The Accidental Malfoy

21 | Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own this, nor am I profiting off the display of this story in any way.

Hermione could not remember feeling quite so exhausted. Not even during that last year of the war all those years ago when she had never had quite enough sleep or enough to eat, when the fear had been so palpable it had clenched Hermione's gut and made it difficult to sleep. That had been more like a slow grind, a never ending tension of tightened nerves and sleepless nights where the worry had eaten into her soul, that had dragged on for months. Even in the euphoria after the final battle—with Harry alive, Voldemort finally gone, and the anxiety that she might actually die having dissipated— there had remained a deep sense of sadness for all those lost.

This – this was something else entirely. Adrenalin pumped through her body and made her limbs shake uncontrollably. Hermione had not been prepared for the pain of child birth; for all that her mother had likened it to slightly stronger menstrual cramps, for all the books that she had read to prepare herself for the moment, the pain had still come as a surprise. Then there had been the sheer physical exertion being of in labour for twenty hours and that last frantic thirty minutes, where her body had taken on a life of its own, and she had been compelled to push.

Now, as Hermione gazed down on the tiny body that lay on her stomach, she could feel nothing but awe. She and Draco (and a clinic in Switzerland, but she refused to dwell on that), had created this perfect little baby and all the pain of the past day receded far into the past as the baby lay naked, apparently as exhausted as she was, on her bare tummy. Skin to skin time Millie had called it when she had asked if Hermione had wanted to do this straight after birth. Apparently, it helped create a bond faster between mother and baby. All Hermione could think was that it gave her an opportunity to really see her daughter—from the dark fuzz of hair that covered her head to the impossibly tiny hands and toes that curled in on themselves.

A hand came from behind and swept a few straggling strands of Hermione's hair back from her forehead and a kiss was placed on her cheek before Draco settled himself beside her.

"She's perfect," Draco said, as he leaned forward to brush a trembling finger lightly down the baby's back.

Their daughter squirmed slightly and Draco jumped back like a scalded cat. "Oh Merlin, I didn't hurt her, did I?"

Hermione laughed, the sound as breathless and shaky as she felt. "I doubt it. Molly assures me that newborns are harder to break than they look. It was probably just shock."

"Here we go, mummy," the midwife said, coming over with a towel and scooping the baby off her tummy. "Time to get little baby dressed and weighed, whilst you get some stitches put in."

Hermione wanted to protest, wanted this moment to last forever, but the midwife was gone in a flurry of activity along with her daughter. Draco stopped long enough to kiss her on the forehead before he too disappeared, obviously keen to see what was happening next with his daughter.

It left Hermione in the hands of the senior midwife, who held out a clear vial of anaesthetic. "Something to help numb the pain whilst I stitch up that tear."

It was at least forty minutes before Hermione saw her baby again. The midwife had stitched her up in record time and Hermione had transferred from the birthing room to a room across the corridor where she now lay, feeling a little fresher thanks to a new nightgown and a cup of tea. The baby was cradled in Draco's arms, dressed in a pale yellow babygrow that had 'hello world' printed across the front as they walked into the room.