Hello hello,

I think this next part is what I can call the climax. You know, the part where pretty much EVERYTHING goes wrong. So I feel it's only fair to warn everyone that EVERYTHING is about to get messy.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone for the reviews and such. Don't be afraid to leave behind your thoughts, lovelies!

Enjoy

x

[Six: Hardships]

October 9

Wrapped in nothing but a towel, with another in her hair, Hermione walks out of the adjoined bathroom to redress. She's surprised, but not really shocked, to find Draco sitting on the edge of her bed. He's leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his gaze trained on the floor.

"Hey," she greets him brightly as she walks past him to her dresser.

"Hey," he greets back, his voice low and distracted - like his mind is a million miles away.

She looks at him, taking in his appearance as she pulls on her knickers and bra. He's wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looks beat, exhausted, disheveled. Sort of...afraid. She frowns, unwrapping the towel around her head to dry her hair by hand. "Are you okay?" she asks softly, walking towards him.

He looks at her as she crawls onto the bed behind him. She wraps her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder and he sighs, leaning back against her as he closes his eyes. She's warm and comfortable and he just wants to bury himself in her, especially right now.

"What's wrong?"

He doesn't know how to say what he needs to tell her. He doesn't know how she'll react, but he knows it won't be well. For the first time in years, he's afraid. Of the known. Of the unknown. Of her reaction. Of his future. He takes a deep, shaky breath. "Astoria's pregnant."

Her eyes widen as she snaps her head back, like he's just hit her. Her breath catches in her throat and her heart sinks while his words sink in. Pregnant. Astoria. Her arms, which had remained around his shoulders, slip away as she sinks back on the mattress, subconsciously moving away from him. She swallows a lump in her throat, trying to find her voice. "W-what?" she whispers disbelievingly. She prays she's just heard him wrong; Astoria can't be pregnant. Not with his child.

Draco winces at the sound of her voice – so quiet, so uncertain, so fearful. Like a child. "She's pregnant. With a baby. My baby," he mutters, running his hands through his already messy hair.

She moves even further away from him, pushing herself to the head of the bed. She's never felt more vulnerable around him, in her bra and knickers. She's never felt more betrayed. "I...you... I didn't know you were still sleeping with her."

He hesitates before answering, sounding tired. "I couldn't just stop, Granger. She's my wife."

Her heart clenches at his words and her eyes widen. "Ouch," she mutters, pushing herself to her feet. She grabs her house coat and wraps herself in the soothing fabric in a vain attempt to make herself feel better. It doesn't work, of course. She keeps her back to him, wrapping her arms around her chest.

He flinches, pinching the bridge of his nose. "C'mon, I didn't mean it like that."

She feels defensive all of a sudden, whipping around to glare at him. "Then how'd you mean it?" she demands harshly, ignoring the way his eyes widen at her reaction as he pushes himself to his feet as well. "Because from where I'm standing, it's true. She's your wife. She gets to have you in public and give you children and be your family. And I'm just your mistress. I get to fuck you in private and keep your dirty little secrets," she hisses venomously.

He flinches again, reaching out to her desperately. "Granger-"

"Don't 'Granger' me," she snaps angrily, her voice shaking. Her entire body is shaking as she shrugs him off of her and pushes him away roughly. "You don't get to just 'Granger' me after..." she trails off, losing her voice as she blinks back tears.

He watches her, frowning when she leans back against her dresser with her hands over her mouth; like she's literally trying to hold herself together. He wants nothing more than to hold her, to comfort her somehow. He wants to take away her pain and her doubt and just lay down with her and forget the world. She looks lost and confused and...heart broken. "Hermione," he murmurs, not knowing what else to say.

"You should go," she whispers, closing her eyes.

He blinks, staring at her tentatively. He knows he should've seen this coming – in fact he did, sort of. But he'd been, rather naively, hoping it wouldn't come to this. He takes a step towards her and feels a pang in his chest when she takes a step back.

"Please. Go."

He nods slightly, swallowing a dry lump in his throat the size of a golden snitch as he rubs the back of his neck.

The second he disapparates her knees give way and she slips to the floor, dissolving into a mess of salty tears and choked sobs.

X

October 15

"What do you mean 'It's over'?" His voice is harsh and demanding as he slams the door to his office closed before rounding on her with narrow eyes and flushed cheeks. Within two minutes of entering his office – after six days of avoiding him – she's trying to tell him it's over.

Hermione stands in front of his desk, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. She's made up her mind. She kicks absentmindedly at the carpet at her feet as she tries to convey her thoughts into words. How does she do this? "I...can't do this anymore, Draco," she whispers, looking across the room at him. He looks hurt and genuinely shocked. "I can't be your mistress. I...I deserve more than that. I deserve to be loved in public. I deserve a man who will love me all the time, not just when it's convenient for him. I deserve hand-holding – real hand-holding – and I deserve real dates and I deserve my own happy ending."

He licks his lips, taking a step toward her. "Hermione-"

"And you can't give me that," she adds, interrupting him. "I can't be with you anymore."

"Hermione-"

"What? What, Draco? What do you want from me?" she demands, looking at him expectantly. It wasn't supposed to go like this. She was supposed to come here, end this...affair – because that's exactly what it is – and leave. That's it. He wasn't supposed to try to stop her.

"I...I dunno. I want you," he murmurs.

She shakes her head as he takes another step towards her, halting him. "Why? You...you have a wife. You're going to have a baby. And I can't... I can't be in the way, anymore."

He's at a loss for words, unsure of what he's supposed to say to her – to that. Unsure if he should be saying anything at all. She's looking at him as though daring him to say something, anything. Instead he just shakes his head, closing his eyes.

She walks past him quickly, leaving him alone in his office before he can stop her.

Later that evening is when he corners her. Nearly everyone in the office is gone as she makes her way towards the elevators, purse and jacket in hand. A hand wraps around her elbow when she walks by the boardroom and she gasps as she's pulled into the empty, plain room. He shuts the door behind them as he pushes her against the wall. She states up at him expectantly as he fixes his angry gaze on her.

"You're something else, Granger," he snaps accusingly.

"Why's that?"

"You think you're so smart, backing me into a corner like that."

"What are you even talking about-"

"You came to my office to do your dirty work so I couldn't stop you," he hisses, glaring at her. "You knew I couldn't do anything about it if we were in public so you chose my office so you could get away. You knew I couldn't chase you-"

"You're wrong," she says harshly, interrupting him before he can finish. "You could have chased me, I just knew you wouldn't. That's the different between our affair and your marriage. And that's why I'm ending it," she tells him simply. Her voice is calmer than it was this morning, despite the emotions swirling around inside her.

Suddenly everything clicks in his head. She isn't doing it to hurt him – like he's hurt her – but she's doing it to protect herself. She's doing it for all the right reasons, like a true Gryffindor. He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as he looks down at the floor. "Look-"

"Don't," she whispers, blinking back tears. "Don't say anything. Just...we can't do this. I can't do this. I can't just...be your mistress for the rest of my life, Draco. I can't just stand back in the shadows and wait for you to take time out of your life for me – it's not fair. And it's not fair to Astoria or the baby, either."

He nods distractedly as fear grips him. Fear of the baby. Fear of the future. Fear of her walking out of here – out on him – and taking his heart with her. His whole body is shaking and numb and he just wants to crawl into her chest and live there, in her heart, because she's so loving and thoughtful and perfect.
When she turns to leave he pulls her back, cupping her face in his hands as he rests his forehead softly against hers. "I'm sorry," he whispers. He doesn't specify, but he doesn't have to, because it's for so many things. He wouldn't even know where to start.

"I know."

X

October 23

The moment she hears the POP behind her she knows exactly who it is and why he's here. Instead of addressing him, however, she continues to apply her light makeup, even as he hovers in the room behind her.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets, mostly in hopes that it'll force him to keep his hands to himself. He looks for any and all signs of the Daily Prophet being in her possession and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees nothing of the sort. Perhaps her paper hasn't even arrived yet.

"I need to tell you something," he announces. "And I wanted you to hear it from me."

"I already saw it," she replies.

He blinks, looking at her curiously through her vanity mirror.

"The front page, I saw it."

He takes several steps towards her. "I was gonna tell you before, but-"

"No worries," she insists, turning around her face him casually. "I knew it was bound to happen at some point. Congratulations, by the way, on making the front page."

"Thanks," he mutters, looking dazed and confused. He still isn't quite sure how he feels. He sighs. "Look, Granger, I...I'm sorry I've put you in this position."

She shrugs, folding her arms over her chest. "It's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but it's... It's okay," she stutters, her eyebrows creasing as she scolds herself internally for sounding so stupid.

"Right then."

"Right."

He instinctively leans down to kiss her goodbye before catching himself, stopping just before his lips make contact with her cheek. He hears her short, stiff intake of air catch in her throat and he closes his eyes, licking his lips as he pulls back. "Sorry," he whispers before disapparating.

He doesn't see the way she reached out for him as he disappears. He doesn't see the tear that trickles down her cheek where his lips had almost touched.

X

Draco smiles that fake-Malfoy-smile as his Ministry co-workers congratulate him. Some have papers in their hands and are pointing at the picture of himself and his wife posing for the camera. Astoria is laughing, staring lovingly up at her husband, and while he's smiling back, he doesn't know how everyone can't see how forced it looks.

He knows he should be happy – he is, after all, going to be a father. In just seven months, he will have an heir to the Malfoy fortune. He will have a little boy or girl that he can father better than his father fathered him, that he can raise and love properly. And he's trying. He's really trying to be happy, especially for Astoria – who is over the damn moon with pure joy.

She's already talking baby names and window-shopping for baby clothes. He keeps putting on smiles and sharing in her happiness on the outside but inside his emotions are in turmoil. It's all stress and pressure and confusion mixed with anxiety and doubt and a whole hell of a lot of guilt.

He steps off of the elevator, thanking the co-workers that continue to congratulate him as he slowly makes his way towards his office. His thoughts settle on the woman whose office is just a few doors down and something in his chest tightens and his stomach twists. He can only imagine how she's feeling right now too.

He catches a glimpse of her sitting alone in her office with her head in her hands. Excusing himself politely from a group of witches gushing over the news, he walks down the hall to her office. It was only an hour ago when he went to her flat to warn her about the article, but he still feels like there's more to be said. He lingers in the doorway, leaning his back against the frame as he looks at her.

She knows he's standing there before she even looks up and sees him. He looks sad, apologetic and hesitant. She sighs, shaking her head softly in his direction, silently telling him to leave.

So he does – reluctantly.

X

I hope I've managed to capture those sad, angsty feelings properly.

To be continued…