Dear Child

Chapter Ten

Panic Switch

Month Seven

Hermione was nervous. Completely, utterly, hand-shaking-ly nervous. And it made her feel preposterous. She had been working side by side with Draco Malfoy for months now. Why was she feeling nervous and anxious around the man now? It's not like anything had changed.

But she was oh so wrong. They had been leaning towards civility more and more as the months passed, but this was different. Their relationship only existed in the Ministry and the occasionally other places that they had to visit together, but by no means did their relationship exist outside of work. But Draco crossed that line.

He took the confines of their relationship and rearranged it. He contacted her outside of work. Hermione thought that Draco would keep their interactions strictly professional and by sending her a gift for her unborn daughter was strange. She never knew the man to be the giving type, especially to children.

But that was the Hogwarts version of Draco, not this Draco. Hermione was only starting to get glimpses of this changed Draco. The glimpses were always subtle and spaced apart, but Hermione was starting to look forward to these little glimpses. It was refreshing.

And that's why she was nervous. Would Draco be different, again? Would he remain the same, but without the glimpses? Did he feel that he showed her too much of himself? Did he want to show her more of himself? These questions had been spinning around in her head after she was finished arranging her daughter's room. When she finally came back to reality. What did this all mean now?

But it was too late to ponder about Draco Malfoy-who was sitting on the other side of the door she was currently staring at-because she had to face whatever she had been dreading head on. Where was that damned Gryffindor bravery when she needed it? No matter. She squared her shoulders and held her head up high. She turned the knob and walked in.

As predicted, Draco was sitting in his usual chair with his mask of indifference. Hermione didn't know why she expected anything but that expression, or lack thereof. Hermione walked to her chair cautiously and sat down. She looked at Draco from the corner of her eye, but when she saw he hadn't moved, she looked back down at her bag and grabbed her usual parchment and quill.

She heard Draco shift and she looked over at him. "Hello, Granger," he said stiffly.

"Hello, Malfoy."

And the exchanged was over. The tension between them was still there, but not as stifling as it was before when she entered the room. Moments later, two aurors brought Blaise in. Hermione was shocked to see that the man looked haggard. She wondered what had happened over the few days that she last saw him. But she knew that wasn't in her rights to know, or was it? Hermione's eyes looked over Blaise's form for a few more minutes before she was distracted by Draco sitting rigidly in his seat.

"Hello Blaise," Draco greeted in his professional voice.

Blaise looked up at Draco and gave the slightest lift of his chin.

Draco sighed. "Have you remembered anything?"

Blaise shook his head. "No, not really. I've been having...nightmares about my mother's death. I never saw how he killed her."

"What happens in your nightmares?" Hermione asked kindly.

"I'm walking towards her room as quietly as I can, but I walked over an old board and it protested under my weight. The murderer heard and quickly walked out of her room, wand raised. He had on a long black cloak and I couldn't see his face, his hand was gloved. He advanced toward me and I stood my ground. He quickly started throwing hexes my way and it turned out into an all out duel. He eventually bested me and I made a run for it. I hid, but I don't know where he had gone. And that's all."

Hermione looked at the man in front of her. She did pity him a bit. She couldn't imagine what it was like to dream about someone's death over and over again.

"If you want, Blaise," he looked into her eyes when she said his name, "we can keep you in a holding cell for the time being until we find you another place to live; somewhere safe."

Hermione didn't know what compelled her to say that. This man had choked her and almost cost her and her child's life, but she could see that he was scared, lost even. And that pulled at her heartstrings a bit. Also she didn't want Blaise dead. She never wished that on him. And something inside her told her that she needed to protect him so he didn't end up like Theodore Nott.

Blaise was still staring at her as if she had jumped on the table and started dancing the can-can. Blaise slowly blinked his eyes and nodded. "All right."

Hermione let out a relieved breath. He would be safe.

She nodded at Blaise and stood. "I'm going to start researching safe houses for you. I'll tell the aurors and Vivian what's going on."

Blaise looked at her again. It looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Hermione knew that if anything was still intact, it would be his pride. It seemed silly to have that intact after everything he went through, but she knew (now) that it was all he had. It was the only thing linking himself to his old self. The person her grew to become. Now, he wasn't anywhere close to that person he grew to know.

Hermione wanted to tell him 'you're welcome', but she knew that he wouldn't appreciate that. So she didn't say anything as she left the room. She told the two aurors that they could take Blaise back to his cell. She made her way to Vivian's office to tell her the plan.

~-O-~

Once Vivian approved Hermione's plan, Hermione went back to her office to start looking for a safe house for Blaise. She was so absorbed in her work that she didn't hear the knock on her door. The door opened and emitted Draco Malfoy.

"Granger!"

Hermione jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes, a hand placed on her heart. "You scared me, Draco."

He paused for half a second at the use of his name as something familiar. "I knocked," he said simply.

"Oh. I didn't hear it..."

He smirked at her. "I kind of figured that when I had to bust in here and yell your name."

Hermione felt herself blush. "So what do you want?" She asked, not harshly. She was curious.

He sat down in the chair in front of her desk. "I was wondering something, Granger."

She raised her eyebrows to show she was listening.

"Why'd you ask Blaise if he wanted protection?" Draco asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Hermione could see the curiosity in his eyes as well as something else...intrigue? Hermione thought about what she should say. Should she tell him the truth? Would he think she was mad for her reasons? Only one way to find out.

"I don't know. I guess I couldn't see bear to see him possibly fall to the same fate as Nott. I mean, the killer obviously knows Blaise is still alive. And he can't go back home. You never know what could happen."

Draco was staring at her and it was unnerving. His grey silver eyes were unyielding. Hermione swallowed.

"You surprise me all the time, Granger."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know," he sounded frustrated.

Hermione was confused by his frustration, but didn't comment. "Vivian approved of my plan. I just need to find a safe house to put him in. We haven't had to use one in years."

Draco nodded. "If you need help let me know."

Hermione nodded. "I will."

Draco opened the door and left by way of a subtle click of the door.

Hermione looked at the door for a long time. She didn't know what to think about Draco's behavior. She thought about their relationship. They weren't friends, or were they? She didn't quite know. And she didn't quite know how to ask him such a question. But one thing was for certain, things had changed between them and Hermione didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

~-O-~

Over the next few weeks, things between Hermione and Draco were awkward. Tension had slipped between them. Hermione didn't know how she felt about it. Things weren't always smooth between and she shouldn't be fazed by the awkwardness and tension now, right? That's what she kept telling herself. Just because he sent her something for her child didn't mean anything between them. She was being silly.

Draco had been working out on the field with anything the aurors needed a hand with and Hermone was stuck in her office doing research. And Hermione loved her job, but sitting in her stuffy office day after day was something she couldn't stand. It was boring and her job was never boring to her.

But out of the things that she did do in her office, she managed to find a place for Blaise to stay. The aurors were going to transport him in the middle of the night so that no one knew.

Hermione heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called.

Ron and Harry stepped in.

"Hey!" They both greeted.

"Hello. How are both of you?" She asked standing up so that she could hug them.

After exchanging hugs, the men sat down and so did Hermione.

"I'm fine," Harry said smiling at her.

"Me too," Ron said.

"Good, good."

"How are you feeling? How's the baby?"

"I'm feeling fine. I'm just a bit more tired than usual, but other than that I'm fine. And the baby's fine. She's quite active. I have an appointment soon."

"That's good. How's the case coming?" Harry asked her.

Hermione sighed, her smile faltered. "I don't know. We don't have any leads. Our victim doesn't remember anything. The only pattern that we have to go on is that the killer's only going after ex-Death Eaters. Other than that, we have nothing," she said frustrated by the sheer amount of things they didn't know.

"I'm sure you'll catch him, 'Mione. I know you will," Ron said trying to comfort her.

She sighed again, this time sounding more exhausted than she let on before. "I hope you're right. And it makes me feel sick. We have to wait around until he kills again!"

Harry and Ron gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm just frustrated is all. Don't mind me."

"It's all right, Hermione. We've all had bad cases. But we just wanted to check on you. Gin sends her love."

Hermione smiled. "I'll have to pop over soon and visit."

Harry nodded. He and Ron stood up to leave. Hermione waved as they left her office.

Hermione looked at her clock. It was nearly time for her to go to her appointment. She packed up her papers and left the Ministry.

Walking to St. Mungo's seemed to take longer than usual and Hermione didn't know why. She took the lift to the third floor and walked to Healer Brennan's office. When she came in, the receptionist smiled at her.

"Hello Ms. Granger."

"Hello."

"Healer Brennan should be right with you."

Hermione took a seat and waited patiently, humming and biting her lip as she did so. Ten minutes passed before they called Hermione back.

Hermione knew the drill by now. She sat on the examining table and waited for Healer Brennan to arrive.

The door opened and Healer Brennan walked in. She smiled warmly at Hermione. Hermione smiled back at her.

"Hello there!" Healer Brennan greeted.

"Hello!" Hermione said cheerfully.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well. She's moving around a lot."

"That's a good sign. I know it may not feel that way, but it is," she assured her.

"Shall we take a look at her, then?"

Hermione nodded and laid back. She had removed her robe already and just had to pull her shirt over her belly.

"We'll measure you today just to see if she's growing correctly."

Hermione nodded and felt Healer Brennan take out a measuring tape. Once she was done she smiled at Hermione. "She looks to be growing normally. Now to really look at her."

Hermione's smile grew and she turned her head to look at the monitor that was coming to life. The picture of her squirming daughter was coming more and more visible.

"There she is. Her heart sounds good. Her lungs look to be shaping up nicely. She looks fine."

"Good."

Healer Brennan gave her towels to wipe herself off. Hermione pulled her shirt down and sat up.

"I do want to take your blood pressure though."

Hermione nodded and waited.

She put Hermione's arm in the cuff and started squeezing the bulb. Healer Brennan 'hm-ed' and 'mhm-ed'. She turned the valve and let out the air.

"Your pressure seems to be up just a tiny bit. Is everything all right?"

Hermione sighed. "No. Work's a bit hectic right now."

"Well, as you know, you need to take it easy."

"I know and I'm doing desk work right now."

"Well, you need to take better care of yourself."

Hermione nodded. "I know. And I'm going to cut back even more."

"Good. All right, I'll want to see you next month. We'll talk about your birthing plans next time I see you."

Hermione got off of the table and grabbed her robes. "Thank you."

"Of course. See you soon."

Hermione left the hospital and thought she should pay Ginny a visit.

~-O-~

Hermione stuck her head through the floo.

"Hello?" She called.

"Hermione, is that you?"

"Yeah, can I come through?"

"Yes!"

Hermione stepped through and brushed her clothes off.

Ginny came bustling into the room and hugged her. Hermione hugged her back.

"What brings you here?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, I just came from the hospital-everything's fine," Hermione said looking at her friend's face. "Harry and Ron stopped by my office earlier to say hello so I decided to come visit. How are you feeling?"

"Good actually. James is just a bit of a kicker, but it comes with the territory."

Hermione smiled. "I know what you mean."

Ginny smiled. "Then everything's fine?"

"Yeah. Just my blood pressure. It's up a bit. Work's stressing me out a bit."

"Case not going well?"

"No, not really. But I don't want to talk about work. I came to visit you!"

Ginny smiled. "What, Hermione Granger not wanting to talk about work? Odd."

Hermione stuck her tongue out. "Oh shush. So have you decorated James' room yet?"

Ginny's smile brightened. "I have! Come look!"

Hermione followed Ginny up the stairs. They walked through the third door on the left. The room was beautiful. It was painted green and blue with little snitches and quaffles. Hermione couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. They were already setting up the poor boy to be a quidditch player. The mahogany crib was cattycornered at the far end of the room next to the window. A rocking chair was close to the door and the changing table and dress was on the same wall.

"Wow, Gin! I love it!"

Ginny beamed. "Thank you. Harry and I worked pretty hard on it."

"You both did well," Hermione said looking around.

"Thanks."

"Gin, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. You can ask me anything, 'Mione. You know that."

Hermione nodded and turned to face her. "Are you scared?"

Ginny laughed. "Out of my bloody mind!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "

"Good because so am I. I wasn't really nervous in the beginning because I was determined. This," she gestured to her stomach, "is what I want, but now that she's coming...I can't help but start getting scared. So many thoughts and questions."

"Hermione, it's okay. She'll love you. You'll be a wonderful mother. I know that that doesn't help any, but it's true."

Hermione gave her a weak smile. "Thanks Gin. Nothing can truly prepare you for this. And I'm glad we're going through this together."

"Me too," Ginny smiled and reached for her hand so that she could squeeze it.

Hermione squeezed her hand back. "You're going to be a great mum and Harry's going to be the greatest dad."

"He will be fantastic, won't he? And thank you."

"Of course, but I'm going to go. Tell Harry I stopped by, won't you?"

Ginny nodded and threw her arms around her. Hermione hugged her back before walking back downstairs to head home.

Her fears were still there, but she felt a bit better now that she talked to Ginny.

~-O-~

Hours later Hermione was cooking dinner when she heard that her floo activate. She looked around the corner of her kitchen to see who it was. To her shock, it was Draco Malfoy's head sticking out of her fireplace.

"Malfoy?" She asked walking into her den.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking all over the place for you!"

"Sorry," Hermione said, but she didn't sound sorry at all. "What do you want?" She asked sitting on the arm of her sofa.

"I need you to come in. Zabini's dead and so are the Parkinsons." With that, his head disappeared and the connection was severed.

Hermione was confused. How could Blaise be dead? He was in a cell. He was safe. And another murder on the same day? Hermione felt sick. She walked into her room and changed into the clothes she had on earlier. She grabbed a pinch of floo powder and headed back to work. Her work was never done apparently. And that was an understatement.

Author's Note: Hello! Thanks to all who voted! You still have time! (names: Kyleigh, Lyra, and Aurora) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More drama to come! Until next time!