A/N: Early update! Happy Valentine's day to all! And I hope you like this chapter, we're approaching the climax. Also, CheshireCat85 and I have been working on this for most of the time, so I hope you guys review. We tried to get this out on Valentine's, so we hope you guys like it! Also, please review! We need them! :)
Chapter Eight: D Is For Dangerous
He's nearing the brink but he thinks first,
The parallel universe perhaps could be the perfect scene,
– Arctic Monkeys, D Is For Dangerous
Hermione shut the door to her house rather loudly, making Eleanor Granger look up from the book she was reading in the living room. "Hermione?" She called out after she heard only silence. "Is that you, love?"
"Yes," her daughter replied tiredly, "it's me, mum." She followed the sound of her mother's voice like a lost child and sat on a settee, dumping her bag by her feet. "Good afternoon,"
"Tired?" Dr. Granger asked with a smile. "You know that isn't good for the baby. Dr. Smith won't like hearing about this,"
"Honestly, mum! I'm not going to explode, I'm just a tad tired is all," Hermione explained, smiling slightly at her mother.
"I'm just worried," the older woman explained defensively. "What's got you so knackered anyway?"
"I met a couple of people today while I was at the café, talking to Megan," Hermione answered, reminding her mother of her new friend, Megan Stone, who was the owner and cashier of the quaint café.
"And who was it that you met?"
Hermione looked at her lap and mumbled something unintelligible.
Dr. Granger smiled knowingly. "I didn't quite catch that, sweet,"
"I met Ron, Luna, and—and Harry," Hermione said after taking a deep breath.
"I see, and?"
"Well, it was probably the most awkward meeting on earth. Luna and Ron want to visit sometime though,"
"And Harry? What did he do?"
"He didn't do anything. I reckon he was still in shock."
"Did you tell him about the baby?"
"You mean the child that is currently growing in my abdomen, which will be due in May? Then, no, I didn't breathe a word about it to him."
"He didn't even suspect?"
"Ron and Luna did. But I think my shirt was big enough to hide my constantly expanding stomach from Harry."
"You shouldn't be afraid to hide your baby bump. You should be quite proud to show it off."
The younger woman rolled her eyes. "And show how irresponsible I was? Show that the father of my child doesn't have any idea that it's his? Make it look like I was abandoned to raise the baby all on my own? No, thank you, mum. Not to mention my university would probably kick me out if they found out I was pregnant."
"I still think it's a little dangerous to the baby's health if you keep putting those spells on him,"
"It's just a little concealment charm. I always take it off as soon as I get home."
"But still,"
Hermione frowned and her mother decided to change the topic a bit. "So what do you think you'll name him?"
"I don't even know the gender yet. I think it would be best if it were a surprise. But I did pick out a few names. If it's a girl, I was thinking of Lily or Vivien. And for a boy, I was thinking of James, or Gem (read as Ghem)."
"I think those are very lovely name, Hermione,"
Hermione grinned proudly. "Thank you, I asked Colin to help me pick them out."
Eleanor smiled at the mention of the young Irish man. "Speaking of which, how is he? He hasn't been over as much lately,"
"He's been too busy to come over. His university is busier than mine, since it's magical,"
"You know, I still don't understand why you've stopped going to the wizarding world,"
"I haven't stopped, really. I just—They can't know I'm pregnant. If I go back to the magical university, they'll see right through my concealment charm. And if word gets out that Harry Potter's ex-girlfriend is pregnant, well, things wouldn't be too good. It's best I stay out of the wizarding world until the baby is born," Hermione didn't know who she was trying to convince, her mother or herself. She had thought for a while of telling Harry about the baby, but quickly shoved it aside. It's better this way, she thought stubbornly. Well, at least, she hoped it was.
~*~*~
Luna knocked nervously on the door of Hermione's house is Sheffield. Ron hadn't been able to come because of the practices the team was starting for their upcoming summer tour. Harry obviously wouldn't come, so she was on her own. It had been more than a month since she, Ron, and Harry had met her in the café. Since the weather was warming up a bit, Luna was only wearing a light sweater and a thin jacket over it.
The door opened quietly startling Luna out of her thoughts. Standing before her looked like a much older Hermione with rectangular glasses resting upon the bridge of her nose and gray hair meshing with her chestnut brown curls. "Hello," the older lady greeted politely.
"Hello, Dr. Granger," Luna replied, smiling. "I don't believe we've met, but Hermione used to talk about you. I'm Luna Lovegood,"
"Oh!" Dr. Granger exclaimed, ushering Luna to enter. "Hermione mentioned you might be coming over. Come in, come in."
Luna smiled brightly and entered, taking in the cozy house. "When does Hermione get back?" She couldn't help but ask as Dr. Granger left her sitting on the sofa to fetch her some tea.
"She should be back anytime soon, actually," the dentist replied from the kitchen. "I have to leave for work soon, so I hope she returns to quickly so she can keep you company. If you'd like, I could call her on her mobile,"
"Oh, no," the blonde witch replied hastily. "It isn't necessary for her to rush home on my account."
The witch being talked about, though, was standing right outside her front door, trying to unlock it with her house keys. When she finally went inside, she quickly took off her jacket and called out, "Mum! I'm home!"
She undid the concealment charm over her stomach, which had grown rather largely now that she only had three months left of pregnancy, and watched as her stomach expanded, stretching the extra-large blue shirt. She sniffed the air and smelled the familiar scent of her mother's delicious chamomile tea mixed with honey and paired with freshly bake Jaffa cakes.
"Mmm, what's that?" Hermione asked, entering the living room to go into the kitchen. "It smells—"
Hermione, however, stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her blonde friend seated on the sofa and sipping some tea. Luna, as well, could not believe what she was seeing. Hermione was still the same beautiful young lady she had seen a month ago, except she had a huge baby bump now.
"Luna," Hermione began, forcing a smile, "what're you doing here?"
"You said I could come to visit anytime, and," Luna explained calmly, "it should be you explaining to me here, actually. What happened to you?"
Hermione bit her lip and sat down across the blonde on her favorite settee. "I'm pregnant,"
Luna couldn't suppress the giggle from escaping her lips. "I can see that, Hermione,"
The brunette smiled genuinely for the first time she entered the house and let out a mirth laugh. "Yes, I know."
"Whose is it?" Luna asked gently.
Hermione began chewing on her lip again in anxiety and looked away ashamedly. "I've never been intimate with anyone but Harry,"
Luna couldn't help but feel relieved that. At least she had never gone far with Draco. "Does he know?"
"No, and please, Luna, don't tell him," Hermione pleaded, tears filling her eyes.
"Hermione, he had as much to do with this as you do."
"I know, but I can't do this to him,"
"Do what?" Luna was incredulous. "Show him the product of your love?"
"No, I can't be around him." The brown-eyed witch finally looked into Luna's silvery grey ones. "If I'm seen with him, the press will hound him and the last thing Harry needs is less privacy. Besides, I don't want to bother him with something this stupid,"
"Stupid? Hermione, this is anything but stupid. If you'd just tell Harry, he'd help in anyway he could. He wouldn't abandon you."
"I know. That's exactly why Harry can't know. He'd be too busy with me to focus on his career. I don't want to deprive him of that."
Luna had never liked dwelling on rather dramatic topics, so she took this opening to change it. "Speaking of which, Ron caught Harry looking at Auror school brochures. I think he's going to become an Auror."
Hermione smiled fondly as she thought of him. "I always knew he'd choose that career. It's just a natural part of him to always save the day."
"Oh, yes, Draco and Ginny have broken up. And well, let's just say Draco wasn't able to play in quite a while,"
"How are Harry and Draco by the way? I know they were best mates before I came along."
"Don't blame yourself at all, Hermione. Draco's and Harry's friendship was strained before you even got together with Harry."
"And what did Harry do to Draco after he, you know, found out?"
"Things were a bit awkward at first, but eventually, Harry—" Luna stopped. "Never mind, it isn't important,"
"Why don't you just tell me, Luna? I'm a big girl, I can handle whatever it is."
The blonde sighed. "Harry—well, he forgave Draco."
Hermione's face fell and her stomach dropped. She quickly put on a bright smile for Luna. "Oh. Well, that's great. It's wonderful that they managed to salvage their friendship."
"Hermione—"
"It's fine, Luna,"
Luna was not wavered, however, by her boorish interruption. "Hermione, I know you're upset that Harry forgave Draco and not you. But think about it, he's not had the chance to talk to you in ages."
"He wouldn't want to anyway. And I perfectly understand his reasons. He and Harry were best mates before I came into the picture. By the way, before you leave, I'd very much appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Harry about my pregnancy."
For the first time in a while, Luna had no response.
"I, um, I've got an appointment with my doctor in a few minutes, so if you'll excuse me," Hermione shakily got to her feet and left for the bathroom.
Luna caught on quickly and stood up as well. She hastily tugged her jacket back on and left to tell Ron about everything.
~*~*~
Harry sighed as he gulped down another screwdriver in one swallow. "Another," He slurred to the bartender. The bartender merely nodded and handed him another.
He was sitting in some pub in London. He'd taken to doing that often now. To say he wasn't doing well would be an understatement. Seeing Hermione moving on and happy opened some wounds and he had marveled at how fast she forgot about their old relationship.
"I'll have a margarita, please," A woman's voice told the bartender, interrupting Harry's thoughts.
He blinked blearily as his mind registered the familiar voice. He tried to think over and over but he just couldn't. And then she spoke again, "Harry? Harry, is that you?"
He blinked a few more times as a flash of red hair appeared in front of him. "Um, Ginny, right?" He said, rubbing an eye.
The youngest Weasley nodded. "Yeah. You got it right. How're you holding up?"
"I think how I am now shows it,"
"Sorry, stupid question."
"S'alright."
Ginny bit her lip and looked into his green eyes. "I'm sorry about Hermione."
"I'm sorry about Draco."
The redhead let out an unladylike snort. "Yes, well, it looks as if we hooked up with two arseholes."
"Here, here!" Harry said, raising his glass.
"You're drunk, aren't you?" Ginny smirked.
"May-be," Harry slurred, laughing loudly.
The redhead suddenly turned serious. "Do you think we'll ever find someone else?" She asked timidly. She had really loved Draco, and she didn't know if she could find anyone else.
"I don't know," Harry answered truthfully. He felt a pang as an image of Hermione smiling brightly at him appeared in front of his eyes. He had begun to toy with the idea of trying to get back with her. After all, how often would he meet a girl like Hermione?
"Maybe who we're looking for is right in front of our eyes," Ginny suggested, biting her bottom lip in a fashion similar to Hermione's. She scooted closer to Harry.
"Maybe," replied the raven-haired man, still thinking about Hermione. His eyes suddenly snapped back to the redhead in front of him, whose face was mere inches away. He was starting to feel rather unnerved now.
"Gin…" He said, trying to tell her to move away. Suddenly, instead of Ginny, Hermione appeared before him. He felt himself fill with desire and longing as he stared at her beautiful face. "Herm—"
"You smell like alcohol," Ginny laughed, their faces moving closer and closer.
And then it was with a flutter of eyelids that their lips met in a soft kiss.
~*~*~
Hermione woke up a few minutes before her alarm clock was supposed to go off. She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, and patted her stomach. It was Valentine's Day, but Hermione didn't feel like spending it out too much. She didn't feel like watching happy couples show off their luckiness.
Shaking her head, she quickly showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes. With her stomach grumbling, she waddled into the kitchen, trying to remember her grandmother's recipe for French toast.
After a while, Hermione was seated with slices of bacon and dozens of pieces of French toast on the small kitchen table. She remembered fondly how Harry would greet her with a grateful kiss every morning. But just as she was slipping away from reality, a tap on her window sounded throughout the quiet house. Hermione looked over to find the owl for her newspaper waiting impatiently outside of the small kitchen window.
She paid for it (giving it a little tip) and started to read. But the headline wasn't about anything like politics or Auror raids. In big bold letters, it read, "POTTER HAS NEW LOVE". Below it was a picture of he and Ginny holding hands as they strolled around Diagon Alley.
Hermione felt her breath catch as she read over the article. The article had said that the couple united because of the recent events between their old significant others and found a spark every time they were together. Hermione wasn't stupid. She knew what this meant. Harry was finally moving on. He had purged Hermione from his life and found love with another girl. He was over their passing fancy. He moved on.
And Hermione, with tears dripping down her face, was tempted to ask how he did it.
~*~*~
Colin Higgins wasn't a dense boy. He knew something was wrong with his friend and he was determined to find out.
"Hermione, are you all right?" He asked concernedly.
The brown-haired witch snapped her head up. "Oh, yes. I'm quite alright."
Colin, however, wasn't so sure that she was. They were seated in the café in a cozy corner booth. The young man was telling her about how one of his teachers had gotten a spell wrong and ended hurting himself, so he had to take over the class. Hermione, however, tuned him out halfway through his story and had begun to stare into her black coffee, which was left cold and not drunk from. It had been two weeks since she'd found out about Harry and Ginny.
"Is something the matter?" Colin asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No. Everything's fine."
"I'm leaving soon, you know. We should go to the station," Colin said, giving her a kind smile.
The brunette had a stricken look on her face. "So soon? I thought your departure was at four."
Colin chuckled and said, "It is almost four."
Hermione glanced at her wristwatch and laughed uneasily, "So it is."
"I won't be long soon. Besides, you've got Meg and your mum to keep you company. I'm sure you wouldn't miss someone as boring as me,"
"That's not true," she replied, shaking her head frantically. "I'll miss you, Colin. You've been really helpful to me these past few weeks; coming with me to appointments, making sure I eat right, keeping me company even when I get my mood swings—"
He smiled brightly. "It's not even a problem, Hermione. I'm your friend, and I'd do anything for you."
The witch's lip trembled as tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry, I cry at the drop of a hat these days." Finally, she choked back a heavy sob and threw her arms around Colin. "I'm going to miss you so much,"
"I'm going to miss you too. But it's only going to be for a few weeks. I'll be back before you know it." Colin was one of the few chosen to go to Manchester to help teach there for free. It was part of the new Minister's plans. He wanted all the children to have education.
After Hermione had dropped Colin off at the train station, everything else happened in a blur. So she had decided to go home but found herself walking into a small café where she hoped no one knew who she was. And as she entered, the first thing she saw was a couple kissing.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized who it was. She looked around frantically, trying to find somewhere to escape. If she stayed longer, she might burst. She might pull the redhead by her hair away from Harry. But she couldn't risk that. Blindly, she ran out of the crowded café and out into the busy streets. In all her haste, she hadn't noticed the little detail of green witching to red. She ran across the street as fast as she could.
But she wasn't fast enough.
There was bang on her left, soon on her right. And then horns sounded off as she tried to get across the road.
And then.
There was a sharp pain that shot through the side of her stomach. The pain spread throughout her entire body as she numbly crumpled to the ground.
I'm going to die, she thought. And it was with this thought that the sound of honking cars and frantic yells for an ambulance faded as everything went white.
~*~*~
