Surprises

'I just don't know, mate,' said Ron for the tenth time, running a hand through his hair and staring into his empty mug of tea. Harry moved to fill the kettle, trying not to get annoyed. Ron had been sat in his kitchen for over an hour, moaning. It was a little over three weeks since Ron and Hermione had broken up, and although Harry was attempting to stay fairly neutral as Ron was still his best mate, he was struggling. He fully disagreed with what Ron had done, and his friend wasn't really endearing himself, either.

'I feel bad that I've upset her,' Ron said in a half-hearted voice.

'Well then, say sorry,' said Harry, unable to keep the bite out his voice. Ron seemed to notice and looked up at him, blue eyes narrowing a fraction. Ginny had not hidden her views on the breakup, first berating her brother and then refusing to speak to him, and Harry couldn't help wishing he could act the same way. But he'd always been some sort of mediator between the two of them, and as Hermione didn't seem to mind him still speaking to Ron, he hadn't yet told his friend what he really thought of his actions.

'I don't think she'll talk to me,' said Ron. The conversation was going in circles. Harry couldn't help glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner.

From above their heads there came the sound of the front door opening and closing, and he looked around, wondering how Ginny was going to react to finding her least favourite brother sat in her kitchen. Last time they'd come face to face she'd threatened him with her famed Bat-Bogey Hex.

But it was much worse than Ginny. Harry recognised the footsteps on the stairs, but didn't have time to do anything but turn around before the kitchen door opened and Hermione stepped inside. For a moment, the three of them were frozen, a seemingly absurd tableau, and then Hermione moved.

Ron started to open his mouth to speak, but Hermione acted as if he wasn't even in the room as she spoke over his head to Harry. 'Hello, Harry, I've got some groceries here.' She placed the bag on the table, still not looking at Ron, and then said: 'I'm going to go take a bath. I'll see you.' She was gone before either of them could reply.

'She won't even give me a chance to apologise!' said Ron, staring morosely at the bag of groceries. Harry couldn't stop himself.

'Ron, you are not the victim here, and so far your attempts to fix this situation have been pathetic. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to start cooking supper.'

Ron glared. 'Fine. I know when I'm not wanted.' And he marched out the room, the front door slamming a moment later.'

Harry looked around as the door opened again, expecting Hermione, but it was Kreacher the House Elf. They'd freed him, under the new House Elf laws, but he still insisted on wearing a neat toga with Regulus Black's locket, only the smart sandals on his feet revealing that he'd been freed. 'Did I hear you saying you were going to prepare food, master? I hope there isn't anything wrong with my cooking. Perhaps yesterday's pie was a little salty, I thought perhaps I had added a little too much …'

'No, no your cooking is excellent, Kreacher,' said Harry quickly, smiling at the elf and stepping back to allow him to reach the counter. 'I just wanted an excuse to get rid of Ron.'

'Ah, yes, of course. Very clever. I see Miss Hermione has bought some mince, perhaps you'd like a shepherd's pie, or the Italian bolognese?'

'Yeah, some bolognese would be great, thanks Kreacher! Can I help?' he asked, indicating to the chopping board, but the old elf shook his head firmly.

'No, no, master.'

'Well then, I'll read out the newspaper for today,' said Harry. They'd discovered that Kreacher very much enjoyed hearing the news each day, but refused to ask them to tell him it or read the newspaper himself, so they'd taken to reading it out without being requested. Picking up the Prophet from the table, he read out the articles while Kreacher started chopping and preparing the food.

Upstairs, Hermione was not running the bath. She was preoccupied by something else, and it wasn't even the unexpected appearance of her ex-fiance, although she made a mental note to tell Harry to warn her whenever Ron was in the vicinity. No, it was something else entirely, and much more worrying.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she pulled her diary out her briefcase and flicked through it. She'd marked between the 25th and 31st of each month with red dots for the last year, hardly a day wrong. She now flicked to today's date. It was the 1st of November, and she had not marked October in with red dots.

Her heart was thumping a tapdance against her ribs, as she stared unseeingly at the opposite wall. It couldn't be true. She spun through her memory of the last month. She had had sex with Ron over a month ago. She thought about the night of the breakup, the night that she'd spent with Draco Malfoy that she hadn't told anyone about, not even Ginny. Desperately, she tried to remember if they'd used protection. Her memories were drunken, blurred, and she knew she couldn't be sure. It felt odd, but she couldn't deny that if she was pregnant, she would prefer it to be Draco Malfoy's, not Ron's.

Standing up, she left her room and went into her bathroom, quickly tracking down the old stack of leaflets that George had given her as a joke when she and Ron had become engaged. They were shoved to the back of the bathroom cabinet, and all were about the possible consequences of sex.

Throwing away the ones that talked about STIs, she found the one on pregnancy. It was baby pink, the front emblazoned with a picture of a smiling witch hugging her baby bump, bright blue bubble writing asking: 'Prepared for any little surprises?' No, she was not.

She sat down on the seat of the toilet, looking through the leaflet until she found the bit on pregnancy test charms. Pulling her wand out from her pocket, she sat back against the cistern and pointed at her currently-flat stomach. 'Infans Revelio!' There was a pause, and she started to breathe a sigh of relief - maybe she was just late - but then a faint glow, growing steadily brighter, appeared hovering above her abdomen.

Ginny found her an hour later, curled up on her bed staring dazedly at the opposite wall. 'Hermione? Is something wrong? Was it Ron - Harry said that you'd walked into the kitchen when that git was there, he's really sorry that it happened.'

Hermione didn't move or speak. Ginny edged over to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 'What's going on, Hermione?' But her question was answered when she looked down at her friend, curled up on the purple quilt coverlet, and saw the pink leaflet crumpled up in her hand. The headline was just visible above Hermione's fingers.

Supper was not eaten that night. Ginny called down the stairs to Harry that Hermione was suddenly feeling ill, and she was going to sit up with her for a bit, and then she got them both into bed and sat with her arms around Hermione, who was shaking slightly. For a short while, neither of them spoke.

'This doesn't mean you have to get back together with him, Hermione. He doesn't even have to be involved. Hell, you don't even have to keep it if you don't want to,' Ginny said finally, squeezing her friend slightly tighter. But Hermione seemed unusually confused when she replied:

'W-What?'

'I mean, the fact that it's Ron's baby. It doesn't mean anything. He probably will be a tit about it, but we can handle that.'

Hermione stared out the window, steeling herself for what she had to tell her best friend. 'Ginny … it's not Ron's.'

'What?' Ginny exploded. 'What, you were cheating on him as well? Do you mean to say that after all this time that I've been having a go at Ron and protecting you, you were doing exactly the same as him? You're a right hypocrite if that's true, Hermione, I can't believe you! You and Ron deserve each other!'

'No - no, Ginny, it's not like that, I wasn't cheating on Ron, I'd already broken up with him when … this happened,' said Hermione quickly, reddening to her hairline. Ginny frowned.

'I haven't noticed you going off and shagging any men in the last three weeks,' she said slowly. 'Is it someone at work?'

'No it was actually … it was quite soon after I broke up with Ron. I feel quite bad about it, I think it was too soon…'

'A rebound?' said Ginny casually, nodding in an understanding sort of way. Then something seemed to click in her head, as she stared down at Hermione, her dark eyes wide. 'You weren't staying at the Leaky Cauldron that first night, were you?'

Hermione shook her head. Ginny laughed triumphantly, punching the air. 'That's epic! Hermione, you have to tell me who it was with. Dean Thomas? I don't mind if it is him, by the way, we're just friends now … or no, you like Quidditch players don't you. Oliver Wood?'

'He's married, Ginny.'

'Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Come on, Hermione, you have to tell me.'

'Well … um …' She was very red at this point, 'it was … now don't judge me immediately, Ginny, promise … it was … D-Draco Malfoy.' She stuttered over the name, her flush deepening.

'The ferret?' Ginny yelled.

'Shh, keep your voice down Ginny, I don't want Harry to find out like that, you know what the two of them were like at Hogwarts! Yes, but believe me Ginny, he's changed. He's a completely different person to what he was like at Hogwarts, he's done a load of rehabilitation and it's made him really nice! I mean, he has a fridge,' she said finally, as if that explained the changed man. Ginny didn't look like she quite believed her.

'Were you drunk?'

'A little.'

Ginny started to laugh. Hermione hit her, but she only laughed more, and after a while Hermione started giggling a little too, until Harry found them lying in the bed, howling with laughter. He stood in the doorway, looking quite bemused. 'Feeling … feeling better, then?'

'Much,' said Hermione, wiping her eyes.

'Kreacher's saved some bolognese for you, if you'd like it.' He left the room, and as the door swung shut Ginny sat up, smiling.

'I can't believe you're having Draco Malfoy's baby. We need to book you an appointment at St Mungo's, by the way, to get it properly looked over. And you need to find a way to tell him - are you two in contact?'

Hermione shook her head. Last week as she walked through the Ministry, she'd glimpsed a pale blond head in the distance, but she'd immediately ducked down a side corridor and taken a long detour back to the office. 'I don't think I need to tell him.'

'Yes, you do,' said Ginny firmly. 'It's his baby too!'

'That's not what you said when you thought it was Ron's baby!' retorted Hermione.

'Well you and Ron have only just broken up, and getting back involved with each other because of a baby would be really unhealthy, he'd only go off and shag someone else - sorry, Hermione - and then you'd be in a much worse mess than if you just cut him out of it now. But you're not attached in any way to Malfoy, beyond a one-night stand.'

'Yes, which means there's no need to tell him, is there?' returned Hermione.

'What if he finds out in like five years time? That would be so much worse. And anyway, he will find out that you're pregnant, Hermione.'

'Why?'

'Only because every detail of our lives has been blown across the Daily Prophet for the past three years!' said Ginny. 'How do you think they're going to react when you appear with a bump - and even if you hide that, you can't hide a baby. It's not ethical.'

'Fine, but that doesn't mean he has to know its his!'

'He will if he can count, and anyway with the Malfoy genes in there I'd bet my last Knut that the kid will come out white-blonde.'

But nothing Ginny could say would convince Hermione to reach out to Draco and tell him that she was pregnant. In the end, she left it, and instead booked an appointment in the St Mungo's maternity section.

Draco did not like walking through St Mungo's almost as much as he disliked going into the Ministry. He felt witches and wizards' eyes on him, their heads turning to follow him as he walked, saw them whisper to each other. For the first time, he appreciated how difficult being notorious at Hogwarts must've been for Harry Potter, he felt sorry for him, instead of the corrosive jealousy he'd felt before.

But he had to go into St Mungo's, just as he'd been forced into the Ministry two months ago to get some documents signed in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He'd hoped, without even acknowledging it, that during that trip he'd manage to glimpse Hermione, but no such luck. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to see her - they'd parted ways after their one night stand, and neither of them had attempted to make contact. Although sometimes, when he picked up a piece of blank parchment, he briefly considered writing to her. But he hadn't, and now, three months later, he'd decided to put Hermione Granger firmly into his past.

He had to go into St Mungo's for his checkups, which were now every other month. Although therapy sessions happened in his flat, the Healers liked to get him into the actual hospital for more thorough goings-over. He didn't much like them, but knew that he could've come off much, much worse than just uncomfortable checkups.

He kept his head down as he treaded the familiar path back from his supervisory Healer's office. He liked Healer Thalmus, at least. The man always seemed pleased to see him, and it was gratifying to get that instead of the usual reactions of awkwardness or clear dislike.

Caught up in his own thoughts as he was, he almost walked straight into someone, and he'd apologised absentmindedly before he'd even realised who it was. The head of thick dark hair caught his eye, and he felt his stomach muscles contract. Hermione was looking at him with an expression of something worryingly close to horror, before she shifted her features into an unconvincing smile.

'Draco! Hello, how are you?' she asked, unconvincingly blase.

'Oh, fine,' he said, trying to avoid telling her exactly why he'd come to St Mungo's. Ginny Weasley was stood a few feet away, looking at them both with an unreadable expression. Her hand was on the handle of the door next to her, ready to push it open. He noticed, just above her wrist, a small brass plaque saying: "Maternity Section - Checkups & Delivery". 'Are you pregnant, Weasley? Congratulations.'

'No, I'm not,' said Ginny Weasley in an oddly clear and firm voice, and he saw Hermione turn to glare at her, but her expression didn't change. Draco looked down at Hermione, and as he saw the flush start to rise in her face, he felt something fall into place in his head. Of course Hermione wouldn't contact him - if she was pregnant with Ron Weasley's child, it certainly wouldn't do to be speaking to the man she'd fucked three months ago. He pitied her, being tied to that ginger idiot for the next seventeen years.

'You're pregnant?' he said to her, eyebrows raised. The flush deepened.

'Yes - Draco I'm so sorry,' she said, and he saw that she seemed oddly close to tears. 'I was going to tell you eventually, I just didn't know how, and I thought you wouldn't want to be involved anyway …'

He stared at her. Why would he want to be involved with her and Weasley's child. If it was his, well that would be a different matter, but then - and then it clicked. He felt his heart tango in his chest. It couldn't be true. But the expression on Hermione's face seemed to tell it all.

'Oh fucking Merlin …' He turned away, putting a hand against the wall to lean on it, staring at the ground and blinking rapidly. 'It's … it's mine?'

Hermione nodded.

'When were you going to tell me?' he asked, a little sharper than he meant.

'I don't know. I didn't know how you'd react.'

'I want to be involved,' he said, firmly. 'If it's mine. I want to help. Are you going to have it checked out now?' The two women nodded. 'Then I'm coming with you.'

And without another word, he placed his hand firmly at Hermione's elbow, and led her through the doors. Hermione looked over her shoulder at Ginny, who was following a few feet behind them, but Ginny just smirked and looked very pleased at the outcome.

'Who knows about this?' asked Draco, as they walked down the corridor towards the waiting room. 'Do Weasley or Potter know?'

'No, Ronald doesn't, and Harry knows about it but not who the father is, just that it's not a Weasley. You know, if you're going to get involved with this baby, you're going to have to stop calling Harry "Potter", because I assure you he'll be involved and it's silly for you to call each other by your surnames all the time. Really, we're all in our twenties now, all this "Potter" and "Malfoy" rubbish is just stupid,' said Hermione. Draco glanced at her, something playing about the corners of his lips, but she ignored him, sitting down in an empty seat. Draco sat beside her, and Ginny hovered awkwardly for a moment.

'Well, now that Mal- Draco's here, do you really need …' she said slowly, looking towards the door, but Hermione said quickly:

'Ginny, I think you should stay. You were originally meant to be accompanying me, anyway,' she said, pointing to the chair opposite.

'Oh, and what's that meant to mean?' asked Draco, turning to look at her.

'You know, if you'd just stayed in contact with me after I broke up with Ronald, I probably would've been more inclined to tell you about this,' said Hermione, resting a hand on her stomach. Ginny turned to look firmly out the window, as if the overcast sky was fascinating.

'What? You didn't make any attempt to contact me, either. Are you really saying that not sending a Christmas card is as bad as not telling someone they've got a baby on the way? Not even a letter to say "oh, by the way, you're a father". What, are you ashamed that it's me? Would you rather it was someone else, someone a bit less tainted than a Malfoy?' asked Draco, his voice suddenly venomous, and he looked momentarily like his seventeen-year-old self, his face contorted and pained. Hermione stared at him, and her eyes were suddenly full of tears.

'Draco … it's not like that, I swear it wasn't anything to do with -'

'Really? Because I'm afraid I can't think of any other reason why you wouldn't want me to know. Do you think I'm unfit to care for this child?'

'No!' she cried, shaking her head furiously, her hair falling out of its careful bun. 'No, Draco. How can you think I'd believe that, after our night together?'

'Then why? Why, Hermione, did you not tell me?'

'I just …' Her voice faltered a little. 'I felt it was my problem, my body, and I shouldn't pressure you into having to be a part of it.'

'You're wrong,' said Draco, and his voice was steady now, calm. He stared at her with an expression that Ginny, glancing momentarily away from the window, couldn't read. 'Fine, if you'd wanted to abort it, I suppose that's your problem. But now … I can see you're keeping it, and this, this person, it's half me. It's my responsibility, too, and I have a right to be involved.'

Hermione stared at him, her eyes glistening. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered.

'Miss Granger?' The sharp voice made all three of them jump. They'd been so absorbed with the argument that they'd forgotten where they were. A nurse in mint green robes was holding a clipboard and smiling at them. 'Your appointment?'

'Right,' said Hermione, gathering herself. 'Yes, let's go.'

They were led into a little room, which looked very like the rooms that Hermione had seen in Muggle sitcoms, with a white examination bed in the centre and chairs around it, only the large, clunky monitor that showed heartbeats, scans, and other information, was missing. Draco moved to help Hermione onto the bed but she ignored him, lying down and reaching out to take Ginny's hand. Draco ignored this, sitting down near the end of the bed.

The nurse bustled about for a minute or so, before going to Hermione and smiling at her. 'Well, Miss Granger, this is your first check, isn't it? You're three months along?' Hermione nodded. 'Great! We'll be able to take a look at the baby, and check its heartbeat, and if you'd like, you can find out the gender.'

'Yes,' said Draco, as Hermione said 'No', and Ginny said 'We can see it?'

They all looked at each other, unable to contain their smiles. The nurse spoke to Ginny first. 'Yes, the spells that we use to check on the baby's health creates an image of it above the mother's stomach.' Ginny nodded, looking interested, and the nurse turned to Hermione and Draco. 'It's not unusual for this sort of dispute to happen between parents. Do you think you can resolve it soon?'

Hermione and Draco stared at each other. No, they would not be able to resolve this issue in a half-hour checkup. Draco turned to the nurse: 'I can wait until the next appointment.' Hermione stopped herself from asking why he thought she'd have given in by the next appointment, and turned to the nurse as well. They'd argue this out at a later date.

'Let's get started, then,' said the nurse. 'As you're not finding out the gender, we'll just bring up the image of the fetus, and then read its heartbeat and other vitals.'

They all nodded, staring fixedly at the space above Hermione's stomach, as the nurse pulled out her clipboard and started to wave it at Hermione, murmuring spells under her breath. After a minute Hermione gasped, as a strange sensation of warmth passed through her lower abdomen, and her hands automatically began to move towards it. But as they did, an odd glowing light, similar to when she first tested herself for pregnancy, appeared over her.

For a moment, it was an indiscernible mass of light, but then it seemed to shift, the outer edges fading a little to translucency as the light massed in the centre, and as Hermione blinked, she saw it had formed a fetus, lying in the translucent orb. It was about the length of her forefinger, a beautiful, delicate little creature, with a bulbous head and body and tiny limbs. As they watched, it opened and closed a miniscule hand.

Then, as they watched, the holographic image faded away, and Hermione saw Draco, who'd started to reach out his hand towards it, quickly drop his hand to his lap. The nurse, who was ticking things in her clipboard and writing notes, pointed her wand at Hermione's stomach again. 'And now for the heartbeat.'

It was much faster than Hermione expected, a rapid, bird-like tempo that filled the room, and her eyes met Draco's as they listened. Ginny squeezed her hand, but she barely noticed it. Her hands rested on her abdomen, over her baby. She felt her throat swell up, and blinked rapidly, trying to take deep breaths.

'It's real,' she whispered, as the sound of the heartbeat faded away like the image. 'I didn't quite believe … until now …' It had always felt, in the very back of her mind, as if it was some mistake, as if she had perhaps got the spell wrong, but now it was undeniable. She was going to have a child.

'Your baby is healthy, no problems at all,' said the nurse, smiling at them all. 'I think you should be very pleased with the outcome of today.'

'Is that it?' asked Ginny. 'Nothing else to check?'

'As you don't want to find out the gender, no there's nothing else.'

The three of them left the little room, Ginny still holding Hermione's hand in a tight grip, ignoring how clammy their hands had become. Draco strode along beside them, his hands in his pockets, his brow furrowed. 'Cafe?' he suggested, and they both nodded, following him up the stairs to the little tearoom on the top floor.

They sat in silence for a little while, Ginny and Draco drinking coffees while Hermione drank grape juice, then Draco spoke. 'Listen, Hermione, I think you should come live with me, in the apartment. It's not a comment on you!' He said to Ginny as she opened her mouth, looking indignant. 'Although I also don't think that a house that's halfway through being renovated from a complete dank ruin is also not a good place to spend a pregnancy.'

'Excuse me, why do you think it's alright to demand that I come and live with you?' asked Hermione hotly. 'I'm very happy where I am, thank you very much.'

'Yes, I'm sure you are, but I think it would be best if we live together,' said Draco. Hermione stared at him.

'Us. Live together. We'd kill each other.'

'We got on fine, that night that we spent together, when …' He indicated to Hermione's abdomen.

'But that was one night, when I was so upset over Ron I couldn't really think straight, and all we did was eat and then …'

'Shag,' said Ginny, who was now flicking through an old copy of Quidditch Quarterly. Hermione ignored her, as Draco smirked.

'What about when there are actual issues to deal with, and we're all tired and grumpy and everything?' asked Hermione. 'We could barely be in the same room together at school without leaping at each other's necks!'

'Yes, but as you so succinctly put it earlier, we are not at school,' said Draco.

'Why do I have to move to you, anyway?' she asked. 'Why can't you move to me, I've got the trump card of having the baby inside me!'

Draco scoffed. 'Yes, because you, me, Potter and the female Weasley all living together is an excellent idea. Let's turn a possible two-way murder into a definite four-person one.'

'It's true,' interjected Ginny again, her eyes still on a picture of the Puddlemere United Keeper epically failing to stop a Quaffle. 'We would kill each other.'

Hermione frowned at her, and then at Draco again. 'Why do we need to live together anyway.'

'Because,' said Draco, seemingly trying his absolute hardest to be calm and collected, 'I want to actually be a part of this. Properly. To be experiencing things with you. If you're living in Grimmauld Place, it'll be the Potter pair who'll be doing everything I should be doing, and I'll just be a slightly redundant extra wheel.'

'You won't be,' said Hermione in a placating voice, but Draco shook his head.

'I will be!'

'I think you should do it,' said Ginny, to the surprise of both of them. She looked up. 'It's not that I don't like living with you, Hermione, and act like I'm attempting to throw you out. I think it's best for the parents of a child to live together, otherwise it gets awkward and difficult and people get upset because they missed the first kick or walking or whatever.'

Hermione glared at her, and then took a sip of her grape juice.

'How about we do a trial period. Three months,' said Draco. 'You just come in as my houseguest, and if it doesn't work out you can go straight back to Ginger and Four-eyes.'

'Sat right here,' said Ginny, but she was smiling. Hermione sighed, admitting defeat. 'This helpfully coincides the fact that you really should tell Harry who the father is, Hermione. He's your best friend, imagine how hurt he'd be if you didn't tell him.'

'Almost as bad as if you didn't tell the father,' quipped Draco. Ginny gave him a scathing look.

'Oh stop complaining, you sensitive little pixie,' she retorted, turning back to Hermione. 'Come on, Hermione, he'll be alright. Once he talks to Draco and realises that he's not a complete arsehole anymore.'

'Again, sat right here,' said Draco. Ginny ignored him. 'Why don't all three of us go back to Grimmauld Place? I think it's best to reveal it with a good, sharp shock, rather than drawing it out. Then I can help you pack.'

'You want me to move in straight away?'

He shrugged. 'Better to get it done, right? Otherwise it'll just drag out.'

They took the Floo network back to Grimmauld Place, as Apparating was dangerous during pregnancy, popping out in the drawing room. It was much changed from its state when the Order was using it as a residence - gone was the dark and mouldy carpeting and wallpaper. It had been stripped out, the walls now a bright and cheerful yellow, the bare wood of the floor revealed and oiled. Bright winter sunlight now shone through the windows, which had been cleaned, and around the fireplace - almost always lit - was a set of handsome blue sofas and armchairs.

Ginny and Hermione went through first, and found Harry sat in an armchair, reading through some scrolls that spilled out of his lap. He looked up as they spun into view, grinning at them and standing up to hug Hermione and kiss Ginny, the scrolls falling to the floor. 'Hello! How was it? All fine?'

'Yes, yes, everything is fine,' said Hermione, wanting to tell Harry before Draco appeared. They'd told him to wait one minute before following them. 'Listen, Harry, there's something we need to tell you.'

'What? It's not the baby, is it? Is anything wrong?'

'Didn't I just say everything is fine?' replied Hermione impatiently. 'No, it's not the baby. It's … it's the father, we met him at St Mungo's, and we need to tell you who it is …'

'Who?' asked Harry, frowning at her. 'What's up? Is he acting -'

But at that point, his words died in his throat, as the fire suddenly glowed green again, and the unmistakeable figure of Draco Malfoy came spinning into view. Harry's mouth fell open, as Draco dusted himself off and stepped out the fireplace, looking apprehensively around. Hermione realised that this must be almost as uncomfortable for him as going back to Malfoy Manor would be for Harry - no, maybe not that bad. That reminded her - she hadn't asked him whether his parents still lived at the manor. The idea of having to go visit there, with her child, made her stomach churn.

Harry and Draco were still staring at each other. Then, achingly slowly, Harry turned to look at Hermione, who felt herself go pink. 'This is the father? Malfoy? This isn't a very funny joke, Hermione.'

'No, Harry,' said Hermione quickly. 'Draco's … different. He is the father.'

'Thanks,' muttered Draco, staring down at his feet.

'You're sure it's not Ron?' said Harry, and he squirmed a little as Hermione looked coldly at him. 'Alright, sorry, it's just … Malfoy?'

'Yes, Malfoy,' said Hermione tersely, suddenly finding herself feeling oddly protective of Draco's, whose pale cheeks had become tinged with pink. 'And as we're now having a child, it's a bit immature of us to call each other by surnames, isn't it?'

Harry opened his mouth, but at that point the door swung open, and Kreacher walked in bearing a large tray with teapot, cups, milk, and a plate of biscuits. He placed it down on the coffee table and then, looking up and seeing Draco, beamed. 'Mr Malfoy! A pleasure to see you again!' he croaked. Draco managed a small smile.

'Kreacher, Draco and I are having a baby,' said Hermione, looking at Harry, who clenched his jaw and sat down, taking a cup of tea from Kreacher.

'Don't worry about him, he'll come round,' whispered Ginny as she passed to go sit beside Harry, placing a hand on his knee. Hermione sat down on the opposite sofa and, grabbing Draco by the shirt and pulling him down beside her. He seemed in a slight daze, even as Kreacher handed him a cup of tea and a biscuit.

'Wonderful news!' he croaked, beaming at them both, and then he left the room. The four of them sat in silence, the clock on the mantlepiece ticking intrusively.

Hermione glanced at Draco. He was staring down at his tea, his brow furrowed. Harry was staring out the window. Ginny seemed to be annoyed at all of them.

'So what're you up to at the moment, Draco?' Ginny asked finally, and Hermione could've hugged her.

'Oh, well,' Draco seemed shocked to be addressed by her all of a sudden, 'I've been trying to sort out my father's businesses, cut of some parts, start others. I've set up some charities, too, with Blaise -'

'Trying to atone for what you did?' asked Harry, turning his head to stare at Draco instead of the window. Hermione and Ginny glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice them. Draco looked up from his tea, staring straight back.

'Yes.'

'Well,' Harry was at a loss for how to retort to Draco's short reply. 'I guess that's … that's … how did you end up sleeping with Hermione?'

Draco raised his eyebrows, and Hermione suppressed the urge to hex Harry, who was still looking churlish. 'I am sorry, Potter, I'd have thought you'd be aware of the details by this point, but clearly you and Ginny here aren't as close as the Prophet leads us to think…'

'I have had sex, thank you!' snapped Harry, and Ginny let out a groan of exasperation, rolling her eyes and turning away as if she couldn't even bear to look at him. 'I'm asking how you and Hermione ended up doing it!'

'Can we not talk about this?' interjected Hermione. 'Harry, that is between Draco and I, it is none of your business to …'

'I think it is!' said Harry hotly.

'How, how is it any of your business?' Hermione's voice was rising now, her eyes narrowing, and she felt her shoulders begin to rise, her fists clenching.

'Because - because I need to know that he's going to be responsible, that he's not going to -'

'What, Potter?' asked Draco loudly. 'That I'm not going to hurt her? Because I was a Death Eater?'

'Well … yeah!'

'Bloody hell, Harry, you're as intolerant as Ron!' snapped Ginny, turning on him, but Harry ignored her. 'You know what the situation was with Draco, you gave a testimony to get him out of Azkaban!'

'I'm starting to regret it now,' muttered Harry. 'Just because I got Malfoy out of jail, doesn't mean I want him shacking up with my best friend! I should tell the Weasleys about this, they'd help me -'

'Don't you dare!' screamed Hermione, standing up and drawing her wand. 'Don't you dare, Harry! You have no right to act like this!'

'Are you sure it's not Ron's?' asked Harry, and Hermione almost screeched.

'Yes I am sure!'

Finally, Harry seemed to take notice of how angry she was, and chewed over his words a little. Sadly, it didn't make his words any better. 'I just don't think this is a good idea, Hermione.'

'Well luckily, what you think means fuck all in this, especially after this conversation!' snapped Hermione.

'I'm your friend, Hermione,' said Harry in a maddening voice, 'I just want you to be safe!'

'She will be safe!' snapped Draco. 'Hermione is moving in with me and that's the last of it!'

'No she isn't!'

'Why are neither of you letting me decide what I want?' yelled Hermione.

'Hermione, don't get stressed, it's bad for the baby,' said Harry.

'Oh shut up!'

'I am not letting you move in with a man who I know to be a bastard with a Dark Mark on his arm!' roared Harry. 'It's not safe!'

Draco stood up, and for a moment Hermione thought he was about to curse Harry, and Harry seemed to think so to as his hand went for his pocket. But then Draco turned away and brushed past Hermione, marching out the room. A moment later, the front door slammed. Ginny turned on Harry and started to berate him, but Hermione just hurried out the room, leaning over the banister to look down into the hall. There was no sign of Draco.

'He walked out, miss!' called Kreacher, stood at the stairs to the kitchen with a plate of cakes in his hands. 'Didn't even want a blueberry muffin!'

Hermione ran up to her bedroom. It was as neat as the last time she'd left it. Reaching under her bed, she pulled out her old school trunk - the neat "H. Granger" had almost entirely faded now - and placed it open on the bed. Opening the doors of her wardrobe, she waved her wand and every item of clothing flew out and fell, in slight disarray, into the trunk. The contents of the chest of drawers followed suit, and the books, until the lid of the trunk had to be squeezed shut. She cast a charm to make it feather-light, and carried it from the now-empty room.

As she walked downstairs again, she heard Ginny's voice still raised in the sitting room, but as she went past the door it opened and Ginny appeared. Hermione kept walking, down to the hall, and Ginny followed with Harry trailing behind them.

'Hermione, wait, we didn't mean it to be like this!' called Ginny.

'Hermione, I'm sorry!' called Harry.

She looked back. The two of them were at the top of the stairs still, looking down at her, their faces stricken. She knew they thought that she wouldn't speak to them again, but she instead smiled. 'It's alright, guys. But I have to go.' And she opened the door, and left the house.