Chapter 21

I could hear myself let out a small groan as my eyes opened; letting in the sudden light from one of the windows in the room I was in. I let my eyes get used to the brightness before looking around a little to see where I was. What was I doing in the prefect's bathroom? I couldn't remember coming in here. I realised that half of my face was lying on something very cold. Why would I be lying on the floor? There was another groan as I pushed myself off of the floor and became suddenly very dizzy, I had to lean against the wall for a few minutes until I didn't feel as though I was going to throw up.

There was a huge pounding in my head and I could feel something slightly sticky where it hurt the most. I winced as I pressed my hand against it and brought it back down to my face for inspection. A deep red colour covered up most of my hand. I must have hit my head on something when I fell over; that's why I was on the floor. I really needed to get my head sorted out; I had no idea how bad it was. I pushed myself from the wall and walked shakily out of the door (which I wasn't that far from), making my way to the hospital wing. Whilst I was walking, I noticed that most of the paintings were still asleep so it mustn't have been as late as I thought it was. The teachers usually get up at around six, and the light from the morning sun outside said that it wasn't that far from it.

Once I finally made it to my destination, I walked straight through the doors. I gasped when I saw how many students were in the room occupying the beds. I felt as though my head was nothing compared to some of the people I saw. There were some people I couldn't see, they were covered by a white sheet. My eyes began to water and I let out a loud sob when I saw Madam Pomfrey lift a sheet over Katie Bell. I ran over to them and practically fell onto the chair that was next to the bed.

"W-what happened?" I asked Madam Pomfrey. She let out a deep breath before answering me.

"Miss Bell was hit by the Killing Curse whilst trying to defend one of her dear friends." She looked back at Katie with a sad expression on her face. Then back to me. "What happened?" she asked, referring to my head. I had completely forgotten about what was wrong with me when I was in this room with all these people.

"Oh, um. I can't remember." I told her honestly as we walked over to another bed that was furthest away from the other students. I couldn't bear to look at them anymore. "I woke up this morning in the prefect's bathroom with blood on my head. I must have hit it on something."
Madam Pomfrey used a wet cloth to wipe away the blood; I winced every time the cloth came in contact with my head. When she had finished cleaning me head, she told me that it was going to need stitches. I was not good with stitches. "It won't be that bad if you keep talking." She told me.

"Madam Pomfrey?" I whispered, "Why are there so many people here?" I could feel her hands stiffen. I didn't know whether I wanted to know the true answer or not. She was silent for a few minutes before answering me, "There were Death Eaters. Somehow they were able to come into the grounds; they came for all the muggle-borns." I momentarily forgot how to breathe. "We're not sure how the Death Eaters got them out of their common rooms without going in themselves. Most of the children survived. There will be a special dinner this evening for the unlucky few that lost their lives."

There was another silence between us as Madam Pomfrey finished off my stitches.

"What happened to the Death Eaters?" I asked her, she was only just able to hear my question as the shock made my voice struggle to be able to be heard.

"Only a very few were able to escape." I nodded slowly, still taking in the news. "I think you should head off to your common room, Miss. I don't think that the people who weren't involved know what happened." I nodded again and thanked her for my stitches. I started walking out the door but stopped, turning around and letting tears fall freely down my face as I saw the bodies once again.

There was nobody in the common room when I entered. It felt strange and heartbreaking knowing that there were people who wouldn't be in there common room again, and that their friends would wake up not knowing what had happened to them. The room felt strangely cold, like deep down everyone knew what had happened and didn't want to come out of their room to face the truth.
I needed to get changed, to get rid of the blood that had dripped onto my shoulder.

Lavender was only just getting up when I was changing into my school uniform. I knew we didn't get along, I think everyone did, but I waited until she was done getting changed to go back down into the common room. I didn't want to be left alone after what had happened last night. I didn't understand why I wasn't one of those in the hospital wing. If the Death Eaters were killing all of the muggle-borns, then why wasn't I in the hospital right now? More tears fell freely down my face as I remembered how many people were lying on the hospital beds.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" I turned my head and saw Lavender standing at the other side of my bed with a concerned look on her face, but I could tell there was something hidden behind that look. I turned back around and continued to let the tears fall, ignoring her question. "Have you and Won-Won had a fight?" That's what was hidden behind her 'concern'. Hope. She was hoping that Ron and I had had a fight so we would break up and she would jump at him as soon as possible.
"No, Lavender. We have not had a fight." I stood up and turned to her, "How could we possibly have had a fight? It's half six in the morning! So don't get your hopes up because we're not breaking up! 'Won-Won' and I are far from it! And why do you automatically think that Ron and I are fighting whenever you see me upset? You have no idea what's happened, do you? Just wait until breakfast and you'll see that there are more important people in this world than you!"

Lavender looked at me in pure shock. Then I noticed her eyes move slightly down so they were looking directly at me stomach – more precisely, my baby bump. The spell! I hadn't put the spell on today! How on earth could I have forgotten? It had become like a second nature to me, doing the spell every morning so that nobody, except the people I'd let, see my baby bump.
I tried very badly to cover my swollen stomach up with my jumper even more than it already was. Hopefully she would have been stupid enough to think that she was seeing things. I felt my heart racing and sweat start to form on my forehead.

"You're p-pregnant?" Lavender stuttered after a while of staring. There was no denying now. Maybe if I just use a memory spell then she'll forget what she saw. No, Hermione. You're not like that! You knew someone would find out sometime, but why did it have to be Lavender? Once she knew something, everyone knew something.
I tried to find my voice to answer her question, but it wouldn't come out. I don't think that she wanted me to answer her question. She was looking at the answer!
"Is it Ron's?" I could tell that she was heartbroken that it was Ron's. Who else's would it be? I then noticed that she didn't call him Won-Won; she must have been shocked.

I reached inside the pocket of my dressing gown, which was lying neatly on my bed, to get my wand, but it wasn't there. I started to panic as I searched both of my dressing gown pockets several times, failing to find it. I really needed that spell right now! I couldn't believe that I'd lost my wand! I've never lost my wand before!
Lavender continued her staring as I continued to search for my lost wand. Why was everything going wrong today? There was more crying once I finally gave up and fell back onto my bed. I couldn't possibly go down into the common room or into the great hall now. Everyone would see how pregnant I was, and I just couldn't face everyone's eyes on me.

Lavender stayed silent as I cried. I didn't bother looking at her. How was I going to go to my classes without everyone gawking at me? If I wanted to do my best in school, then I would just have to face the consequences. I'm a strong, brave woman; I could deal with the stares. I took a deep breath and sat up on the edge of my bed. This day was about remembering those who lost their lives last night, not about how people will look at me when I walk down the corridor.

I jumped when I heard the door slam shut and heard a huge cry. Turning around, I noticed that Lavender had gone. She probably ran out to cry over the fact that there was now no chance of her and Ron being together again. I checked the time quickly; it was almost seven o' clock. Most of Gryffindor would be up and ready by now, considering breakfast started at half seven.
I searched frantically again for my wand. Where could I have left it?

There was a knock on the wooden door just as I was about to leave. "W-who is it?" I called, hoping that it wouldn't be one of Lavender's friends.
"It's Ron and Harry." Ron called back from the other side of the door. I opened it without hesitation and let them in. Ron looked quite frightened and Harry looked concerned. Harry's emotion was real, unlike Lavender.

"Did you see Lavender?" I whispered, afraid they'd say yes. Both boys nodded their heads. I ran to Ron and gave him a warm hug. "What did she say?" I asked, my body still pressed closely against Ron's.

"She screamed in my face and ran out crying. I couldn't really understand what she was saying; I only heard a few words. I knew why she was screaming when I heard your name and the word 'pregnant'." I nodded against his chest. "But how'd she find out?"

I pulled away from him and sat back on my bed, looking at the two. "I forgot that I hadn't used the spell today and she saw my bump while we were arguing."

"How could you have forgotten the spell? It's like you're obsessed with it." Harry laughed a little; I narrowed my eyes at him. I whispered, "I've lost my wand."

Harry and Ron looked at me in surprise. I then told them how I woke up in the prefect's bathroom up until now. I couldn't bring myself to tell them about what I saw in the hospital wing and about Katie. I showed them the stitches on my head, Harry said that I might have lost a bit of memory when I banged my head.

"What will people say when they see me? I obviously have to come out of this room." I said whilst playing with the hem of my skirt. I could see Harry and Ron look at each other out of the corner of my eye. I thought about using someone else's wand, but I remembered Dumbledore saying that it could only be my wand, which I thought was quite stupid. I'd just have to deal with it, like I told myself before. When neither of them said anything, I said, "We'll just have to ignore all the stares."

I stood up and walked over to Ron, who was leaning against a bed that Harry was sat on, and gave him another quick hug before putting on my robe and pulling the two boys to the door. I stopped just before I opened it. I grabbed onto Ron's hand and let Harry go out first, I then followed and Ron was still holding my hand behind me. I didn't want to see what people's reactions were; I just pulled Ron and Harry to the great hall without looking at anyone.

I could feel millions of eyes on me as we walked through the corridors. I held on to Ron's hand tighter when we entered the Great Hall. When we sat down, Ginny immediately asked, "Are you mental?"
I didn't answer her; I just played with a piece of bacon that was lying on my plate. I was really uncomfortable with the feeling you get in your back when people are staring at you.

I looked over at the table in front of us and caught eyes with Draco Malfoy. There was a strange feeling I got when I saw him. His hair was a little scruffy and he had dark rings under his eyes. I felt as though I'd seen him not too long ago, I mean, I see him every day, but I felt as though it was very recent. My eyebrows furrowed together as I searched my mind for an answer to my confusion, I needed an answer to the missing jigsaw piece. I looked away when Dumbledore started speaking; he was going to tell everyone what had happened last night, like Madam Pomfrey had told me.

"Good morning everyone. As some of you may have noticed, there are many students missing today," Dumbledore started, "the reason for their absence is quite terrible. During the very early hours of this morning, Death Eaters were able to enter the grounds." Many whispers were heard around the students before Dumbledore continued, "They were searching for all the Muggle-Borns and somehow, were able to get most of our Muggle-Borns out of their common rooms and into the Room of Requirements." There were many whispers such as, "What's the Room of Requirements?"
"Sadly, there were some unlucky few that didn't survive, we will be having a memorial dinner for those few tonight a little bit later than our usual dinner. You are all expected to be there.
We're not sure how many Death Eaters there were, but we can assure you that only a couple survived and were able to escape. If any of you know anything about how they were able to come into the grounds or anything else related to this upsetting event, then let us know immediately."
The feeling of the stares disappeared as soon as Dumbledore had finished his speech. Many cries were heard throughout the room, most likely from those who had lost someone they knew. The rest of breakfast was silent other than the small sounds of people crying over their loved ones.

After we had our breakfast, Harry, Ron and I made our way to Transfigurations. There were a few Slytherin's who I heard talking about me as we walked past them. I caught the words 'whore', 'slut' and 'attention seeking' as I walked past Pansy Parkinson and two other girls I couldn't remember the names of. I stopped in my track and turned towards her with an annoyed and hurt look on my face. Pansy stared at me in hatred as I closed most of the gab that was left between us.
"Pansy, if I was an attention seeker, like you, then I'm sure I would have already followed practically everyone in the whole school around and screamed for attention by now. And how am I a whore? I've had sex once! Unlike you, I actually do it with someone I love. Not just someone with legs." I didn't wait for Pansy or either of the two other girls to respond to my sudden outburst, I just grabbed Ron's hand and dragged him to our lesson, with Harry trailing closely behind us.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, you looked like you were about to rip her head off!" Ron laughed as we took our seats in the empty classroom. We were the only ones inside because I wanted to come early so people wouldn't stare at me as much.
"Ron, I'm pregnant. It was obviously the hormones!" I told him taking out my books and quill. Harry was laughing at us whilst he took out his own books and quill.

Professor McGonagall came in a few minutes later and told us, to Ron's dismay, that we might as well practice a few spells while we wait for the rest of the students.
I searched for my wand for at least five minutes before remembering that I had lost it. I let out a loud groan and threw my bag under my table.
"Is there a problem, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked from behind her desk.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I've lost my wand." I told her, "I know I had it yesterday and I distinctly remember putting it on my bedside table last night, but now I have no idea where it is."

Professor McGonagall sighed through her nose before saying, "If you have an idea where it might be, then I can give you permission to go and look for it. But if you haven't found it within twenty minutes, then you will just have to do some work that doesn't include your wand, Miss Granger." I nodded, thanked her and left the classroom whilst everyone else was barging in.
I bumped into a few people as I tried getting out of the room, to which some people (presumably Slytherins) shouted at me and told me to watch where I'm going with my fat arse. I just ignored them and finally got out of the stuffy room.

I tried recalling what I had done last night. I had dinner with Ginny, Harry and Ron. Went to bed – after putting my wand on the bedside table. Woke up earlier than everyone else. Walked out of the dorm. That was all I could remember. It was frustrating me knowing that I hadn't done anything that involved my wand before I went to be. But where was I going to before the other girls woke up?

Before I knew it, I was saying the password to the Fat Lady and walking into my common room. I didn't even know that I was heading that way; I just let my legs take me wherever whilst I thought of where my wand could be. I didn't take notice of whether anybody was in the common room; I just wanted to find my wand.

I searched under my bed, behind the bedside table and under the bedside table. It was when I was searching inside the small drawers the bedside table had that I saw something that made my mind have some sort of flashback. It was a much scrunched up piece of paper with curly writing in the middle of it.

I was sitting in the library on my own after finishing off a piece of homework about creatures of the magical world. I was just about to pack my books away when a small piece of paper landed in front of me. I was unsure of whether I should open it or not but I eventually did.

Prefects' Bathroom
12.30 sharp
Or else all will be told.

That's where I must have been going when I woke up earlier than everyone else. I then remember a small bit of what happened after I left.

I whispered the password to the door of the Prefects Bathroom, letting me inside. The door slammed shut, louder than it usually would when it closed automatically. I knew then that there was definitely someone in the bathroom with me.

"You chose the right option." Someone whispered into my ear.

And that was all I could remember, no matter how much I tried. It was hopeless. Then something hit me. Maybe my wand was in the bathroom! I rushed out of my dorm, note still in hand, and ran as I fast as I could without being told off my some paintings I was passing, and hoping not to bump into Snape. If I did bump into Professor Snape, I wouldn't just get a lecture of why I shouldn't be running around school (and he'd probably ask me why I wasn't in class and not believe my reason), but I'd also be in trouble with Professor McGonagall for taking longer than twenty minutes.

The corridors were empty and deserted other than the odd small spider running around. I felt a little out of place being the only one walking through them, and the sound of my shoes hitting the hard floor echoing around me was starting to annoy me.
The usual five minute walk to the bathroom felt as though I'd gone way past the amount of time McGonagall had given me. It felt longer being on my own. I was also more anxious because I could picture a Death Eater following me to where I was going and hitting me with the Killing Curse whenever I least expected it. This thought made me quicken up my pace.

As soon as I was close enough for the door to hear me, I said "Pine Fresh" and walked right inside the bathroom. It was colder than it usually was, but I didn't take that much notice as my mind was set on finding my wand. I first checked where I thought I woke up this morning; I remembered seeing the door first so it must have been near where I was standing. I must have been searching around the room for quite a while because my legs were beginning to really ache. It was no use. I'd lost my wand. My wand was a piece of me, it was like Mr Ollivander had told every wizard when they got their first wand; the wand chooses the wizard. It was like I had lost a tiny piece of myself. I'd never lost it before and when I did, I felt like I couldn't do anything.

I checked the time on my watch I'd gotten off my parents for Christmas two years ago, it was almost twenty past nine. If I didn't leave now, then McGonagall wouldn't trust me again! Okay, that might not be true, but I really didn't want to be longer than the time she'd told me.
I let out a loud sigh, putting every emotion I felt at this minute into that one sound; annoyance, confusion, tiredness, angriness.

After closing the door behind me, I headed back to Transfigurations.

The noise of my shoes hitting the floor as I walked along it started annoying me again. I was actually going to take them off and throw them at something, but, fortunately, I reached Transfigurations first.

I checked the time before I entered. It was nearly half past nine now. I opened the door and all eyes were on me as soon as they heard someone step inside the room. Ron and Harry turned back to what they were doing when they saw it was me but nobody else did, they all thought I was late for another reason than looking for my wand. Which was very strange for me, I was never late for lessons. I spotted Professor McGonagall, ignoring the people staring, and said, "I'm sorry, Professor, but I couldn't find my wand. I have no idea where it could possibly be!"

Professor McGonagall nodded in understanding as I took my seat next to Luna. My bag and books were still where I'd left them half an hour ago. Something strange told me I had to check whether they were still there. Luna was gazing at nothing with a slight smile on her face in her own little world. It always made me smile whenever I saw her in her own little world where nothing mattered. I sometimes wish I was like her; she could always stay calm in every situation and would always find some way to keep others calm when we were in bad situations. In our fifth year, when a bunch of us went to the Ministry of Magic, she stayed calm throughout the whole night – even when we were being chased by Death Eaters.

I grabbed my quill and a piece of parchment and set them in front of me. If I wouldn't be able to do my work now, then I'd just have to do it during one of my free periods when I do have my wand. And trust me, I'd make sure I had my wand.
"Luna?" she looked to me, still with a dazed look on her face. "What were you practicing before I came in?" I asked her because she looked like the only one who'd accomplished what was set, everyone else was practically screaming at their wands and Luna was just sat there with a smile on her face.

"We were trying to change several books into a china set." She told me in her sing-song voice. "Here I'll demonstrate so you can write it down, what I'm doing." I nodded, signalling for her start.

I wrote down and did a little diagram of how she flicked her wand and the words she said. And as soon as the words left her mouth, the stack of books in front of her transformed into a china set. A very beautiful china set.

Luna showed me a few more times so I'd know exactly what she was saying and check if I'd written everything down correctly. Ron and Harry weren't having any luck with their spells; the most Harry had done was change the colour of a few of the books, but Ron's books still hadn't changed one bit. I continued looking around to see how people were doing, since I had nothing else to do, until my eyes stopped at something peculiar.

My eyes had stopped on Malfoy's bag that was sat near his feet. There was a piece of wood sticking out at the side. I thought it was his wand at first, then I realised he'd obviously be using it to transform the books. I focused my eyes more closely without looking as though I was actually doing something and recognized the colour. It was a very light colour of brown, almost beige, and was very slightly darker at the very tip. I gasped when I realised what it was. It was my wand. My wand! He had m-how di-why did he have my wand?

"You've got my wand!" I shouted at Malfoy before even thinking before I spoke. The whole class looked at me to see who I was shouting at and then their eyes moved over to Malfoy who was on the row next to me and Luna. Malfoy stared at me in shock for a few seconds before covering it up with a confused expression before anybody else but me noticed.

"I have no idea what you're on about, Granger." He scoffed and turned back to his work. I noticed that he'd pulled his bag closer to him with his foot. He didn't realise that his little move had made my wand stick out even more than it previously had.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I can see it right there!" I pointed at my wand poking out of his bag, "In your bag!"

Everyone in the room looked to where I was pointing and there were a few whispers. Professor McGonagall strode over to Malfoy and told him to empty his bag out onto the desk. The anger was building up inside him, I could see it. It was also building up inside me when I finally realised what had happened last night.

"You chose the right option." Someone whispered into my ear. I recognised the voice immediately and turned around quickly so I was facing them.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" I almost shouted. I wrapped my hand around my wand just in case he tried to hit me with a spell when he though I wasn't expecting it.
We both looked at my stomach which I had forgotten to disguise with the spell Dumbledore had given me at the beginning of the year. I couldn't understand how he'd found out. I knew that I could trust Ron, Harry and Ginny with my life and I knew that none of the teachers of Madam Pomfrey would have told him – or anyone else for that matter. "How did you find out?"

Malfoy gave me an evil laugh. "I slipped a little Veritaserum in your friend Weasley's drink, she told me every secret about you and then I wiped her memory so she wouldn't think she was the one who told me." There was another evil laugh as he began circling me. My hand gripped tighter around my wand. "Once I kill you anyway, everyone will find out your precious little secret."

The next thing I remember was my hair being gripped roughly by his hand and one of my hands holding his, trying to release his grip from my hair, and the other one holding my wand at his genitals. "Let me go or I'll make sure you never get to use these for what they're for." I threatened through gritted teeth.

"Try me."

I hit him hard with my wand and tried to run off, away from him and back into my safe bed. Before I could make it though, Malfoy shouted, "S-stupefy!"
I hit the floor, smacking my head on something hard making me black out.

"It was you." I whispered, more to myself than to Malfoy. "It was you!" this time I screamed it in his face as McGonagall took my wand that was now on the desk in front of him. Malfoy was truly confused with what I had just said to him. I didn't let him say anything to me before I screamed at him some more, "You're the one who sent me those notes! Blackmailing me! You told me to go to the Prefects' Bathroom last night! You're the reason people are now seeing that I'm pregnant! You tried to kill me while the other Death Eaters went to kill all the other muggle-borns!" tears were pouring out of my eyes through anger.

"It was you."

A/N: Okay, I'm really soory for the REALLY long update! I know I said I'd update more frequently, I dont know why I didnt. I updated my last chapter at the beginning of the summer holidays (I think) and I go back to school next week and two chapter within six weeks isnt good... :(
I tried to make this one extra long for not updating in a while :) It's 5,182 words and I think that's pretty long! :)

PLEASE REVIEW! :)

And I need to ask you something! Dont go yet! I need you to answer this question first!

Well, when I'm reading some fanfiction, some people are saying something like "...and thanks to (whoever) for beta-ing this story!" or something like that. I just wanted to know what that was? I've seen it on a lot and just wanted to know what it was :)

REVIEW AND ANSWER MY QUESTION! :D