A/N – Thank you everyone for all their lovely reviews and support for this story. After this chapter there are three more chapters of the immersion book to go. After that Hermione returns back to normal and the last few chapters of the story deal with what happens when she returns to her regular life.
For the next couple of days Hermione thought about her problem and settled on an answer. After two days of thinking over every eventuality Hermione knew the time had come to speak to Draco. Hermione wanted to speak to her lover somewhere where they were alone and unlikely to be disturbed, which was why she suggested they go for a ride back to the river where they had first began their relationship.
Draco was up for the idea and after checking that Hermione was well enough for such a long ride they set out from the castle. On the journey Hermione enjoyed the countryside, and the easy banter she shared with Draco could almost make her forget her worries and problems. It wasn't until they stopped and settled down on the picnic blanket that Hermione really thought about what was about to happen. She knew there was a possibility this could be her last afternoon with Draco so she was determined to make the most of it.
"Is everything okay?" Draco asked, turning round so he was lying facing his lover. "You've been a bit distant lately."
"I do have something I want to talk to you about." Hermione said, summoning up all her courage to break the news of her pregnancy to Draco. "I'm having a baby." She blurted out, getting directly to the point.
Draco's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed several times as he struggled to find any words. Hermione watched her lover anxiously, wondering if his lack of response was a bad thing. Eventually Draco seemed to regain his senses and a small smile appeared on his face.
"I'm going to be a father." Draco stated in a disbelieving voice.
Hermione couldn't help but smile at the fact he hadn't even checked that the baby was his, he trusted her enough to know he was the only man she was sleeping with. "Yes."
"This is rather unexpected." Draco said. "How long have you known?"
"A few days." Hermione replied. "To be honest I've been suspecting it for a while but I was reluctant to deal with it."
"I'm not surprised." Draco muttered, suddenly looking ill as the consequences of Hermione's news hit him. "What are we going to do?" He asked, looking at Hermione for answers.
"First of all, I'm leaving Slytherin." Hermione replied. "I'm going to organise a trip home to speak to my parents. As long as they're not planning on disowning me, I'll go home."
"What happens if they do decide to disown you?" Draco questioned.
"Then I leave and find somewhere else to live." Hermione shrugged. "But I'm not expecting that to happen. I know my parents won't be happy, but I can't see them disowning me and letting me be homeless when I'm expecting a baby."
"What about me?" Draco asked, hurt evident in his voice. "Do I fit into your plans or are you planning on leaving me as well?"
"That's entirely up to you." Hermione responded. "I would love it if you wanted to come with me, but if you feel you can't leave Slytherin, I'll understand. If you stay behind no-one need ever know who the father of the baby is, your name won't be dragged through the mud and you can carry on serving King Severus as a knight of Slytherin."
"You think I would want to stay here without you?" Draco scoffed, sounding disgusted with Hermione's suggestion. "Unless you don't want me, I'm sticking with you. You're carrying my child and I have no intention of abandoning either of you."
"Of course I want you." Hermione smiled, reaching out and grasping Draco's hand. "I love you and want to be with you, but I don't want to destroy your life."
"Being with you wouldn't destroy my life, but being without you would." Draco said, leaning forward and gently pecking Hermione on the lips. "I love you and I would do anything to be with you."
Hermione smiled before connecting her lips with Draco's in a passion filled kiss. Draco wrapped his hand around Hermione's neck and pulled her closer as his tongue sought entrance in her warm mouth. Hermione's hands wandered down Draco's torso and up under his shirt as she moaned at the feeling of his tongue dancing around hers. After a few minutes the couple reluctantly parted, although their heads remained close together and they stared into each other's eyes for a long time.
"What about the King?" Draco asked eventually, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.
Hermione sighed as she pulled back slightly. "I want to talk to my parents before dealing with him, but I have a plan. If everything goes as I hope, we can walk away and everything remains peaceful."
"What sort of plan have you got?" Draco asked, looking sceptical that they would be able to leave without a fuss. "He married you to prevent a war with Gryffindor, surely you leaving him will only start a war."
"The King doesn't want a war, especially when he knows he will lose." Hermione responded. "That's why I'm pretty sure that if I can get my parents onside I can guarantee peace between our two kingdoms."
"That's your plan, offer him peace if he lets us leave?" Draco asked sceptically.
"Not exactly." Hermione chuckled. "The peace deal is my main weapon but I have other bargaining chips. You're forgetting that he doesn't want to be married to me any more than I want to be married to him. With a promise of peace between our kingdoms he has no reason to cause problems. If I leave we both end up getting what we want, I get you and the King gets to return to normal without having to worry about me."
"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" Draco grinned at Hermione.
"Yes." Hermione grinned back at Draco. "I have a whole host of reasonable reasons why we should split and if those don't work I'm not above resorting to a bit of blackmail."
"What have you got to blackmail him with?" Draco questioned, sounding intrigued about what the Queen had on the King.
"Thanks to you, I know about his kinks in the bedroom."
"How does that help you?" Draco asked. "The whole castle knows about it?"
"Yes, but no-one outside the castle knows about it." Hermione pointed out. "And no-one in Gryffindor knows about it. I could easily claim he tried getting rough with me and when I refused he took to bedding my maid."
"You would really do that?" Draco looked at Hermione in disbelief, clearly shocked she would resort to such underhand tactics to get what she wanted.
"If I really had to." Hermione sighed. "I really hope it won't come to that as I'm not comfortable with lying and scheming like that but if he's going to be difficult I will try it. I really don't think it will come to that though, the King is a sensible man and he'll know that us splitting up is the best thing to do."
"I hope so." Draco said. "But I can't see him letting me go so easily. Even if he agrees to your split, I've still betrayed him and he'll want revenge."
"I don't think so." Hermione responded cryptically. "If everything goes to plan we'll both leave Slytherin with the King's blessing."
"I doubt that." Draco snorted.
"You should never doubt me." Hermione grinned, pushing Draco onto the blanket and moving so she was straddling his hips. "My plans always succeed."
"What plans are these then?" Draco asked, quirking an eyebrow at the woman on top of him.
"My plan to seduce you worked perfectly." Hermione responded, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Draco's lips. "And so far my plan for a repeat performance is working just fine."
"So you want a repeat performance." Draco chuckled. "In that case, we're in the wrong positions."
Before Hermione could protest Draco had whipped them round so she was now lying underneath the firm body of her lover. Grinning down at the Queen, Draco dipped his head and engaged her in a heated kiss that left them both panting for more.
"I also think we're wearing too many clothes." Hermione purred, finding the bottom of Draco's shirt and pulling it over his head.
Sitting up slightly Draco pulled off his trousers before returning his attention to his lover. In the time Draco had stripped off Hermione had slowly began unfastening the laces on the front of her dress.
"Allow me, My Lady." Draco said, brushing Hermione's hands away and taking over the job himself.
With every bit of flesh he was uncovering Draco traced the tips of his fingers over Hermione's flawless skin. Undoing the laces carefully so they remained over her breasts, Draco kissed his way down the strip of skin from the base of her neck to her bellybutton. By the time Draco slowly kissed his way back up her body and pushed the top of her dress away from her breasts, Hermione was whimpering softly at his every touch. When Draco finally touched her breasts, which seemed to be extra sensitive and slightly larger than normal, Hermione moaned wantonly and arched up into his touch.
"Someone's keen." Draco muttered, rolling Hermione's nipples in-between his thumb and fingers.
"Very." Hermione panted, pushing herself closer to Draco. With not feeling well lately Hermione had been distinctly uninterested in sex but at the minute her body was aching for Draco's touch.
Draco grinned as he dropped one final kiss to Hermione's lips before travelling them down her body. Kissing along her jawline and down her neck he then travelled to her right breast, which he lavished with attention before turning his attention to her left one. When he continued his descent down her body Hermione groaned at the loss of contact on her breasts, causing Draco to chuckle against her stomach. Carrying on down Hermione's body, Draco slid her dress over her hips and down her legs when he encountered the silken barrier.
With her dress off Hermione was left lying in just her undergarments. Before Draco had a chance to remove the silky material, Hermione had reached down and tugged them down her legs, discarding them with her dress. Draco's attention automatically focused on the spot between Hermione's legs and his hand shot out to feel his lover's arousal. Hermione threw her head back and moaned at the feeling of Draco's fingers exploring her wet folds. After a few minutes Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and pulled it away from her centre, causing her lover to look up at her in surprise.
"I want you, now." She declared, reaching up and pulling him into a searing kiss.
Breaking apart, Hermione settled back onto the blanket while Draco hovered over her. Making sure to keep eye contact with each other, Draco slowly pushed into Hermione. The action produced simultaneous moans of pleasure but neither Draco nor Hermione tore their eyes away from each other as Draco began to slowly move in and out of Hermione.
The lovemaking was slow and tender with Draco constantly telling Hermione how much he loved her. Hermione was quick to respond in kind as she let the handsome blond knight know just what he meant to her. Gradually the talk of love subsided as their movements gradually picked up pace and their thoughts became focused on the pleasure they were experiencing.
Without breaking eye contact with Hermione, Draco adjusted his position so his hand could slip in-between their legs and his fingers could find Hermione's clitoris. As Draco's fingers found their target he watched Hermione intently as he built her up to her orgasm. Crashing his lips down onto hers, Draco's fingers pressed against her clitoris one final time, causing the woman underneath him to spasm around him. Hermione clung onto Draco as her climax surged through her body. In the middle of her pleasure she felt Draco orgasm and the couple rode out the last waves of euphoria together, before collapsing onto the blanket in an intertwined heap.
Draco was very careful not to collapse onto Hermione and the minute he could move he rolled over and pulled Hermione so she was lying nestled against his side, with her leg flung over his waist and her head resting on his chest. For a long while the couple laid naked in each other's arms as they talked about their future, which was going to be together no matter what anyone said or did to try and stop them.
After a while Hermione and Draco reluctantly got up and got re-dressed. After sharing a long kiss and arranging to meet that night the couple mounted their horses and set back to Slytherin. While neither of them were particularly keen to be heading back to the castle, they knew the sooner they went home the sooner Hermione could arrange a trip to Gryffindor. And hopefully the trip to Gryffindor would signal the beginning of their future together.