With you in my Arms

17. You're making my life worth living again

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"And she has grounded him?"

Harry couldn't believe what his girlfriend was telling him.

"Yes. I think he was lucky, that me and Bill were there. Otherwise she would have probably really bound, gagged and flocked him. I have never seen her that angry in the whole of my life. It was pretty frightening."

He put his arm around her.

Harry and Ginny were sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, having diner together.

"What did Malfoy actually say to Ron?"

"He said, that Ron never had taken the time to find out, what Hermione wanted to do with her life. Never asked her about her dreams, hopes, wishes. Malfoy wants to make her happy. Really happy. And then he said something about her being the best mum their kid could hope for, that the other kids would be jealous about having her as mum. And the last bit was a bit embarrassing actually."

He looked at her with a curios look on his face. She was blushing.

"What did he say?"

There was a very long moment of hesitation. Then she mumbled something.

"What?"

"He reminded my brother that he was..."

She wasn't just blushing. She seemed to be hell bent on joining the the I am a tomato competition.

"Ginny?" 

Harry was getting a bit nervous. What could Malfoy have said that made Ginny react this way?

"...that he was her first." She closed her eyes.

"Oh!" Harry's facial colour was quite a good mirror image of hers.

She nodded.

"Just lets not think about that."

"No!"

They were silent for quite a while.

"What did Hermione say though?"

"Before or after the father of her child was attacked."

"Before. Did she say anything afterwards?"

"No, she didn't say anything at all. She held onto him and disapparated them."

"And before?"

"We were talking about their..., would you call it a relationship?"

"There have some kind of relationship I suppose. Them having a child together."

"It's all back to front really. Normally you meet, get to know each other, dating, then... and a family is were everything is leading to."

"Yeah."

"They have started with the family, now will probably do something done the line of dating and get to know each other."

"It is pretty weird. Then again, would anybody have thought that he of all the guys at school would go flat out to win her? I mean there are enough guys that have been wondering what is going on underneath her robes..."

"Harry!"

He laughed.

"You would be surprised what Seamus let slipped one day in potions."

"What?"

"He said, that should Snape ever teach us an x-ray vision potion he'd made sure he'd be best of the class just to find out what kind of underwear Hermione is wearing."

"X-ray?"

Seamus having a Muggle father and having grown up in both worlds, would know about the concept of the penetrating rays. Whereas Ginny didn't have a clue.

Harry grinned.

"Muggle doctors are using it to check a patient for broken bones. It allows them to see through the body so to speak."

"Oh."

He kissed her gently.

"Forget about it."

She returned his kiss.

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"Are you hungry?"

Draco looked at the girl lying next to him on the bed. Eyes closed. She had wanted to lie down, as she was fighting against nausea overwhelming her again. She slowly shook her head.

"How do you feel?"

"Sick."

This was another of these moments when he felt so utterly helpless. He knew that there was nothing he could do, but he still had the feeling that he should be do something.

"Is there anything I can do?"

She smiled.

"Just be here with me, Draco."

He caressed her cheek.

"Maybe we should take the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better." He ventured.

"Are you going to tell me some of your best hidden secrets?"

He laughed.

"Somehow I think you know all my worst secrets anyway."

"How about we ask each other questions. Taking turns."

"Okay."

He wondered, what she would ask him. She really did know all the worst things there were to know about him.

"What is your favourite colour?" She began.

"I like black, green and..."

"Yes? Please, don't tell me you have a thing for pink or violet or something disgusting like that."

He grinned.

"No. I can't stand pink, but I love the colour of your eyes."

She was a bit taken aback. The colour of her eyes? She would have never guessed.

"Your turn."

"Hm. Would you have liked to have a brother or sister?"

Siblings.

"Yes, I think, I would have liked to have a brother or sister. Somebody to share my childhood with."

She turned her head to look at him.

"Your life must have been pretty... I don't know... empty before you went to Hogwarts."

"More lonely. I had the best tutors and father taught me quite a few things. Mother took care of my society skills, as she called it."

"I've seen you dance at the Yule Ball. You had dancing lessons?"

"Yeah. I quite enjoy dancing to be honest. It was something I could just loose myself in for a short while, but I had to learn to eat a twelve course meal by the age of about eight. How to address people at formal gatherings, make small talk, not my favourite really, family history and fencing were all on my daily schedule."

"You can fence?"

"Yeah. I am quite good with a blade. I might show you one day. My turn."

He thought about his next question for a bit.

"Why did you want to become a healer? I would have thought becoming an Auror was more your thing after having been with Potter all these years."

She sighed.

"I love learning."

"I know, my little bookworm." He said in very loving tone.

"And helping people has sort of become second nature to me while I was on the go with Harry all these years. Probably a Griffindor thing."

"Probably."

"Who was the first girl you kissed?"

"Pansy."

She made disgusted sound.

"That wasn't my choice. She backed me into a dark corner during the Yule Ball."

"Not much enjoyment then?"

"None what-so-ever, I can assure you. I don't need to ask, who your first was."

She looked at him with a questioning look.

"Krum. Everybody knows that." 

"Oh."

"Yep."

Silence fell while he thought about his next question.

"Do you want any more children?"

His voice was barely audible.

"..."

Hermione was stunned. She was still in the early stage of her first ever pregnancy and he was thinking about more children later?"

"I don't know? Do you?"

"I don't want our son to be growing up as lonely as I did. I want him to have siblings to play, fight and have fun with."

"Oh. Can we talk about that again when we actually have had this one?"

He leant over and kissed her temple.

"Sure. We have all the time in the world."

He gazed at her for quite a while.

"My turn. What do like to eat?"

"Shepard's pie. Pasta with mince sauce and parmesano cheese. I like salads, any kind really and chocolate ice-cream."

He smiled.

"I was only very occasionally allowed anything as vulgar as ice-cream. It was my mother's treat for me mostly. I like Boeuf Bourguignon, salmon vol-au-vents, the way my grandmother used to make them, green apples and scrambled egg."

He looked at her. She seemed so fragile but he knew for a fact that she was stronger than most have his male house mates had been.

"What is your greatest fear?" He asked in a very quiet voice.

She closed her eyes and sighed. There were so many things, she was afraid of, the nightmares that brought her back to being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, never seeing her parents again... She observed the wizard at her side. She was afraid of loosing Draco, that something might happen to him because of his past.

"Loosing you." She finally answered.

Surprise spread over his features.

"Loosing...me?"

She nodded.

"I couldn't bear loosing you, not now."

He pulled her close to his body, embracing her tenderly.

"You'll never loose me, never! I'll be with you for the rest of eternity."