Chapter 19

" Read it again, I think I have something," Ron was pacing back and forth behind his mother's squashed and comfortable couch, where Ginny and Hermione sat.

Ginny complied, reading out the prophecy again in her loud, clear voice while bouncing Jamie on her knee.

Ron kept pacing for a long moment, before coming around the couch and slumping into a worn out wing back, " No, I've got nothing. I wish we had more information."

" You're telling me," Hermione concurred, taking a healthy sip of the wine Ginny had poured. They'd set to the task as soon as Hermione had had time to explain everything that had happened.

" Are you sure it's Malfoy?" Harry asked hopefully, for about the fifth time.

" This, with the Maritare charm? It's too much to ignore," Ginny shook her head, " It's him for sure." She set the paper on the couch and rubbed Hermione's free hand for comfort.

" There's no point wishing for what might have been," Hermione said with a quaver in her voice,

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out. She was exhausted. She wanted to wrap herself up in bed with a drop of dreamless sleep and her cat. She wanted to rewind her life to Sunday and live out that last day in relative peace. She would take one more day of ignorance over this knowledge.

" It's the 'darkness rising' and 'love broken not even by death' that really shakes me. Is voldemort coming back? Or is there something else out there?" Ron's head drooped almost to his chest, " I thought this was over. I thought it was over."

" As long as there's power, someone will try to steal it," Harry injected softly.

" I just feel so helpless," Ginny said, looking at her dozing son with apparent anxiety.

She put on her best brave face and gave them a wan smile, " We might not be able to say it out loud yet, but we all know what needs to be done. If I need to… marry Malfoy and have a child to save us from something awful… I mean if it's so important that the ministry is in an uproar… I'll do it. Of course I will."

" No!" Ron protested.

" I have to," She responded quietly.

" What if it's a trap?" Harry countered.

" Harry," She looked into his green eyes, pleading, " It's not. You can't fake these things, faking a prophecy and a Maritare charm, it's not possible."

" I know but-"

" But you're my friend and you don't want me to suffer, I know," She said softly, " I have to, Harry. How do you think the world would be if someone tried to convince your Mother to not have you? Because that's what we're dealing with."

Harry looked at her and the blood drained from his face, " I know."

The silence was palpable. Hermione found herself absently playing with the stem of her wineglass, staring at the plate of sugar cookies Mrs Weasley had laid out for them. Hermione had always imagined the home she brought her child into to be full of laughter and joy, like the Burrow. She'd imagined coming home from work to a generous husband and precocious children who would greet her with smiles and stories and life. She'd imagined that all the fear from the war would melt away after years of milestones and messy rooms.

Now she was actively contemplating bringing a child into a house sure to be full of hurled insults and cold silences, and a side helping of an uncertain, dangerous future.

It was Ginny who finally broke the silence, " Alright, no more going over and over it. Let's move on to what we can accomplish. How to go about it."

" Well it's obvious," Ron interrupted, " Tell Malfoy, get married and get on with it. The trouble of it is that magical marriages don't allow you to split up, but you might be able to work something out."

" Can we trust him?" Hermione broke out of her stupor.

" What do you mean?" Harry furrowed his brow.

" I mean, should we tell Malfoy about the prophecy," Hermione stated slowly, taking another sip of wine.

" Well, why not?" Ron said with a defeated smile, " It's not as if we have another choice."

" I could get him to marry me another way," Hermione countered.

" What do you mean?" Ginny asked, kissing Jamie's sleeping face.

" I don't trust him. I could tell him we have to do it, and he could run for the hills," Hermione reasoned.

Harry shook his head, " So you just wouldn't tell him?"

" I just… If I'm going to do this, I need to be sure he's not going to bolt before the…" She gulped, " Task is complete. I mean it's Malfoy."

" So what do you propose instead?" Ginny asked levelly.

" Well…" Hermione hesitated, but forced it out, " It's not like I can go up to him and say 'Oh, nevermind about all that other stuff let's get married.'"

" Right, so?" Ginny prompted.

Hermione knew she was blushing, but forged ahead anyway," See, Malfoy has been hitting on me. In a, uh, strictly sexual sense. I think if I, um, entered into a sexual relationship with him, I might be able to… You know… before the marriage law comes into effect."

" Ew," Ron responded simply, screwing up his face, " 'Mione that's disgusting."

" I don't think that's a good idea," Harry rubbed his eyes with his hands, " I think if you told him, Malfoy would help you. I mean, I'm not about to name a child after him, but he's not that bad. Like today, he was a prat, but he wanted to be there and he held his tongue."

" Oh, right, so I guess he wins soulmate of the year," Hermione said sarcastically.

" I just mean it's about him too," Harry defended, " It's unethical."

Why was Harry defending Malfoy so much? He'd even helped him to come to the protest. Hermione narrowed her eyes and chose her next words very carefully.

" It's not as if Malfoy's ever cared about ethics. I just can't trust that he'd do the right thing," Hermione argued, " If I knew him and trusted him, maybe I could tell him."

" That's true," Ron nodded, " Malfoy's not predictable."

Hermione found herself unexpectedly remembering their moment in the bathroom when Malfoy had touched her cheek. Not predictable was an understatement.

" Well… that's right…" Ginny echoed.

" I want it to be said that I do not agree with this," Harry stated.

" I know," Hermione murmered, " But I don't see that I have a choice."

" But you'll have to sleep with Malfoy. And not just once," Ron shivered exaggeratedly.

" I already would have to, we would be married," Hermione replied.

" You could just sleep with him the one time four months after you get married!" Ron protested.

" You don't get pregnant if you just have sex one time, Ronald," Ginny said with an eyeroll.

" And I also need him to marry me first, remember?" Hermione reasoned.

" So date him!" Harry objected.

" That doesn't make any sense," Hermione countered, " He would never agree to date me, he told me himself."

" I feel like we're talking in circles," Ginny said calmly.

Harry deflated in his seat, " I'm sorry 'Mione, I'm just worried about you. I also don't… I don't think Malfoy is as bad as you think, and I'd hate to see you go about this in the wrong way."

" What do you mean?"

" I mean I think you can trust him, but you have to make your own decisions," Harry offered, " So I'll support you."

Hermione smiled, " Thank you, Harry."

" So you'll just go up to him and say ' Let's get busy?'" Ron asked.

" No I'll say we should relieve the tension between us, so we can move on," Hermione disputed, standing up to pace.

" Then when you've gotten close enough you'll be able to move to dating, right?" Ginny said approvingly.

" Oh that's not going to work," Harry interjected loudly.

Jamie fussed in Ginny's lap, " Harry! You woke him up!"

Ron stood up, offering his arms, " Give me." Ginny handed over her son and sassily turned towards her husband.

" Well it worked on you," Ginny raised her eyebrow sassily.

" You- what?" Harry sputtered.

" Oh come on," Ginny grinned, doing an over-the-top impression of herself, " 'Take all the time you need to get over the war, Harry. We don't need to date. But it would be awfully nice if you came over.'"

Harry could only gape in response.

" Hook, line and sinker," Ginny crowed, " It will work, and if Malfoy gets suspicious, just distract him with your feminine wiles."

Hermione blushed, " I mean… I think I can do that."