Strolling out of work was something she never managed to accomplish. On the best of days she hurried, all the rest she raced. Today was the one exception to her usually hectic life. She was twenty-eight years old and trying desperately to work her way up through the ranks of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. A place that she had never dreamt of working at much less being days away from being publicly offered the position as Senior Assistant to the Head of the Department. It was quite the honor for a woman, especially one that was only the mere age of twenty-eight. Because of her job she was always pushing herself to be better. Become the first Head of the Department under 40, get the promotion over the other more experienced members of the team and be the best she could be.
The reason she was not rushing out of work that day was because for the first time in she didn't know how long she had taken the afternoon off. It wasn't just any old personal day, it was because she had to get ready for an important dinner date. One she knew that she could not show up to in her business clothes and slapped on makeup. No, this one would be special. Arriving back at her flat didn't take very long. She had decided to walk, something she never did. Normally she apparated because it took only seconds to get from one point to the next. She lived in a muggle apartment complex 3 blocks from the Visitors Entrance to the Ministry. It was a high end building with all the modern amenities. As such it came with a pretty hefty price tag, one that her salary covered easily and then some. Up the front steps she walked, nodding at her neighbors that she rarely saw. They smiled back at her and then kept on their way. No words were exchanged. They wrote off the reason they never saw their young neighbor was because she was always traveling somewhere around the world on business. If only they knew.
She was able to live in a muggle building because she was muggle born. Not many pureblood wizards would want to or have the skills necessary to fool the muggles if they lived alongside them. Hermione welcomed the familiarity with her old life. It made everyday that she walked back into the Wizarding Community seem like her first time. Magical was the only word that could be used to describe it properly.
Walking through the doorway into her spacious flat she sadly noticed the amazing few. It would only be a matter of weeks that she would have left there. Ever since she'd gotten engaged her fiance had pestered her to move in with him. She'd held off, saying her flat was in a better location than his place. That was not true and they both knew it. It was quite evident that she was in love with her flat. He had suggested that they could move into a flat together in Wizarding London but she turned that one down as well. Eventually he had given up after she promised him that he would not hear one more word about the living arrangements after they were wed. She would move without fuss into his place.
He'd proposed to her eight months before. They'd been out for a midnight walk and he'd knelt down in the snow and pulled out a small box. She'd immediately accepted his proposal and they'd hurried back to his place and made passionate love until dawn.
While to everyone else their whirlwind romance looked like a fairy tale it was anything but. They'd been in the public eye a lot because of his name and her part in the war. Magazines had dubbed them the Modern Day Romeo and Juliet. (After all Shakespeare was a wizard, no muggle would have been able to do what he did.) Maybe one of the reasons she had refused to give up her safe haven had been the fact that while he had accepted who she was, his parents had not. She wasn't prepared to go and live with them while she was still not safely married. That had been a sour point in their relationship. She'd tried and tried to get him to talk some sense into his parents but he would never admit their was a problem.
Another rough patch had come a couple months into their engagement. He had become more distant from her. They saw very little of each other at the best of times because of their demanding schedules but they had previously been able to squeeze in at least one night to go out together. That had suddenly changed with no explanation. All of a sudden they would go weeks without meeting face to face. The only contact they would have would be in rushed letters. She'd become so frustrated that she cornered him, vented her rage by screaming at him and then temporarily called off the wedding. That had ended a month and a half before. She had come home late from work to find him sitting on her sofa with her ring that she had so kindly thrown at him as she stormed out the door screaming at him that she never wanted to see him again. He'd presented her with a seemingly sincere apology which she had not taken to kindly to. She knew what he was capable of. What happened after that she didn't really remember. She woke up hours later on the floor halfway between her living room and bedroom with an empty wine bottle beside her and her newly reinstated fiance propped up naked beside her.
A few weeks after that incident she had noticed that something wasn't right. A couple more weeks later a healer had confirmed it. That was why she had arranged this date in the first place. To break the news to him.
She didn't know what kept pulling her back to him. Sure he was smart and good looking as well as super rich but that had never attracted her before. She usually chose the honest guy over the spoiled rich kid. He had been the only exception. Still as much as she tried to figure out what drew her to him she never could come up with a good enough answer. The only explanation that she could think of was not a very good one, he was mind boggling in bed.
Their reservation he had told her in a letter the night before was for 8 o'clock at one of the fanciest and most expensive restaurants around. She knew that only the people with the best names were even considered for reservations and dress robes were mandatory. Thank goodness she had no shortage of fancy clothing.
She figured she had enough time to lay down for a short nap before she had to get ready and so she walked into the enormous Master Suit, squirmed out of her constricting suit and crawled into the cozy softness of her King Size Bed. After dimming the lights she fell quickly into a deep slumber.
A couple hours later she woke up, well rested and ready to take on whatever was thrown at her. She would later be glad for her nap because it would be the last uninterrupted sleep she would have for a long time.
The hot shower shook off the last remnants of sleep when she first stepped into the spray. Her make up went on effortlessly but her hair was another story. With her wand in one hand she tried style after style, but none looked right. To business like, to young, to old. Nothing clicked. Finally when she was just about annoyed enough to shave her head bald no matter how horrible it would look, she found the right style and just in time.
Throwing on her clothes she secured her wand into a band that was strapped around her upper thigh, hidden from view by her dress. Her clutch in hand she didn't bother to look in the mirror again, for fear of not liking what looked back. With that she apparated into the night.
The restaurant was on the shores of Southern England. It had once been a beautiful house, but it hadn't been used for that purpose in some time. Arriving at the foot of the path Hermione walked through a wall of perfectly manicured shrubbery that was dancing with small lights. On closer inspection one would see that they were not lights, but fairies. Up the brick path she walked, careful not get her heel caught between one of the uneven stones. The outside of the building was covered in the same lights as the shrubs and the garden surrounding everything was perfectly landscaped. Off behind the place was the roaring sound of the ocean as it met the land. The air was cooler there than it had been in London and laced with a damp chill that tasted like salt. Into the restaurant Hermione stepped and the maitre de greeted her with a quick smile.
"For Malfoy," she told the eager woman.
"Of course, right this way. Your companion hasn't arrived yet."
After pulling out the seat for Hermione she handed her a menu and then promptly disappeared. Their table was in a perfect spot. Right up against the wall of windows that offered a spectacular view of the sand. Far off on the horizon a sliver moon was just starting to appear. It was a beautiful place she had to admit and the view made it that much more amazing.
After sitting for ten minutes she discreetly glanced at her watch and was appalled to see that it was already half past. She knew she had been late, but not that late. She didn't think much more of it but after another five minutes had slowly gone by her mind finally put into words what had been so unkindly up until that point just swimming around. If she had been that late then where was Draco? He was never late, he always said that lateness was to be frowned upon.
A waitress walked over and asked her if she would like to order a drink while she waited and she accepted. The cold liquid did very little to calm her nerves as she continued to wait. Where was he? How could he have missed this? She thought she'd been very clear when she'd told him that it was really important that they get together. Apparently he couldn't give her any common courtesy. Just as the waitress returned to see if she would like to order another woman came running up behind her with a piece of parchment in her clutches.
"Excuse me Miss," she said, "This just arrived for you," she handed over the slightly rumbled parchment and then disappeared.
Hermione read over the few words and then angrily crumbled the note into a tight ball.
"Is everything okay?" the concerned waitress asked.
"I'm sorry, I have to go," she reached into her purse and extracted more than enough money for her drink.
"I'll get your change for you," the waitress said flustered.
"No keep the change. I am truly sorry about this."
The waitress didn't protest and why should she after the tip she had just received.
Trying to keep her pace steady was extremely hard for Hermione as she walked across the crowded dining room. She wanted to run as fast as she could and then once she was far enough away as to not be heard she wanted to scream until her voice went hoarse. How could he do this again? The note had only contained two words, 'Sorry babe,' maddening enough at the best of times but he knew she hated to be call babe. Angrily she ripped her ring off of her finger for what she swore to be the last time and threw it into her bag. She wasn't giving it back to him this time, not so he could turn around and give it to some other poor unsuspecting girl. Her now bare hands came to rest gently on her lower abdomen, the reason why she had arranged the date in the first place. He should know that he was going to be a father but now she was thinking otherwise.
xxx.:.x.
Back at her flat she didn't do what would seem to be the normal thing to do after your fiance stood you up, cry. Instead she changed out of her clothes into a pair of sweats and poured herself a glass of wine, a rather large glass of wine. After downing it in record time she was finally able to get control of her spinning brain. She'd always known it would come to this subconsciously, that was why she wasn't as distraught as she probably should have been. As she began to think of all that had kept him from meeting her, her thoughts couldn't stray from one highly plausible explanation. There was another woman. Now that she looked back on it, it made complete sense. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it sooner, or maybe it was just her brains way of protecting her. Whatever the answer was she really didn't care. Reaching for the bottle again, she topped up her glass.
Whoever the woman was Hermione almost felt sorry for her. Almost but not quite! She did feel some of the necessary hostility towards the woman that had pulled Draco from her. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe or internal need for understanding but she vowed to find out who the sorry little pimp was.
The city lights shining in her windows casted strange shadows across the furniture but she didn't bother get up to turn the lights on. Instead she got up, kicked her stool back into its place and walked into her bedroom. Her bed didn't seem half as comfortable as it had only a few hours before. None the less she still fell asleep without much difficulty. It was a peaceful sleep what became difficult to accomplish. She tossed and turned but couldn't find a comfortable spot in her usually comfortable bed. She was to hot so she'd kick the covers off and then she would instantly start to shiver so she'd have to untangle the mess of blankets and crawl back under them. If that wasn't enough, even in sleep her brain wouldn't stop spinning, causing her to have dream after dream. By the time her alarm went off in the morning she felt like she'd run a marathon instead of spent the night in bed.
A walking zombie, she had to resist the urge to make herself a mug of coffee. After two near cave ins she reluctantly packaged up the machine and tucked it safely out of her line of sight as to not tempt her. She didn't know how she was going to manage without coffee at the best of times, let alone when she didn't sleep.
When she arrived at her desk she had to quickly drop her briefcase and rush towards the bathroom where she promptly threw up. It was only the wine she drank last night she told herself, there was no way it could be morning sickness. Then she sunk to the ground, how could she have been so stupid? She was in such a state that she'd downed two large glasses of wine without remembering she was pregnant. A continuous pounding on the door brought her back to her senses and she picked herself up and rinsed her mouth out. Unlocking the door she stepped out to see her assistant with her hand in the air, mid knock and a few other members of the Department shooting funny looks at her.
"Are you okay Ms. Granger?" Suki asked her.
"Yes, thanks. I must have eaten something funny last night. I hope this doesn't last very long."
"No of course not," Suki eagerly agreed. Good old gullible Suki; the rest of the floor wasn't taking her excuse so easily.
Making her way back to her office she welcomed the privacy that it would offer. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs up underneath her when she sat down in her chair. What had she been thinking? The answer was easy, she hadn't been thinking. She knew now that she couldn't trust herself and committed herself to after work going home and ridding her place of anything that may harm the developing fetus.
Laying her hand down on her abdomen she whispered, "I'm sorry baby, Mommy didn't mean to be so stupid," she would have said more but the door unexpectedly opened and in walked her boss, Hugh Livingston.
"Morning Hermione," he boomed in his notable baritone, "I hear you weren't feeling so hot earlier. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
"No I couldn't possibly, I have so much I have to get done."
Hugh looked at her strangely and then pulled up a chair and said, "I'm worried about you. All you do is work and I'm worried you're not taking care of yourself. If you're sick, go home. We can get by one day without you."
"Thanks Hugh," she replied, "I might take you up on that offer one day but for now I'm fine."
With nothing more to say, Hugh rose and exited her office.
Hermione might as well have gone home because she accomplished very little as the day progressed. At a quarter to five she ran out of her office and left work. The earliest she had excluding the day before in years. The lifts were full with everyone going home for the evening and so she had to wait for a second one to come. After fighting her way into the overcrowded lift she waited as it made it's way to the Atrium where she could apparate from. She knew where she was going and what she had to do.
The destination she apparated to was a modern building, or at least the renovations of it made it look modern. In reality the six story building was over a hundred years old and had been build primarily to house Malfoy co. It hadn't swayed from it's original purpose in the century that it had existed. She'd not told anybody about the ending of her engagement, not even Draco. She was planning on seeing how things panned out first and it helped her out to be tagged still as going to marry a Malfoy. The staff was really helpful to her when she asked if Draco was still in his corner office. They'd all said they could go and get him for her but she said she wanted to surprise him, so keep it a secret. She hung around in the shadows until she saw the door to the corner office edge open. Draco, as handsome as ever stepped out and talked to the young girl who was occupying the desk outside the door.
"You bastard," she couldn't help but whispered.
He threw his cloak over his shoulders and walked towards the stairs. With his hand on the knob he turned back to his assistant and called, "You did send that note I asked you to last night?"
"Oh the one to Ms. Granger?"
"That's right."
"Yes, and I rescheduled your reservations for tonight. Have a wonderful evening Mr. Malfoy."
"I will."
"Of course you will," Hermione hissed from behind the potted plant that was doubling as her cover, "And why wasn't I invited to this make up dinner?"
After she was sure Draco wasn't coming back up she stepped out of her hiding spot and walked over to the young woman's desk, "Excuse me."
"Oh Ms. Granger," the assistant said, stumbling over her words, "I'm sorry you just missed..."
"I know, it's just..." she proceeded to explain to the woman how she needed to get into the office because she needed a list of names of Draco's business associates so she could owl them their wedding invitations, "It was so silly of me to forget," she said spinning her story even more.
"I don't know if I can. No offense but I was told to not allow anybody to go into his office, "I'm sure he didn't mean you, but still."
"I understand completely, I wish my assistant was half as good as you are. She doesn't seem to understand that concept."
The compliment worked enough to make the woman hesitate for a split second, giving Hermione a chance to try again, "Damn, that means I'll have to come back tomorrow then. If I don't get those invitations out soon...he doesn't understand what it takes to plan a wedding. Men right?"
"Oh of course."
"I feel bad, he said he was going to bring me the names but he hasn't yet. Poor guy has so much to do, I don't want to ask him again. I guess I'll have to. He'll be mad at himself for forgetting. That's why I came after I knew he'd be gone, I didn't want to upset him."
"Well I guess...what harm would it cause."
"Thank you so much," Hermione gushed as she walked over to the door which she left open. She sat down behind Draco's massive desk and quietly and efficiently began to search through the drawers. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, no letters, reminders or pictures. Everything pointed towards the fact that Hermione had simply overreacted, but she knew it wasn't that simple. He was good, she knew that much she knew.
After she concluded that there was nothing to be found she reluctantly stood up and was about to leave when something caught her attention. It was the equivalence of a muggle rolodex. It had been the excuse Hermione had used to get into the office but had never actually thought to look through. Flipping through the names she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Business people, ministry officials, family friends, her and her friends. If the answer was in the mass of names it was well hidden because everything seemed to fit, unless the woman was somebody she knew and had passed over her name automatically because they were friends. It was possible but not likely and so defeated Hermione stood up and walked out of the office. The one thing she had noticed that was out of the ordinary on Draco's desk was the absence of pictures of her. It was fishy to her that somebody that was going to marry another person wouldn't have any pictures of that said person where they spent the majority of their waking hours.
"Thanks," she said again to the assistant.
"Did you find them?"
"He hadn't made a list up, imagine that, so I had to go through and write down everybody's name."
"Men," she shook her head, "Their brains are like an old sponge, can't absorb anything. No offense to you because I'm sure he's a wonderful guy, it's just...well I probably shouldn't say this. Forget I ever said anything."
"No go ahead," Hermione replied, trying to hide her anticipation.
"Well it's just he's never mentioned you before, well he does but just when it's regarding business. Nothing personal."
"Yeah, that's just how he is. He's like a locked safe, impossible to get anything out of," it was so true, "Well I best be on my way."
"Have a wonderful dinner tonight."
"Ah, thanks," Hermione remembered a split second to late that she the woman thought Draco was taking her out for dinner, "I will," after she had apparated away she concluded that the woman hadn't known of any other woman. If she had she wouldn't have made the mistake of commenting on Draco's date.
The trip had been useless, if not for the fact that Hermione had learned that Draco was going out to dinner. That was the one hint that kept telling her that there indeed was someone else, because she couldn't find any other evidence to support it.
Hermione apparated to the restaurant where Draco had been heading after leaving work. Instead of going up the front path she walked around the side and made her way carefully down to the beach. From the beach she looked up to the long row of windows. It took her a minute but she finally found what she was looking for. His white hair was good for something after all, it glowed, giving away his position easily. Now that she was there she didn't want to look to see who he was sitting with, it would be the final act of giving in. Eventually she had to look, her curiosity had grown to strong. A gasp escaped from her lips when she saw that the seat across from the blond was empty. Seconds later it had filled with a beautiful red head.
Hermione's stomach began a sudden free fall and her knees became shaky. There had to be an explanation, she was just there because Draco was trying to find something out from her...or maybe...? No, the answer was obvious from the way he leaned over and allowed his lips to linger over hers, and the way he held her palm in his. Not being able to take it anymore Hermione disapparated back to London.
She was mad at herself for not realizing it sooner, mad at him for ever thinking he could get away with it and mad at her best friend for the gut wrenching betrayal. On top of all the anger she was heart broken, but not for herself, for Harry. He was unconditionally in love with Ginny. If he knew what she was doing he would be devastated.
Not knowing what to do with herself she began to wander around the streets of muggle London, something she would have never considered doing as a woman if she didn't have her wand. If she hadn't have been pregnant she may have wandered into the any number of pubs that were open but she didn't see what fun that would be if she couldn't drink and she wasn't hungry. Time passed and she realized that even if she wasn't hungry she still needed to eat at least for the baby. Without having a clue what the place was like she walked into the next pub she saw. The place was loud because a football game was playing on the tellies that surrounded the room. The bar was along the left wall and Hermione walked over and pulled out a stool. A man sat down beside her and offered to by her a drink.
"Sorry," she said but when she saw his confused expression she patted her tummy, "the baby isn't so big on me drinking."
"Well good for you," he said as he got up and walked away. Apparently he figured that if she was pregnant she was with a guy already. If you only knew she thought.
The bartender came over to her and she ordered a plate of food.
"No drink?"
She shook her head.
"What are you pregnant?"
"Something like that."
"My girl is too. Nine months, she's absolutely huge," he said before he moved onto the next person.
Her food came not much later and she waved over the bartender and asked for a glass of water which he handed to her. The food tasted like paper, her mouth was so dry but she forced it down anyways. The whole time she hoped her appetite would return soon because she loved food.
After she paid for her meal she walked back out into the cool evening air. She didn't have a clue where she was, she'd been wandering aimlessly without any sense of direction before going into the pub. It took her two spins around for her to come up with her location, she was two blocks south of the Ministry. If she was that close she might as well stop in and grab the few things she had left when she rushed out earlier.
Looking around to make sure nobody was looking and then going into the shadows she apparated into the Atrium. The lifts were empty now, so different from when she left and so she rode to her floor in silence. Finding the items was easy as they were laying in plain view on her desk and then she left. Stepping onto the lift she expected a quite ride once more but that wasn't the case.
"Evening Hermione, are you just leaving now?"
"Oh no, I forgot some stuff Mr. Weasley."
"Did Molly ever get a hold of you about tomorrow night?"
"No."
"Well, we're having a family dinner sort of thing and we were wondering if you and Draco wanted to stop by. That's only if you don't have any plans."
"I don't know about him but I'll be able to make it."
"Wonderful, how does six o'clock sound?"
She nodded, "I'll be there."
They stepped off the lift at the same time and then apparated away. She didn't know how she would be able to tell everyone that the wedding was off. Every other time her and Draco had taken a cooling off period she'd never told the Weasley's, probably because she knew that they would work things out. Now she knew it was over for good. To tell them would be giving them the opportunity to say 'I told you so' after all it had only been a few months before that they had finally accepted that they wouldn't be able to do anything about the upcoming wedding.
The following evening Hermione apparated to The Burrow at exactly six o'clock. She knocked on the door and someone from inside called out for her to come in. She walked into the kitchen where she heard the majority of the noise coming from and almost walked back out when she saw who was standing, leaning against the counter. If Harry hadn't have walked in behind her, blocking her exit she would have turned and fled.
"How's it going?" Harry greeted her.
She shrugged, not trusting her voice. Draco looked up at the new additions to the room and smiled at the woman who he pretended to love. Brushing his way past people he made his way over to her. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips but he didn't make eye contact with her. He reached for her hand and that's when he looked up at her, "Where's your ring?" he asked abruptly.
Here it comes, she thought, "Draco, we need to talk."
"What's going on?"
She pulled him out of the crowded room and into the living room.
"Draco I think..." she didn't get to say anything more because down the stairs ran Ginny.
"Hey," she greeted both Hermione and Draco.
"Great, come here," Hermione said to Ginny but she couldn't miss the panicked look that Ginny exchanged with Draco, "It'll be good if you hear this as well?"
"Hermione, where's your ring?"
With a gulp Hermione started talking, or rather yelling.
xxx.:.x.
a/n Yeah so this idea has been rolling around in my head for a while and I'm happy to finally get the chance to write it. I hope you enjoy it and please review.