Message to all of my readers: When I said I may take a break after Chapter 37, that was a may - not a definite yes or no. So I got a good response and decided to finish.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Draco Breaks Stuff

Draco left a few days later, and he never managed to tell Hermione that he loved her.

Now there's a gargantuan difference in types of love. The ways in which Draco loved his eagle and the ways in which he loved his mother and now her. Not so much the kind of love he'd heard Narcissa talk about in trashy wizard romance novels. He could eat, and he could sleep.

But whenever he thought about someone hurting her or the baby or ruining what they were, he got the urge the rip of that person's head and gouge out their eyes and do all sorts of unholy things to them. So, yeah, he thought, maybe he loved her.

Christmas break was in a few days. Ron was getting rather tired of Draco's somewhat obvious possessive nature when it came to Hermione and the baby. The four of them (Draco, Ron, Harry, and Ginny) had been working hard to keep the baby a secret, but Pansy always seemed to be ready to spill the beans at any moment.

All of the anticipation actually ended up entertaining Draco. According to Hermione's letters, she was getting huge, and his father was getting more and more paranoid about the baby. She even had what she called "tailers" which were these two guys whose job it was to just watch her all day and make sure she didn't do anything too dangerous. Even Draco's death eater mark twinged every now and then with excitement, and he knew the Dark Lord was awaiting the baby's mid-January arrival. Despite everyone's dismally low expectations, Draco soon found himself with all rather high marks on his tests and was packing up his things in his room when he heard the distinct sound of the boor behind him slamming shut. He sighed, and gripped the wand by his side.

"If you're from the ministry, go ahead and test me because I'm clean."

"You know, your pathetic attempts at intimidation are sorely disappointing," he heard, and turned around to face Pansy.

"What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Look, Pans, just get out of my room okay? I've got to Floo out of here to somewhere in Diagon Alley where I can then apparate to my house to make sure that my pregnant girlfriend is okay."

"Your what?"

"My what?"

"You just called her your girlfriend."

"Well, my bad. I guess I just assumed with the fact that she doesn't hate me and she's not a whore and she's having my kid to sort of be a girlfriend-like attribute."

"Oh," she said, looking down. "How's the baby?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Just please, go back to your boyfriend and leave me alone."

"Draco-"

"Pansy, get out."

"Draco!" And Draco, for the first time since his birthday felt the nearly uncontrollable urge to pan her head in. But he simply gripped his fist tighter, and stared at her.

"I am going home, okay? I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to associate with you any more."

"Draco, I am sick of all of this make-up break up bollocks!"

"Well let's just call it break up bollocks for now, okay? I am sick of you and your neediness and your hatred of the one girl who ever really cared about me and gave a damn whether or not I had a huge fucking black eye on my face after I talked to my dad. You never noticed as long as I was shagging you until you went blind. So we're over now. I am going home, and in one month, I will be a father and far too busy to waste my time beating old girlfriends away, alright?"

"Did you just break up with me?"

"When were we together? I think we broke up when you fucked Blaise," Draco said, feeling the white spots he'd created on his knuckles start to fade away as the grip on his fist loosened. "Have a happy Christmas."

Hermione couldn't run anymore. She more or less waddled very quickly from place to place as the baby inside of her stomach kept announcing its up-and-coming entry into the world by kicking the living shite out of her at every chance. Now Gertie, Hermione's wizard midwife, was also staying at the manor along with Nanette and Jolein and the two tailers, whom Hermione had heard to be named Horace and Jasper. Gertie had even taken to sleeping on a cot outside of her bedroom in case – Merlin forbid – Hermione went into labor at three or so in the morning. When she did, however, Lord Voldemort would immediately be sent for, along with Draco if he were at school.

Draco, however, blew into the house that night on cloud nine, nearly prancing. He swing around the pillars inside the corridor as Hermione and Lucius ate dinner for the billionth time in an achingly awkward silence. He kissed the top of her head and nodded a cheeky "what-up" to his father.

"Hello, family! Who puts the fun in dysfunctional?"

"We do," Hermione said, laughing and recalling one of Draco's past letters. Lucius stared them both down.

"So I trust you got satisfactory marks. You seem chipper."

"I did and I am because I finally managed to come to a very perky yet sobering conclusion."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Hermione," he said, turning to her. "I love you."

"What?" She said, and Lucius choked on the bit of vegetable in his mouth. He kissed her and ran off to his room. His father made a motion but Hermione stood up and followed him quickly. Anger was flooding through her. How dare he do this! How DARE he complicate matters so much. She swung his bedroom doors open as he started to unpack.

"Why would you do that?"

"What?"

"Why did you say that?"

"I felt it."

"You are an asshole, you know that?!"

"Excuse me?"

"I have been sitting at your house for the last four months, being bored out of my damn mind, and you just come back and fuck it all up?"

"What?"

"It was easy to put up with all of this crap while I was hating you, but the last thing I need is for you to tell me you love me and complicate it!"

"Why?"

"Because I'll miss you when you leave because I love you, too!"

Harry was lying in bed, at the Weasley's – of course in a room very far from Ginny's. After Ron had found out about the pregnancy, the rivalry between Harry and the Weasleys had greatly decreased.

Ron couldn't stop talking about her and the baby ever since he'd seen her at the platform. Harry was amazed at his less-than-satisfactory marks. Ron had always gotten much-less-than-satisfactory and Harry was sure that he'd get lower without Hermione's assistance. But Ron had somehow managed to pull through with pretty good scores – for him.

He wondered what Hermione was planning to do when the baby came. Would she go back to school? Would she bring the baby to live with her and her parents? Would she get back together with Ron?

Hermione stood there steamingly angry with Draco for complicating her world.

"You can't get mad at me for saying that I love you and then say it right back."

"Yes I can!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! Will you just shut up?!"

"Ow!" Hermione suddenly cried out.

"What now?" He asked, and saw her face suddenly go white pale as her hand went directly for her bulging abdomen. "What happened?"

"You broke my water."

Review! Just a quick note to all of my readers. I am starting my freshman year in college, so my updates may become less frequent, but don't worry! I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY!!!