyes narrowed to slits, "Now why are you here?"
"I'm here for the same reason as before," he replied, "If you want me to leave you and the baby alone you'll have to pay me to sign away my parental rights." When he saw the look of anger and disbelief on her face he continued, "Of course if you don't want to do that then I can petition the courts for custody...I'm sure they wouldn't approve of you living out of wedlock with the great Harry Potter and you don't make enough to support a child...there's no doubt in my mind that I could easily get sole custody of the baby."
Hermione gasped, unable to believe that Michel would go that far, as Harry said, "You bastard," and moved toward him with the purpose of inflicting bodily harm.
Hermione stood up as quickly as her body would let her and put a hand on Harry's chest to stop him. "He's not worth you getting in trouble over Harry," she said quietly while giving him a pleading look to calm down, "Please just let him talk so we can get him out of here...hopefully for good this time."
Seeing the worried and pleading look in her eyes, Harry took a deep breath and said, "Alright, but if he continues to be an arse I will throw him out."
Sure that she could trust Harry to reign in his temper, Hermione sat back down and glared at Michel. "And what is it that you expect me to pay you to give up your rights?"
"Ten thousand galleons," Michel replied and Hermione felt her anger flare to very dangerous levels. She couldn't believe that she had actually considered spending the rest of her life with this piece of slime.
"You're barmy!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice rising, "You should have thought of the consequences when you decided to put your willy where it didn't belong."
"I beg your pardon?" Michel asked, outraged, "If I recall correctly, you were a willing participant that night in the common room."
"Then you remember wrong," Hermione replied heatedly, "You took advantage of me that night...I had just lost my Father and I came to you for comfort. Instead of making me feel better you plunged right in with no consideration for me and hurt me badly. It was my first time and you were rough and vulgar...I'll never forgive you for that."
"Whatever," Michel said, waving his hand toward her in a dismissive way, "Either pay up or lose the kid...the decision is yours."
"I wouldn't give you a knut, let alone ten thousand galleons," Hermione replied, her voice full of hatred, "Now get out of our house and leave us alone."
"Our house?" Michel said spitefully, "Oh, that's rich. He certainly has you fooled."
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked angrily.
"I mean that if you think he's going to be happy stuck with you and a kid that's not his, you're wrong," Michel replied hatefully, "He's 'the-git-who-defeated-you-know-who', he can shag any woman he wants and you think he's going to stay with you?"
"That's it!" Harry exclaimed. He made his way toward Michel and picked him up by the shirt once again. Opening the door, Harry shoved him outside and when Michel opened his mouth to speak he cut him off by saying, "I don't want to hear whatever it is you think you have to say...come near Hermione again and I swear I'll kill you!"
Harry walked back into the flat and slammed the door shut behind him. He went to the sofa and sat next to Hermione, putting his arm around her protectively. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know," Hermione answered.
"Hermione," Harry said, taking her hands in his and looking straight into her eyes, "You know that he just said that to upset you, right? I told you before, it's you I want to be with, no one else. You believe me, don't you?"
"I remember what you said and I know he's just a hateful little troll, but when he said that...I just...I'm going to go lie down for a little while, I need to calm down a bit," she replied and Harry hated the doubt he heard in her voice.
"Okay," Harry said, worried by Hermione's stand-offish behavior. He watched as she walked into her room and wished there was something he could do to make her feel better. He knew she was thinking about what Michel said and wondering if Harry would leave her for some other girl after she had the baby. There was no way he would, but she obviously didn't believe that.
As he sat there fuming over Michel's visit Hermione suddenly yelled, "Harry!"
Harry ran as fast as he could down the corridor, spurned on by the fear he had heard in Hermione's voice, and when he opened the door to her room he saw her standing in the middle of the room shaking. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I think my water's broken," she replied, looking down toward the floor.
When he looked down he saw a puddle of clear liquid on the floor around her feet and said, "oh shit."
~*~
"Hee hee hoo, hee hee hoo" Hermione panted as another contraction came on. Harry looked at her with an expression full of fear and concern. She had been making some of the most horrendous sounds since her water broke and if she squeezed his hand much harder he was sure she was going to break it.
Once they had flooed to St. Mungo's, Healer Murphy met them and then escorted them to a private room. Harry had practically been shoved out of the room by the nurse but when he heard Hermione yell, "Harry!" he ran back in and shoved his way to her bedside.
"What's wrong Luv?" he asked, looking down into her teary eyes and sweat covered face.
"Please stay with me," she asked, "Please don't leave me alone."
"I'm not going anywhere," he assured her as he shot the nurse a murderous look.
"Hermione, you're already dilated to two centemeters which is pretty quick for a first baby," Healer Murphy explained, "Even though you're not due for three weeks I'm afraid you'll be having your baby today." When he saw the worried look on her face he said, "Even though you're early, the baby should be just fine. Try not to worry and rest whenever you can, you have to dilate to ten before you can start pushing."
"Would it be okay if I stay with her?" Harry asked him.
"That is up to Hermione Mr. Potter," the Healer answered. When Hermione nodded in assent he said, "It'll be your job to keep her as calm and relaxed as possible Mr. Potter. She's opted not to take any pain relieving potions for now, but if she changes her mind just let me or her nurse know."
"Alright," Harry replied. When Healer Murphy left Harry turned to Hermione and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"
"N-No," Hermione answered as another contraction slammed through her body. Harry grabbed her hand and smoothed her hair back from her face as she concentrated on doing the breathing techniques she learned from birthing classes. Once the pain passed she looked at him and asked, "Would you please floo Hogwarts and let Luna know I'm in labour? She said that Headmistress McGonagall gave her permission to be here when I went into labour."
"Sure," Harry said, "Will you be okay by yourself while I run down to the floo?"
"Yeah," she replied, "Oh, and let Edna know too...and please hurry."
Kissing her on the forehead, Harry made his way into the corridor and down to the floo to contact Luna and Edna. Ten minutes later Harry walked back into Hermione's room with two very worried women following him.
"You're not due for three more weeks," Luna said, "What's going on? Harry mentioned something happened to cause you to go into labour early?"
As soon as her latest contraction subsided Hermione looked at her and replied, "Michel happened. He showed up at our flat making threats and being just horrible."
"What?!" Edna exclaimed, "What in Merlin's name was he doing at your flat?"
"Long story," Hermione answered, "One I'd rather not talk about right now."
"Right, sorry," Edna apologized, "Do you need anything Dear?"
"Just you, Luna, and Harry to stay with me," Hermione replied and then started panting again as yet another contraction started. When it was over she looked from Harry to Luna to Edna and whispered, "I'm scared."
"Don't be," Luna said, "Healer Murphy is one of the best prenatal Healers around and I know he's going to take great care of you."
"Luna's right Luv," Harry said while taking her hand in his, "You and the baby are going to be just fine."
"We would never let anything happen to you," Edna added affectionately.
Hermione laboured for the next ten hours and she finally decided to take something to ease the pain of her contractions so that she could try to sleep. She was already exhausted and she still had to push the baby out, which could take two or more hours. Harry rubbed her head, smoothing her hair away from her face until she fell asleep and when he looked at Luna he found her asleep in a chair next to the bed. Edna had gone to contact Mrs. Weasley so that she could let their friends know that Hermione was having the baby and would be back shortly. Summoning another chair from across the room, he placed it right next to the bed and lay his head on the mattress while still holding Hermione's hand, falling asleep almost instantly.
Three hours later Harry and Luna were awakened by Hermione, who was yelling that the baby was coming. As Luna ran to get the Healer Harry asked her, "Are you sure you want me here while you're giving birth? I mean, not that I'll be looking, but I'm liable to see parts of you I haven't seen yet and I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"Harry, I don't care what you see, and I don't want you to leave. I love you and I want you to be here-ahhhh!!!" Due to a major contraction overwhelming Hermione, Harry was unable to dwell on the fact that she had just professed her love for him and he was unable to tell her that he loved her in return.
What felt like ten minutes later, but was in reality a minute, Luna ran back into the room with Healer Murphy and a nurse right behind her. When Healer Murphy checked her he said, "Hermione, I can already see the head, so it should only take a few more pushes and you can meet your son or daughter."
In a flurry of motion and orders to push, Hermione put all of her energy into bringing her baby into the world. With Luna holding one hand and Harry holding the other (Edna opted to wait in the corridor with Mrs. Weasley) she pushed four times total, trying to ignore the massive pain ripping through her privates, when Healer Murphy said, "The baby's out." After a quick peek he placed the baby on Hermione's stomach and with a big smile said, "It's a boy!"
Letting go of Luna and Harry's hands she held onto the baby and looked at him in awe. The nurse took him, stating that she needed to weigh him and clean him up, and promised to bring him right back. Crying, Luna leaned down and hugged Hermione, telling her what a great job she did, and then said she would go give the Weasley's and Edna the news.
Harry leaned down and kissed Hermione lightly on the lips and said, "You did a wonderful job Hermione."
"Thanks," she replied tiredly. She looked over to where the nurse was weighing the baby and said, "I can't believe he's here." When she was finished the nurse brought him over and placed him gently in Hermione's arms. Grabbing the chart she wrote something down and said, "He weighs eight pounds and is nineteen inches long. Do you have a name for him yet?"
"Daniel James Granger," Hermione replied.
When Harry heard his name he looked at her surprised and asked, "Daniel James?"
"I hope you don't mind that I used your Father's name as his middle name," she replied, "When you were telling me about your parents I really liked the name James, and I knew if it was a boy I was going to name him after my Father. The two just sound so nice together."
"I don't mind at all," Harry replied, his eyes bright with tears as he stared at the small bundle in her arms.
Hermione stared at Daniel, overwhelmed with the love she felt for him and amazed that she was holding her son. She was relieved to see that he had a head full of brown hair and that his features didn't seem to favor either her or Michel yet. When the door opened she and Harry looked up to see Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna walking in.
The girls all fawned over Daniel as Ron and Neville walked up to Harry. Ron patted him on the back and said with a smile, "Luna said you stayed for the entire thing, how was it?"
"Bloody fantastic!" Harry replied with a huge smile, causing Ron to laugh, "I don't see how she did it, I probably would have passed out from pain."
"That's why we don't give birth," Neville replied teasingly.
Harry watched as everyone took turns holding Daniel. Soon it was time for Ron to return to his Quidditch team, Neville had to get back to his cafe, and Luna and Ginny had to go back to Hogwarts. Hermione promised Mrs. Weasley that she would floo if she needed any help or someone to watch Daniel, and once they were gone she said, "I love them, I really do, but it's nice to have some peace and quiet."
Harry smiled at her and after a moment of silence he asked, "Can I hold him?"
"Of course," Hermione replied happily and then carefully handed the baby to him.
Harry sat holding Daniel and he couldn't believe how tiny he felt in his arms. He marveled at the feelings he felt; a mixture of disbelief, love, and protectiveness washed over him as he watched Daniel sleeping in his arms. He also felt a bit sad as he remembered that this beautiful little boy wasn't his son, but someone else's. When Harry remembered how horribly Michel had spoken of his own child, this precious, innocent little boy, he wanted to go hunt him down and kill the wanker.
"Harry?" he heard Hermione ask, and when he looked up at her she said, "You had the strangest look on your face, what are you thinking?"
"Just how amazing you are for bringing this little guy into the world," he lied. He wasn't about to risk upsetting Hermione by bringing up Michel now, after everything she had just been through. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," she replied with drooping eyes.
"Why don't you try to get some sleep and I'll watch Daniel," he offered.
"Are you sure?" she asked, "He might need his nappy changed or he might need to be fed."
"I'll get the nurse to help me with the nappy," he replied with a smile, "I'll need to learn anyway so that I can do it at home and if he needs to eat I'll wake you, okay?"
"Okay," she said as Harry carefully sat down next to her on the bed, Daniel sleeping in his arms. Thinking of how there would probably never be another time as perfect as this, Harry gazed into Hermione's eyes and said, "Hermione, I just wanted you to know that I...I love you."
Hermione's eyes opened wide and when she stared back at him she could see his love for her shining in his eyes. As tears flooded her eyes a huge smile broke out on her face as she said, "Oh Harry, I love you too!"
As she sat up carefully he took his free arm and gently hugged her to him, marvelling at how perfect everything seemed at that moment. Letting her go he said, "Now try to get some rest."
Wiping the tears from her eyes and feeling happier than she ever thought she could, Hermione nodded and snuggled down underneath the covers. Harry bent down and kissed her, pouring all of his feelings into the kiss, and then watched as Hermione gently placed a kiss on Daniel's forehead.
Hermione fell asleep right away, exhausted by labour and the stress of the day. Harry carried Daniel over to the small portable bassinet that had been placed in the room and lay him down carefully. He stood watching the baby sleep and he knew at that moment that, even though Daniel wasn't biologically his, if Hermione allowed it he would still be a Father to him.
~*~
While Hermione had been giving birth to his son, Michel had made his way to The Leaky Cauldron where he had rented a room for the night. Mumbling angrily under his breath he brought the bottle of Firewhiskey he had bought up to his lips and took a huge swig of the bitter drink. Thinking of all the ways he was going to make that slag Hermione and Potter pay, Michel lay down on the bed and continued to drink. When someone knocked on the door he cursed quite loudly and yelled, "What do you want?"
When no one answered he swore some more and drunkenly got up from the bed. Staggering to the door he yanked it open and said, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Avada Kedavra!" the person said, pointing their wand at Michel's chest. With his mouth open in surprise Michel's body fell to the floor with a thud, his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling above as the person at the door quietly stole away into the night unseen.
~A/N2> Hermione's Mother will make an appearance in the next chapter along with the person who killed Michel :)