A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Very much appreciated. The more reviews, the quicker I want to post. (Cough, cough). Lol. Enjoy!
Drumming her fingers on the cot she was sitting on, Hermione looked for a sign of Madame Pomfrey. Seeing nothing, she took a deep breath and stretched her neck sideways to release some tension that had formed. She was tired and hungry and confused and Madame Pomfrey was taking her sweet time in the back of the infirmary doing Merlin knew what. Then again, she had tested Hermione for several things after Hermione had related some of her symptoms. The results would take a while after all.
As her stomach growled to announce its eagerness to eat once again, a stern Madame Pomfrey walked up to Hermione with a chart.
Hermione leapt to her feet and prayed to all that was holy that she was wrong all along and it was some uncommon illness that she was facing. Instead of the hopeful feeling that should have followed with that thought, Hermione's stomach felt queasy and she could sense an ill foreboding feeling in the pit. It became worse when Madame Pomfrey simply stood in front of Hermione with an odd cross between a grimace and frown.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione asked, her throat tightening as the words came out.
Pursing her lips, Madame Pomfrey curtly nodded in response. "Well, Miss Granger, I cannot believe I am saying this but…" Sighing with obvious disappointment, Madame Pomfrey continued her lingering sentence with a small shake of her head. "But…I'm afraid…I'm afraid you're with child."
Closing her eyes in contemplation, Hermione took a deep breath. "With child?"
"Pregnant Miss Granger."
"I know what with child means!" Hermione snapped, opening her eyes in exasperation. When Madame Pomfrey's expression became more stern, Hermione sighed quietly and looked down apologetically, closing her eyes once again in contemplation.
She had prepared herself for this. She had been suspicious for the last week after all. She had missed her period, she was throwing up left and right, and she had had to stop wearing a bra because she could no longer take the soreness of her breasts.
Hermione had tried to figure out how this could have happened but all to no avail. She was a virgin after all and it was true she had plenty of dreams about the boys who surrounded her but that by no means meant she had actually done anything with them to become pregnant. Wait…maybe one of Professor Trelawney's harebrained little devices to capture dreams had somehow escaped from Ginny's room, slipped into her bag, and landed in her bedroom. Maybe through those dreams, someone's seed was implanted into her even though she had only been dreaming about it…The Dream Oracle had something to say about this. Or perhaps…
Madame Pomfrey cleared her throat and Hermione was brought back to reality. Quickly opening her eyes, she looked up at Madame Pomfrey searching for an explanation.
Moistening her lips, Hermione touched her collar involuntarily. "But Madame Pomfrey…you see, I haven't exactly…" she started with a blush forming at the center of her cheeks.
"You haven't what?"
Hermione looked back in embarrassment and shrugged uneasily. How fun it was to discuss the nonexistence of her sex life with this woman. Bringing her voice to a whisper, she looked down. "You know…I haven't….I haven't had sexual intercourse."
"Miss Granger, don't be silly," Madame Pomfrey said, her own expression mirroring Hermione's. She had never had to deal with such a situation in all her time at Hogwarts before. "I just tested you. You can't lie to me, you know, not right after I examined you. No matter how much you want people to believe you've done nothing of this sort."
Perplexed, Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm not lying." Her voice becoming more determined, she looked into Madame Pomfrey's eyes. "I never did anything. Wouldn't I know if I did anything? I wouldn't lie about this. What else is there to hide? I'm pregnant already!"
Madame Pomfrey knitted her eyebrows in response and stared at Hermione for a long moment, as if waiting for her to concede and admit that she was lying after all. When Hermione did not budge, Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "That can't…" Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "You must have…" Stopping once again, she looked at the parchment in front of her. "Just sit down Miss Granger. A talk with Professor Dumbledore is necessary at the moment."
*
"When the Glumbumble secretes its fluid, what temperament is it responsible for in a potion?**" Professor Slughorn asked his class, looking around for any brave student to raise their hand.
When no one volunteered, he walked towards a pensive, almost brooding Draco. "Well, what temperament would it be then?"
Draco heard nothing as he was too busy wondering where Hermione was. Granger missing class? When was the last time that happened?
"Mr. Malfoy?"
"Hm?" Draco responded, with his attention on this morning. She wasn't at breakfast either.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Professor Slughorn half shrieked, his jolly demeanor disappearing in frustration.
"What?" Draco replied, annoyed at the interruption. Seeing the source, he cleared his throat and apologized quickly. "Sorry Professor. Could you repeat the question?"
"I could but I don't think I will Mr. Malfoy. Maybe you should pay more attention next time though? Five points from Slytherin." Professor Slughorn said smugly, turning around to find another student.
Slumping back down, Draco avoided the looks of the other Slytherins. Instead, he sneaked a look at Potter and Weasley. To his surprise, the two also looked confused as to Hermione's whereabouts. Weasley had no partner and looked every now and then at the door in the hope that Granger would pop in and rescue him when it came time to start with the potion making. However, as the seconds ticked by, he could see the beads of sweat increasing on Weasley's brow.
Looking back at his own notebook, Draco pushed his hair back. He didn't understand why he was so worried. Alright fine. He had made a mistake….okay so mistake was an understatement. A colossal error with no regards whatsoever for the consequences was more accurate. He was a disgrace. What sick twisted mind would want to have a girl that way? It was such a repulsive sordid deed. It was…it was so Slytherin. It was below Slytherin.
He should be severely punished for his lapse in judgment. In fact, he was worthy of being thrown off his prized broomstick over and over again by Granger herself until his face was unrecognizable.
I shouldn't even face her ever again, Draco thought, suddenly feeling nauseous. I should just run to the Forbidden Forest myself and let the Whomping Willow have its way with me.
Closing his eyes to overcome the unsettling feeling in his stomach, Draco let out a quiet sigh. He should just forget about it. It was done. It had happened and that was that. He had done it in a lustful moment, albeit strong lustful moment, but it was over. It was best to forget it. She would never know what had happened and he would never tell. In fact, as far as he could remember in his hazy thoughts, it wasn't even completely a brutal affair.
At some point, he remembered her actually responding a bit. Well no. She hadn't responded much. If he had felt her tongue at any point, it was because she was trying to scream obscenities at him. But wait no, after he had entered her, she had stopped trying to push him off. Perhaps she found some pleasure in his arms?
No Draco, she had probably given up at that point.
Clenching his jaw, he told himself again he should make a strong effort to forget it. It's not as though he loved her or anything. It was a physical attraction really. Those little habits that she had. Biting her lip in nervousness or the right side of her mouth turning up when she was amused. That modest blush that went down from her ears to her cheeks to her neck to her chest. It was nothing more.
Well it had helped that he had found her extremely brave after the Order had defeated Voldemort last year. And charming how her status after the War had not affected her in the least. And plus, that know-it-all annoying trait had matured into a quiet intelligence which was quite endearing. But once again, it wasn't love. That was a whole different issue. Malfoys loved for sure. But Mud--…muggles? It was still very much out of the question.
It just didn't happen.
** According to HPL: Encyclopedia of Potions, a fluid secreted by the Glumbumble causes melancholy, and is used as an antidote for the effects of eating Alihotsy leaves.
