Chapter 28

Hermione sighed as she sat down at the table she had become all too familiar with during the last year. It seemed as if she spent so much of her time lately at it, with Draco, and she knew that her friends had started to notice.

The number of times they had come looking for her, wondering why she wasn't in the library like she claimed to be was beginning to pique their interest, as they would question her from time to time about where she truly was.

She had managed to brush them off, while avoiding eye contact with Ginny, as she claimed she was probably in a back corner looking for some specific book or the other, which she always did actually get checked out to her name later on. She knew her friends would not question her enough to see if she had indeed possessed whatever book she claimed to have been looking for, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Because while she loved Harry and Ron, she knew all too well that nothing good would come out of telling them about her relationship with Draco Malfoy. Especially since Ron and Lavender seemed to be on rocks lately, which someone Lavender screeched at her, claiming to be her fault.

Hermione honestly wasn't all that sure how she came to that conclusion, given the fact that she hadn't exactly done anything to indicate that she had feelings for Ron. She wondered if Ron was trying to pull away on his own, and seemed to be finally coming around on his feelings for her.

And there was a time she would have been ecstatic. She had cared for him for the past few years, and while they were both too immature to act on their feelings, she had always believed that one they would be together. But that was before she moved on and feel for Draco, before Ron started seeing Lavender. And since that time, the dream had long since left her mind, as it was no longer what she imagined her future full of any longer.

However it seemed that another guy, other than Ron, seemed to be annoying her to no end lately.

"What happened?" Draco asked, looking up from his Potions essay as she sat beside him. He looked slightly concerned when she sat beside him, looking worn out.

"Cormac McLaggen," she sighed again as she buried her face in her hands. "I can't even walk into the Common Room without him approaching me. Thank Merlin he's not in half my classes or I would go absolutely insane."

"What did he do now?" he asked, looking annoyed.

Ever since she had accompanied the Gryffindor to Slughorn's Christmas party, Cormac had gotten it in his head that she had feelings for him, and kept trying to approach her about it. It didn't matter how many times she turned him down, or how many times she had let him know she wasn't interested in him. He just didn't seem to get the hint.

It had annoyed Draco, knowing his girlfriend had gone with someone else to the ball, and she had reminded him that it was only because she had no choice on the matter, as Slughorn all but insisted they bring dates.

"He's trying to convince me to attend Hogsmeade with him this weekend," Hermione sighed, as she leaned against Draco. "I swear, if he asks one more time, I'll hex him."

"You could go, you know," he told her softly, as he rubbed her back. She stiffened in his arms and he clarified, "Hogsmeade, I mean. You don't need to skip the weekend just because we can't go together. You could always attend with your friends.

"I know," she sighed, "Harry and Ron want me to go with them. Apparently I need a break from studying."

"You do," he grinned as he kissed her cheek tenderly, "The last thing I want is to isolate you from your friends."

"Even though you hate them?" she asked, smiling softly.

"I might dislike Potter and Weasley, but you care about them. And I would never make you push them away for me," He told her gently.

"I know," she said, before cupping his face in her hands and kissing him tenderly.

"I could attend as well," he said softly, "Maybe we might run into each other accidently while we're there."

"I wish we could go together," she said, leaning into him lightly. "Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with you here. But I still wish I could spend time with you in public without fear that it would get out to either side and put us in danger."

"Maybe one day," he told her softly, "We would be able to walk down the street and hold each other, without fear."

She smiled at the thought. The war was still brewing out there, and they both knew that it was not a dream either of them would see any time soon.


She knew something was wrong from the moment she woke up. It was as if a part of her had been altered, like she was missing something, and she sat up quickly, wondering why she felt as if she had lost something big.

"Easy there, Miss Granger," she heard a voice say, and she looked up to see a Healer standing above her, as he cast a few diagnostic spells upon her.

"Hermione," Draco's voice carried, as he looked at her with worry. "Merlin, I thought I lost you for a moment." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"What happened?" she asked, and Draco looked at the Healer as well, wondering just what had happened when she had been poisoned.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Draco said softly, "She never should have been able to make it past the security wards, let alone past all the Aurors into your room. I never would have been able to forgive myself if she hurt you.

"Who was it?" she asked, looking at Draco desperately, wondering why someone had come after her.

"Astoria," he spat out, "I should have known she wouldn't have just accepted it when I told her I didn't want to be with her. She always was greedy and wanted more. She never should have been able to come in her and hurt you the way she did. She never should have even been allowed to have gotten close enough to you to look at you. You nearly died!" his voice broke at the last part, and she knew he was feeling guilty over it.

"It wasn't your fault," she reassured him softly, "It's not your fault that this happened, Draco. It wasn't anything you could have known about or prevented."

She looked up at the Healer, "What did she poison me with?" she asked, trying to prevent her voice from shaking. She might have been alive, but it didn't mean that she didn't know something was wrong. She could still feel it, inside of her, that something was different. Something had shifted, and now she felt off.

"The potion she gave you was from the Black Market," the Healer said softly, "It's been banned for centuries due to the extreme nature of the potion, and the fact that it's always been used for malicious purposes. I have no idea how she manage to get her hands on it."

"What is it?" Draco asked, tightening his hold on her in worry.

"Infertility Potion," the healer said softly, "The potion is meant to break down your reproductive organs such that it becomes extremely difficult to have a child. I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but the chances of you having another child is minimal."

She felt her heart stop at that, as Draco looked at the Healer in shock.

"And it cannot be reversed?" he asked, looking stunned.

The Healer shook her head, "The Potion is brewed such that it cannot be reversed. It was the reason it was banned in the first place, as we have far safer, and reversible options to prevent pregnancies if needed. The potion is dangerous, because it also endangers the woman's life, and in certain cases can be life threatening."

She felt tears well at her eyes as she clutched her stomach, and the Healer informed them that she would be available should they need anything. But the words went straight over her head as she cried in pain over the loss she felt.

"It's going to be okay," Draco soothed her, pulling her into his chest, and she tried to take comfort in his words and his warmth, but nothing was able to reduce the pain she was feeling, as if she had lost a part of herself. She had always wanted a large family, for Rose to have siblings, and in a moment that dream had been taken away from her forever.

She cried against Draco and he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her, but nothing could take away the pain she felt.


Harry stared at the woman opposite to him in the interrogation room, trying to keep calm as he looked the person who had tried to harm the woman he considered to be a sister. He was absolutely furious that such a thing would happen, mere days after she went through an ordeal with the kidnapping. She had just survived, only to be harmed again.

Draco was one of his closest friends, and his partner, however it seemed as if nearly everyone in his life were trying to keep him and Hermione apart. And it infuriated him. He didn't blame Draco of course, his friend merely wanted happiness, and that was all Harry wanted for him.

She had been in the interrogation room for a few hours while Harry allowed her to sit, trying to see if it would weaken her resolve and get her to talk. But she looked as poised as ever, as if the wait didn't seem to bother her one bit.

He had heard from Draco that Hermione had been stabilized, and for that he was grateful. He couldn't lose Hermione, not after everything they've been through together. She had fought by his side since they were eleven; he loved her.

"Why did you slip into Hermione Granger's room?" Harry asked the woman, as he stared her in the eyes. "What was in the potion you gave her?"

"Her ruination," Astoria gave him a smile. "Something to ensure that I got my way once and for all."

"By what means?" Harry asked her again, "What did you give her?"

"Infertility potion," Astoria shrugged, and when Harry looked at her shocked, she responded again, "You would have found out in a few hours. The potion isn't meant to kill her, I ensured the dosage. It's enough to ensure that she would never be able to have kids once more."

"Why?" Harry asked, furious. He knew such a thing would devastate his friend, and it broke his heart to know that the woman across from him had done something so horrid to her.

"Because her death wouldn't be enough to send Draco into my arms, not if it were by my hand," Astoria sneered. "Lucius failed his side of the bargain. I was supposed to be there to comfort Draco when she died. But he failed and got himself arrested. So I set forth to ruin her another way."

"Why do you think this would be enough to break them apart?" Harry asked, trying to remain calm as she spoke.

"Because if she doesn't manage to push him away now, then eventually their relationship would still shatter anyways. She cannot provide him an heir to his line, other than through her daughter, a Weasley. The world would stop spinning the day a Malfoy named a Weasley their heir. She cannot give him children of her own, and such a thing, regardless of his stance now, would eventually break them apart. He would either leave her, or grow to hate her. And even if he stays with her, the resentment would drive him out of her arms, and into mine."

"So you could give him a child, even if he were still with her?" Harry asked in disgust. "You've settled on being his Mistress?"

"I wouldn't be for long," Astoria gave him a calculated look. "Society would demand he marry me, and as he would have no heirs with Hermione by that point, he would be forced to leave her. But he wouldn't care by that point anyways. The resentment he would feel for her would be more than enough to push him straight into my path."

"You're assuming that Draco would care enough about the fact that he cannot have children with Hermione," Harry reminded her, "It'll break both of their hearts, but at the end of the day they love each other, and they are stronger together. They'll get through it, and move forward together, and it would only make them stronger for it. You're assuming Draco could ever hate her, and for that you're wrong. He's been in love with her since their sixth year, never unwavering, even when she was married, even when he tried to move on. And despite her marriage, a part of her has always loved him as well. You've hurt them both significantly, and if you think Draco could ever leave her, especially for you, after what you've done, you're greatly mistaken, Astoria Greengrass. Besides, the number of charges I can now throw at you, such as Conspiracy to Murder, Attempted Murder through the use of a banned potion, Possession of an Illicit Substance, Line Theft if Draco wishes to add that charge, Unauthorized Impersonation through use of the Polyjuice Potion, and these are all off the top of my head. I'm sure when we look into all your wrongdoings through further investigation, we'll find more charges to add. And with these charges, I can guarantee you that you will not be leaving Azkaban in the near future, nor will you ever get close enough to Draco Malfoy to ever even glance at him, let alone procreate with him," Harry finished in disgust. "I assure you, neither of them will want anything to do with you after this."

He motioned to the Aurors in the room to take her back to her holding cell. She would have her trial soon enough, but for now, he needed to get out of there and see Hermione.


Hermione stared at the walls in her hospital room, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had cried for the better part of the afternoon, furious at the loss of a choice over future children. It hadn't been something she had discussed with Draco in the past, but it had always been an option for her to have more kids if she so wanted it.

But now that choice had been ripped away from her, before she even had the chance to consider if it were something she wanted. And all of a sudden it felt as if she had no control over her future or her life.

Would Draco grow to hate her, because she would be unable to have any more children? She knew he loved Rose dearly, as if she were her own, but how could she ask a man to help raise someone else's child without being able to give him any more of his own?

She knew, in the rational part of her mind that Draco could never begrudge her for such a thing, and that he loved Rose. But the pain she felt right now made it hard to see beyond it and to use reasoning. Because it was still devastating, knowing that she didn't have the option to have more children, even if she wanted to. Because of a selfish girl who wanted Draco so badly, Hermione was suffering, they both were. Because Greengrass couldn't put her own happiness aside, that she would stoop to such low methods.

She was glad that Draco had left for the moment, because honestly, she couldn't bear to see him right now, not after everything that had happened. Not after the pain she felt. She needed some time away from him, to process what it meant for them, and their future, and what it would mean from now on.

"Hermione," she heard a soft voice call out, and saw Harry standing there, looking grateful to see her alive. But the potion was never meant to kill her, was it; just break her.

He climbed beside her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her. She pressed her head against his chest, glad that he had come.

"She will not get away with this," Harry promised her, "With the charges that she's facing, she's looking at life in Azkaban. No amount of money she throws at this will be able to make it go away. Not after what she'd done."

She felt a small amount of relief at that, knowing that at least the person who was responsible for breaking her heart would not be able to get away with it scot free.

"I can't have kids anymore," she said, sniffling slightly, and Harry pulled her against him tightly, "I wanted a big family Harry. It was so lonely growing up by myself, with parents who barely understood me and with kids at school who hated me. I didn't want my children to be alone. I wanted them to have siblings to love and play with. I wanted them to have that much, Harry."

A tear slipped down her face and Harry wiped it away, "Rose will never be alone," Harry promised her, "She already had a mother who would go to the end of the world for her. She has more cousins than she can count, and if the Weasleys are anything, it's a massive family with plenty of love to go around. She'll never be alone, Hermione, I promise you. Even if she cannot have siblings, she'll have you and she'll have Draco. She'll always be loved and never know loneliness, I promise."

He kissed her forehead, and she tried to take comfort in his words, but it didn't change the fact that she was still terrified that Draco would not react the same, and that her fears would come to pass.


A/N: It broke my heart to write this chapter, and to break Hermione's heart as such. She needs time to grieve now, and to accept what this means for her life.