Chapter 7. ---------

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Draco grudgingly got up as he heard his door being banged. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! "Ugh, I'm coming!" he yelled. He didn't like being waken up at 6 in the morning. He opened the door and standing there was Lucius, his father. "What do you want?" He was too tired to put together that the man who impregnated Hermione was standing right in front of him.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Lucius cried. In his hands was the front page of the Daily Prophet.

"Ugh, I don't know. Let me see," replied Draco.

There was a picture of Draco, Hermione, and Rose. The title explained it all:

LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN PUREBLOOD AND MUGGLE-BORN?
[.Rita Skeeter on the News.]

Spotted together at a restaurant with the well known Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, sources say that a heated conversation occurred. Apparently, Lucius Malfoy has been keeping some secrets himself.

"Well, apparently, Hermione and Lucius had a love child together," a friend of Mrs. Weasley reported. "All of this happened while she was dating that Ron Weasely."

Little Rose was conceived in an alleyway next to Gringotts. There, they made passionate love and created a half-blood, making little Rose Draco Malfoy's half sister. What a nasty situation!

Currently, Ron Weasley has decided to take a break from his beloved, and other sources say that Hermione Granger has taken up a new love interest; Draco Malfoy himself. More on the next page.

Draco couldn't believe it. Someone leaked the story! It couldn't have been Hermione; she's too shaken up about the whole situation as it is. It couldn't have been Potter; he's too loyal to Hermione. The only other person left was....Ron Weasley! Of course! It all made sense now. He must have done this to get revenge for Hermione not telling him about Rose!

Draco looked up to find his father in hysterics over the whole story.

"I don't have a fucking daughter!" he yelled.

"Father, calm down!" Draco yelled back. Draco wanted to burst out yelling at his father for not only cheating on his mother, but with his aunt! He knew that he couldn't though. He would have to tell Lucius another time, at a calmer time so that the man wouldn't have a heart attack!

"Oh dear, what would your mother think? I must go off to find the git who made these lies about me! If you find out anything, tell me. Goodbye son," Lucius murmured. He walked to the door with the paper in his hand, and he apparated out of sight.

"I better go show Hermione!" Draco suddenly thought. He raced off to finish getting ready and headed out of the door, all less then 5 minutes.

Hermione woke up to the birds chirping outside of her window. Yes, for Hermione, today was going to be a good day. That was, until she saw the morning paper staring at her face from outside her door.

"Oh, how could this happen?" she wept from Draco's arms. He had come seconds after she picked up the newspaper from the floor.

"Sometimes, when you're happy, just something will bring it down," he replied. He wrapped his arms around her, while she silently cried into his chest.

"Who could possibly do this?" she mumbled.

"Oh, you're not serious, are you?" he asked her. He knew who it was from the start.

"Oh, what? Like you know?" she laughed.

"I do."

"Who?"

"Two words: Ron Weasley," he simply stated.

"Nope. Ron would not do something like this. He's too honest," she replied.

"Come on! You soooo know that he would do this! I mean, he has the motives and everything!" Draco started to get angry that Hermione was defending that red faced git.

"That motive being me? Are you blaming me for all of this?" Hermione couldn't help but blame herself. She knew that she shouldn't have, but lately, she has been under emotional stress.

"No, love, I'm just saying, that it's Ron's fault that this article came out. Come on, you know that it's not your fault," he reassured her.

"No, I don't MALFOY," she spat.

Draco didn't understand why she had to go back to last names and why she had said it like it was the dirtiest word in the world.

"Ron may have a quick temper, but he would never stoop as low as this," she continued.

"Hermione--" Draco started to say.

"No, you can't just go in her and blame this on my best friend and husband. You can't. Just leave Malfoy."

She shoved him out the door before he had another chance to say anything. A few seconds later, they both realized what Hermione had said, how she referred to Ron as her husband, even though they were only engaged.

Hermione opened the door, ready to apologize, but no one was there.

She silently wept as she lay against the door, head to her knees.

OMG. I am so sorry...again. I totally didn't have time for this. Sorry for the short chapter! Also, I had problems with my beta reader, so this might not have been better than my other chapters.

Hope you'll read the next chapter.

XOXO,

Akemi Takami