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Ch.21
Draco pulled Hermione over to the bed and sat her down, letting her cry in his arms. "Its okay, its over now." He said softly. "What about others? What if there are more looking for us? What if we don't get so lucky next time?" Hermione cried, feeling vulnerable and afraid.
"Well, if there are more involved in all of this, then McGonagall will get it out of my father. I think its over now." Draco said, hoping that it was the truth.
Hermione slowly began to calm down, though it took a lot of soft talking and time. When she finally wiped away the last of the tears, she sat up and looked at Draco. "This has been such a horrible night." she said sadly, feeling too tired to really care about it anymore.
"Lets just hope that its all over now." Draco said, kissing her forehead. "Yeah, I don't think I can handle more crazy witches and wizards chasing after us for the rest of our lives." Hermione said with a weak smile.
She really hoped that it was all over, she didn't think that she would be able to handle much more of this.
Hermione put her hand softly on her stomach, hoping that the worst was over now for his sake. She did not want him to know the prejudice of people. Also, if there did happen to be anyone else after them, then their child would never have peace. She did not want that for him, ever.
"Is something wrong?" Draco asked, seeing her touching her stomach lightly. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong with the baby, its just, what happens if we never get away from people like that? What does that mean for him?" Hermione asked pointing to her stomach.
"That means that we will love our child and keep him away from people that would try to hurt him, whether by words or actions." Draco said calmly.
Hermione smiled at him slightly. He really knew what to say to her when she lost her cool. "I love you Draco." Hermione whispered, feeling slightly better now. "I love you too." He said with a smile.
They sat there in silence for a long while, both waiting for McGonagall to come back to them. It was a comfortable silence for both of them, both reflecting on the hard times that they hope had past now.
About an hour later, McGonagall came through the doorway with a smile. "It seems, Lucius has been the real culprit in all of this. He was put under a truth potion, and he told us everything. It seems that Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were the ones that wrote him in the first place, telling him about the two of you. That was what made him come to the school in the first place." McGonagall started.
Draco felt anger grow in him for the two Slytherins, but said nothing, wanting to hear everything McGonagall had to say.
"When his fears were confirmed, he decided to come after the two of you, but thankfully, we were a step ahead of him, and you were already safe. He band together some of the old Death Eaters he still had contact with, and had Zabini and Nott watching the school, waiting for some sign of the two of you. When they found out that you were pregnant, it seems that was when they added Mr. Weasley to their ranks." McGonagall continued.
Hermione felt sadness grip her. Ron had joined the ranks of those that hated them because he had wanted her, but could not have her. When she had gotten pregnant, Ron had decided to give up, and that was what led him to do what he did.
"They spied on me, waiting for a slip up, and when they found one, they followed me to the cottage. That was how they knew you were there. It is my fault that they followed us here, I was afraid, so I forgot myself, not putting up intruder traps and such. When they knew you were here, they informed Lucius. That is how we came to tonight. He watched you for a week and then he attacked. Mr. Weasley admitted to following him, wanting to finish you off if Lucius failed." McGonagall finished sadly.
No one said anything for a long moment, trying to let her words sink into them. "What happens now?" Draco said, looking up at McGonagall. "Well, right now, the Ministry is rounding up the rest of those involved, they will be easy, Lucius gave us all of their locations, so after tonight, I would say that you are both free." McGonagall said with a smile.
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, their grins saying it all. They would no longer have to worry about anyone coming after them. They were free to go wherever they liked and they could do anything now. They were finally safe from those wanting to cause them harm.
"Now, I am going to go back to the Ministry, help them any way that I can. I will return in the morning, let you know how everything went. I suggest you both get some rest, it has been a long night." McGonagall said, leaving the room.
Hermione and Draco sat there for a long moment, letting it sink in that after tonight, they were free from everything. Draco kissed Hermione hard, just realizing that now, he would be able to spend his life with her, not worrying about who might be after them.
Hermione giggled and kissed him back, letting herself feel him around her, both lost in their happiness.
"I love you." Draco said, looking down at her. "I love you too." Hermione said. Draco seen how tired she looked and pulled her down to lay down next to him. He pulled the covers over both of them, and then pulled her to him tightly.
"Go to sleep, I want you to get your rest." Draco said, kissing her cheek. Hermione, who had already closed her eyes, mumbled something Draco couldn't understand, as she slowly drifted off. Draco smiled at her, loving that they would be together forever. He watched her sleep, until finally he fell asleep, both in a deep sleep, happy that for once, they didn't have to worry as much about getting attacked in their sleep.
Hermione woke slowly, the next morning, feeling well rested, and relaxed. It took her a long moment to realize why she felt this way. When the events of the night before flooded back into her mind, she sat up quickly, realizing what had happened all over again.
Draco woke as soon as she sat up, looking around to find if there was anything out of place. When he found nothing, he sat up and held onto her. "Good morning." He said, kissing the back of her neck. "Good morning to you." Hermione sighed, feeling more alive then she had in months.
Draco pulled her around to face him and kissed her softly. Hermione did not let him break the kiss, wanting to finish what they had started last night, before everything had gone bad.
He grinned, pulling her down onto him as he laid back down. Hermione kissed his neck, nibbling slightly as she made her way down his body.
Over the past couple of months, Hermione had learned him well, and Draco loved it. She knew exactly where and when to touch him to turn him on and he loved every second of it. They were both so lost in the passion, that neither of them noticed McGonagall standing there until she cleared her throat.
They both looked up suddenly, and realizing who it was, jumped apart and off the bed, both more embarrassed then any other time before.
"I'll be waiting downstairs until you both get ready for the day." McGonagall said, trying desperately to keep a straight face. She had not meant to walk in on them, but she had not imagined they would be doing that. Then again, obviously they did do that, she was pregnant. She walked out without a word, too embarrassed to look at either one of them now.
"Oh my god! That was horrible!" Hermione said, blushing deeply and hiding her face, laughing the whole time. Draco could only shake his head and began dressing for the day. When Hermione could finally stop laughing, she too got ready for the day, hoping she would be able to keep a straight face during their time with McGonagall now.
"Are you ready?" Draco asked, causing her to laugh again. "This is horrible!" Hermione said as they went out the door. "It could be worse." Draco said with a grin. "How is that?" Hermione asked as they went towards the stairs. "She could have come in five minutes later." Draco said then chuckled at the look on Hermione's face.
When they made it to the sitting room, McGonagall was there, waiting for them, breakfast on the table, waiting for them.
They thanked her and ate, trying not to look at the older woman. That was one of the most embarrassing times in any of their lives, and they really just wanted to forget it.
When they were both finished eating, they waited for McGonagall to tell them what was to be of their future.
"It has been a long night for everyone, and I want to start by telling you how sorry I really am for everything that has happened. You two have been through more now then many people could ever dream of, and for that, I am sorry. Now I am happy to say, that since everything happened so fast, and with Lucius, unwilling help, under the influence of a truth potion, we have captured all those that have been involved in any way." McGonagall started, a small smile on her face.
Hermione felt relief wash over her, it was over, all of it. "Now there are still trials and things like that, but you needn't worry yourselves. No one expect you to speak at these trials, we have gotten all the information from you that we need, so you don't have to worry. Those who have done wrong, or done things intent to do wrong will be punished." McGonagall said happily.
"So what happens now?" Draco asked. They were free, but where did they go from here? He didn't think school was an option, Hermione was getting more pregnant as the days passed, and he did not want her to have to go through that. He knew that all the money and property that belonged to his father was now his, but what did that mean?
Where would Hermione want to be now? He didn't know, but really, did it matter to him at all? As long as he was with her, what did it matter where they were now?
"Well, that is what we need to decide. You could come back to the school if you wish, there is still time to finish the school year there." McGonagall said hopefully, knowing that them going back to the school was not going to happen, but she had to give them that option.
Draco looked over at Hermione, and knew in an instant that was not where she wanted to be. "I don't think that is really an option. So much attention there, too many questions, I don't think that would be a good idea." Draco said, shaking his head.
When he looked back at Hermione, she looked relieved and knew that he had been right about her not wanting to go back either.
"I thought you would say that. That is not a problem, but, now we need to figure out what to do then. Do any of you have any idea what you really want to do?" McGonagall asked with a soft smile. She had really hoped, but it seemed that their school years were truly over.
Hermione thought for a long moment, not really sure what to do. She had not thought about it all that much yet, everything happening so fast. She looked over at Draco and realized, really, it didn't matter to her. As long as they were together, it didn't matter if they were in a cave somewhere, though she hoped that was not where they would end up together.