My "Ferret"

Chapter 41

Draco POV

I make my way quietly into the front room, slipping my shoes off as I go. It was well past midnight and the last thing I wanted to do was wake a sleeping Hermione. As I rounded the corner heading towards the stairs I notice the kitchen light was left on. I make my way into there and I find Hermione sitting at the stools with a stalk of celery and a jar of grape jelly sitting in front of her. 

"I wasn't expecting you to still be awake." I glance at my watch and notice that it is almost 1am. Hermione gives me a slight glare before pointing to her stomach. 

"Your child decided that it wanted a snack." I grimace when she takes another bite of the celery. 

"Well, you enjoy your snack, I am going to go jump in the shower." I kiss the crown of her head before heading upstairs. 

My shower lasts less than ten minutes and then I am walking back into the room. Hermione is laying in bed with her celery in one hand and a book in the other, at least I do not see the jelly anywhere. I climb in bed next to my lovely wife and lay my head across her lap. She takes this as an invite and begins to read her book out loud. 

""You are safe," he said firmly. "You have my name and my family, my clan, and if necessary, the protection of my body as well. The man willna lay hands on ye again, while I live."

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The bed shifts next to me and I turn over to see Hermione carefully getting out of bed. One glance at the clock tells me it is too early to be up for work and I know what is causing her to be awake so early. I watch as she quickly makes her way to the bathroom and I silently follow her, ready to help however she needs. 

She takes her usual seat in front of the toilet and I sit on the side of the tub, taking her hair in my hand to pull up into a bun, in between heaves she is able to get out a few words. 

"Can you call Astoria and my boss to let them know I won't be in today?" I nod and pin her hair up before walking back into our room. 

I head downstairs and use the floo network to send a quick message to Hermione's boss. One that is finished I get together a few sleeves of crackers and a ginger ale. Hermione tends to get sick often but she always goes into work, her calling out tells me everything I need to know about how she is feeling. 

I make my way Bach upstairs and see she has managed to get back into bed. I drop off the drink and crackers on her night stand before grabbing the small trash can we keep in the bathroom and setting it by the bed. She gives me a small smile before patting the empty spot next to her. 

"Scale of 1 -10?" I ask softly as a readjust her so she is laying against my chest. 

"For nausea or how I feel overall?" I glance down at her and see she is paler than normal and her eyes are weak. 

"Let's start with how you feel overall." 

"About a 9, everything aches, I am dizzy, and still extremely nauseous but there is nothing left in my system to throw up." She explains in almost a whisper. I look over her one more time and notice how dry her lips are. I take her hand in mine and slightly pinch the skin together. It slowly goes back down instead of bouncing back I and know immediately she is very dehydrated. 

"When was the last time you were able to keep any water down?" She just shrugs. 

"Early yesterday maybe. I go back and forth from being sick and then fine I haven't thought much about it." I nudge her to sit up and I am quickly on my feet, running around our room. 

"Stay here I will be right back." I slip on a pair of my slippers before running down stairs and straight to the floo network. I appear in my office and walk over to my supply cabinet, on the very first shelf I spot exactly what I need, a fluid IV. 

I grab a few of these just in case, as well as some medical tape. I would rather have to many around the house than have none and something happen. Once I have everything I need I head back home. I was gone maybe 10 minutes and in that time Hermione is back in the bathroom. I set all of the supplies and hurry to her side. I see hr eyes cut over to me and she seems to relax slightly. 

"Sorry Sweetheart, I ran to the office to grab you a few things. Hopefully they will help you start feeling better." She smiles slightly before letting out a huff, she sits back and pushes a few hairs out of her face. 

"I think I am ok for now." I help her back to the room and set her on the bed before getting to work. 

"I have a feeling you are severely dehydrated as well from constantly being sick as well as fighting another cold. So I brought a fluid IV and some children's Tylenol. I know it is not as good as the adult stuff but it should help some." I get everything set up around her and help her get comfortable before taking a step. She has started to regain some color to her face and that makes me feel better. 

"Thank you Draco." I place a kiss to her forehead and set my hand on her slightly swollen stomach.

"Of course." I glance over at the clock and see it reads 7am. "Why don't you try to get a little more sleep. I am off today so I will be around if you need anything." She nods and lays down fully before closing her eyes. I move around the room, cleaning a few things until I am sure she is fully asleep. 

Once she is I make my way downstairs to the kitchen. Since we both work hectic schedules and she has been so sick lately household chores have started to stack up. While Hermione is asleep I decide to get some much needed cleaning done. 

Forgoing magic I get to work doing everything by hand, ever since we moved we have started doing more and more the muggle way. Hermione says it reminds her of the way she grew up and for me it brings a sense of comfort. When I do everything by hand I have a chance to get lost in the moment and not worry about anything else. 

The kitchen doesn't take me long and I head to the living room next. We haven't spent much time in here lately so all it needs and a quick dust and I am moving on. 

By the time I decided I have done enough for the day I have cleaned the entire downstairs, the stairs, and 2 of the 5 rooms upstairs. Feeling proud of myself I poke my head into the master room to check on Hermione, she is still asleep but it seems Pandora decided to join her and has curled up between her legs. I let her continue to sleep and head back downstairs to go sit on the screened in porch with a book and a nice cup of tea. 

Before I can take a seat I spot a car making its way up the driveway. Confused I quickly set my cup down and run to my office where I left my wand sitting. I am on edge, Hermione was suppose to be working today so no-one should be coming for her and I am not expecting anyone to stop by. I watch from the window in my office, waiting to see who comes out. After what feels like hours the back door finally opens and I am shocked by who I see stepping out of the car.