Chapter 1

A PART OF HIM

She was never a fan of the dark or lonely nights. Of course, she was always a bit of a loner, rather enjoying an interesting book than hanging out with others. She simply was not that kind of a girl. She liked loneliness, but somehow she never liked nights. The dark made her feel small and vulnerable. And ever since she found out about magic her imagination had no boundaries. She could imagine all the horrible things that waited in the dark. But all that changed after the War. When she was blinded, all she had was the darkness. It was her home. She was used to it.

Hermione lay in her bed, gazing up at the ceiling as she caressed her belly slowly. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to imagine how his hands felt on her body. Those large hands, pale, precise... Sliding across her flesh in measured movements, every part of her touched, examined, explored. His eyes cold and filled with unexplained emotions. He always was a mystery to her.

Her eyes snapped open as she caught herself thinking about him again. What was wrong with her? Could he not leave her mind alone for just a few minutes?

Hermione looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was three o'clock in the morning and she was still awake. Thinking. Remembering. It was killing her not knowing anything. Not being able to know what was happening in the Wizarding World, what was happening to Ginny, to him. She could not sleep at night, knowing that any moment the Death Eaters could attack the Muggle World. Even though Lucius gave her his word, she could not be sure. Why would anyone trust a Death Eater?

But he seemed to be keeping his word. It had been a month and a half since she returned to her home and nothing dangerous had happened. Yet.

ooo

"Hermione, honey, come down for breakfast!" her mum called from downstairs.

Hermione let out a tired sigh, not moving from the spot on her bed. She sat at the edge of it, not moving, staring at the corner of the room. The corner where she had seen the shadow a few times ever since she'd returned home. Hermione was a smart girl, she did not believe in something if she did not have the evidence about it. But even though she could not prove he had been visiting her, Hermione could just feel something. Those few times when she woke up in the middle of the night and noticed someone standing in her room….what was that? Was her mind playing tricks with her? Was she that desperately dependent on him? She needed to know. She could not spend the rest of her life wondering if Lucius Malfoy was paying visits to her at night. Just the thought of him standing in her dark room, watching her sleep, maybe sitting on her bed, caressing her….

"Hermione!" her mum called again.

"Just a minute!" Hermione called back, not feeling hungry, but she did not want to worry her mum. She had been through enough already.

ooo

Pancakes. Hermione always loved pancakes. But what was wrong with her now? Why could she not enjoy the taste of them? Why did she feel sick just by looking down at her plate?

"Hermione, why are you playing with your food? Don't you like what I made?" Mrs. Granger asked her daughter, worry and hurt evident on her face.

"N-No, mum, it's not that. I'm just…"she paused for a moment, "I'm just not feeling that well, that's all."

"Are you sick? You are a bit pale-" her mum tried to touch her forehead to check for temperature but Hermione flinched away from her.

"I'm not sick, just…" she muttered under her breath, "I'll go lay down for a bit."

She stood up and made her way to leave the kitchen.

"I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me what happened to you," Hermione's mum said quietly.

Hermione closed her eyes for a second before putting a smile on her face and turning around, facing her mother:"Mum, nothing happened to me. Trust me, I have just not been sleeping well lately, that's all."

With those words she walked out of the kitchen and upstairs into her room. Her room was her hiding place now. She did not like to go outside, the world frightened her. The noise, the cars, the people. It was all too much. For months she had been kept in a room. She got used to the silence and loneliness. The real world was too much for now.

ooo

It was night again. Hermione stood in front of her mirror, looking at herself. She had to face the truth. She could not spend the rest of her life in her room, hiding from people and ignoring what was happening to her. She recognized the symptoms. She was feeling sick, could not stand the sight of food, her monthly visitor hadn't visited in a quite a while.

Oh god.

It seemed much more real now. For the first few weeks she blamed it on the everything she had been through. But now she had to accept it. There was a big possibility there was something of Lucius Malfoy inside of her.

She did not know how to feel about that. It seemed wrong to be disgusted with it, but at the same time she could not feel anything positive. She did not want to be….she could not even say the word.

"Tell me, Mudblood...Do you enjoy knowing that you have the ability to give birth? That it is your blood that enables life to continue?" his tone then got darker, "It's a shame, really. Scums like you should not be allowed to reproduce."

Hermione could not believe how destiny played with them both. Lucius hated Mudbloods and spent his life erasing them from this World and now a Mudblood was carrying his child. She almost laughed at the irony.

"Suffice to say that I would never allow a half breed into the Malfoy family."

"What would you do if it did happen?" Hermione asked.

"I would terminate it immediately," he said emotionless, "I already had a son."

There was no doubt what he would do if he found out. Hermione did not expect him to turn into a loving and caring man. He was Lucius Malfoy. But at the same time he was the only one she could turn to for help. She could not tell her parents. Never. She could not tell a doctor. She did not exist in the Muggle World. Her documents were destroyed once she started attending Hogwarts, because her parents would have problem explaining why their eleven year old daughter was not going to school.

There was nothing she could do. No one she could ask for help. Except him. At the same time she did not know what kind of help she expected from him. He could kill her. Or terminate the….pregnancy. How strange it sounded. And then what? Would she return to the Muggle World? She did not belong there anymore. She had a purpose in life. And that purpose was not living in the Muggle World and hiding in her room. She had a mission. Harry and Ron and everyone who died expect her to finish their job. To free the Wizarding World. Hermione knew the battle was still not over. She just did not know what to do to help.

As far as she knew, there was no Resistance anymore. Of course, there were still a few rebells, people who did not want to succumb to Death Eater's will. But how to contact them? Where to start?

Hermione's had was spinning from all those questions, all those problems. First she needed to get back into the Wizarding World. Voldemort was gone and Lucius and Snape took his place. Hermione somehow felt she could make a difference if she only could get to Lucius. It was beyond her why she thought she could change his mind, destroy his prejudices. As she said some time ago- She and Lucius could not live at the same time. One had to die. Good against evil. She against Lucius. She knew the time would come. But she did not expect to carry his child!

Hermione took a deep breath and walked to the bed, sitting down. She had to think of something. But it could wait until the morning. She was beyond tired and sleepy. She slipped under the covers and smiled as she noticed Crookshanks sleeping peacefully at the end of the bed. She yawned and only a few minutes later she was asleep as well.

"Mudblood," he breathed against her ear, "You need me as much as I need you."

Hermione could hear his voice, but could not see a thing. It was as if she was blind again. A shiver ran through her body at the sound of his cold voice.

"You never should have left, your place is with me. You know it."

"Lucius-"

"You will come back to me."

"Are you real?" she asked, her voice shaking. Everything was so confusing.

She heard him let out a short laugh before replying:"You will come back to me," he paused for a moment, "You have something of mine."

Hermione jerked awake suddenly, pulling herself into a sitting position. It was only a dream. Only a dream. She wipped the sweat from her forehead, trying to calm her breathing. But then she heard Crookshanks growling at something. He only did that when he was angry or feeling threatened.

"Shh, what's wrong?"Hermione whispered to her pet, reaching over and stroking his head, trying to calm him down. But he did not react to her touch, still hissing and growling. When Hermione took a better look at him she realized he was looking at something in specific. He was staring at the corner of her room as if he was looking at someone. As if someone was there, someone unknown. A chill ran down her body at that realization. It was dark in the room and she could not see anything. She took Crookshanks into her arms, feeling safer that way. She fixed her eyes in the corner of the room, noticing something there. It could be her mind playing tricks with her again, but it could be something else. Why else would Crookshanks be reacting that way?

She had to know. She needed to check. With a deep breath she slowly pulled the covers down her body and got up from the bed. She was shaking heavily, she was even afraid she would drop Crookshanks down as she could not control her body. With her eyes wide open, she slowly she walked towards the corner.

A/N: Hey, you guys! Thank you all so much for the support! It is nice hearing you love this story as much as I do! In the Dark was a dark story, but this one will be even darker, even more depressing. Prepare yourselves for a ride. :)