Fatherhood | drarry teen adoptive parents au

twelve | unexpected friendship

It was two days before Christmas Eve, and Hermione was 23 weeks pregnant exactly. She'd had a lonely day with her books while Harry and Draco went out for a few day drinks, and the difficulty of finding adoptive parents was getting to be too much for her.

She knew the game where everyone rejected her suggested parents was just that - a game - but it also mirrored how she was beginning to actually feel.

She felt no one was good enough for her baby, and the few couples she had tried to contact through the adoption agency had already flaked on her when they found out she was a teenager. People could be so judgemental in the Wizarding world.

Ralph and Ann, a middle-aged wizarding couple, were the latest to pull out of the negotiations that morning, and Hermione wasn't taking it well. "We found someone else whose dates are more suitable for us and give us longer to prepare," they'd claimed in their letter. "April is just a bit soon."

But Hermione knew it was a prejudice thing. What did they need to prepare for? They were fifty bloody years old!

And besides, what did they expect, going into adoption in the first place? Babies who need adopting tend to come from difficult backgrounds, ones you yourself may not approve of, and that's the whole point. That's why they need adopting!

But she'd simply written back, "Ralph and Ann, I understand exactly what you're saying. And yes, April is very soon. Sorry I can't change that for you; if it's any consolation it's a bit soon for me too. I wish things were different."

And then she'd cried in the bath for four hours.

It was really beginning to be a huge source of stress for Hermione, and it felt like she was running out of options. She even considered applying to a Muggle agency, but realised that her baby would be a Halfblood and was therefore certain to struggle as a young witch or wizard in the Muggle world, the way she had.

No, she wouldn't put her child through unnecessary heartache and subject them to the same bullying she'd had, Hermione decided. She or he would grow up understanding their magic and feeling wholeheartedly accepted in the world they lived in.

And it would absolutely not go to an orphanage. She wasn't going to make the next Tom Riddle if she could help it.

Hermione groaned. If only she had the strength to keep the baby herself! She wracked her brains to remember if there was anyone she knew personally who wanted a baby. No one. For Merlin's sake.

It was apparent she was no longer going to be able to get any work done, so Hermione packed her books up wearily and headed towards the dorms. At the last minute, she decided to have her nap in Harry's bed instead of her own; it would be calming to be surrounded by the scent of her friend.

After checking the sheets were clean (thankfully, they were), Hermione cast off her robe and thick jumper, and slid under the sheets in just her skirt and shirt.

She breathed in Harry's familiar woodsy smell, and something newer, less known to her - soapy and fresh, with a touch of expensive cologne - ah, Draco. That was a nice scent too, and complimented Harry's rather than distracting from it, so in no time at all she was fast asleep in the boys' bed.

***

She was surprised to find it was Draco, not Harry, who came looking for her once the pair got back from Hogsmeade.

"Hey, Granger, what are you doing in here?" she heard his voice chuckle as she began to stir awake. Thank goodness he wasn't annoyed.

"Do you want to come to dinner?" Draco asked, but his jovial tone of voice quickly became concern as he saw her face. "Merlin, Granger, are you alright? What happened to you?"