Draco was lying on the sofa and Hermione did actually feel sorry for him. It had been over two hours since he had been taken so ill and they had eaten but he still looked pale. She went to the kitchen to clean up, her mind racing with the events of the day. What was the matter with Draco? Was it a Malfoy thing? What if it was hereditary, could it affect their baby? She really needed some answers but she knew she would have to be patient.
She then heard Draco exclaim loudly and went running into the lounge, thinking he was ill again. Instead she found him standing in the middle of the room staring at Harry!
"For Merlin's sake, Potter! You can't just apparate into here!"
"I wouldn't normally, this is urgent," Harry said.
"Harry? What's going on?" Hermione hugged him. When she let go she saw Draco staring at them and she felt embarrassed.
"Yeh, Potter! Who the hell do you think you are just turning up like this? I could have been naked." Draco paused and Hermione saw a familiar smirk on his face. "Or more importantly, we could have both been naked..."
Hermione saw Harry's eyes widen and she glared at Draco. "Ignore him, Harry. What's the matter?"
"You weren't the only one who got a visit today," Harry said to Hermione but Draco interrupted.
"A visit? What do you mean? A visit from whom?"
"Haven't you told him?" Harry asked. "You really should have told him, Hermione. I told you he wasn't from the Ministry, Draco should know."
Hermione stared at Harry for a second because he'd called Draco, Draco! And he didn't seem to realize he'd done it. Did they call each other that at work?
"What should I know?" Draco demanded.
Hermione turned to him "I had a visit today. It was a man and he said he was from the Ministry and that they were checking on all the couples involved in the programme. He had a card!" She said this last part slightly defensively because now she was telling Draco what happened it did sound as if she'd been slightly gullible. "I told Harry when he came and he checked it out but the Ministry hadn't sent anyone."
Draco ran his hand through his hair. "Bloody hell, Hermione! Potter's right! That should have been the first thing you told me when I got back."
Hermione folded her arms in front of her. "We were kind of busy, if you remember!" She stared at him pointedly. Harry made a bleurgh noise and Hermione turned to him, realizing how it had sounded. "Oh no! We weren't busy doing that! Draco was..." she was going to say ill but stopped. That was meant to be a secret and she was sure the last person Draco would want to tell would be Harry. She corrected herself. "Draco was being ridiculous, we had an argument."
Draco looked at her with a – couldn't you think of some other excuse – look on his face but he didn't protest. "So have you found out who he was? Was he on the records?" he asked Harry and Hermione watched him fascinated as his professional switch seemed to be turned on.
"No, it's worse than that," Harry looked pale and Hermione had that feeling of dread in her stomach again. "You weren't the only who got a visit, Hermione...one partner from every couple did."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"All the visits happened the same way as yours. The difference is that five of the couples had a second visit..." Hermione's heart was in her mouth because Harry's tone was conveying far more than his actual words. "The second visit was to try and kill them. They targeted the female partner in particular."
Hermione saw Draco's face harden and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Is anyone hurt?"
Harry nodded, his face sad. "I'm sorry, Hermione. They killed all of them. After they murdered the women they also attacked their partners."
Hermione sank onto the sofa because she wasn't sure her legs would hold her up. "Oh Merlin!"
"Bloody hell!" Draco looked angry. "Why only five of them, why not an combined attack on all the couples? We know about it now so they must know that we're going to be better prepared if they try anything again."
"We don't know. Unless they haven't the manpower." Harry looked down at Hermione. "Are you okay? Don't worry, we'll make sure you're safe." He pointed at Draco. "And you are married to an Auror."
"But those people, Harry! They were forced into this situation just as me and Draco have been and now their dead!"
"I know," Harry sat down by her and she leant against him.
Draco was still standing. "But why? It doesn't make sense. Why would any wizard want to try and stop this happening?"
Harry looked up at him. "Exactly! It make absolutely no sense at all. Everyone's been called in."
Draco nodded. "Right, I'll go and get changed."
Harry stood up again. "No, that's why I came to tell you. Someone has to stay with Hermione."
Draco glanced down at Hermione then stared at Harry. "I'll call Weaslette...or Blaise..."
"Someone qualified. They were using advance magic, Draco."
If Hermione's brain hadn't been so mixed up she would have asked him why he kept addressing Draco by his first name. Instead she stood up and put a hand on each of their arms.
"I'm a better witch than either of you are wizards, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself," she said.
"Unless someone shows you a fake Ministry I.D. then you'll probably invite him in and be making him a cup of tea within five minutes," Draco said this sarcastically and Harry chuckled. Hermione glared at them both.
"Very funny, Malfoy! And anyway should you be rushing off just yet?" she asked Draco, hoping Harry wouldn't ask what she was talking about.
"Firstly, you're not better than both of us," Draco said. "Secondly this is exactly what we've been trained to deal with and lastly I'm fine now."
"So you're okay to stay with her then?" Harry asked Draco who raised his eyebrows.
"No. You can stay."
"I can't, I have to go and tell some of the other couples," Harry said.
"I can do that. You stay with her," Draco insisted.
"No. I have to go back, I've been fully briefed," Harry was now equally insistent.
"I can order you to stay..." Draco said and Hermione frowned at him.
"What do you mean? How can you order Harry to stay? Since when were you his boss?" she asked.
"He's not my boss," Harry said. "Draco is moving sections so he's training a few of us in the areas he covers now. But as he heads up Safety Protocol he would generally take charge if there's an emergency safety issue."
"Like right now," Draco said. "I was called in this morning as someone had tried to steal some papers from the office, this has to be connected. You'll have to stay."
So that was where he'd gone! At least he hadn't run off and left her to wake up alone on purpose or because he couldn't face her. She realized that Draco and Harry were still arguing so she interrupted.
"For Merlin's sake! I'll be perfectly fine!" Hermione tutted at them both. "You should both go, they need you both."
"She'd prefer you to be cooped up with her than me..." Draco said to Harry and Hermione glanced at him.
"No, I wouldn't." She looked almost as shocked by her own words as Draco and Harry did. After a moment of sheer panic because she had said her thoughts out loud - and worse still she'd said thoughts she didn't even knew she had – she back peddled. "What I mean is I'd prefer it if neither of you stayed! I'm a grown woman and I don't need a baby sitter. It's ridiculous."
Harry sighed loudly and looked at Draco. "What do you think?" he asked and yet again Hermione felt that she must have missed something because since when did Harry ask Draco politely for his opinion?
"I suppose I could clear it," Draco said, looking at Hermione. "Keep your wand with you at all times, don't answer the door to anyone and you must put up some protection spells – Protego Totalum, Salvio Hexia..."
Harry chuckled at the look on Hermione's face. "You're talking to the girl who at seventeen put up the spells that prevented Voldemort and his hunters finding us in the woods," he said and Draco sighed.
"Okay, just be careful," he said and Hermione smiled at him.
"I will."
After they left Hermione had a few moments of regret about insisting she be left alone so, although it was late she went upstairs to write a few pages. She checked her calendar and was upset to see that this book was taking a lot longer than the others. Not surprising really with all the distractions! She was after all now married to her former enemy, trying to get pregnant with his child, dealing with his mysterious illness and now under some sort of death threat herself. Not exactly boring!
A thought hit her. It had been 24 hours since she and Draco had...she didn't complete the thought. She could check if she was pregnant. It was times like this she was glad she was a witch because it would be weeks before a Muggle test would work. She grabbed her wand and was about to say the spell when she stopped. This was huge! She was about to find out if she was having a baby! Albeit, not in ideal circumstances but even so it was still a special thing. She wondered if she should wait for Draco but she knew she couldn't wait. She waved her wand and said the spell and she immediately knew. She didn't know how, the thought was then just in her head.
She wasn't pregnant. She sat still for a moment not quite sure how she felt. Slightly relieved in one way but quite sad in another. And apart from her personal feelings about it, it was important that she conceived soon because they only had a year. Then her thoughts went naturally along the line and she realized that she was going to have to have sex with Draco again. Again she wasn't sure how she felt about this either but then decided that being embarrassed had won. Never mind that they had done it once already, it was excruciatingly embarrassing to get naked and...well other things with Draco Malfoy! Ginny's words popped into her head and she giggled. It would be a waste to not enjoy it though, wouldn't it?
Hope you liked this, I enjoyed writing the interaction between Harry and Draco and Hermione's reaction to it. Draco was being protective as well. Thanks for all the great reviews - so many! It's great!
Big chapter coming next both in length and what it contains...
