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Balaur	By : T-W-O Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 25216 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I own nothing of HP nor do I profit in any way from these missives. I almost own the laptop I'm writing this fanfic on, tho'.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Sunday at the Burrow began the long overdue process of family healing, starting with revelations and confessions to clear the air. Hermione awkwardly exited the floo at the Burrow to Harry’s sarcastic comment —

“It’s about time you came back — PREGNANT!?”

Draco’s back leg, trailing his body behind her exit, hadn’t made it into the Burrow fully when her best friend’s Everte Statum hex knocked the male source of Bali’s DNA into the burning coals.

“Harry, NO!”

Faster than Hermione could react, an Extinguish spell kept Draco’s living flesh from charring as he crawled out of the fire and a Flipendo bowled Harry backwards over the dining table and onto the chairs.

Neither Hermione nor Draco cast the last two spells.

A disheveled Harry, climbing to a kneeling position, stared with his jaw gaped open at the translucent green curtain forming around the Slytherin and the Gryffindor as Harry’s “‘Mione" batted at flames on Draco’s expensive robes. Bali tumbled and kicked her until she cried out in pain — causing Draco to place his hands tenderly on her abdomen to calm his agitated son.

“Shhh, Balaur. Mama ta și cu mine suntem în siguranță. Ta 'Unchiul Harry' este fundul unui balaur; din păcate, el e cel mai bun prieten mamei tale. Suntem în siguranță, fiule.. [Hush, Dragon. Your mother and I are safe. Your ‘Uncle Harry’ is a dragon’s ass; unfortunately he’s your mother’s best friend. We’re safe, son.]”
“You speak Romani?!?”
“I speak several languages. If you insist on raising my son in Romania, then I insist on speaking to him in his mother tongue. The ’Lingua Franca charm provides me with a basic fluency.”
“How did you —”
“— determine where you lived? Charlie told me.”
“That’s a lie, Malfoy! Charlie would never —”

The sardonic smile stopped her challenge, along with the “popping” sound of Kreacher finding an alternate way into the Burrow when the floo jammed up.

“You do remember the fight we had over your unwillingness to stop working with dangerous potions? Do you recall Charlie walking in on you shrieking like a harpy over my reasonable request and joining for your side? It’s common knowledge Charlie Weasley lives in Babadag, Romania taming dragons.”
“But that was months ago! You’ve never tried to visit.”
“I’ve harmed you enough by acting without your consent, Hermione… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to straighten up and repair my robes before Mother and Father arrive. I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on. And Potter —”

Seething but curious, Harry confronted Draco’s glare with one of his own.

“Do NOT upset Hermione or our son. If you have a problem with our situation, you take it up with ME — not her. Do you understand? Trust me, I’ll know.”

A curt nod and Harry regained his feet and his temper.

“C’mon, Hermione. Let’s have a chat in the greenhouse.” and cupping her elbow in his palm, the “Boy Who Sought Answers” led his best friend through the grey damp into a place of eternal spring.
“By the way — my son’s capable of protecting his mother, as you might have noticed,” Draco shouted in the direction of the greenhouse.

…..

With the greenhouse taken, Arthur steered the Malfoys — parents and child — to the humble sitting room of his home and began a quiet interrogation aimed at revealing the facts. The elder Weasley’s gentle demeanor kept Draco from apparating himself to the bottom of Black Lake.

“Now as I understand it, you were with Voldemort when he commanded Fenrir Greyback to… assault Hermione.”
“Yes.”
“Did you volunteer to take his place?”
“In a manner of speaking. I must’ve been staring because he changed his mind — not that that didn’t happen a thousand times a day — and told me either to ‘defile the filthy mudblood’ or he’d give her and my mother to Greyback to ‘toy with’. Dolohov suggested raping a ‘mudblood whore’ would make me more of a man than my father was.”

Flat-timbered, with a matter-of-fact affect, Draco recited the tortures inflicted on Hermione by a lunatic half-blood conceived from an Imperious’d muggle father. Whatever defiance Lucius felt towards Arthur’s interrogation melted away as Draco’s ordeal, retold conversationally by the emotionally numb man-child, clarified what happened.

“What did you do to her?”
“I made a show of undressing her and touching her so the others would see. I nipped her ear so I could whisper to her. We had a code — one blink for ‘yes’ and two for ‘no’. Then I… Then I… I performed for the audience, acting as if I was disgusted by having to take her… She’d never been intimate with anyone so I tried to prepare her… I’m sure it hurt like hell; all those fuckers leered at her lying there, crying in pain. She begged me not to… but that wasn’t an option. They’d have given her to Greyback…”

“Only once?”

Color and confidence drained away with what small self-respect Draco’d recovered since his attempt to erase his ironic existence by suicide.

“No — nearly everyday for three weeks. The first days they kept her in the Manor’s dungeons. I sent my personal house elf, Nod, to look after her and make sure she ate. We had to repeat the ‘entertainment’ at least once a day in the Manor dining room. I convinced them she’d be easier to break if I had access to her all day. Dolohov didn’t suspect my motives and agreed; they moved her into my suites. She could bathe and read there and I could make sure she wasn’t harmed by anyone but me…”

His mother’s attempt to spare him — “Draco, do you want to take a break?” — didn’t register. The reckoning recommenced without pause, one piece of Draco’s tattered soul ripped off with each revealed truth.

“I wouldn’t have touched her again but Dolohov ‘volunteered’ to check my obedience to Voldemort. Once a day I had to retrieve him from one of his drinking holes and let him check her for my seed. Had to keep the drunk fucker off her every time. She stayed with me in my suite until the Order rescued her.”

“Think carefully on this before answering, son,” Arthur Weasley posed as he cleaned his reading lenses, “why did you do this for someone you hated so very much? We can all understand doing whatever was necessary to protect your mother, but by your account you sheltered Hermione from the worst of it. Why?”

“Because…” he panted, visibly upset by the question.

The reason viewed by Narcissa and Molly Weasley during their Legilimancy sessions clawed it’s way to his mouth. Draco weighed the risk to his relationship with his once revered father to that of losing a relationship with his unborn son.

“I never truly hated her because of her blood status. I envied her; her talent, her friends — earned not purchased, her freedom to be what she wanted to be. Merlin! They were all in Diagon Alley — Hermione and her family — clueless about our world, smiling and taking it all in like it was nothing strange. I was jealous — her swotty genius made my life hell at home every term, but I never hated her.”

The core truth wouldn’t exit without assistance.

“Draco?” Molly interjected, “I’ve seen your memories. You’re about to become a father to a half-blood by a woman you’ve raped repeatedly —”
“Not the last time…”
“What do you mean ‘the last time’?”
“After the Battle I apparated back to the Manor immediately. Some of the less committed Death Eaters began to assemble there to leave England after Potthead turned the Dark Lord into cat litter. Hermione was there and we could hear them from my suite. I gathered that the Order would eventually show up looking for her so I helped her prepare, packing a bag of transfigured clothes to take, making sure she ate… She’d decided to hide what I did to her… She forgave me, she said… Being Hermione, she lectured me on how vile Voldemort was and how no child should have to protect their mother the way I did. She-She-She… thanked me for being gentle with her… insisted I’d never hurt her after the first few times — which was a lie… I kissed her — I know I shouldn’t have — and begged her to be with me one last time because she wanted to, since I’d be in Azkaban once she testified under Veritaserum… She let me love her in the bed we’d shared for weeks… Fell asleep in my arms until the Order came to rescue her.”

This final secret hushed the room until Lucius Malfoy slid from his chair to kneel in quiet sobs and hitches. Arthur hugged a tearful Molly, acknowledging the previously unspoken motivations of the complicated young man removing the scabs from his heart for their benefit.

“That’s enough for today. We’ll speak again after we welcome your son into the family. Ladies, you were correct; I’m glad we’ve had a chance to clear the air. I hope you’ll all stay for dinner. Molly’s Shepherd’s Pie never ceases to get compliments.”
“Thank you, Arthur…” a shaken man breathed out from his position of supplication on the floor.

…

“You’re alright?” Harry asked after her.
“No, I’m definitely not. I haven’t been alright since my son learned to use his feet to kick my bladder.”
“Hermione, what happened?”
“Voldemort put a bounty on me after we stole Helga Hufflepuff’s cup from Gringotts. He told me he’d finally determined that the ‘power the Dark Lord knows not’ in your prophesy was me. The snatchers ambushed me while you and Ron were determining where we were in the forest. I had just enough time to ward off the area to keep you both clear of it. They brought me to the Manor and gave Draco a choice — rape me himself or see his mother and me raped and turned by Fenrir Greyback…”
“Ferret probably enjoyed every minute of it!”
“No, Harry, he didn’t. He did his best to make it tolerable for me. Gods! I never wanted to deal with this, but the baby reminds me every day of that dining room and those horrible, horrible Death Eaters standing around cheering Draco and threatening to ‘try me out’ when he was done…”

Harry delayed comforting his still traumatized friend while he improvised a lounge, seeking to get her comfortable quickly and off her swollen feet.

“Sit down, love.”
“You can’t imagine what it was like, Harry…”

A stack of clean, pressed and folded handkerchiefs floated in from Fred and George’s old room. Molly continued to run the house as if all her children had returned from the war. No magic returned George’s doppelganger to the Burrow; George absented himself from a place missing half of everything.

“It’s over, Hermione.”
“They WATCHED us! Draco had to-to-to empty himself inside me over and over again until Voldemort was satisfied with our ‘performance’ — me fouled with Draco’s issue and begging him to stop! It went on like that for days! They only let me out of my cell for the ‘show’ that half-blood bastard wanted until Draco convinced them to move me into his suite.”
“Hermione, I can’t let Draco get away with this! He hurt you!! I promise my office will find a way to —”
“No you won’t, Harry James Potter, or I’ll leave forever! Draco saved me and his mother. Greyback would have bred us both. Did you know that female werewolves come into heat like dogs and does? They turn — full moon or not — and seek out their mate. And they mate for LIFE, Harry.”
“You don’t have to protect that Slytherin bastard!”
“Yes I do. The first time… Ron and I never actually, you know… Somehow Draco knew and he was truly gentle with me while playing it up for all those perverts watching us. He NEVER touched me unless ordered to.”
“Sounds like a fucking saint.”
“STOP IT! What would YOU have done to save your mother that night?!?”

What, indeed, would Britain’s magical “saviour” have done to have his mother alive and available to love?

“Why’re you defending him?!?
“Why don’t you believe me?!?”
“He’s Draco Malfoy! Have you forgotten you’re a ‘mudblood’?!?”
“Thanks for reminding me…”
“He hates you! Always has!”
“Whatever Draco was he hasn’t been since Voldemort sent him on that suicide mission to kill Dumbledore.”
“So he was a human being and not a snake for five minutes! You don’t have to be with him now!”
“I’m not ‘with him’. But he’ll be part of my life forever — we have a child together that, thanks to some strange pure-blood magic, knows who his father is. That was Bali’s magic that knocked you over that table after you attacked Draco, not mine. Bali loves his father and I think Draco loves Bali.”
“Bali?”
“Mm-hmm. Mrs. Weasley nicknamed him.”
“You’ve seen Molly!?”
“Yes — don’t be angry!” she pleaded as he leaned back in his chair, “Molly delayed me the morning I left. Either she saw the signs of my pregnancy or Ginny told her.”
“Ginny???”
“Apparently your girlfriend slipped me sleeping draughts every afternoon so she could search my trunk. She found my plane ticket to Romania and the lab report from my muggle doctor.”
“I’ll speak with her about it.”
“No you won’t,” Hermione laughed for the first time in his presence, “you’ll shout at her for not telling you!”
“Yeah; right as always. So what’s between you and Malfoy?”
“I’m not sure. He’s had a raw time of it since his trial. We’re talking… working our way through this unplanned connection we have. No matter what I expected of my life before I was kidnapped, he’s Bali’s father.”
“It’s just the baby, right? I’m not going to catch you two snogging, am I?”

Harry spotted the signs of discomfort almost immediately. So did her baby who extended that “force field” around his mother again.

“I’m not sure…”
“Hermione — it’s Malfoy!”
“Harry… a few hours before the Order breached the Manor’s wards, Draco and I were ‘together’…”
“He raped you after he left the Battle?!?”
“No… He asked and I consented. I wanted… I needed to know I could be with a man by choice… No man wants a woman who can’t be intimate.”

Harry avoided any imagining of her experiences. Whatever drove her voluntarily into Malfoy’s bed qualified as nightmarish.

“Don’t blame Draco — it’s-it’s my own fault. I shouldn’t’ve been caught. I-I-I should’ve fought harder to escape the snatchers. I should’ve attacked Vold—”
“I’d rather he’d given Malfoy’s mother to Fenrir.”
“If he had, you’d be dead and I’d still be pregnant. Her lie saved your life. Can’t change the past,” she sighed, “We’ll be better in time, Draco and I; we have to, for Bali’s sake.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“I should’ve told you…”
“Do I get to be godfather?”
“Can you manage not to curse Draco when you visit?”
“Any curse or just the Unforgivable ones?”
“Harry!”

Each peal of laughter saw the baby’s protective aura further retracted.

“Sounds like Ron and Ginny are back from practice. Let me help —”

Hermione’s anxiety brought the magical shield back.

“I thought about Ron every day… We were finding each other after Lavender and that stupid locket then THIS happens… What do I tell Ron? He’ll always be one of my best friends but this —”

A still slender finger pointed at her belly.

“I’ll tell him for you. You know Ron — he’ll go mental for a bit then he’ll get over it.”
“I betrayed him…”
“You were RAPED — not your fault. Let’s get you something to eat.”

…

“Bill, Fleur? I’ve put you at the smaller table with Draco and Hermione. The rest of you sit down, supper’s ready. HARRY? RON?” Molly yelled up the rickety stairs, each name a little louder than the prior.

The answer bounded down the steps with the other secret keeper.

“Ron’s being a git. Harry said to start without them,” Ginny explained with a sympathetic glance at Hermione.

Everyone ignored the sniffling sound Hermione made at that update. Sensing the group could use a topic not related to Hermione’s pregnancy, Charlie coughed nervously before announcing his news.

“Mum, Dad… Wanted you to know, Vlad and I are dating.”

Something not quite at the level of pandemonium broke out amongst the red-haired bunch, eventually settling into shocked acceptance. The news perplexed the blondes at the table — Arthur’s and Percy’s expressions communicated slight disapproval yet they congratulated the “couple” with the others. The parallels to their own situation — the necessity of accepting Draco’s relationship with a former undesirable — obscured itself in this chaotic new world.

The diversion cooled the conversation and the meal continued amicably until Harry called down for Hermione to join them upstairs. Placing a restraining hand on her thigh, Draco shook his head “No” to her attempts to rise.

“Mrs. Weasley, is this the only floo in the house?” he asked.
“I’m afraid so.” Molly fretted.
“Don’t move; I’l be right back.”

Victoire filled the uncomfortable silence with baby talk and innocent squeals when tickled by her besotted father. Hermione’s nerves had almost calmed when Draco returned with apologies to the Weasleys and assisted her to stand. Without announcing their destination aloud he flicked floo powder into the flames and escorted her in. Kreacher appeared out of nowhere to come behind.

Before speculation broke out in full, two more of Molly’s diners stomped down the steps — one consumed in incendiary rage and the other grimly resigned — and stepped into the flames on the heels of the others.
*____________
Author's Note:
Pinster: You were correct about Draco. Can’t promise when the next chapter will arrive - Amazon hasn’t delivered yet.
Lovey_reader: Thank you. Like many of my recent Dramione writing, this fell free from something else. I figured Molly would make sure Hermione knew she was family.
Ariana: I’M GLAD
Ravie-snake: Thank you! Been catching up on your writing as well. Hope all is well in your household.
Apple: Will do my level best.
ilariasantaniello91: Thank you.
Aqua_Star: Did you get your answer? LOL
Anna: Hope you’re enjoying the new chapters.
Meldz: Thank you. There’s more to do for Bali.
Sherlocked17: Hope it’s keeping you interested.
Dolly: Hope you’re getting to read the new chapters.
tsita: Yeah - I like this Molly, too.
eJs: Sorry to know you feel that way. There’s more and less to it.
DaFossil: Hope you are enjoying the new chapters. And don't check TOO frequently - want to keep that job. LOL
Ice Empress: I’m humbled by your comments. Thank you. Hope you’re enjoying the new chapters.
wudelfin: Thank you. Hope you’re enjoying the new chapters.
Victoria: In a story world where groups are judged by who they are — and aren’t — I felt that the Roma could well represent the minorities undergoing persecution in the Potterverse and the fact that the war didn’t end ethnic hate across Europe. Thanks for noticing.
HarryGinny4eva: This is definitely more thought-provoking and less humorous than my normal fare. I enjoy the Molly/Narcissa relationship and their prescient knowledge about these two young war survivors. In an article I read on child soldiers and their indoctrination, I learned a great deal about the ways in which a child’s mind follows more easily than an adults — regardless of the value system they were raised in. Neurological changes in executive function (the ones that help us resist unethical and/or immoral choices) don’t solidify until we’re 23-26 years old. For that reason, Hermione is just turning 18 and Draco is still 17. So the update today made you happY? LOL As you have probably determined, there a stages in adjusting to post-traumatic events.
Schoolteacher623: Glad you’re enjoying it.
Nfc: Glad you’re enjoying the story.
Vicki: I thought it would be interesting to give Draco and Hermione no choice in dealing with each other and Lucius no choice in accepting his grandson so Draco’s truths would be revealed.
Lexiatel: I hope it’s gripping. LOL
JaxPendragon: I agree.
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Balaur