"I can't explain it, Professor." Hermione was patiently pacing the floor of Dumbledore's office, aware that both Dumbledore and McGonagall's eyes were on her at all times. "It's just something within me that speaks and says I should keep this baby." She stopped pacing the floor and stared at them. "I know I can help this innocent child," she said softly. "I know that I can teach it to be good and respectable and not at all like the father."

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to object, but Professor Dumbledore interrupted her. "I see, Miss Granger. Well, your choice is your own. You may go."

Hermione gave a little skip as she left the room. She was going to keep her baby! And she knew that she could raise her child to be decent and loving. It would just take patience.

After Hermione had disappeared from sight, McGonagall turned to Dumbledore, her mouth ajar. "Albus, are you sure this is a wise decision?"

Dumbledore shook his head lightly. "Minerva, I'm afraid that this is a lesson in which we cannot aid Miss Granger. It must be a lesson which she will learn on her own."

"That's a pretty harsh lesson, Albus."

"I know, Minerva. But we cannot interfere. It is Hermione's body and her decision. Not ours."

Over the next few weeks, Hermione became increasingly aware of the child within her. Although it was virtually impossible to feel any movement whatsoever, she was completely attentive to every flutter she felt against her insides. Being nine weeks along, she was beginning to experience the fun side of pregnancy. She and Ginny spent countless hours in the library, pouring over old books, looking for names.

"I like Annabella," Ginny said, after putting down "A Wizard's Fairy Tale Book". Picking up another one, she said, "It's got a pretty ring to it."

"And if it's a boy?" Hermione planned on being prepared for anything.

"Ericbella," Ginny joked and Hermione laughed, her first real laugh in almost two months.

"Ericbella Granger," Hermione mused to herself. "That should go over well with my parents." It was meant to be a light joke, but Hermione had reminded herself of the dreadful reaction her parents had to her pregnancy. At first, both her parents agreed that she should terminate the pregnancy, although Dumbledore tried to convince them that Hermione had made her own decision. Then, after much debate and deliberation, Hermione convinced her parents that she felt the strong urge to keep her baby. Her parents, being Muggles didn't completely understand the power of Lord Voldemort, so they reluctantly agreed with the entire conversation ending in tears from every angle.

"How about Morfudd?" asked Ron as he and Harry approached the girls.

"Morfudd? Ronald Weasley, how many times have you been dropped on your head?" Ginny questioned.

"Not nearly enough," Harry joked, poking his friend in the head.

"That's unholy," Hermione replied to Ron's input. "Morfudd Granger." She began to giggle and within minutes, all four of them were in hysterics, getting kicked out of the library in the process.

Hermione felt considerably lighter with her emotional baggage during those days. She was often able to laugh and talk as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. She attended her classes and prepared for the upcoming exams that were going to take place in less than two months. She began making plans for the summer, ignoring the odd distraught feeling that settled itself in the pit of her stomach.

"Fifteen more Muggles were pronounced dead at the scene of the crime on Tuesday evening," read Ron from the pages of the Daily Prophet one morning at breakfast. "Although the culprit is unknown, it seems as if this would be the work of the Dark Lord who returned nearly two years ago."

Hermione shook her head sadly. It was at times like these that she felt incredibly sick to her stomach that she was going to be mothering the child of this demon. But you're a decent person, she told herself. There's no way that this child can grow up to be as evil as him.

"Funny, how the Daily Prophet is so quick to assume it was Voldemort when two years ago, they believed I was a crackpot for saying he had returned." Harry's voice interrupted her thoughts. "How odd."

"It's not odd, my friend," piped up Ron, putting down the paper. "It's complete and utter lunacy to me."

"Fifteen people," Hermione muttered under her breath. She had felt more and more emotional lately and burst into tears frequently, especially when her quill ran out of ink. "That's fifteen lives, fifteen human beings, fifteen souls lost." Her voice quivered and faded as Harry and Ron looked at her with sad eyes. "It's such a waste."

Harry nodded slowly. "I completely agree." He heaved a heavy sigh. "One of these days he's going to get what he deserves and I, for one, am not going to feel sorry in the least." His eyes were dark and glinting and Hermione could tell that he was thinking of his parents and the other tragedies he had endured due to Voldemort.
Even after they left the Great Hall for classes, Hermione couldn't shake the guilty feeling that was gnawing at her inside. Harry, not to mention countless thousands, had suffered deeply at the hands of Voldemort. The Ministry, as well as the Order, was doing everything in their power to stop him and hinder any chances that another Voldemort may be born from one of his faithful Death Eaters after Voldemort was gone. And here was Hermione Granger, top Hogwarts student, model Head Girl, a pregnant teenager, carrying the Dark Lord's child. It wracked on her nerves what she could possibly be doing to the world that she loved so much.