A/N: Thank you all so much for your helpful comments! I've decided that I'm going to try and write a sequel. Because this is all new to me, I won't label this story as COMPLETE until I know for sure that the Sequel is going well enough for me to post it separately. Trust me, it's not ending quite yet. I'll keep y'all posted, and enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 10: Strange Magic

Harry was in his office before first light, furiously flipping through every Ministry parchment and journal he could get his hands on. His green eyes were wild and furious as he practically swam around his desk in a mess of paperwork and leather, searching desperately for anything on 'pregnancy via Amortentia',

'I can't believe I thought that useless prat was my best friend,' Harry thought angrily, shifting through some more levels of parchment with a flick of his wand, 'there has to be something here. I'll give that sicko a lifetime in Azkaban for this! Hell, I might just go kill him myself. Using a potion to get a girl pregnant, god, poor Hermione,'

Harry collapsed down into his office chair, immediately thinking back to his one and only best friend. Everything made sense now. Her tiredness and ill feelings, her weight gain, the doctors visits, everything! The brightest witch of her age was with child, and Harry had no idea until now!

'No wonder she tried to keep it from me,' Harry thought, setting his jaw at the mere thought of Ronald Weasley, 'he got her pregnant. He violated her, god damn it!'

Clenching his fists and slamming them down against the desktop, the entire Ministry seemed to rattle with Harry's rage,

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

"Harry Potter!" The office door slammed open, revealing the purple robes of the Minister for Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. His face was contorted into distress and slight irritation as Harry fell back down into his chair, heaving in deep breaths as he glowered at nothing in particular. If looks could kill from a distance, Ron would no doubt be dead all the way in Ottery St. Catchpole, "what is going on in here?"

"He's an insufferable little git, Kingsley! I want that bastard dead!"

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

"Hermione's pregnant!"

A heavy silence fell over the room as Harry's hatred seemed to silently pour off him in waves, and Kingsley stood shell shocked,

"She's...what?"

"Pregnant, Kingsley. Hermione is with child,"

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as the dark skinned Minister fell into a chair as well, eyes wide as he inhaled shakily,

"And you think-?"

"I want him dead," Harry growled darkly, clenching his fists and teeth. Deep in his mind though, something else was nagging at him. A memory which desperately wanted to come to the surface, but was pushed back by Harry's consciousness as he focused his anger on the youngest male Weasley. 'That bastard will pay for hurting her,'

Swallowing thickly, Kingsley shook his head and held up both hands,

"Your anger is understandable, Harry. I have already sent a team of Auror's to collect the young man for questioning-"

"He deserves the Kiss for something like this-"

"Potter, your anger is righteous. But it will do nothing to help Hermione. You must keep your head here, as Ronald still believes you are on his side-"

"But I'm not. Let me at him, Kingsley, he will never breathe again-"

"Harry, get a grip on yourself!" Kingsley snapped, shutting the young man up as the Minister sat forward, "getting yourself thrown in Azkaban for murder isn't going to help anything. Besides, I might just kill the Weasley myself. Hermione is like the daughter I never had,"

Sighing heavily and nodding his head, the anger subsided into a hazy fog as Harry rubbed the slight stubble forming on his chin. He left Hermione alone this morning with the elves,

"I should have been there for her," Harry mumbled out loud, "I left her a note and came here the minute I realized..."

"Hermione is a strong girl, Harry. I know you want to protect her from the world. But right now, we need to find the person who did this-"

Just then, the door to Harry's office was thrown open and a group of three Auror's entered. All of them were covered in mud from head to toe, and all three of them looked to be in a frenzy. Standing along side his charge, Harry walked next to Kingsley who was looking between the three carefully,

"What has happened?"

"He's gone, Minister. Both of them. The girl had been stunned and we sent her to St. Mungo's, but the other two are missing,"

"Bloody hell," Harry breathed, running a hand over his face, "Ron's on to us,"

"I don't think it's Ron, Harry," one of the Auror's, Tawney, stated. "The stunner was powerful, probably from an older caster-"

"Molly was in on it then," Harry mumbled, eyes narrowing as he thought about the actions of the woman he thought of as a mother, "she defeated Bellatrix during the battle. No doubt Ginny walked in on something she wasn't supposed to. Molly panicked and stunned her,"

"Her own daughter?" Kingsley questioned, "we cannot jump to conclusions. I want all Floo networks and Apparation zones monitored as of right now-"

"It's already done sir. We notified the Ministry the minute we found the Weasley's missing,"

"Good work. Where would they go?"

Harry pursed his lips. Shell Cottage? No too remote if Molly had some kind of plan. The Leaky Cauldron? No, too obvious. So where else...

"Hermione!" Harry looked to the team of people in the office before apparating away, landing across the street from Grummauld Place where the wards were rippling angrily,

'Molly took Ron to Hogwarts and used the Floo in Dumbledore's - now Minerva's - office. It's untraceable by the Ministry and has a direct connection to Grimmauld Place since it's still the active meeting place of the Order. How can I be so stupid!'

Breathing heavily and pounding towards the door, Harry practically kicked it down as he appeared in the entry hall. Dobby was slowly rising from where he had obviously been stunned down beside Winky and Kreature. They had probably tried to protect the house but were over-powered by two strong wizards,

"Dobby, where's Hermione?"

"...study...Harry Potter, sir. Danger..."

"Rest now, Dobby. Let down the wards to let Kingsley and the Auror's in!"

Turning on a heel, Harry pulled his wand and hurried towards the study. On the floor outside the door was Hermione's wand, kicked off to the side beside a broken vase,

'She struggled,' Harry thought, leaning towards the door before casting a silent 'alohamora,' on the knob. Similar to the front door, Harry practically kicked it in, barely dodging the 'stupefy' aimed right for his head,

"Molly!" Harry growled, crouching in a ready position on the floor as the readheaded woman stared at him before her face filled with false sweetness,

"Harry dear, you arrived just in time. Hermione is very ill-"

Glancing behind her, Harry fumed at the sight of Hermione in Ron's arms, unconscious as he slowly dripped mother of pearl colored liquid into her mouth,

"Oh come off it, Weasley. I know what you did, what you both have done!"

"Harry you don't understand," Molly stared, though she didn't lower her wand, just as Harry didn't lower his, "Hermione is in love with my boy. Poor Ginny, she wanted too marry you too. But unlike Ron here, she didn't have the guts to do what needed to be done,"

"Is this some kind of sick bonding ritual for you!" Harry sneered, lifting a lip at the mere idea, "forcing a woman to love against her will!?"

"It's not just women, Harry, dear. Arthur fell in love with me...with a bit of help of course,"

"You harpy! Stupefy!"

"Protego! Harry come on now, you don't want to fight me,"

"You're right. I want to kill you!"

Molly quickly got out of the way as Harry cast several charms towards her, ducking down beside her son as she shoved him forward,

"Protect your mother, Ronald. I'll deal with the girl,"

Stumbling forward, Ron pulled out his wand, only to yelp in panic as Harry immediately disarmed him and snapped it against his knee. Eyes wide, the boy held up his hands,

"C'mon mate, this is crazy. I'm trying to save my fiancé-"

"You almost killed your fiancé, you bloody git. Get away from her! Stupefy!"

Ron yelped again as he flew backwards into the nearby desk, falling to the floor unconscious as Harry aimed at Molly. Just as she raised her wand, a spell flew from behind, causing Harry to whip around,

"We got them, Harry. Help Hermione!" Kingsley stated, waving to his Aurors who flooded the room. Nodding and swallowing thickly, Harry went to the unconscious woman, cradling her gently in his arms. A small drop of Amortentia was dribbling from the side of her mouth, and her breathing was long and tired.

'I failed her again,' Harry thought, brushing Hermione's caramel locks away from her face with a gentle hand, watching over her protectively as both Molly and Ron were hauled to their feet by Auror's, 'I can't believe either of them would do this,'

Hauling Hermione into his arms, Harry glowered at the Weasley's as he passed by them,

"I'm sorry mate," Ron croaked, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. Harry stopped for only a moment, but no longer saw a friend in Ronald. Glowering darkly, he held Hermione a bit closer to his chest,

"Go to hell,"

Leaving the room as the Auror's and Kingsley apparated back to the Ministry with their charges, Harry gently lay Hermione down in her bed, seeing three elf heads pop up on the other side,

"Will the missus be alright?" Winky asked, reaching up over the comforter to hold Hermione's hand in her own. Shaking his head, Harry turned to Rowena with pleading eyes,

"Does this mean she'll love him again?" Harry asked, frowning. Even if the Amortentia could be removed like before, he didn't want her to go through that stress again. Especially with...a baby, now to think about,

"We'll know when she awakens. The potion may not be enough to sway her now," the portrait said softly, "you care for her very much, don't you Harry Potter?"

Swallowing thickly, Harry nodded his head,

"No. I love her. I love her more then I can even understand. All those years spent fighting Voldemort together...I failed her, I keep failing her-"

"You didn't fail me, Harry,"

The voice didn't belong to Rowena as Harry turned his head, seeing brown doe eyes on him. Hermione.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Mia. How are you feeling-?"

Harry was cut off abruptly as soft lips encompassed his own. Hermione was kissing him. Actually kissing him! It wasn't forced like it was with Ginny, or wet and sloppy like it was with Cho. No, this was perfect. And to Harry, it felt so right. Pulling away after a long and passionate snogging, Hermione smiled weakly,

"Harry, I need to tell you something-"

"You don't have to say anything Mione, I already know,"

The woman on the bed cocked her head to one side as she smiled crookedly, the girlish gleam returning to her eyes,

"You do?"

Harry looked guilty for a moment and flushed, nodding his head,

"Yeah. And trust me, Ron is going to get the Kiss for-,"

"Harry, the baby doesn't belong to Ron,"

Stopping mid sentence, Harry's jaw remained unhooked as the woman he loved sat up on an elbow, biting her lip nervously as she set a hand on her stomach and glanced at him,

"The baby is yours,"

Harry Potter was the Man-Who-Conquered. He defeated Voldemort at least 4 times, warded off hundreds of Dementors with a single Patronus, and picked off and arrested more Death Eaters then he could count. But on this night, in the presence of three house elves, a portrait and the woman he loved, Harry Potter fainted on the spot. He no longer feared death, oh no, he feared something so much worse (and in some cases, better),

Being a new father.