November 20th, 2011

A/N: Normally I don't write so much consecutively – three chapters in one day, nor do I post this frequently, but I'm mad at my parents right now and this provides an escape, especially since Astoria is currently blowing up and Hermione is about to talk the way I wish I did in real life. Seriously, how is it always MY fault? Thanks, Cat, for always being there to correct my silly mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Twelve

"One, this isn't your seat, and two, I doubt my mother appreciates the way you're currently speaking to one of her guests," Draco said, ignoring the cuts on his hand that had come from his crushing a glass.

Hermione muttered something – Draco could have sworn it was "honestly" – and produced her wand from her clutch. She pointed it at his injured hand and Draco barely managed to refrain from hissing at the sting. The pain was gone in a minute, though, as were the lacerations.

"You never told me you were seeing her," said Astoria. If there was anything that got on Hermione's nerves, it was being talked about as if she wasn't even there.

"I'm going to set you straight right now. Draco and I are not seeing each other, and the only reason I'm even here is out of a favor to him, so he can avoid you. Now I'd rather that whenever we saw each other I didn't have to treat you like an incompetent, spoiled child, but with the way things are going, I feel as if I should begin to expect it."

"You go Granger," Draco murmured, a ghost of a smile appearing on his previously impassive face.

"Also, and this is not going to feel very good, but you need to stop acting like a high-class hooker and move on. Draco obviously doesn't return your feelings. If you haven't figured that out by now, I'm sure everyone else would be glad to tell you."

Astoria grew pink, then red, and eventually a purple that could compete with Hermione's dress. A woman stepped up beside her, one that was much calmer and seemingly kinder.

"I'm terribly sorry for my sister, Draco. She didn't expect to see you here with someone else," Daphne Greengrass explained as she led Astoria away. She glanced over her shoulder to add, "It's nice seeing you again, and in better company than when we were at Hogwarts."

Daphne's expression hardened as Astoria began to talk, wildly gesturing at Hermione and Draco. The older of the Greengrass girls jabbed her finger at her sister and said something very quickly before dragging her to a table far away from the one Draco had been placed.

Hermione watched the mysterious brunette go approvingly. "I take it that was Daphne? I like her much better than Astoria."

"I dare say everyone does," Draco said, relaxing once Astoria was gone. "Thanks for fixing my hand. You could have been a healer had you wanted to."

"After years of hanging around Harry, I've gotten used to keeping everyone unharmed," Hermione replied dryly. "And he's often told me that. He's basically told me I could be anything."

"I'm not going to say I disagree."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You men are impossible."

"Impossibly hard not to adore," Draco corrected her, grinning impishly. He noticed that despite the fact it was growing dark out, the other witches and wizards in attendance were not sitting.

"Care to dance?" Draco asked after a moment passed.

Hermione pretended to consider his offer for a long while before she nodded. She took his hand, letting him lead her to the ballroom dance floor.

He really is a marvelous dancer. Who would have thought? Hermione wondered as Draco twirled and dipped her. It took her a moment to get her bearings; the last time she had danced was with Harry on the horcrux hunt, and that was not fit for the kind of event Hermione was attending in the slightest.

Draco studied Hermione as discreetly as he could. Her face was lighting up and she was smiling softly. What was running through her head?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Draco replied. Then he remembered Hermione's dislike of having her questions answered by more questions. Too late to take it back now.

"Like some kind of alien specimen," Hermione said, her voice laced with amusement.

"Am I really doing that?" Draco asked, blinking. "And I was just wondering what you were thinking."

There was that smile again. Draco knew better than to guess that Hermione was thinking of Ron, but who else could extract such a look from her other than someone she had loved?

"I was thinking of Harry."

Ah, that makes sense. But wait, does that mean she fancies Potter now?

"What about Harry?" Draco prompted as he and Hermione glided across the dance floor. They really were a good pair, at least when it came to dancing. Even Astoria couldn't deny the two looked nice together, although she would never admit it.

"Have I ever told you that while we were hunting for horcruxes, Ron left?" Draco paused then nodded. Hermione had mentioned it in passing. "When he left, I was devastated. I cried for days. Everything seemed to be falling apart. Then one night Harry pulled me up from where I was sitting and proceeded to act like a very loveable goofball," Hermione finished.

"Did anything happen? Between you and Harry, I mean." Draco didn't mean to be so nosy, but he wanted to know, and he knew Hermione wouldn't share that kind of information unless he asked.

Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Of course not. Harry was and always will be my surrogate brother. Although I don't think he's told Ginny everything quite yet," she added thoughtfully. "He should tell her soon, before Ronald puts any ideas into her head."

Draco murmured an intelligible response and as the song ended, a bell resounded. Hermione stopped suddenly, her hand closing around Draco's arm in case the bell was some kind of alarm or announcement.

"Relax," Draco said, laughing. "It's only dinner. It's not going to kill you."

"Oh…I, um, I knew that," Hermione muttered, blushing furiously. "Draco, what if I do something wrong and make a fool out of myself?"

"You're Hermione Granger. You can't do anything wrong."

Hermione sighed – of course Draco would say something like that. The sentiment was not ignored, though, and she did sit a little straighter at dinner. Most mistook her for a pureblood until they spoke of blood status and which was better than which. Some grew grudging respect for the soft-spoken but driven young woman, while others maintained their disdain.

The approval of stuffy old bats didn't matter to Hermione. What mattered was the fact that she had a feeling Astoria would try to slip something into her goblet that night.

"She won't do anything with all of these people watching," Draco whispered, ducking his head in the pretense of brushing off the sleeve of his suit so his lips could not be read.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Hermione whispered back.

"You always get that look in your eyes when you think someone is about to attack you," Draco snorted. "Or someone close to you."

I get a certain look in my eyes when I think people I care about are in danger? I never knew that, Hermione thought. For the rest of the evening, she hardly paid attention to anyone but Draco and Astoria, and occasionally Daphne. Hermione hadn't expected to have a good time at Narcissa Malfoy's party, so she wasn't too bothered by how it turned out.

Draco, however, was more than a little irked by the fact that his date – escort – whatever she was, was off in her own world, no doubt coming up with highly complicated escape plans. Hermione truly was too high strung for her own good, and Draco's too. He liked being around Hermione because she expressed her opinions without censoring anything, and she expressed them a lot. Draco didn't like the quiet version of her, the one who thought Astoria could actually do some permanent damage. It was ridiculous.

"Granger, will you please stop looking like You-Know-Who is in the room?" Draco asked as they followed everyone back into the ballroom.

"Why can't you just say his name?" Hermione responded.

"Because nearly every witch or wizard present supported him at one point, or their families did. To actually call the Dark Lord by his name would bring unnecessary and unreasonable reactions that I'd rather do without," Draco said tersely.

Hermione turned her head away from him. She knew she was acting unlike herself, but she hardly felt secure where she was, even if Draco was with her. She remembered how Draco had reacted when he was at the Burrow, and decided she got the more unsatisfactory part of the bargain.

"Draco? Would you mind if I talked to Hermione for a bit?"

Draco turned to see that Daphne was now behind them. "Of course not," Draco managed to say, forcing himself to smile at Daphne. Daphne shot him an odd look before she asked Hermione whether a walk in the gardens sounded nice.

"It sounds lovely, Daphne."

Hermione allowed Daphne to show her the way, and was friendlier towards the woman she had just met than she had been to Draco for a good hour. Daphne pointed that out, and Hermione couldn't bring herself to get irritated.

"I'm not comfortable here," Hermione said as she and Daphne sat down on a stone bench. It was a chilly November night, but the two were witches, after all, and they put their convenient abilities to use.

"That much is obvious, Hermione, but Draco is trying to help you. He wouldn't have left your side at all if it hadn't been me who was trying to talk to you."

Hermione let that register before abruptly saying, "Excuse me for asking, but how are you and Astoria so different?"

Daphne smiled wryly. "Tell me she hasn't scared you away, because I by myself am no threat whatsoever. She isn't either, but I won't deny that she means you harm, even if she can't follow through on any vows she makes."

"It takes much more than things like 'Stay away from Draco or I'll tell my father' to scare me away," Hermione assured Daphne, grinning.

"Glad to hear you're a tough girl, Miss Granger. As for your question…I'm not entirely sure. Astoria was – is – our parents' princess. I'm their actual heir since they have no sons, but she's always been their princess, and they've always treated her differently. I don't mind, really, especially when I see the contrasts between our personalities," Daphne said, taking the pins out of her hair so the curls tumbled over her shoulders.

"Do you think we could get together again sometime? It's been a while since I've had a sane conversation with a girl aside from Ginny and Gina."

"I'd like that, Hermione. Owl me whenever you like."

Draco was returning from the loo when he heard the sound of heels following him. When he turned around to see who the person was, they were gone, which only made their identity more obvious to him.

"Astoria, come out, it's not decent for a lady to be hiding, and I already know you're there," Draco said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He had never seen Astoria look sheepish before. He also hadn't had a falling out of any kind with Hermione since they became reacquainted. Obviously it was a night for some changes.

"I wanted to make sure you were completely alone, without Granger here," Astoria told Draco, much to his chagrin. If Astoria wanted to get him by himself, no good would come out of the encounter.

Draco kept walking – that way Astoria couldn't corner him. He was taller than her still, and while he could escape with few problems (most likely), Draco preferred to not be trapped against a wall by Astoria.

"I'm not going to force my affections on you when you make it so painfully clear that you won't like it," Astoria said, sighing. "I just thought I'd let you know something, because it involves you as well."

"If you're talking about that Daily Prophet article, I've already gotten to work on suing Rita Skeeter."

"No, I'm not talking about that, though I did laugh at the absurdity of it all. Would you mind if we…?" Astoria gestured to an empty room, keeping her expression neutral. It would not benefit her in the slightest if Draco ran off because of her face of all things.

Draco stuck his head in the room first. There were a few people in there that appeared to be having a meeting of some kind. There was enough space so that he and Astoria wouldn't bother them. Draco couldn't find a problem with Astoria's request, so he walked in against his better judgment.

"What did you want to let me know?" Draco asked, leaning against the wall right next to the door out of instinct.

"Well," Astoria began, smiling uneasily and lacing her fingers together, only to pull them apart again, "I found something out the other day, something I was not expecting at all. Would you like to guess what?"

The most accurate description of the look Draco shot Astoria would have to be a you have got to be kidding me one.

"I'll take that as a no," Astoria said, not bothering to hide that she was slightly put out. "Anyway, I thought I should let you know that you're going to be a father!"

Draco stared at her. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he blurted aloud. On the inside his mind was rationally saying, No, Astoria is crazy and you've always been aware of that. Don't let her get to you because you never have before. She's just spinning her usual lies.

"Why would I joke about being the mother of your child?" Astoria replied, widening her green eyes so she resembled a wounded puppy that just got kicked by its master. "I just wanted to tell you, though, before the Daily Prophet lets the rest of the world know."

Gulping down the alcoholic beverage a server had been carrying around on a tray had apparently been a very bad idea. Draco still had a bit of the liquid in his mouth, and he spat it out immediately, making Astoria's lips purse in disgust.

"Astoria, it's one thing to try and trick me into believing something, but when you've got yourself convinced…maybe you should get some help," Draco said, his voice hoarse. "My mother knows an excellent witch who's really quite skilled at working with deranged people."

"How dare you!" Astoria exclaimed, fisting her hands at her sides. "Whether you like it or not, Draco Malfoy, you will be around to love and raise our child! And I will not have you make a fool out of myself! I am sure that once I tell your mother about the situation, she will agree with me whole-heartedly."

The worst part was, Draco thought as Astoria walked away, was that for once, the pampered princess was right.

Narcissa wouldn't want a bastard child ruining the family name, but even more, she would expect her son to marry the woman who claimed to be pregnant because it was "the right thing to do."

Another thing, though, was that Draco never remembered shagging Astoria. They had been engaged for a few months before he broke things off, and he hadn't even let her get close enough to kiss him. Unless there was some New Year's incident he didn't recall because he had been too drunk. That wouldn't be good, either.

Draco needed to discuss what he had just learned with Hermione, but for all he knew she was still mad at him. He groaned and headed for the gardens – Daphne had mentioned them, hadn't she?

"Hermione! Hermione, thank Merlin you're here," Draco shouted when he saw the Gryffindor in question sitting with Daphne.

"Draco? Is something wrong?" Hermione asked, standing up and covering the last stretch of distance between them, shooting a backwards glance at Daphne. "Do we have to leave? Is anyone hurt?"

"Er, we don't have to leave, though I'd prefer that we do, and no one is hurt, as far as I know. Daphne? Has Astoria told you her big news yet?"

Daphne grimaced. She clearly knew more about what Draco was talking about than Hermione did.

"I take it she managed to get you alone, then. I'm not going to say anything about it, because I wasn't present when she tested it, but I don't think she'd lie about it either. I'm sorry. Maybe it's not yours," Daphne suggested.

"What's not Draco's?" Hermione wondered, but she had a feeling she knew the answer to her silly question. The look Draco gave her said it all. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth. "You got Astoria pregnant?"

"For the love of Merlin, no! I don't know! I don't think so," Draco cried, pulling at his hair. "I don't recall ever doing anything like that with Astoria. I need to think about this. Hermione, are you coming?"

Hermione was annoyed at Draco, but she wasn't about to leave him alone in his time of need. She bade Daphne a quick farewell, told her to expect an owl from her soon, and apparated back to Draco's flat.

Draco fumbled with his tie, trying to get it off in vain. Hermione took pity on him eventually – or maybe her pity was meant for the poor tie – and helped him remove it from its place around his neck.

"Go sit down and I'll make you some tea," Hermione said quietly, offering Draco a small smile. She managed to locate everything she needed in his small kitchenette, and in a minute she was boiling water in a kettle on the stove.

Hermione bit her lip when she saw that Draco had his head in his hands. She didn't believe he would ruin not only his life but another person's as well. Astoria had to be mistaken. Draco was too responsible to get her pregnant.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked, rubbing Draco's back as comfortingly as she could after she had set two mugs of tea down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Not really. There's not much to talk about."

"Of course there's nothing to talk about, because you didn't just find out that you might be a father in nine months, or less, depending on how long Astoria has kept this a secret," Hermione snapped.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I just didn't think this would ever happen. I'm only twenty years old! I'm not emotionally ready to be a father, although I don't even believe that Astoria is truly pregnant. She's at least smarter than that."

Hermione let that sink into her brain, and then wrapped her arm around Draco's waist, giving him a hug of sorts. If it was alright with Draco, she would take care of him for as long as he needed it, because he had been there for her when she was finding her way again.

"If – when – whatever you want to say, you become a father, I think you'll be a great one," Hermione said, leaning over to plant a kiss on Draco's cheek.

Draco smiled slightly. "Believe whatever you want, Granger. But thanks for the thought."

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Tell me what you're thankful for in a review :) I'm thankful for all of you, and the fact that I now know if I ever need a confidence booster, I can write a Dramione fan fiction and get a bunch of hits that way xD Anyway, I think we've gone through this before, but just in case we need to again...

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