December 28th, 2011
A/N: I am so tired. But I'm also really happy. My sister made me an awesome HP related t-shirt for Christmas: it has Luna's hare on the front and D.A. on the back. My brother helped her with it. At first I didn't get it…but then I turned it around. I almost thought it was supposed to be the doe. Oh well. It's still great :D Um, since I don't really know when exactly Teddy's birthday is…I'm giving him my friend's birthday since she was born in April. She won't read this but this chapter is for her for being awesome, despite the fact that she knows next to nothing about Harry Potter.
Thank you Cat for beta reading this! (Check out her stuff, Strange Bedfellows is really funny: kitcat234)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter Twenty
Ginny and Harry were to be married first, in the month of June. Percy's and Audrey's wedding would take place on the first Saturday of July, and Fred's and Angelina's would take place on the last. As Hermione had predicted, Molly was going out of her mind preparing all three weddings, so much so that she asked Teddy what color he wanted his flower girl dress to be, thoroughly confusing the boy and amusing all of the adults.
On April 25th, which happened to be a Wednesday, Hermione and Draco were preparing to go to the Burrow for Teddy's birthday party. It was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes themed, which meant it was bound to be extraordinarily hectic and full of mischief. Hermione wasn't looking forward to it, but it made Teddy happy, so she wouldn't complain.
"Are you ready to have your hair turn colors?" Hermione asked, linking her arm with Draco's.
Draco unconsciously reached up to touch his hair, which was in desperate need of a trim at the very least. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that if Fred, George, and Lee planned this party, no one is going to escape unmolested," said Hermione. "And I do mean no one. I have a feeling that they're even going to prank each other."
"Oh bugger," Draco muttered as Hermione apparated the two of them to the Burrow.
Hermione opened the door to the beloved house and pulled the understandably reluctant Draco inside. They were immediately met by shrieks of laughter and groans of exasperation, which made Hermione smile just the smallest bit.
"Looks like the fun has already begun," Hermione observed, ducking as a rocket flew above her head.
"I wouldn't call almost being hit by a rocket fun," Draco replied, following the sounds of voices to the sitting room.
"Well it's our kind of fun!" Fred announced, suddenly materializing behind Hermione and Draco.
Draco gaped at Fred. "I didn't even hear you! I didn't know it was possible for wizards to apparate silently."
"It's not possible, Malfoy. It's called walking," Fred said, arching an eyebrow. "Am I really to believe that Hermione, who was by far the best student at Hogwarts, is with you?" He looked at Hermione then, his eyes alight with mischief.
"Oh, for the love of Merlin, Fred, leave him alone," Hermione scolded, although she planned to tease Draco about the ordeal later on. Before she forgot, Hermione added, "Cat's coming, she just has to do something first."
"Perfect. Georgie isn't going to know what hit him! You know, evil plans are much more fun when you're involved, Granger. They get more complicated but the results are far better."
"I'll take that as a compliment, Fred."
Cat and George hit it off right away, and once Hermione was satisfied with the outcome and Teddy was half asleep on Arthur's lap, she fell asleep on the couch snuggled up to Draco. He kept his arm around her, though it was growing numb, and managed to keep from snarling at Ron whenever he looked at Hermione with those annoyingly longing eyes.
"Poor dear," Molly murmured sympathetically, cleaning the majority of the house with a wave of her wand. "She must be exhausted every day, running after little tykes like Teddy."
"She's usually tired but she loves working at the daycare," Draco said with a smile, kissing the top of Hermione's head. Hermione was the only topic Draco could safely discuss with the Weasleys and Potter without anyone walking away in an irritated state.
"She's such a good girl," Molly said, smiling at the two of them. "I should go put Teddy to bed. Thank you for coming." She bustled away and carried Teddy to some other part of the Burrow, and Draco decided it was time to get Hermione back to the flat so she could sleep without being disturbed, the way Teddy was.
"Thanks for having us over," Draco whispered to Arthur, who happened to be the only remaining person in the sitting room. He disapparated, hoping the noise wouldn't wake Hermione. Of course, it did, but she was quite content where she was and didn't give any sign that she was conscious.
Draco slid into bed next to Hermione and snaked an arm around her waist. She grumbled and buried her face in a pillow.
"Now, if you don't change yourself into your pajamas, I'll do it for you," Draco told Hermione, pressing a kiss to her ear.
Hermione muttered something unintelligible and grabbed her wand. For a moment, Draco was worried that she was going to hex him into oblivion the way she threatened to do whenever she got mad, but then he saw that her street clothes were gone, replaced by an over-sized shirt of his.
"Was that so hard?" Draco asked, lightly running his fingers down Hermione's side and making her squirm.
"Stop it, that tickles," Hermione said, laughing despite herself. "Leave me alone, I'm tired."
"How was work today?"
"Would you quit asking me questions?"
"Not until you answer that one."
Hermione sighed and rolled so that she could rest her head on Draco's chest. "It was fine. I don't know why you would think it was anything but fine."
"Who do you take me for, Weaselbee? I happen to be able to tell when something's wrong with the person I care about most," Draco informed Hermione. He kept his tone light, but she wouldn't ignore his words. Hermione rolled her eyes and hit him on the arm.
"Ron's getting better at being empathetic, so leave him alone, okay? He's kind of been through hell recently," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes and sighing when she realized she wouldn't be left alone long enough to fall back asleep.
"You've been through hell too," Draco pointed out. "Hell that he happened to put you through."
"Can we talk about this another time? I don't want to go over this conversation again where we just blame Ron for everything bad that happened. He is trying, Draco. Granted, he isn't succeeding, but he's making an effort."
"Alright, fine. Now get some sleep – you were practically dead at the Burrow."
Hermione snorted at the irony. "Said the man who kept me up by bringing up my ex and work."
"I love you too, Hermione."
"Mhm. Goodnight, love."
Ron awkwardly patted Lavender on the back as she sobbed into his shirt. He had taken her back to the flat she shared with the Patil twins with the intention of leaving soon after, but a letter was waiting for her and when Lavender read the contents, she burst into tears and wouldn't let Ron go. He still didn't know what had happened. He could only assume that someone close to her had died or been permanently scarred.
"Oh, Lav, you're back. We were starting to wonder…" Parvati trailed off and ran over to her best friend. "Ronald Weasley, what did you do to her?" she demanded, trying to pull Lavender away from her boyfriend and failing.
"I didn't do anything!" Ron exclaimed indignantly, just as Lavender said, "Ron didn't do anything."
"Then what happened?" Parvati asked, frowning.
"I can't tell you now," Lavender wailed. "I just can't! M-Maybe after I've calmed down."
More confused than ever, Parvati simply nodded and exchanged a puzzled look with Ron.
"Parvati, will you take care of her for me? I have to be at work tomorrow…"
"Yes, you can trust me to take good care of her," Parvati promised Ron. "Take care, see you whenever…" The dismissal was clear. Ron kissed Lavender's cheek, told her he would check in on her the next day, and disapparated. Parvati led Lavender to her room, the other girl offering no help in the matter.
Lavender wiped the tears away with her hands and took a few deep breaths. Parvati handed her a tissue and patiently waited for an explanation. If there was anything she had learned in the time she had been friends with Lavender, it was that she wouldn't do things she wasn't ready to do unless Ron asked it of her. No one else had the power to make her do something unwillingly, probably because Lavender didn't feel secure in her relationship with Ron.
"Come on now, Ron's gone. What's wrong, Lav?" Parvati had figured that Lavender was reluctant to share the cause of the crying with Ron there, and she was right. "What happened?"
"I got a letter," Lavender whispered. "The letter was from a healer I went to a while ago, because I wasn't feeling well and I wanted to know if there was a potion to stop me from throwing up all the time…there was, but there was also more to it than that."
Parvati's eyes widened. "You're not saying…"
"I'm pregnant," Lavender clarified in a shaky voice. "And I don't know what to do, Parvati. What will Ron say? Do you think he'll break up with me? Do you think he'll make me get an abortion? I don't want to do that to the baby! It's my baby. I can't!"
"Lav, you're rambling. Calm down for a minute, and remember to breathe," Parvati instructed. She wished Padma was there too – her twin was the smart one. If anyone could figure the situation out, it would be Padma. But Parvati could take a crack at it too. "Ron might not be the most intelligent guy out there, or the most loyal, but he would never break up with you in your state. He cares about you, Lavender. And he won't let anything bad happen to your baby. You just have to tell him."
"Okay," Lavender said faintly. "I'll tell him tomorrow."
"Good."
"Parvati…I know that Ron will be a good father, but how am I going to tell him the news without making him upset?"
Parvati tilted her head to the side and looked around the room, her gaze falling on a picture of the Defense Association, otherwise known as Dumbledore's Army or the D.A. She spotted one familiar, bushy-haired witch and smiled.
"I think I know someone we can talk to."
Lavender's eyebrows furrowed together. "Who do you have in mind?"
"You'll see," Parvati said, grabbing Lavender's hand and apparating to an apartment complex in Diagon Alley.
Draco bolted upright at the sound of a fist pounding on his door. He kissed Hermione's forehead and told her he'd be back in a moment before he snatched his wand off of the nightstand next to his bed and crept outside.
"Malfoy, open up! We need to talk to Hermione!" Parvati called on the other side.
"How the hell do they know where I live…? That damn Weasley," Draco muttered, running a hand through his hair. He opened the door and stepped aside, letting Lavender and Parvati enter the flat.
"Is Hermione awake?" Parvati asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
"I bet she is now," Draco said, sighing. "I'll go tell her you're here."
Parvati watched Draco go. "If he wasn't with Hermione right now…mm. He may have been an ass, but he is a fine piece of ass." She had spent one year in America for learning purposes – Parvati was the new Divination professor at Hogwarts, since she actually had the kind of Sight that could be called on – and it was evident in every other sentence she said.
"This is really odd," Lavender murmured. "We shouldn't be here, Parvati."
"Calm down. If anyone can tell you how to handle Ron, it'll be Hermione. She knows how to handle everything."
Draco, on the other hand, had a very hard time handling Hermione when he woke her up.
"Love, you have to get up! I can't deal with Brown and one half of the Patil twins on my own," Draco said. "I don't know what they were thinking, showing up at one in the morning, but it must be important, and they want to talk to you."
Hermione groaned and sat up. She glared at Draco and grumbled some more, but she did go and see what Lavender and Parvati wanted.
"Good morning," Hermione said mockingly as she went straight to the kitchen to make tea that would help her stay awake. "What can I do for you two?" She leaned against the counter, braided her hair back, and smothered a yawn. Draco came over to stand next to her and whispered something in her ear, something that neither Lavender nor Parvati could hear, no matter how much they strained to. But whatever it was, it made Hermione more agreeable, which both witches appreciated greatly.
"We have a predicament," Parvati began carefully. "We were hoping you could help us find a way to…"
"Fix it?" Hermione suggested.
"No, this is something we don't want to fix," Lavender inputted hastily. However much she thought having a baby might disrupt her life, she wanted to keep it and raise it with Ron.
"Oh. Then…"
"I need your advice," Lavender said. Hermione stared at her for a minute and would have continued to stare if Draco hadn't elbowed her in the ribs. Lightly, of course, but he still did it.
"Alright," Hermione replied slowly. "What do you need advice on?"
"Say someone is pregnant…and they need to tell their boyfriend without upsetting him," Lavender said, fiddling with her hair. "And their boyfriend has quite a temper, although he's a lovely person. How should that someone tell their boyfriend about the pregnancy?"
It was obvious that Lavender was the one that was pregnant and that she needed advice on how to tell Ron. But if she didn't want to say it outright to Hermione, Hermione would allow her to keep up the pretense that she was not pregnant. Draco had no such intention.
"Come on, Brown, you can't be serious. Everyone in this room knows you're carrying Weasley's baby. You don't have to pretend otherwise."
"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione hissed.
"What? It's true!"
"It doesn't matter if it's true, you don't just go and say something like that. If Lavender wants to keep it to herself she can," Hermione chastised, scowling.
Draco rolled his eyes and kissed Hermione's temple. "Yes dear. Whatever you say."
"You have got to be the sweetest couple I know," Parvati said, sighing in a way that caused Draco to roll his eyes again. "You have such a way with each other, like you understand the other person even without talking, and I've never seen or heard or heard of any fights."
"Yes, well," Hermione said, arching an eyebrow. "Back to Lavender's problem… You just need to tell Ron. He's going to overreact if he hears it from anyone else." She shot Draco a pointed look. "You can use the floo network now if you want. Or you can wait until a reasonable time, like eight or so. Just do it before he leaves for work, okay?"
"Thank you, Hermione. I know I haven't always been the greatest friend but I hope we can-"
Hermione stopped Lavender by holding up her hand. "Please stop and go now. Save the eloquent speech for when you tell Ron about the baby."
"Will do, thank you so much!" Lavender smiled at Hermione and dragged Parvati out of the flat. The sound of them apparating away was heard by Hermione and Draco, so Draco slammed the door shut.
"Merlin, those two annoy me so much!"
"You hardly spoke to them!" Hermione pointed out, setting her mug in the sink.
"And I am glad of that fact," Draco said, scooping Hermione up and carrying her back to bed. "Maybe this time we'll get lucky and no one will interrupt our night."
"I highly doubt that, love, so long as I'm Harry's friend. Be content that at least this time there wasn't a raid going on."
A/N: So the first chapter of this story got over 3,000 hits! Why isn't that happening still? Not that I'm complaining - I love you all - but I am curious. Sorry I don't update all too much, but sometimes I get writer's block and I have family stuff come up a lot...no excuses, I know. I'll try to update more often. Leave a review to get me started! :D
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