Wolfblood

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Page count: 10

Two weeks later...

The last two weeks had been wonderful; not only was Hermione happy with her job and with her blooming relationship with Derek, but she was happy with her life, too. She was genuinely happy, and she couldn't remember a time when she'd felt such happiness.

Since her return from her visit to Britain, she and Derek had grown closer and he'd taken her on several dates; a walk along the beach as they watched the sunset and Magic bounded across the sand, he'd taken her out to dinner, to the movies, to play crazy golf, to a zoo and wildlife park and he'd taken her bowling since he'd learned she'd loved it as a child. Of course, he'd beaten her by a landslide but she didn't allow her loss at the game to put a damper on the night.

She'd caught the trail of three potential supernatural cases in the last two weeks. Two were confirmed to be muggle-caused, but the last saw Hermione tracking an escaped Dementor, recapturing it, and returning it to the Wizarding World. With how happy she'd been, casting her patronus had been one of the easiest things she'd ever done.

Hermione was now fifteen weeks pregnant and she was convinced her stomach was growing by the day, and she'd had to purchase more clothing as she was no longer able to make any more magical alterations without ruining the fabric. She couldn't understand why her stomach was so big given she wasn't even halfway through the pregnancy but she wasn't sure if she actually was that big or if it just appeared as such because she had a small frame. In any case, Derek loved seeing her baby bump growing, it being evidence of their child developing and being one step closer to being in their arms.

Sitting in what had come to be her favourite diner in Beacon Hills, Derek was opposite her with Magic beside him, a table separating them. They'd been chatting comfortably as they waited for their food to arrive and the moment it did, Hermione tucked into it, pulling a snort of amusement from her official boyfriend of three weeks.

He'd ordered a cheeseburger and fries with a vanilla milkshake, whereas she had opted for a chicken pot pie with mashed potato and a chocolate milkshake, and halfway through eating, she paused and tilted her head, glancing at his plate thoughtfully.

"What is it?" He cocked an eyebrow, noticing her fixed stare.

Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she reached over and stole a fry from his plate, dipping it into her chocolate milkshake. He pulled a face at her actions and she made a noise of surprise, her eyes widening.

"Merlin, that's amazing, you've got to try that," she told him, dipping the fry back into her milkshake and finishing it off.

"No, thanks."

"What? It all goes to the same place anyway and it's surprisingly good," she argued, sipping from her milkshake, her eyes locked on his plate. "You wanna do a swap?"

He looked at his half-eaten food and then over to hers, amusement filling him at the way she wasn't looking at him but at his plate. He wasn't a big lover of chicken pot pie but he'd never been able to refuse her anything, especially as she was carrying his baby. So without thought, he swapped their plates and laughed when she picked up several fries and dipped them into her milkshake, putting them in her mouth while she removed the top slice of the bun from the cheeseburger, filled it with fries also, and then put the bun back on top, taking a large bite.

"You're weird," he commented, amused.

"You're one to talk, you're like a human sniffer dog," she retorted around a mouthful of food and he snorted at her. She lifted her milkshake to take a sip from the glass, when she caught sight of two familiar faces entering the diner, one of them looking very confused, if not a little troubled.