Chapter 5: Rash Reactions
Hermione didn't know how long she'd laid face-down on her bed at Grimmauld place before she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing again downstairs. She'd laid there so long that her body was stiff when she tried to roll over and she knew her pillow was still wet from the agonising tears of indecision that had poured from her eyes. She'd never agonised over anything the way she agonised over this decision.
On the one hand, her relationship with Ron meant more to her than she could say and she never wanted to lose him. On the other, she wanted her parents back desperately. The entire thing was only made worse by the fact that to get her parents back she would have to have sex with Draco Malfoy.
How was that supposed to be accomplished?
Hermione knew the ins and outs of intercourse, of course, but that didn't mean she had any idea how to be so intimate with a boy she'd spent years thinking of as the enemy. She couldn't say she found him sexually attractive. Not that he wasn't handsome in a pale, pointed kind of way. But Hermione didn't get shivers of arousal when she looked at him. She didn't find herself watching his mouth when he spoke and thinking about tasting his lips. Not like she did with Ron.
How was she supposed to get pregnant to the man without being attracted to him? She supposed she could always just lie back and think of England, but even that notion held little appeal to her.
"Hermione?" Ron's voice asked from the doorway, though Hermione hadn't heard him open it.
"Ron?" she asked, turning her head on the pillow so she could look over her shoulder towards the bedroom door.
He was leaning there in the doorway, his shoulder propped against the frame, his arms crossed over his chest. His red hair was rumpled as though he'd spent hours running his hand through it in frustration and indecision just the way she laid their wringing her hands in the now-crinkled sheets of her bed. She tried not to notice how handsome he was, his eyes stormy and blue, a little frown of worry wrinkling his brow. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest.
She truly did love him. More than almost anything.
"Can I come in?" he asked politely and Hermione raised her eyebrows a little as she sat up to look at him. Unease pooled in her stomach. Ron never asked if he could come in. He usually just strolled right in and flopped on her bed with her.
"Of course you can," she said, waving her hand towards the space beside her on the double bed.
He did so slowly, coming into the room without meeting her gaze and sitting down beside her.
"Is everything alright Ron?" she asked softly when he reached over and took her hand in his very gently.
"I'm going to miss you," he whispered sadly.
"Miss me? But I'm right here," she said, fear making her stomach clench uncomfortably.
"Not for much longer," he said forlornly, "You took the deal."
"What?" Hermione asked, turning to face him in confusion.
"I saw you holding his hand when you left the office Hermione," Ron said. He didn't sound angry about it, though he had looked it a few hours ago. Instead he sounded resigned and a little defeated.
"Ron I…" Hermione began, meaning to tell him she hadn't decided yet what she would do.
"It's alright Hermione," Ron cut her off before she could explain, "I knew as soon as I saw the article that you would. I took the deal too. I signed the contract. They're going to give me a position in the Auror Department after we graduate, in addition to thirty five thousand Galleons if I have a brat with Parkinson. Since you'd already taken the deal I didn't see the point in waiting around. She was keen to sign it and get her Dad out of Azkaban…"
Hermione turned to look at Ron horror-stricken.
"Ron…. I didn't take the deal yet…" she told him, her voice echoing strangely and sounding funny to her own ears.
"But I saw you and Malfoy… he was holding you hand," Ron protested, his blue eyes widening in alarm.
"Because he offered me a hand up in the office and offered me a handkerchief when I started crying after Cuttleworth gave me a file with some recent pictures of my parents. We were about to Apparate to discuss the situation privately…." Hermione trailed off, staring at her hand inside Ron's. She felt like she wasn't there in the moment.
As though she was somewhere else, her voice sounding distant and faraway even to her on ears.
"You didn't…." Ron said and Hermione noticed vaguely that his skin was pale, his freckles standing out in stark contrast.
"You took the deal?" Hermione asked him, "You're going to shag Parkinson and live with her while she's pregnant? She's going to have your firstborn…"
"I…" Ron began, his voice sounding squeaky as though he couldn't believe what he'd done, "You didn't… I thought you'd have…. Didn't they offer to help get your parents back?"
"Yes. They did," Hermione told him, "But I wanted longer to think about everything and to weigh up the pros and cons of each option. I didn't want to just jump into the idea of having Draco Malfoy's child…. I can't believe you signed it already."
"But… don't you want your parents back?" Ron asked weakly, his ear turning red with embarrassment.
"Yes. I do. I want them back more than anything. But I thought it might be nice to, oh I don't know, discuss what becomes of our relationship if we both have sex and becomes parents with other people. I wanted to think about whether or not having my Mum and Dad back would be worth the stigma and the horror of having sex with Draco Malfoy and raising his child. I wanted to talk to you and find out how we would handle this…. I guess I have my answer…"
Hermione pulled her hand away from Ron's and climbed off the bed feeling like she was in a daze.
"Hermione… I," he tried to talk to her but Hermione had stopped listening. He'd lashed out irrationally over the idea of her and Malfoy and had signed away his child and his freedom of choice over who would bear that child. He hadn't stopped to think that they should discuss the matter in detail. He hadn't thought about how she would feel about him shagging Parkinson. He'd just signed it away. Hermione could tell it had been done in anger and perhaps a little bit of greed for the money and the position he'd been offered if he agreed to it.
Taking up a piece of parchment and a quill, Hermione scrawled a quick note to Malfoy. She'd already read her contract in depth and knew all the requirements of both of them if they agreed. She knew she would have to share his bed and his quarters at Hogwarts. That they were expected to begin trying for a child as soon as possible. That when she was pregnant they had to meet several other strict requirements for the length of the pregnancy. All she'd needed to agonize over was whether or not she wanted Ron more than she wanted her parents back. And Ron had taken the choice out of her hands. He was going to shag Parkinson, so she might as well take the deal. Even if it did mean she'd have to spend an inordinate amount of time for the rest of her life tied to Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy,
I've made my decision. Meet me at the Ministry offices tomorrow morning to get the contracts signed. We can discuss the requirements afterwards. Unless you've changed your mind about going through with this?
-Hermione
"You're just going to go ahead and do it then?" Ron demanded when he came over and read the note over her shoulder.
"I don't see why not," Hermione told him, "You didn't stop to think about how our relationship would go when you signed up to do this with Parkinson. I might as well cash in on doing it too."
"You're doing this to get back at me, aren't you?" Ron asked her, his arms crossing over his chest as he began to glare at her.
"No, Ronald. You did that. You signed that form and agreed to father Pansy Parkinson's child because you foolishly thought that I would just jump at the chance to get away from you. You've been paranoid about our relationship and had no trust in my love for you since before we even got together and you just assumed that I would pick my parents and bloody Malfoy over you. You lashed out, knowing that agreeing to shag Parkinson for money would hurt me and you did it without thinking any of the consequences through. I'll bet you didn't even read the contract about all the things you are now required to do. Now, move out of my way. I need to send a letter to the future father of my children."
With that said Hermione brushed past Ron and made her way up to the room with the open window at the top of the house. It had once been occupied by Buckbeak, but after Sirius had died, Harry had set Buckbeak free back in the forest at Hogwarts. Since then it had become the unofficial Owlery of Grimmauld Place. Pigwidgeon and the new owl Hermione had purchased for Harry's last birthday to replace Hedwig – a handsome Great Grey Owl named Archimedes – had taken it over as their roosting place when they weren't out hunting or delivering letters.
In spite of her mood and her sense of hurt over her deteriorating relationship with Ron, Hermione couldn't help but smile when she walked into the room and discovered the Little Owl – which was small enough to fit comfortably in the palm of her hand, snuggled up next to the feathery feet of the Great Grey Owl, which dwarfed the tiny bird at almost twenty times the size of Pigwidgeon.
"Archimedes?" Hermione asked, going over to the bird and stroking his grey and black feathers gently to coax him awake. His lifted his head from under his wing and blinked at her owlishly.
"Could you take this letter to Draco Malfoy at Malfoy Manor?" she asked the owl politely, offering the letter to the bird, who in turn offered his foot to allow her to attach the scroll, "He might have a reply for me and not know where to send it, so wait around for a little while to see if he replies, please."
Archimedes hooted at her intelligently before he took wing out the open bedroom window and soared out into the gathering dark of evening. Unwilling to engage in further fights with Ron, Hermione tromped down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found Kreacher preparing their evening meal.
"Hello Kreacher," she greeted the old elf. He'd improved in the manners department a great deal since Harry had returned Regulus's locket to him and allowed him to erect a memorial for his lost Master and Mistress in a quiet corner of the house.
"Good Evening Miss," the elf replied in his reedy voice, turning to offer her a smile and a small bow despite how often Hermione had asked him not to treat her so formally.
"What are you cooking this evening?" she asked the elf curiously, her stomach beginning to grumble at the delicious aromas wafting off the pots and pans bubbling away on the stove.
"Kreacher is making venison stew, roast beef with vegetables and those mini treacle, caramel and chocolate tarts the Miss likes," Kreacher said, gracing her with a shrewd expression while Hermione felt her surprise show on her face. Of the three of them, Kreacher usually had the least tolerance for Hermione so it was odd for him to say he was doing something in particular that she would like.
"That's very kind and thoughtful of you Kreacher," Hermione said, wondering what the elf was up to. He was always up to something when he went out of his way to be extra nice to her or Ron. He was more than willing to be respectful and nice to Harry, but less so with her or Ron unless he wanted something.
"Kreacher heard the Miss's discussion with the ginger Master," the elf told her with a sly grin on his face as he turned away. No matter how often Ron asked the elf not to call him that, Krecher continued to use the name, "Is it true the Miss will be entering into agreement to birth the child of Master Draco?"
"You call Malfoy 'master'?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Master Draco is the son of one the last surviving members of the Black family, Miss," Kreacher informed her with a solemn nod, "Mistress Andromeda and Mistress Narcissa were Blacks before they married. My Mistress always spoke highly of Mistress Narcissa, her niece. Is you to mother Master Draco's children, Miss?"
"I suppose I am Kreacher," Hermione sighed, surprised when the elf hurried over with a pot of tea for her to drink, which he poured for her, "The Ministry of Magic has initiated some incentives to encourage certain people to reproduce in order to lessen any residual Blood Prejudice in the aftermath of the war. They asked that Draco Malfoy and I have a child together, being as I am well known for being muggle-born and he is well-known for his past prejudices. They think that if we have a child others will be encouraged to forget their grudges and move forward."
"And you is agreeing, Miss?" Kreacher asked her, bringing her a plate of biscuits since dinner wasn't for a few hours yet.
"I've just sent of the letter asking him to meet me at the Ministry tomorrow so we can sign the paperwork. The Ministry has agreed that if we breed, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy will be released from Azkaban to return to Malfoy Manor, where they will be attended by Healers until they are well again. The Ministry will also return my parents to England and begin undoing the memory modification charms I did on them to protect them during the war. They're giving us both fifty thousand Galleons each as well…" Hermione explained to the elf.
"You is to be the mother of the next Malfoy heir," Kreacher nodding, looking as though the idea pleased him.
"Indeed," Hermione sighed, not wanting to think too hard about the idea of how that heir was going to get into her tummy to begin growing. She supposed she ought to begin planning for that if she was going to sign the papers and see it done. She really didn't fancy the idea of needing to shag Malfoy more often than absolutely necessary for conception, which meant she was going to have to start timing her ovulation cycle for optimum fertility.
She would also need to stop taking the birth control potion she'd begun taking since she and Ron had become a couple. A requirement of the agreement was that they begin trying for a child as soon as possible, so she would have to look into potions and supplements she could take to increase her chance of falling pregnant.
"That tea is good for making babies, Miss," Kreacher interrupted her thoughts and Hermione raised her eyebrows at the elf, "You was muttering about fertility and supplements and things, Miss."
"Oh. What's in this tea, Kreacher?" Hermione asked him.
"Extract of Lotus Mango, Chasteberry and Red Raspberry leaf, Miss," Kreacher told her, "They be good for making your body want to be pregnant."
"You already knew I'd agreed to meet Malfoy tomorrow about the deal, didn't you?" she asked the elf.
"Kreacher hears when the Miss and the Ginger Master argues, and Kreacher knows the Ministry be putting Miss and Master Draco together. Kreacher helps," the elf grinned toothily, and Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at the elf.
"I had no idea you were so interested in seeing such a pure bloodline tainted with muggleborn blood like mine," Hermione told the elf.
"Miss is a good witch, bright, smart and strong. Master Draco be clever, cunning and in need of a witch to bear his son now that the Malfoys be out of favour with so many. With Mistress Andromeda's husband and daughter dead, there is only Master Edward Lupin and Master Draco Malfoy left to carry on the bloodline of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."