With Harry and Ginny busy with James, Hermione chose to stay with her own parents. Administration and cars were much safer for her situation anyway. Molly had been obsessively protective of Ginny during her pregnancy, and as much as Hermione loved her, she couldn't take the suffocating care. Still, Mrs. Weasley made it a deal to check in on her regularly, bringing snacks and news from the wizard world or to just sit and chat.

If the Grangers were the maternal grandparents, then Molly and Arthur were certainly the baby's surrogate paternal grandparents.

Ginny and Harry video called often, and sometimes even floo-ed in with their baby. Ginny shared with Hermione the pros and cons of having a newborn. James himself was adorable and easy to fall in love with, but his eating and sleeping habits were often a pain for the new parents. Ginny also gave her mother-to-be friend more modern tips on how to deal with her own bodily changes.

Around the beginning of her 7th month, Hermione had two baby showers: one with her muggle friends, and one with her wizard friends. Molly and Ginny were present at both, and the rest of her wizard girlfriends attended the baby shower hosted in the burrow.

The nursery at her parents house had a balance of both muggle and wizard objects. Magical storybooks and muggle books alike lined the baby's bookshelf, and muggle and magical toys were set about the room. Her house in the wizarding world, awarded to her by the ministry, had two room, one of which Hermione turned into the nursery. This one was more magically influenced. There Hermione kept her studies on Hogwarts, everything she could find on each of the houses. She made a deal to not villainize any of the houses, so she and her kid wouldn't mind whichever house he or she may be assigned to.

The farther into her pregnancy she got, the less physical work Hermione could do. So, she spent her time writing journals and papers on significant items, places, and people that she had come across on her adventures. Hilariously enough, Hermione was writing a journal documenting Draco Malfoy's family tree when she felt sudden discomfort in her belly. She'd felt her baby's kicks before, but this was nothing like she'd ever felt.

Hermione thought about labor, but she was still two months away. She'd done everything right, gotten help from her moms and mom friends. So there was definitely something wrong with her baby. Gryffindor's princess had never been more scared (save for the few times en route the 2nd wizarding war). She grabbed her side as she tried getting off her desk chair, painfully weighed down by her sick baby, and cried for her mother. Her first call was weak, the pain hitting her that strong, but then she collected her breath and screamed as loud as she could.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger came running in to her room, their daughter's cry worrying them to no end. Monica was immediately by Hermione's side, helping her over to the bed.

"But you're not due till another some months?"

"There's something wrong with the baby, mum!" Hermione cried.

"I'm calling an ambulance," Alfred announced, phone already out of pocket.

"No! Don't do that!" Hermione shouted, not knowing whether her issue was magical or muggle.

"But this is an emergency, Hermione!"

"Call Ginny!"

Mr. Granger was conflicted but quickly gave in, dialing Harry's number.

Hermione was groaning and panting by the time the Ginny and Molly arrived. She was on the bed, supported with pillows and her lower half covered with a sheet, while her mother patted her down with wet towels.

"Oh, deary!" Molly uttered and went to Hermione's other side.

"Something's wrong with the baby." Monica told Molly.

"Must be! Poor girl's not due for another two months!"

"Her water's broken?" Ginny asked.

"N-no," Hermione managed to answer. "But it hurts! I can't breathe!"

"Eliminata." Ginny pointed her wand and cast the pain suppressant spell at her friend.

Molly smiled to her daughter. "Good thinking, love."

Then she turned back to Monica.

"Suppose we need to get the baby out of there?"

Monica Granger was shocked at the witch's suggestion.

"We're going to need to take her to the hospital!"

"Well we can't move her in her position!" Ginny argued.

"We don't have any surgical supplies at home." Alfred reminded the girls of his presence.

Ginny smiled at Hermione's father and held up her wand.

"We have diffindo?"

Again Molly applauded her daughter's suggestion. Monica's job would be to care for her daughter as she was doing so already, Ginny would keep up the Eliminata spell, while Molly would perform the c-section using the diffindo spell.

It was an intimate and extremely delicate procedure, and Molly took all her time being precise as to not hurt the mother or child.

Once everything was open and closed as it should be, Hermione's next greatest concern was her baby's survival. Molly had Alfred cut the cord, and then cleaned up the baby before passing it over it Monica, who grabbed it in a wrap.

"It's a boy, Hermione." Monica cried as Hermione managed to lift herself up just a bit.

"He's not crying, mum! Why isn't he crying?!" Hermione cried on his behalf.

Ginny moved next to her mother, letting Alfred sit next to his daughter.

"Put him on your chest, love. Let him feel your heartbeat." One of the grandmothers suggested.

Hermione took her baby and put him on her naked chest, his tiny hand over her heart. After a moment of frozen silence, Hermione's lips cracked into a wavering smile as she felt her baby breathe.

"He's breathing!" She proudly announced to those around her.

"Oh, that's precious!" Molly exclaimed and hugged her own daughter.

Alfred and Monica smiled at each other and kissed their daughter's head in turn.

Thankfully, the baby boy announced his survival with a small cry, which made his loved ones laugh with joy.

"He's going to need clothes now."

"Daddy, why don't you give him over to his godmother?" Hermione passed her son to his grandfather, who lovingly cradled him before passing the boy to Ginny.

"Welcome to the world, little one! Gave us quite the fright there!" Ginny cooed at him as she dressed him in clothes that Molly had transfigured into a smaller size.

She then gave her godson to Molly, who took a moment with her surrogate grandson before giving him to his mother.

Hermione was fully ready this time to hold her son, who was sleeping peacefully in his swaddle. She stared at his little nose, his blush cheeks, and his darkening lips.

"So, have we got a name for this little bugger?" His grandfather asked.

His mum, still looking at him, moved her attention to his head, topped with some brown and some stark white hair. The brown reminded her of herself of course, but the white only brought one name to her tongue, not to mention the fact that she had just been writing an article about him. Influenced by her son's hair, Hermione made her decision.

"Mico. His name is Mico."

*chapter 3 update: Hermione pulled Draco's memory completely