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Heart of A Snake	By : articcat621 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 13692 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I am making no money from posting this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
A/N: Redshadow43, thanks for being an amazing beta! All of your reviews and follows are so encouraging and I really appreciate them!
Disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 30
Hermione sat in her bedroom, bored out of her mind. Her back hurt terribly, and she had a migraine, but other than that she felt just fine. However, nobody wanted her to exert herself too much because she still had not recovered from her flu. Meaning she was not allowed to do anything.
In spite of being trapped in her room things were going well. Tom kept her very happy, and she suspected that she made him happy as well. She smiled at the thought, and then glanced at the clock. She groaned.
I've had enough of this!
Hermione poked her head out the door and looked both ways. Seeing that the coast was clear, she quietly snuck her way down the hall. Since Tom was away in Germany, she knew his study was out of the question. She'd have to find something else to do.
She wished she knew where Draco was right now, or Severus—or anyone. She growled with annoyance as she continued her walk, but when she heard a noise she quickly pulled out her wand, just in case.
Pansy Parkinson stormed down the hallway, and Hermione suppressed yet another groan. Pansy was seriously the most snobbish Pureblood witch in the entire world. She was rude, impatient, and highly judgmental, and acted as though everyone else had been put on the planet just to serve her. She was constantly interrupting Lucius or telling him what to do. She felt bad for Draco that he was expected to marry her.
When Pansy spotted Hermione walking down the corridor her nose crinkled up in disgust. Hermione kept her mouth shut and continued to walk, but Pansy grabbed her arm in a viselike grip.
"Don't you know how to show respect?" she hissed.
To Hermione, this was the final straw. She snorted, "I think you should work on your own manners, Parkinson." She jerked her arm free and started to turn away again.
"Don't you dare talk to me that way, you Mudblood filth!" she practically screeched.
"Pansy?" Draco shouted down the hallway. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing, Drakey-poo," she answered as she batted her eyes at him. "I was just trying to show this Mudblood where her place is." She sent a glare towards Hermione.
Draco growled, "Hermione is a guest in this house. Don't speak to her that way ever again, understood?" Pansy's lip began to quiver as she stared up at Draco. Hermione turned to walk away yet again as she heard him say, "Go home, Pansy."
When Pansy let out a wail and Apparated away, Draco ran after Hermione to catch up. "Sorry about that," he told her between a couple of deeper breaths than usual. "She's just so—Pansy!"
"It's fine," Hermione huffed. "I'm used to it."
Draco placed his hand on her arm to slow her down as he watched her wipe a few tears from her eyes. "Hermione?"
"It's not just her," Hermione told him angrily. "I just don't belong here, Draco. My kind doesn't belong with yours—you've said so yourself often enough."
Hermione stepped backwards and felt her body hit the wall. She collapsed against it as the tears she'd been holding in check began to stream down her face.
Draco stared at her, confused. "Hermione, why are you saying such things? Of course you belong here. You're safe here."
"No one cares about me," she wailed, covering her face with her hands.
"Bloody hell, Hermione, get a grip," Draco insisted as he gave her a little shake. "I care about you. My mother adores you. Uncle Sev cares, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but the Dark Lord definitely cares about you." Hermione slumped down onto the floor, and Draco sat down beside her, using one of his sleeves to wipe at her eyes.
"But Draco, I'm a Mudblood. I can never be one of you," she whispered.
"No, that's not true," he told her. "You are Hermione Granger. You're a brilliant witch, whether your parents were Muggles or not. Being Muggleborn doesn't make you any less of a person."
"But it does. You said so yourself. I'm filthy and dirty and I don't belong. That's all you ever said to me, all any Death Eaters ever said to me. Tom is the only one that advocates it. I'm just worthless."
Draco pulled a hand through his hair. "Hermione, don't you dare say that! You're different. Please stop crying."
"I'm not different; we're all the same, Draco. Why can't anyone see that?" she sobbed.
"Oh, Hermione," Draco soothed as he pulled her into his arms. "I don't know what's gotten into you. But hey, listen, stop crying." He wiped away more tears. "Please, get yourself together. When Tom gets back tomorrow we can go and talk to him, okay? He cares about you, just like I do. Please stop crying."
Hermione continued to sob for another minute or so before she managed to pull herself together. "I'm sorry, Draco. I have no idea what just came over me," she whispered. One minute she'd been fine, and the next she'd just wanted to kill everyone.
Draco chuckled, saying, "It's all right. I've never seen you so upset before." He got to his feet and pulled Hermione up with him.
"You're a good friend," she muttered into his shoulder. They pulled apart and Hermione shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"Come on," Draco suggested. "Let's go play Wizard's Chess."
Hermione nodded and allowed him to escort her to the Drawing Room. She saw that Lucius was in there shuffling through some papers on the couch. He nodded to them briefly and went back to reading. The two of them sat at the small table near the fire and Draco used his wand to set up a game on it.
"I'm really not very good at this game, Draco," she told him.
"You mean you've never played?" he asked with disbelief.
"I used to play Muggle chess with my Dad when I was younger, and I often watched Ron and Harry play Wizard's Chess, but it's been a long time," she admitted with a blush.
Draco snorted. "I bet Weaselby wasn't even any good. Let me show you how a real man plays."
"All right."
Draco pointed at the pieces that were now arranged on the board. "All right, Wizard's Chess is pretty much the same as Muggle Chess. The rules are the same. All you do is say the move out loud, and then the pieces move by themselves. When a piece is taken, it is removed by the attacking piece. Got it?"
"Yeah, it seems easy enough in theory," Hermione said with a nod.
The two began to play, and Hermione quickly caught on. Though she was good, Draco was better, and within minutes she'd lost five pieces already.
"I thought you were the brightest witch of our age," Draco taunted her as she moved another one of her pieces into the perfect position for him to destroy. And that was exactly what he did, chuckling at Hermione's frown.
She growled as she grew more and more frustrated. With a shy grin, she spotted an opening and quickly moved her piece with a flick of her wand. "Check!" she announced, feeling very proud of herself.
Draco's eyes widened considerably. After looking over the board, he smirked. He commanded a piece and grinned as he said, "Check Mate!"
Hermione frowned again as she looked from Draco to the chess board. With a shrug, she said, "I guess I still need some practice."
"Or maybe you're just not good at everything?" he suggested with a chuckle.
Hermione punched his arm and commanded, "Stop teasing." She tried to stand, but stopped halfway and clutched her head. Apparently the dizziness was back again.
Lucius glanced up and said, "You know, Hermione, you should be in bed."
She sighed. "I suppose I should be. I just wish I felt better."
"Well, maybe some more bed rest is just what is needed," he repeated insistently.
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him. "But it's so boring in there! I can only look at those four walls for so long."
Lucius just chuckled and returned to his paperwork.
Hermione sat down, afraid to move. She looked at Draco and saw that he was chuckling, too. Then he walked over and helped her up, tugging her gently in the direction of the door.
"You know, Hermione, you kind of deserve this," he stated as they neared her bedroom door.
Rolling her eyes in irritation, she said, "Oh, shut it."
"I mean, the Dark Lord and my Mum both said to stay in bed," he continued. "I think both of them would be very upset if they found you wandering about."
"Seriously, Malfoy, just shut it," she growled.
"Oooohh, someone's sure getting touchy," he teased as a smile graced his lips.
"Draco," said Hermione as a sudden thought occurred to her. "What is St. Mungo's?"
"It's a hospital, of course," he chuckled. "Blimey, Hermione, you're getting dafter by the minute."
Hermione hit his arm. "No, I mean which side are they on?"
Draco looked decidedly awkward as he said, "I really don't think I like where this conversation is going—"
"Just answer me," Hermione practically shouted.
"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I think they are neutral. But I really don't think—"
"We're going."
"Hermione, please—"
She cut him off once more, saying, "Listen to me, Draco Malfoy, I have been sicker than a dog for the past two weeks. Bed rest and soup isn't helping at all. I need to see a doctor. Now."
"Hermione, we can't just leave without saying a thing," Draco protested. "We could get caught by the Order—or worse, the Dark Lord himself."
"But what if something is really wrong with me?" Hermione insisted as panic began to set in. "What if I'm ill with something serious? We have no way of knowing."
"I'm not willing to risk it, and that's final," Draco insisted.
Hermione cast Draco a pleading look, but she could see that he would not be swayed. With an indignant huff, she stormed down the hallway in the direction opposite of her bedroom.
"Where do you think you're going?" Draco shouted as he hurried along behind her. "I swear you're trying to get me killed."
"I'm going to St. Mungo's with or without you," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hermione, you can't!" Draco protested.
"Shush. I'm going," she insisted as she hurried towards the door.
"Fine, then I'm coming with you."
Hermione smiled. "Good."
"Well, I've got to protect myself somehow," Draco said quickly as he grabbed onto her elbow. "If I just let you leave, I'm dead. I'm not letting you out of my sight, Granger."
The two of them quickly slipped out the front door and rushed to the gate. Before he touched the handle, Draco said, "Hold on, I need to adjust the wards."
Hermione watched him wave his wand as he muttered an incantation, and then he pulled her through so fast she almost lost her footing. Magic rippled all around her, making her shiver slightly.
"Hold tight now," Draco said as he placed her hand on his arm and held it there. "I'm going to Apparate us." Hermione held on to his arm as tight as she could and clenched her jaw as she felt herself being sucked through a small tube and reassembled on the other side.
"Put your hood up," Draco commanded as he surveyed the streets nervously. "You'd better hope we don't get caught."
Grabbing her hand once more, Draco led her across the street and into the Wizard hospital. He walked up to the desk and spoke to the receptionist. Hermione spotted her name tag: Catherine Johnson. She wondered if this woman might be related to Angelina somehow.
"We need to see a healer," Draco told the woman.
"Names?" she inquired, not realizing who they were.
Hermione wanted to give a false name, but she could feel the magic around them that prevented them from lying. She kept her mouth shut.
"Draco Malfoy, escorting Hermione Granger," he replied. "She's the one who needs to see someone."
Catherine emitted a small gasp and narrowed her eyes at them. "You've got a lot of nerve to show up here," she hissed at them. Hermione gripped Malfoy's hand tighter, hoping she had not just made a huge mistake. She could feel the tension pouring off of Draco's body as he straightened his shoulders and looked the woman right in the eye.
"If you don't let us see a healer, I'll cut off the Malfoy funding for this hospital," he stated coldly.
Eyes more narrow than ever, she said, "We could always get that money from some other source."
Hermione growled and leaned closer to the woman. Catherine backed away and sank back into her seat behind the big desk. Hermione placed her hands on the cool surface and leaned slightly forward.
"I was under the impression that St. Mungo's was a neutral zone," she stated haughtily. "However, it seems that you've taken a side. We'll be sure to pass that message along."
Catherine heard the message loud and clear. She couldn't let hundreds of people get hurt just because of a grudge she held. She took a moment to stop trembling and sat forward instead.
"One moment," she muttered. "I'll try to find you an available healer." She darted off the seat and disappeared through a nearby door. She reappeared a few moments later and motioned them to follow as she said, "This way."
Hermione grabbed Draco's hand again as they were led into a room. She let go and scooted herself to the center of the bed, feeling nervous. Draco could see that she was shaking.
"Calm down, Hermione, you'll be fine," he told her. He sat nearby and began to trace small circles on the back of her hand. Soon the door opened and a young medi-witch appeared.
"Good afternoon Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger," she said. "My name is healer Green, and I'll be examining Hermione today."
"Hello," Hermione mumbled, still shaking.
Healer Green chuckled as she saw this. "There's no need to be nervous, Hermione," she told her. "What is said in this room does not leave it. There's no war here, so please relax."
Hermione nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "Th-thank you, Healer Green. We appreciate your kindness."
"Well, then, what can I do for you?" she asked with a smile.
Fidgeting with her hands, Hermione said, "I haven't been feeling at all well for the past two weeks. Draco's mother thinks it is a flu, but I've never had one that lasted this long."
"A flu, you say?" said Healer Green with a nod. "Any other symptoms?"
Hermione thought a moment. "Well, I've been throwing up a lot, randomly throughout the day. Dizzy spells, and sometimes migraines. And my muscles have been aching too."
Pursing her lips, Healer Green said, "I see. Well, I'm going to cast a few diagnostic spells on you so we can see what's been going on, all right?"
Hermione's eyes traveled over to Draco, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "I guess," she replied.
The woman waved her wand over Hermione several times. It made Hermione feel all warm and tingly. Then, her face somewhat flushed, the healer said, "So, I've easily identified what has been making you ill."
"Thank goodness," Hermione said with a smile. "What is it?"
Healer Green smiled. "Well, you're a month and a half pregnant. Congratulations."
And then Hermione's world went black.
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Heart of A Snake