A/N If you're purely here for the Bella/Hermione scenes, read up to (and including) the first paragraph after the letter, and the last three paragraphs. The rest you can skip if you don't want much plot.

Draco stood outside his aunt's door, deliberating. It was 5.59am, and Bella... Well she wasn't an early riser, but he had to talk to her. He stared at the watch on his wrist. The seconds hand ticked past the 12 again. He had been standing there for three minutes already. Ah well, he was in so much trouble already, Bellatrix couldn't really do worse, he reasoned glumly.

Pushing the door open, he walked straight to the heavy drapes and pulled them open, the sun was already past rising. Dragon balls. Turning back to the bed, he walked briskly over and tapped the arm lying on top of the covers.

"Aunty Bella."

"Go away"

"Aunty…."

"You don't want to know what will happen if you don't shut up and close those damn blinds!"

Bellatrix pulled a pillow over her head, completely blocking out the light. However, what Draco said next, held Bellatrix's attention completely. She was wide awake in moments. Giving Draco time to explain, and beg her not to tell Narcissa, before she sent him to pack a bag while she got ready. They met half an hour later at the foot of the spiral staircase near the front doors, pausing only for Bella to give Flitty a note for Narcissa;

With Draco

Gone out

Be back later probably

B.

Bellatrix had always looked out for Draco. She had never been doting, but she showed her affection in her own way. From making sure he was tough enough to survive in Slytherin in first year, to having his back when he was younger and had eaten three whole packets of chocolate cookies, and then thrown up on Narcissa's favourite rug, Bellatrix looked out for Draco when she could. That was the reason Draco had gone to her first, when he found out his friend was pregnant.

About six months ago, Draco and Harry had been a well-kept secret. Which was fine, for a while. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin could not be seen together, for propriety's sake, it just wouldn't do. Unfortunately, there's a difference between being private and being a secret. Draco wanted privacy, but Harry wanted them to come clean. It didn't feel right to him, as though they were a dirty little secret.

Three months into, whatever it was they shared, the couple had been at the Three Broomsticks. It was just another night out in Hogsmeade and everyone was having fun. There was a mix of all the Hogwarts houses, but everyone was too drunk, and having too much fun, to care who was mingling with whom.

Until Blaise opened his mouth.

The boy was at the stage of intoxication where he had lost the little filter he had between his brain and his mouth. Draco had simply walked past him heading over to Harry with their drinks, when Blaise slapped his butt and called him handsome.

Flattered and not noticing the look of jealous fury on Harry's face, Draco had turned and winked at Blaise. It was stupid, drunken, and done in flirtatious innocence. Unfortunately, Blaise didn't take it as such. The bigger boy walked forward into Draco, until the blonde was pressed up against the wall, still clutching two butterbeers. Blaise leant forward slightly, and Draco screwed his eyes shut, waiting for drunken breath to invade his senses. Instead he heard a smack followed by a painful thud as one moment Blaise was leering over him, and the next he was flat on the floor towered over by Harry who was cursing and holding his bleeding hand.

Days of arguments had followed. From Harry's point of view, Draco was being a selfish coward, and he told the blonde as much. Really Harry was just starting to wonder if Draco was somehow ashamed of him. Draco on the other hand, was terrified, it was not okay to fall in love with a half-blooded Gryffindor boy, and he would be lost if he was disowned. He had been raised with certain standards if living, besides he couldn't shame his family by denouncing everything his family stood for…. not for love. They wouldn't accept it anyway, his grandmother would probably have him shipped off to some god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere to be 'straightened-out'… and then he wouldn't get to see Harry.

Not that he told his boyfriend any of this of course, Harry didn't give him a chance to, even if he had wanted to.

It had taken a week for them to finally break up, and so seven days later had found Draco drowning his sorrows in the Hogs Head. When the bartender finally closed up shop, Draco wandered down the high road hiccupping as he stumbled. A few young wizards and witches were clustered on a corner smoking. As he got nearer, Draco saw that they were standing outside Pewter Chains, the only small nightclub in the town. Feeling as though he was not nearly drunk enough, Draco entered, with the sole intention of buying however much alcohol it took to numb his pain.

The next morning, he awoke in a hotel room with ginger hair splayed out on the pillow next to him. Ginny mumbled in her sleep, and shifted away from the frozen blonde boy. Dragon balls! They were only friends… He had only even become her friend to keep Harry happy..!

He woke her up gently after grabbing them both a sandwich, and they decided Harry never needed to know. That same morning, Draco returned to Hogwarts to find a note on his unslept-in bed.

I'm sorry. We were both idiots.

Harry wasn't one for sweet words or sugar coating things.

The duo had gotten back together that day, and things had returned to normal. Draco had even managed to bury the guilt for a while. Until Ginny's patronus had come through this morning.

In Draco's eyes, the problem wasn't that she was pregnant, is was that she wanted to keep the baby. He wasn't cut out to be a father... But he respected her choice.

Ginny had been dating Luna on and off for about two years, and they had talked about children. Ginny thought this would be their only chance, until there was a breakthrough in some baby making potion, and Luna was happy to go along with what her fiery red head wanted on this one.

Bellatrix was hearing this from the couple themselves, seated at the living room in the Burrow. They had discussed possible options, but as far as agreeing to anything, the only thing for certain was that Ginny was keeping the baby. Bella sipped her honeyed tea and turned to Draco.

"So do you want to tell Harry now, or wait and surprise him with a newborn in six months?"

Bella sported a wicked grin as Draco paled. He was beyond saving, he was going to be in so much trouble.

"I think we should wait. Surprise him, you know? We could hide the baby in a cake... have dancers, some streamers, balloons... oh! and a band!"

Draco nearly fainted.

Back at Malfoy Manor Narcissa had just woken up, and found the note left by Flitty. Bella really did have a way with words, she thought sarcastically as she put on her morning robe, she was just so open and descriptive with details of where she had taken her only child. Figuring she would leave them to it, whatever it was her son and sister were up to, she made her way out of her bedroom towards the kitchen. As she closed the door behind her, she caught sight of the brunette from last night standing awkwardly in her own bedroom doorway.

"Good morning…"

The younger witch smiled, feeling slightly intimidated by the sheer size of her surroundings.

"Good morning."

Narcissa smiled back, the poor girl looked like a deer in headlights!

"I was just on my way to breakfast, if you'd care to join me?"

Her attention was immediately fully focused on the blonde in front of her at the prospect of food. Nodding and following Narcissa down the winding stairs and round several corners, they made small talk about school and Hermione's plans for the future. The older witch thought she may as well get to know the young woman who had captured Bellatrix's attention, even if Bella had yet to admit to anything other than a fleeting interest in the woman.

During breakfast, the topic eventually meandered to Bellatrix, and the blonde explained that her sister had gone out for the day. Icy blue eyes didn't miss the briefest flash of disappointment across soft, delicate features. She couldn't even stay for breakfast this time, Hermione thought slightly bitterly as she excused herself from the table with a thankful smile at her hostess. A small part of Hermione still didn't doubt the intentions of older witch occupying her attention. A small part of her held onto the fragile hope that there was another, perfectly reasonable, explanation for her disappearing for the day and leaving Hermione alone with her sister in a strange place. The rest of Hermione is finding it steadily easier to ignore that small part.

A/N Vileniaveladorn - Not quite, although yes, that will be an element as well ;)

Djsmith10186 – You will find out soon… not next chapter, but soon. Very soon.