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Consequences	By : Aline Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 33797 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
Chapter 22. Surprises.

Harry
and Ron entered the common room hurriedly, they needed to retrieve their
schoolbags and join their lessons as soon as possible. Ron was still grumpy and
pissed off, and complaining about the unfairness of the situation.

�Would
you believe she didn�t wait for us? After what I did for
her!�

�Yeah,
well, you know Hermione; she probably hurried to class, besides she wasn�t
happy in the least with what you did. I wouldn�t be surprised if she gives us
the cold shoulder again.�

�That
would be not fair! She should have been grateful that I saved her from that
ridiculous task! I just don�t understand her!�

Harry
only sighed tiredly, Ron had been very lucky to avoid getting expelled after he
insulted the Headmaster in front of the entire school, though he wasn�t a
prefect anymore and Dumbledore made clear that he will serve detention with
professor Snape. Harry hadn�t told his best friend about the Headmaster�s
suggestion for Hermione to get away from him, the black haired boy wasn�t planning
to rise the Weasley�s temper again any time soon, Ron
had given him the scare of his life and he was actually starting to consider
Dumbledore�s suggestion as the best course of action, Hermione was stressed
enough as it was, she didn�t need the added weight of an over jealous Ron.

They
got their school supplies and exited Gryffindor tower, wandering the halls a
little while, they had already lost the first class anyway.

�Um, Ron. You didn�t say; who told you that information
about the ball?�

�Oh,
it was really a coincidence, this morning when I was about to go catch you for
breakfast I overheard Parvati talking about it with Lavender, and I only
planted in front of her and asked the details.�

�I
see. But how Parvati knew?�

�She
said that the girls were talking about it last night. Could you believe it
Harry? She told her girl friends and didn�t tell us! When we
are the ones that could have helped!�

�Gee,
seeing how you helped I wonder why she didn�t confide in us.� Harry said
sarcastically, Ron rolled his eyes at him.

�Don�t
come telling me that I overreacted Harry! I�m not buying that shit that there
was nothing going on and that no one had any idea of what I was talking about!
Neither do I believe that Hermione is somehow in danger for what I did! I�m
sure Malfoy was jumping at the opportunity to hurt her!�

Harry
was silent, thinking that Malfoy had already had many chances to do damage, but
the reality was that, this term, the main source of problems for the black
haired boy had been his own friends, Malfoy had been pretty quiet and Harry was
starting to suspect that if the Headmaster hadn�t forced their mutual company
with the Unity Project, they wouldn�t be seeing head not hair of the blond, the
Slytherin should probably be pretending that the Gryffindors didn�t exist, like
he did the previous term, he didn�t even gloated about wining the Quidditch cup and what Dumbledore had said in his office
was still rounding in Harry�s head. The Headmaster had said that Malfoy and
Hermione were friends. True that Malfoy had scowled at the suggestion but the
blond hadn�t made any effort to deny it. Harry shook his head, trying to clear
his thoughts, he must talk about it with Hermione, he
was still reluctant to accept Malfoy�s change of attitude for granted, but the
day�s events had made him wonder if perhaps Hermione was safer near Malfoy than
close to Ron.

Hermione
wasn�t in the classroom when they arrived, she and Neville were absent the
entire morning, by lunch time Ron was ready to go over to the Slytherin table
to demand answers, he cursed himself for having let her get out of the
Headmaster�s office at the same time Malfoy did, he should have know that
Neville couldn�t take proper care of her. Harry had prayed they�d find their
girl friend in the Great Hall but she wasn�t anywhere to be seen. Ron almost
went ballistic again when Malfoy and Goyle entered the Great Hall, Harry had a
hard time to convince his friend that going to Slytherin table, wand in hand,
would not help. Ron only subsided when Neville sat in front of them, a tired
and unhappy frown on his face, but before the two friends had any chance to ask
the boy anything the Headmaster stood and called for silence.

�May
I have your attention please? Good. I�m afraid that the events of this morning
had made necessary a clarification regarding the end of term�s ball. First I�d
like to make clear that no one at any moment was ordered to dance with, or to
date, a specific person.�

Harry
could hear Ron muttering foul words under his breath and ignored him, surprised
to hear professor Dumbledore giving the news at lunch instead of dinner.

�That
means that Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger are, and always had been, free to dance
with whomever they want, and it is to my understanding that both of them
already have possible partners.�

Some
of the students turned to the Slytherin table, where Malfoy had his arm around
a sixth year girl. Harry was for the first time very alert at every movement of
his schoolmates and was quite surprised to see that some of them gave nods of
approval, the Slytherin however didn�t seem to have noticed any of them.

�Secondly,
I�m glad to say that Mr. Potter is going to open the dance.�

A
murmur extended along the Hall to these words, Harry blushed in embarrassment.

�Finally,
I have to make an official announcement. Mr. Ronald Weasley is no longer a
prefect; Mr. Potter is taking his place for the remaining of the term. That�s
all, now we can proceed with the lunch.�

Everyone
started chattering animatedly, Harry scowled thinking again about Hermione,
Ron�s annoyed voice interrupted his thoughts.

�I�m
glad that the old man came to his senses, but he could have given that last
announcement only to Gryffindor.�

Harry
sighed and faced Neville; the boy was looking him back, waiting for the
inevitable question.

�Nev,
where�s Hermione?�

�Oh
yes!� said Ron hurriedly. �We hadn�t seen her since she got out of the
Headmaster�s office. What happened Neville?�

�Well,
she�s fine; she�s in the Hospital Wing.� Neville moved by instinct a little to
the left to be completely out of Ron�s immediate reach.

�What?!� Ron was red-faced in an instant; Harry grabbed
his arm to prevent him from stood. �That fucking ferret!
What did Malfoy do Neville?!�

�Ron,
please be quiet!�

�Don�t
quiet me Harry!! I knew the slimy ferret would try something like that! And you
and Dumbledore didn�t want to listen!!�

Harry
was sure that they were now the centre of attention of Gryffindor table;
thankfully Neville interrupted Ron before he dragged the other Houses�
attention as well.

�It
wasn�t Malfoy. It was that Hufflepuff girl, Shatkins.�

�Shatkins?� said Harry, utterly surprised. �She attacked you
both?�

�Yes,
she and other two students, one was Crabbe, the other
was a Ravenclaw, I�m not sure who, professor
McGonagall� uh, well, she kind of found us and took us all to the Hospital Wing.�

�You
see Harry? That blond bastard had done it!�

�I
said it wasn�t Malfoy!� said Neville indignantly, Ron looked at him menacingly.

�You
said Crabbe was with them. No?�

�W-Well,
yes, but��

�Don�t
you see it? Malfoy sent one of his cronies to do the dirty work!�

Ron
stood and walked away angrily, Harry hurried to catch up with him, luckily the
red-head didn�t head for the Slytherin table, he went straight for the doors,
Harry exited too but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see
Neville behind him.

�Harry
wait! I have something to tell you.�

�Neville,
you can tell me later.�

�No,
it�s important Harry.�

�Well.�
Harry looked at the retreating figure of Ron and prayed that Madam Pomfrey wouldn�t
let his friend see Hermione before he arrived. �Ok, what is it Neville?�

�You
know, Crabbe and the other boy, they had masks Harry,
like the Death Eaters� ones.�

�Masks?� Neville nodded and Harry got his hands through
his hair. �You must tell Dumbledore.�

�McGonagall
already did it, professor Dumbledore was in the Hospital Wing a moment ago.�

�I
suppose that explains why he didn�t wait until dinner to make his announcement.
I know that Crabbe had not been on good terms with
Malfoy lately, but I wish we could be sure that he didn�t have anything to do
with all this.�

�He
didn�t Harry.�

�How can you know that Neville?�

�Because Malfoy was the one who helped us! He knocked out Shatkins
and Crabbe and sent Goyle for McGonagall, he was the
one who took Hermione to the Hospital Wing and professor Dumbledore
interrogated him there.�

Harry
mulled that over, contemplating the possibilities.

�It
could have been a set up.�

�Well,
I doubt it Harry. Crabbe and the other boy are going
to be a long time in the infirmary, I think that Shatkins
had it easier only because she�s a woman, but believe me, I have never seen
Malfoy so� furious with anyone, not even when he�s casting hexes at you.�

Harry
didn�t know what to think, Malfoy helping Hermione and Neville didn�t go well
with his mental image of the blond, there must be something escaping him and he
didn�t like it. One thing was certain, now Malfoy was going to have more points
to his favor in Hermione and the Headmaster�s eyes. Harry frowned, he�ll have
to confront Dumbledore and get some answers.

�Thanks
Neville. I�ll see you later.�

�Ok
Harry.�

The
new Gryffindor prefect headed to the hospital wing, hopping against hope to
arrive before Ron had time to do much damage.

Malfoy
was in Slytherin�s common room, staring at his
transfiguration essay without really seen it. He was still preoccupied, Shatkins had cast a very painful curse on Hermione and she
had done it right. Fortunately he had arrived in time to avoid any permanent
damage and the Gryffindor girl would be out of the Hospital Wing the next
morning, but Draco couldn�t shake off the feeling of unease that had settled on
him. He had spied Madam Pomfrey talking hurriedly to Dumbledore with a very
worried frown on her face; the Headmaster had been calm and evidently had tried
to ease the mediwitch without much success. Madam
Pomfrey had had that unhappy frown when she had announced McGonagall and Longbottom that Hermione was going to be in perfect health
soon, the Gryffindors were greatly relieved and didn�t ask for more details,
but Draco was not satisfied, there was something that the mediwitch
wasn�t telling them, surely on Dumbledore�s orders, and the Slytherin didn�t
like it.

He
wanted to know if something was wrong with Hermione, the fact that Dumbledore
was smiling when he finished his little talk with Pomfrey actually increased
Malfoy�s unease, he never had trusted the old man, and now that he was certain
that the Headmaster had something in mind regarding his relationship with
Hermione, he liked him even less. Dumbledore was a manipulative old fox and
Malfoy didn�t like that the man knew something about Hermione that he didn�t,
it was like handing a weapon to a terrorist and gave him free access to the
target. The Headmaster already had too much knowledge for Malfoy�s comfort, the
boy longed for the end of term when he would be able to take Hermione away from
that meddling man.

The
implications of that last thought suddenly hit him and he groaned in
frustration, realizing for the first time that after graduation he wouldn�t
have a place to go. All of the Malfoy�s states were out of the question and he
was sure the Dark Lord would find him wherever he went. Hermione had lost her
home in the muggle world, but she could always stay
with Potter or the weasel, and Draco would not ask hospitality from either one,
no way, not in a million years, nothing would ever force him to accept help
from Potter, even if somehow the brunette offered it.

Malfoy
tiredly massaged his temples, he knew he needed help and he hated it, he also
knew that he was refusing any kind of help that could came from Potter out of
pure stubbornness, besides he was sure that the Gryffindor would probably let
the Dark Lord kill him before trusting a Malfoy and Draco certainly preferred
to keep his distance from the dark haired boy. That only left him with two
options, none of which made him happy in the least.

One
was to go to his godfather, which Malfoy didn�t want to do, he loved and
respected the man and was really happy knowing that he wasn�t one of the Dark
Lord�s toys, but he didn�t want to ask Snape for help, he should be capable of
solving his own problems, he wanted his godfather to be proud of him, he wanted
to show the man that he could take care of himself.

The
other one was Dumbledore. To ask the old man for help and let the bastard have
full reign on his life. Malfoy cringed at the thought, suddenly asking Potter
for help didn�t look as humiliating as a moment before.

Draco
sighed considering his options. Killing himself had been such a nice way out of
everything, but now it was out of the question. He could always disappear from the
continent, went far away and hope that the Dark Lord would be taken care of,
but that would mean leaving Hermione behind, he knew the girl well enough to be
sure that she won�t be willing to leave and abandon her friends and mother in
the current situation, she would stay by their side until all hope was lost,
which probably would happen when they all were dead. For him that meant that
run away was as good as suicide.

Draco
looked around the Slytherin common room, many of his housemates were busy with
homework, some of them worrying about O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, Goyle
could be seen beside Bulstrode with a frown on his
face that evidenced his utter lack of comprehension of whatever it was she was
reading.

Malfoy
scowled again, returning to his thoughts, he didn�t like the idea of giving
himself over to Dumbledore, he wanted the old cot out of his life, to bring
Potter instead was painful but more bearable; at least both of them had already
stopped trying to kill each others.

Damn
his father! It was Lucius� fault that Draco was on
this dilemma, if the man hadn�t stupidly gave his family name�s loyalty to the
Dark Lord�s cause, Draco would still have a house to return to. More so, if his
father had only stayed in Azkaban, the boy would have full reign over the
family vaults and he could use the money as he pleased. But with Malfoy senior
being a convicted Death Eater the money and states were under strict vigilance
of the Ministry of Magic, which was only waiting an opportunity to confiscate
it all. If by any chance the Dark Lord happened to lose the war, the Malfoy
family would be ruined and would drag an important number of the purebloods
down with it. The alternative was that the dark side won, and then it wouldn�t
matter to Draco because that would mean his own death.

Malfoy
groaned inwardly, his only hope now was that somehow Dumbledore managed to win,
that would save his life but not his family name and wealth, to recover that he
needed the Malfoy�s to be acknowledged as completely loyal to the light side
and for that to happen he would need not only to fight side by side with
Potter, in fact, Draco knew that not even if he killed the Dark Lord himself
would be enough to save his family status, for that he needed to be the Head of
the family, he needed his father dead before the man had a chance to officially
disown him. The idea did nothing to improve the blonde�s mood.

Hermione
was lying awake on the bed at the Hospital Wing, waiting for Draco to make his
appearance, the Slytherin had promised to come over after curfew so they could
sneak out to see her mother and talk. She was nervous, when Malfoy had carried
her almost unconscious form to the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey had cast several
spells on her to know the extent of the damage, and after that another round of
spells to evaluate her general state of health.

The
girl sighed inwardly; well at least she wouldn�t have to worry anymore for
procuring the ingredients of the pregnancy test potion. Madam Pomfrey had been
pretty indignant and had demanded to know who the father was, no doubt
intending to give them both a lecture on responsibility and to make painful
remarks about the stupidity of teenagers. Luckily Dumbledore had respected her
wish to keep the name of her partner a secret, and they agreed in that they
wouldn�t even tell McGonagall about her new situation.

The
mediwitch had been annoyed and worried at the same
time, and Hermione had have to endure a long talk full of instructions, books
to read and veiled admonitions. Then Ron had came asking for her and Madam
Pomfrey had almost going ballistic, she raged about irresponsible actions and
unwanted repercussions, emphasizing the dangerous times the wizarding
world was immersed in and the importance to think before acting. Obviously the
woman had assumed that Ron was the one who impregnated Hermione and the girl
had almost laughed at it, Ron, who had have no idea of what was happening,
assumed that Madam Pomfrey was berating him for the breakfast scene and had
started an angry retort to the mediwitch when Harry
had arrived and managed to silence the red-head. Madam Pomfrey however had
plainly refused to grant them entrance, claiming that Hermione needed rest,
which was true but who could rest with all the yelling
taking place at the doorway? Hermione had caught a glance of a worried Harry
before the mediwitch had told them that their friend
would be back in Gryffindor tower the next day and had closed the door in their
faces.

After
that, all had been blessedly silent and Hermione had had pretty much time to
think. She was annoyed at the fact that the old witch had managed to make her
feel ashamed of what she did, the woman had made it seem as if the girl had
done the greatest stupidity of all her life, as if her child would be an
insuperable obstacle, a burden to carry.

It
wasn�t a surprise after all, Hermione hadn�t expected anyone to understand her
choice, but still she couldn�t take out of her head the thought that now Madam
Pomfrey considered her an irresponsible girl, who didn�t know what was best for
her. She felt dejected and had even started to wonder if perhaps, it would be
better to not have the child.

She
angrily shoved the thought away. She hated that the mediwitch
had made her doubt of her ability to raise a child. Maybe getting pregnant
wasn�t the most intelligent thing she had done, but it had been her choice, and
she was going to take her responsibility and have her baby, and she would be a
loving mother and take care of it properly, no matter what other people think,
they didn�t have a say in her life.

Once
that was settled she started to worry about Malfoy, considering whether she
should tell him or not, what if he wanted her to be rid of the baby? What if he
didn�t want anything to do with it? Hermione had already been thinking that she
may become a single mother, but still hearing a rejection from her child�s
father would hurt greatly. The girl didn�t know what to do, Draco was bound to
know sooner or later, it was just a matter of how to tell him, she supposed it would be best if she told him as soon as
possible.

Hermione
shifted in the bed uneasily, she wanted to tell him, she wanted to believe that
he�d be happy and willing to stay with them, that her child would grow up with
a loving father. Their relationship had changed since the first time they met,
it wasn�t a casual affair anymore, Draco was more caring, to the point that he
had let slip some inconspicuous tender gestures in front of an audience,
Hermione was sure that the Slytherins knew something was going on, the rest of
the school was still oblivious to it, but the important thing was that Draco
had started to show her love, real love, not only possessiveness.

There
was a faint noise and the door of the hospital wing opened, the girl sat
straight on the bed, perhaps she should risk it, Hermione watched as Malfoy�s
shadow silently approached her bed and made up her mind. She would tell him and
trust that he wouldn�t shove her away.

Draco
had to carry Hermione up to the ward where her mother was because the girl
couldn�t walk; her leg still hurt and wouldn�t support her weight. They
shouldn�t be sneaking away from her bed, in fact she should wait at least
another day to get out of the infirmary, but the Gryffindor girl had refused to
lose any more classes. Draco was quietly berating her for her stubbornness when
they arrived at her mother�s side and he deposited her on a chair.

Hermione
looked at the closed eyes of Mrs. Granger for a long time, wishing her mother
would wake up and help her to overcome the nervousness. Draco stood behind her
and started to massage her shoulders, Hermione sighed and slowly relaxed into
his touch, willing it to never stop.

�How
are you feeling pet?�

�Much
better, thanks.�

They
both fell silent and the Gryffindor was about to suggest Draco to sit when he
leaned into her ear and nibbled at it, causing shivers to run through her body,
she sighed in contentment, almost missing his hushed words.

�Herm,
did Madam Pomfrey told you something more about your injury?�

�Well,
no. There would be no repercussions; the curse was stopped in time.�

�Just
because I didn�t trust Neville to be a competent help and followed you.�

�Draco,
Neville is pretty good at a fight, they surprised us.�

Malfoy
huffed, not convinced; Hermione could tell that something was worrying him.

�What�s
the matter Draco?�

�There�s
something that Dumbledore didn�t want Madam Pomfrey to tell, and she wasn�t
very happy about it. Do you know what it is?�

Hermione
tensed, suddenly out of breath, Draco sensed her unease and went immediately to
the point.

�You
know. What is it Hermione?�

�Um,
well. Actually I was going to tell you, I just couldn�t figure out how.�

�I
was expecting it won�t be that bad.�

�No!
No it�s not bad. It shouldn�t be bad.�

�Then
what is it?�

Hermione
breathed deeply, Draco was still behind her, she thought about telling him to come
around in front of her, but then decided that it was easier if he wasn�t
looking at her, so she fixed her eyes on her mother and braced herself for his
reaction.

�I�
I�m pregnant Draco.�

She
felt his hold on her shoulders tightening and the breath on her ear stopped for
a second, then the boy straightened and his hands resumed the massage on her
shoulders.

�So,
that�s what made Dumbledore so cheerful? The meddling
bastard.�

His
voice was neutral, Hermione couldn�t make out what was he thinking and that
didn�t ease her.

�Draco
I� y-you don�t have to take care of it, I can��

�Shh. Don�t get scared on me pet.�

Malfoy�s
arms moved to embrace her and he pressed his cheek to her temple, Hermione
lifted her hands to hold his forearms and leaned onto him.

�Do
you want to keep it love?�

�Yes,
I�m going to have it. I want this child Draco.�

The
Slytherin tightened his embrace and kissed her cheek.

�Good.�

Then
he moved to get in front of her chair and leaned to kiss her lips, Hermione
clung to his neck to kiss him back with happiness.

After
a while, Draco carried the girl back to her bed and sat her on it, Hermione was
so happy with his acceptance of their child that she agreed to stay at the
Hospital Wing until lunch, the blond tucked her in bed and was about to kiss
good bye when he scowled, a sudden idea hitting him, Hermione arched an eyebrow
in question.

�Draco?�

�It�s
not fair!� he hissed indignantly, trying to not make much noise.

�What?�
asked Hermione, suddenly fearful, Malfoy looked into her eyes.

�You�re
going to be excused from Quidditch. That�s not fair!�
Hermione was confused for a second and then smiled, remembering his quarrel
over being forced to do gardening.

�Well,
you could always try to get pregnant yourself, besides; it�s only going to be a
few weeks.�

Malfoy
narrowed his eyes at her, not amused in the least.

�That�s
not funny! And it�s still not fair!�

She
snickered mischievously at his hurtful pout and gave him a good long kiss to
console him.

Later,
Draco was walking along the corridors on his way to the Slytherin�s
dungeons. He was reassessing his situation, he had already decided to marry
Hermione as soon as possible, but the baby had been an unexpected element that
needed further consideration. It was clear that the girl wanted to have it,
despite the fact that having a child to take care for would be highly
inconvenient at the moment.

Malfoy
wasn�t sure that accepting the baby had been a good idea, but he couldn�t bring
himself to tell his doubts to Hermione, she had looked so happy when it had
been clear that he wasn�t deserting her that he had just shut up and his mind
had started to sort out his possible options.

Inconvenient
or not, the child was already there and Draco now had to worry for three
instead of two, a family was a greater responsibility than a lover. He sighed
inwardly, the end of term was approaching and he needed to find a safe place
for Hermione and their child. He could always ask Dumbledore to allow them to
stay in the castle, he would have preferred Potter�s help, but now he needed
someplace where they�d have easy access to a mediwitch,
and as much as he loathed asking the Headmaster for help the truth was that he
couldn�t do pretty much without money and a place to go. He was really starting
to hate his father.

There
was still another option regarding the baby, but Draco didn�t want to think
about it. He and Hermione should be married within the year, after all he had
all but announced her mother that they were a couple, the fact that Mrs.
Granger surely wasn�t aware of that was irrelevant, and besides, Dumbledore
already knew about their relationship and that made it even more official.
Malfoy sighed, it wasn�t only a matter of tradition now, he
knew they needed to marry before the child was born, otherwise� No, he was not
going to even consider it, but�. Well it was an option, he was sure that
Hermione didn�t know, they could always wait until the year and she wouldn�t
know what happened�.

Malfoy
mentally slapped himself. What was he thinking? Of course she would know! She
was the smartest witch in Hogwarts, she would figure it out! They would marry
as soon as they finished school and that would be the end of it! He was not
going to act like his father! This child would have a better family than the
one he had, even if he had to die for it!

Draco
entered the deserted Slytherin common room and headed silently to his
dormitory, once there he closed the door behind him, wanting to go straight to
bed. The blond was exhausted; he only lit the lamp on his bedside table because
he didn�t want to sleep with his school uniform on. The boy changed clothes
quickly and was about to let himself fall in bed when he noticed the two
envelopes on it. Curiously he took one of them and his eyes widened in surprise
upon seeing it was from his mother. He hurriedly opened it and read.

My Draco,

Your godfather tells me that you�re
taking good care of yourself, I�m glad to hear that. I have some important
things to tell you that couldn�t wait until we see each other again.

First of all, I�m no longer in the
manor, I don�t have any wish to follow your father in the pit he�s drowning,
nor do I want to be a bait if he considers that you would do what he wants if
he applies the right pressure, I prefer to disappear until he no longer can
come anywhere near me.

I�m not leaving you alone; your
godfather would help you with whatever you want. However, knowing you as I do,
I�m sure that your pride won�t let you to ask for help, even if your life
depended on it. A Malfoy�s trait, one of the things you and your father have in
common. So I�m going to impose upon you, as I want to be sure that at least you
wouldn�t be pressured on money.

If you remember, a part of the
Black�s fortune was inherited to me when your grandfather died, your father
didn�t add it to the Malfoy�s vault so it�s still in Gringots�
Swiss branch, in a vault to my name.

I�m transferring some of that money
into a vault under your name, there are some papers you need to sign for the
transaction to take effect, with that the money would physically stay in Switzerland you can move it to London later if you want.

Keep your guard up my son, if you
want to join me your godfather will tell you how.

Goodbye my Dragon.

Malfoy
opened the other envelop to study the Gringot�s
documents and check the figures, it wasn�t bad, he signed immediately and the
papers disappeared to be replaced for a contract with the wizarding
bank.

Draco
felt more at ease after that, money was not an issue anymore, the vault was
fine in Switzerland
for the moment, and he could take more time to consider his next move. His
mother really was a gift from the gods.

Severus
Snape arrived to the meeting point in a hurry, growling under his breath about
being called in the middle of the night and to such a retired place in some
unknown forest, which had forced him to use a portkey
instead of apparating. He looked around him and
noticed the big activity that was taking place; it seemed that all the Death
Eaters were there, some of them congregating in a clearing and sitting in lotus
position, starting a chant.

Snape
scowled in annoyance, that meant that the rite had
already begun, the Dark Lord was going to strike again and this time it seemed
that the target would be a very important one. He hopped it wasn�t Hogwarts
yet, the new shields weren�t finished and from what he had heard, Lucius Malfoy had found a way to make the rite shorter and
more powerful at the same time; the son of a bitch, he was looking to be useful
so the Dark Lord would overlook the absence of the Malfoy heir from his ranks.
No doubt Lucius was going to try once again to
pressure his son to take the dark mark, Narcissa had foreseen it too and had
disappeared and thus Malfoy senior wouldn�t use her to get to Draco.

Snape
smiled inwardly, the young Malfoy was safe, and the recent report from Madam
Pomfrey to Albus guaranteed that the boy would be
unwilling to rejoin his father; he would soon have a family of his own to look
for.

A
harsh and commanding voice required his attention and he headed towards the
source, ready to give his usual report to the Dark Lord and receive new orders.

Malfoy
was fuming while brewing his potion at class, the previous day had been an
exasperating one. First the weasel had confronted him at breakfast again,
yelling some nonsense about getting away from the Gryffindors, of course he had
ignored the idiot boy and had let Potter to handle him; the morning lessons had
been all indications to report the final version of their projects and studying
for the oncoming N.E.W.T.s, then at lunch he had had
to deal with a newly released from the infirmary, crying and wailing Febe, who had been short to crawl at his feet in front of
the entire Great Hall, he had shoved her away and told her in no uncertain
terms to leave him alone, she had ended being taken away by some very
embarrassed Hufflepuffs, and he had McMillan apologizing
for the spectacle. That gave him a certain amount of satisfaction which was
wiped away when he saw both Weasleys trying to force
their company on Hermione, who was clearly trying her best to ignore them.
Potter was attempting to help and drag his friends away from the bushy haired
girl without much success. The tension between Gryffindor students was reaching
a breaking point when suddenly Hermione had stood, shoved Ginny and Seamus out
of her way and run out of the Great Hall in tears. Potter went after her and
Malfoy exited close behind them, but the girl had gone to Gryffindor tower and
no doubt had hid in her dormitory.

She
wasn�t seen the rest of the day until the DA group, where Draco was dragged
into a heated argument between Potter and the weasel. The red-head was angrily
demanding entrance to the room of requirement and Potter was painfully trying
to reason with him, seeing that Dumbledore had banned Weasley form the
extracurricular activities. Ron was pissed off and outright stated that Malfoy
should be banned too, Draco couldn�t stop himself and had retorted that it
hadn�t been him the one who stupidly insulted the Headmaster in front of
everyone. Weasley had launched at Malfoy with murder on his eyes and had been
hit by no less than five spells from the Slytherins. After that, Potter had
sent Weasley to the Hospital Wing and then started a long and tense DA session.

The
present day was not starting well either, he had crossed words with Thorney, who blamed him for Marshall�s imminent expulsion
as soon as he had recovered from the curse Malfoy had cast him, as if it was Draco�s fault that the idiot fool was carrying a Death
Eater�s mask while attacking the Head Girl, Shatkins
had saved herself from expulsion only because she had been manipulated by
Marshall and Crabbe.

Later
he had found out that his godfather was gone again and that had him on his
nerves. He didn�t like that the man was risking his head like that, all this
war business was stupid. Malfoy wished that the Dark Lord and Dumbledore
arranged a one on one duel, killed each other and be done with it, so life
could return to normal. Of course he knew that things weren�t so simple, but he
could always wish.

He
looked around the classroom, everyone was immersed in their potions, professor Sinistra had let them
the time of the class to finish the brewing of the �Phoenix breath�. They had found many
variations of the potion, based mainly on different ways to finish its brewing;
the group had selected some of the most potent ones to present them along with
the written report and had been brewing them over the past month.

Malfoy
had an idea of what use Dumbledore would give to their potions should they were
successful at brewing them correctly. He was proud to say that so far there had
been no mistakes, he and Granger had been closely supervising the procedures
and both were sure they would be the best potion�s group Snape had ever had;
which with the man�s standards was a huge accomplishment.

He
returned to his cauldron, after almost a month of simmering the potion was
slowly changing color to clear amber, it would only need to cool for two days
and then he could add the final ingredient for it to be perfect, beside him
Potter was stirring his potion clockwise, his was a pale blue and would only
need a day to cool. Malfoy was impressed that the brunette had managed to do
the potion right, but surely it was thanks to Hermione. Potter stopped the
stirring and put his cauldron off the fire, Malfoy would do the same in a
couple of minutes, out of the corner of his eye he say Hermione approaching Blaise�s cauldron, she leaned onto it and suddenly went
green and ran out of the classroom, Blaise looked surprised at her retreat.
Potter only got sure that his potion was safely put away to cool before going
after his friend. Draco approached Zabini and looked into his cauldron, the
potion was a fine shade of blood red, the smell was a bit strong but not
unpleasant.

�What�s
gotten into her Malfoy?�

�Don�t
know, maybe she�s ill or something.�

�Shouldn�t
you go check on her?�

�Yes,
but I can�t do it now. I�ll have to wait until she and
Potter return.�

�In
the meanwhile you can take a look to her potion; I think it needs a last
stirring.�

Malfoy
looked over at Hermione�s cauldron and went to attend it; after all he couldn�t
let their project to be ruined because of one neglected potion. He gave it a
few stirs counterclockwise before going to his own cauldron; it was time to put
his potion away to cool.

When
he returned to Hermione�s potion Parvati was waiting for him. Malfoy continued
his stirring without paying attention to the girl.

�You
helped her Malfoy.� Parvati accused in a low hush, Malfoy�s face didn�t change.

�Yes,
I did Patil.� Draco was no idiot, he knew that the entire school was aware of
the fact that he had rescued the Gryffindor Head Girl, the only reason of why
he hadn�t been attacked yet was that everybody also knew what he had done to
Marshall and Crabbe, and the junior Death Eaters of
the school were all cowards.

�Why?�
asked Parvati almost with despise. Malfoy smirked.

�Why?
She just had walked out of the headmaster�s office in my company and she
immediately gets attacked. Do you realize how that made me look Patil? I don�t
want any bad publicity.�

She
huffed and crossed her arms, not entirely convinced.

�You
are going to have it anyway. Weasley�s sure that you
are the master mind behind the attack, and he�s trying to convince the
Gryffindors of that, he�s not having many problems.�

�Well,
he�s an idiot, something like that was expected from him. And, since you
mentioned it; can I know to whom I owe the little play with the weasel?� He now
interrupted his work and turned to look at the girl, Parvati smiled evilly.

�I
see� said Malfoy dispassionately.

�Aren�t
you glad that I managed to get you out of that �task� Malfoy?� she asked
sarcastically, Malfoy�s face was the epitome of indifference.

�Next
time you can try telling me first what Dumbledore has planned for me, and let
me go and put the old cot on his place myself. I don�t
appreciate being gossip material Patil, and the weasel was one hell of a
howler.�

Parvati�s smile widened and she turned to leave.

�Don�t
worry Malfoy. Next time I�ll come directly to you.�

Draco
returned to Hermione�s cauldron and continued working on the potion as if nothing
had happened; Blaise was beside him in no time.

�What
did she want?�

�She
suspects something, and she�s smarter than the Ravenclaws,
Thorney would do well in taking advice from her.�

�She�s
going to be a problem.�

�Not
yet, they�re going to be careful now that Marshall and Crabbe
had been discovered with their masks, but we have to keep an eye on her and the
others as well.�

Blaise
nodded in understanding, and he left to finish his potion.

Hermione
was warm and comfortable, lying in Malfoy�s arms among the cushions. She had
been nauseous all day, she could barely eat and the situation at Gryffindor
House wasn�t any help.

Ginny
had cried when Harry made her understood that Hermione had been hurt because of
the show Ron had performed in the Great Hall, she swore that it hadn�t been her
intention and that she had only wanted to help. Ron still refused to accept he
had done anything wrong and Hermione had been avoiding him like the plague.

The
majority of the Gryffindors believed that jealousy had been the reason of the
attack, and had assumed that Shatkins had asked some
of her friends to help her with it. No one knew the true nature of the curse
that was cast to Hermione, and Neville didn�t tell anyone but Harry about the
masks.

What
really surprised the Gryffindors was to know that Malfoy had helped their
housemates, at first they hadn�t known what to think about that, then Ron had
said that surely the entire attack was a set up plotted by the Slytherins, so
Malfoy could look like he was the hero, how else could it be explained the
blonde�s fast arrival to the scene? Many agreed with him and were convinced
that Malfoy needed to be held at arms length, perhaps the Slytherins were
needed in the battle against the dark side, but that didn�t mean they were any
good.

Hermione
was tired of her housemates, she had attempted to isolate herself but Harry
hadn�t let her, the brunette was really worried about her safety and was
blaming himself for being the indirect cause of her injury.

She
felt sorry for Harry; he was torn between loyalty to his best friend and common
sense. He had stopped defending Ron, but he didn�t want to have to choose
between the red-head and Hermione, and unfortunately Dumbledore�s suggestion
and Hermione�s wish to keep Ron away from her were making that decision
necessary. It was clear that they wouldn�t be the inseparable trio anymore and
that saddened Harry, but he admitted that Ron wasn�t cooperating. Weasley was
acting like a bastard and refusing to see reason, and Ginny wasn�t helping
either, she insisted that when Hermione and her brother get together all was
going to be ok and pretty again, but Harry knew that it was not going to
happen, Hermione didn�t want anything to do with Ron and that was the end of
it.

Malfoy
moved a little to nip at her ear and Hermione sighed in contentment, one of his
hands was under her blouse, making circles on her belly. Almost two months of
pregnancy weren�t enough for her to show, but the fact that she knew she was
carrying a life inside her made Draco�s gesture more
tender. It had been a pain to left Gryffindor tower, she had been expecting she
could head to the dungeons with Draco right after the end of the prefect�s
meeting, but she couldn�t drive Harry away and she had to go all the way to her
dormitory and then sneak out again. She missed Harry�s invisibility cloak.

�How
are you feeling pet?�

�Much
better now, thanks. I only wish that we could stay like this a little longer.
It�s getting late.�

�When
school�s over we will have all the time we want.�

�I
have been thinking about it. I can�t take my mother out of here and I don�t
have any place to go, I had thought about asking Dumbledore for��

�Shh, don�t worry yourself pet. I will take care of it. I
only need to know if you want to stay in England.�

Hermione
thought about it, considering what Malfoy was proposing, she didn�t want to
left her friends, Harry was going to be in danger and he needed her support,
but now she had to worry about her baby too.

�I�d
like to stay, I want to help Harry, but I don�t know what to do. Draco? What
would our situation be when we graduate?�

Malfoy
looked surprised at her and snickered, for a really smart girl she sometimes
was so insecure.

�Why?
We�re going to be married of course!�

She
was now the one who looked surprised and turned a little to look him in the
eyes.

�You
really want to marry me?�

�Of
course I want. What were you expecting?�

�I�
I don�t know, we are very young and I thought that perhaps you would want to
wait sometime.�

�Please
Hermione, we are in age to marry.� He lifted an
eyebrow to her and she scowled, he remembered then that muggles
had some very weird thoughts about marriage. �Please don�t tell me that you are
going to clung to the muggle-way
of thinking. You are a witch.�

�It�s
not that! Well, perhaps it is. I grew up with the idea that eighteen is too
young to be married, in fact I�m too young to have children but I just wanted
it so much and��

�Hey,
calm down.� Draco embraced her and she leaned into him, he kissed the top of
her head tenderly. �It�s not too soon, wizards come of age at seventeen, in
fact eighteen is a proper age for a pu�
ah, wizard to choose a partner.�

�It�s tradition right?�

�Well,
yes. When a couple is made official they marry within the year. Why do you
think you only see serious dating among the seventh years?�

�I
have thought that everyone knew that Pansy Parkinson was your girlfriend.�

�The
same as everybody knew you were Weasley�s
girlfriend.�

She
grimaced and he smiled at her.

�Well,
we�re not official yet, do we?�

�What
makes you say that?�

�No
one knows besides Dumbledore.�

�Severus
knows.�

Hermione
turned to look at him with widened eyes, and he smirked at her.

�I�m
sorry, I couldn�t help it, he doesn�t seem to mind
anyway.�

�Oh
my God!� she rolled her eyes dramatically and returned to cuddle. �So, we are
considering that we are �official��

�Yes.�

�Then
we still have a year; don�t you want to wait for the baby to be born?�

Malfoy
went very still and sighed heavily, Hermione turned once again to see him.

�Draco?�

�We
can�t wait. We have to be married before the child is born.�

�Why?�
She looked at him with suspicious eyes. �It�s again some tradition that we
should follow? The idea of being married before having kids it�s medieval too!
Does the wizarding society know which century is
this?�

He
actually laughed at her reaction.

�I
agree that it is medieval, but that�s not the reason of why we can�t wait,
though it is a medieval one too.�

Hermione
only lifted her eyebrows in askance, Malfoy sighed again and continued.

�You
see, pureblooded wizards had always been paranoid about purity, and not only
concerning your parentage, but your family name also. In earlier times it
wasn�t accepted the possibility to have children outside marriage, whether it
was before you got married or cheating on your partner, either way a bastard
son or daughter was never acknowledged as part of the family, but you know
wizards, some of them take the social etiquette to heart. The oldest families
used to perform a rite with their children, to ensure that every child they had
would be with their respective wives or husbands and no one else; they could
lay around with the entire city if they wanted to do so, but if by some
misfortune a child was conceived from those adventures it didn�t make it through
the birth. If the parents weren�t married before the mother went into labor,
the child was born dead.�

She
looked at him horrified and openmouthed.

�Are
you telling me that your family still practices that� barbarity?!�

�You
remember who my father is, right?�

�And
you weren�t planning to tell me?!�

�To
tell you the truth, I was expecting that you would accept marriage right away
and didn�t ask questions. I thought that you could live ignoring
it.�

�I
certainly could!� said Hermione, rubbing her belly absent mindedly; Draco put
his hand over hers.

�Don�t
worry love. We are going to have a beautiful child and no one is going to hurt
it.�

They
remained like that for a while until Hermione yawned tiredly.

�Do
you want to go see your mother before going to sleep?�

�Yes,
I didn�t have time this day and I want to check on her.�

�Let�s
go then.�

Both
youngsters walked the deserted halls of the castle, careful to be silent and
not have any bad encounters. Hermione was lost on her thoughts, mentally
comparing Draco with Ron. It was amusing to realize that Ron thought he was so
different to Malfoy, when the reality was that they had much in common. They
both were possessive and both reacted aggressively when they felt that someone
was stepping into their territory.

They
have some shared beliefs too, both of them had immediately assumed that she was
going to marry them without question, the two were purebloods after all and wizarding society was too fond of traditions; a muggleborn would be always left outside because of his poor
knowledge of wizarding tradition.

The
difference between Draco and Ron was that the first was very cold towards
people and tended to control his anger and direct it in a variety of ways,
while Ron was more visceral and careless. Maybe it was the way they were
raised; Ron grew up with a lot of brothers, always competing with them, he had
a tendency to show off to attract attention; Draco on the other side was raised
to be the one in control, and he also was taught that respect and power were things
that you have to earn, among the things that his family expected of him was
that he would be able to demonstrate that he deserved to be respected. Draco
had a very specific idea of how the world should be and how society should
function. It was no wonder that Draco hadn�t wanted to submit to Voldemort, the boy was raised to be the leader not a
follower, and surely the dark wizard, with all his considerable power, had not
managed to make a single thing that deserved Draco�s
respect.

Hermione
half smiled thinking about that, she didn�t realize that they had arrived to
their destiny and were inside the hall for the refugees from St. Mungo�s, until Malfoy suddenly stopped and tightened his
hold on her hand.

�Hermione, look.�

The
girl looked first at his surprised face and then curiously followed the
direction of his eyes. A few meters in front of them was her mother�s bed, the
curtains were open, and they could see that Mrs. Granger was breathing
laboriously and had her head turned to the side, her eyes were looking vaguely
on their direction.

Hermione
gave a surprised intake of breath and covered her mouth with her left hand. Her
mother was awake.

Author�s note: What a mess!!! Well, now I have only one archive of this
story. I had to delete the smaller one, along with the reviews, but thanks to Di, Petalsoft, and kris.t!n.e for having reviewed it,
I saved your reviews in my computer, so they are still there. Thank you all.
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Consequences