Prologue

Hermione's relationship with Draco was going surprisingly well. They had gotten together not long after the war and dated throughout their seventh year. She had gotten a job at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement while Draco had started training with his father to take over the family business. After a few months of living in separate apartments and Draco spending practically every day and night at her place, they decided to move in together. His parents weren't completely thrilled when they told them the news, but they said nothing to object. At least their son was still willing to take over the business once Lucius was gone.

Harry and Ginny had just gotten engaged a few months ago, and while Hermione was deliriously happy for them, she couldn't shake the longing to be in their position. While she desperately wanted to bring the subject up to Draco, she was cautious to do so. They had said I love you, but as he hadn't brought up the idea of marriage, she didn't want to scare him off. However as the weeks dragged by and overhearing countless conversations between the old school enemies about wedding plans, Hermione decided it was time to bring the subject up to Draco.

The night she decided to ask Draco if he ever saw them getting married, she made his favorite dinner and bought a bottle of his favorite wine. He had come home from work like he always did, looking rather exhausted but happy to see her all the same.

They sat down at the table to eat, while Hermione watched him carefully under hooded eyes. She waited until his shoulders were no longer hunched and he wasn't wearing such a heavy frown.

"Draco there's something I wanted to talk to you about." she said.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as he set down his wine glass and smacked his lips.

"Harry and Ginny's engagement got me thinking." she mumbled, perhaps more so to herself than to the blonde sitting across from her.

She hadn't noticed the tension return to his shoulders.

"Do you see us ever getting married?" the question had fumbled out of her mouth so quickly she was surprised she made any sense at all.

Draco let out a long, slow breath and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't answering right away and the longer he stayed silent, the more her stomach churned anxiously.

"My parents wouldn't be too thrilled about that..." he admitted, unable to look her directly in the eyes.

Hermione scrunched her nose. She couldn't care less what his parents thought of their relationship, but their opinion was very important to Draco; something she had been trying to change since they started dating.

"Draco you're a grown man now! You're perfectly capable of making your own decisions-" she started to say.

"My dad could fire me. There'd be no one to take over our business. I wouldn't have a job-"

"Oh bollocks. You're an exceptionally skilled wizard, you'd have no problem getting a job anywhere." she snapped.

He smiled sadly at her at that moment and reached across the table to take her hand in his. She avoided his gaze, tears prickling at her eyes. This wasn't how she expected this to go. But she needed to hear this, at least now she knew where they stood.

"I do love you, Hermione. We're young. I just think that we have time, and things are great between us already." he said softly.

Hermione nodded. Of course. They had only been out of school for a year. They weren't even twenty yet. But she was still certain that she was ready for marriage, but Draco wasn't, and that was fine. Really.

"Let's have a cup of tea and then what do you say we hit the shower?" he suggested with a knowing look and that mischievous twinkle in his eye that she loved so much.


Weeks had passed and neither one had said a word more about marriage. Hermione wasn't going to push him on something he wasn't ready for, and Draco seemed relieved. Besides, she had a more pressing matter at hand right now. The first morning she woke up feeling nauseous she thought she came down with the flu. But when the nausea had faded by mid-afternoon and returned the next six mornings in a row, she knew this was not the flu.

Work seemed to drag on that day as her thoughts focused on the possibility of having a life growing inside of her at that very second. How was she going to tell Draco? How would he react? What were they going to do?

Okay, relax. she told herself. You don't even know for sure yet if you're pregnant.

Hermione took a deep breath and returned her attention to what Kingsley was saying. She felt a nudge in her side and turned to see Harry staring at her with concern.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, his lips barely moving.

Everyone knew better than to talk while Kingsley was talking.

"M'fine." she muttered and offered a smile to convince him.

But she wasn't fine. She hadn't heard a single word during the meeting, she still felt slightly nauseous, there seemed to be a good chance that she was pregnant and if she was, she'd have to figure out a way to tell Draco.

Oh God...what if he thought she had tricked him into getting her pregnant in the hopes he would marry her? She would never, of course. But if Draco would think that, it wouldn't be easy to convince him she hadn't done this on purpose. Marriage she was ready for, a child she was not.


After work that evening, Hermione stopped to pick up a pregnancy test in muggle London and resisted the urge to curse at the cashier for not having a bathroom. She buried the test in her bag, and tried not to think about it just sitting there, waiting for her as she made her way home. As she walked down the dimly lit streets she tried to convince herself she wasn't pregnant. Maybe it was her current diet or stress from work or maybe it was something entirely unrelated to a new life growing inside her.

Draco wasn't home yet and Hermione let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to do this alone. If the test was positive she would need a moment to collect herself, and if wasn't...well, a moment of celebration alone would be nice too. And she wouldn't even have to mention this to Draco.

Hermione slipped into the bathroom, clicking the door shut behind her. She withdrew the test from her bag, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She ripped open the box and sat down to take it. When she was done, she set it on the counter and closed her eyes again. This was going to be a long three minutes.

When the time was up, Hermione rose from the toilet and picked up the test. The second her eyes fell on that little pink plus sign she felt her heart sink into her stomach. She was pregnant, and now she had to tell her boyfriend.


Draco came home not long after she found out she was pregnant and Hermione was waiting nervously in the kitchen for him. Her foot wouldn't stop tapping against the tiled floor, her tea sat untouched.

"Everything alright, love?" he asked absent-mindedly.

She watched as he shrugged off his coat and kicked off his shoes. Hermione cleared her throat and rose to greet him. She kissed him on the cheek, quick and chaste before stepping back to admire him. There was a sadness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Draco frowned, studying her face.

"There's something I need to tell you."


Hermione woke the next morning, startled to find that Draco wasn't laying beside her. She rolled to her side and sighed. He had taken the news surprisingly well last night. He had hardly batted an eye and insisted they would figure this out. They had quite a few options and they were going to talk them over this evening when they got home.

After a few stolen minutes of drifting in and out of sleep, Hermione forced herself to get up and get ready for the long day she had ahead of her. There was bound to be a large stack of paperwork waiting for her on her desk this morning and she had another meeting with the Aurors today.

She climbed out of bed, groaning when a wave of nausea hit her. She bolted to the bathroom and bent over the toilet. There wasn't much in her stomach and the acid burned her throat as she dry heaved. Godric she hated this.

Hermione wiped her mouth, cleaned herself up and set out to the kitchen to make some tea and toast. She frowned when she spotted a piece of parchment laying on the kitchen table. Still shaking slightly from her retching, Hermione picked up the parchment and began to scan the words that would eventually haunt her for months.

Hermione,

I'm not ready for this. I'm so sorry.

Draco

So that was it, was it? He left. Just like that. She was pregnant with their child and he was gone.


A/N: Hello lovelies! Firstly I want to apologize for the hiatus I've taken on The Final Year. I've been going through an episode of writers block and the new chapter isn't even half-way finished.

This piece here is just a teaser for now. The idea popped into my head the other night and I wrote out the epilogue (which took me a few days, thanks a lot writers block). I won't be updating this story until the Blueberry Stained Summer series is done.

Anyway, let me know what you think by reviews? (: