I'll Be Your Crying Shoulder

Chapter One: Yesterday

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Mariana. But I think I stole the name from Shakespeare. Oh well. Everyone else belongs to J., and the penthouse mentioned does not belong to anyone to my knowledge, unless someone happens to be immensely rich and buys it. Oh well. Just read.

I remember it as if it were yesterday. The memory of it still brings tears to my eyes. I thought it was just a dirty joke the Slytherins were playing to celebrate their last day at Hogwarts, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Under the dark, heavy cloaks were Death Eater initiates. I'm still not certain who they all were, but I do know one. Draco Malfoy. I could smell his pure ferret blood several metres away. I could feel the smirk as he moved closer to me and made me realise it wasn't a joke.

I felt rough hands grab me from behind - probably Crabbe and Goyle - and restrain me while the other ones advanced. Draco, I knew, was in the middle. He reached me first. I had been screaming angrily by then, but knew in the back of my mind that no one would help me. Everyone was outside, celebrating with a feast prepared by the sixth-year prefects, and I had been told that a pair of Slytherins were fighting by their common room. I was alone, and someone had already taken my wand before I could think to use it.

My robes were ripped open, my clothes banished with a single flick of Malfoy's wand. He grabbed a handful of my hair in a fist and threw me to the ground. Then-

Her voice choked as she saw the scene in her mind. A tear slipped down her already tear-soaked cheeks, her eyes puffy and nose red.

"You can stop if you want, Hermione. You've made more than enough progress in simply committing the memories to paper," her psychologist offered kindly. "You can try to read it again next time. It's nearly time for you to leave anyhow."

Hermione nodded and quickly closed her journal. If she looked at that page one more time, with the wrinkles made by her fist, and the stains from her tears, she knew she would tear the pages out and rip them to shreds. Sighing, she stood and left the room, saying good-bye to the psychologist on the way.

As she entered the waiting room, Harry jumped up and hurried over to her, followed closely by Ron. She looked into Harry's worried eyes, and hadn't needed to say a thing before he pulled her into a comforting hug. Perfect. It was exactly what Hermione had needed right then, and Harry knew it without needing to ask. Ron stood back a little, seeming a bit uncomfortable, but placed a warm hand on her back as she cried onto Harry's shoulder.

Several years passed, and Hermione had no need to go to the psychologist anymore. She wasn't by any means cured of her trauma, but there wasn't much else a psychologist could do. All that could be done now was...

"Mommy, mommy!" A young girl about six years of age came running through her recently-opened bedroom door, her ginger curls bouncing as she excitedly hopped onto the bed. "Uncle Harry wants to know -" The girl paused as she noticed her mother's red, tear-stained face. "Why are you crying, mommy?"

Hermione smiled and wiped away the tears she had become used to waking up with, then took her daughter in her arms and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I had a nightmare that you were never born. But you're here, love, and I couldn't wish for anything better."

The two sat like this for a few minutes, until Harry walked in the room. He stopped in the doorway and smiled, looking down at his best friend and her daughter. When Hermione had found out that she was pregnant, Harry and Ron had immediately stepped in to help her raise the child, as had her parents and the Weasleys. Of course, Mrs. Weasley had been a bit reluctant, still a bit suspicious after the Rita Skeeter articles in their fourth year. Mrs. Weasley sent hand-knitted jumpers and socks whenever a special occasion arose, as usual, including tiny ones for Mariana that would magically grow with her. The Grangers gave Hermione all of her old baby stuff, and found a nice penthouse near Diagon Alley. Harry offered to pay in full for the penthouse, but the Grangers insisted they pay at least half.

And that's how the Golden Trio ended up here, at Cockspur Street, St. James's, SW1. Well, the Golden Trio plus their own little Golden Girl. They became a family, closer than friends, and Hermione couldn't be happier. Well, in her waking life, that is. Her dreams were still a problem for her, but they were becoming nearly tolerable. Nearly.

Harry finally cleared his throat, still smiling. When Hermione looked up, Harry said, "Breakfast's ready. When do you want to go shopping? Mari will need some things for school." As he said this, he winked conspiratorially at the girl, who grinned broadly and winked back, in the exaggerated way only a child can truly pull off.

Hermione had to fight the urge to laugh. She knew Harry would end up hijacking Mari at some point during the shopping trip, and they would turn up later with ice creams or toys or candies. She wondered briefly what the gift would be this time...

Harry grinned devilishly at Mari and picked up the excited little girl, tickling her sides and making her squirm and giggle. Hermione smiled at Harry in thanks, and got up off her bed to follow the two downstairs to the kitchen.

Potter, thought Draco Malfoy maliciously, glaring across the crowded shop at the black-haired man. He hadn't seen the man since the end of school, and he had been glad of that fact. But that lucky streak was over, and he would have to find some way to retaliate, to make him pay for ruining his luck. He kept himself out of view by Harry and watched as he talked and laughed with a child.

The child... She reminded him vaguely of someone he had known, but couldn't quite place. As she turned her head to look at the kittens in the store, the resemblance clicked. Granger. Oddly, even thinking the child must be a by-product of them, he couldn't see any of Potter in the girl. Good thing, too. The thought of Potter shagging anyone almost made him nauseous. But Malfoys don't get nauseous, so Draco held it back.

As Draco stared at the girl, who was playing with a pure black kitten by then, he felt a pair of green eyes glaring at him, and he looked up from the girl. He smirked as Harry walked toward him. "Why hello, Potter. How've you been? I see you've finally shacked up with the mudblood. Beautiful child. Too bad for you, you're not the father. The girl looks nothing like you, thank Merlin. Muddie been cheating on you?"

Harry roughly grabbed Draco by the arm and dragged him into a dark corner, away from Mariana. "Don't you ever come near us, ferret. I know she's not mine. I also know that you raped Hermione. If I hadn't promised her years ago that I wouldn't, I'd have killed you after she told us."

Draco replied mockingly, "Oooh, Potter, I'm shaking in my shoes. Are you going to h-hurt me?" His smirk returned and he leaned forward, his eyes gleaming maliciously. "Thanks for the tip," he finished, before turning around and walking swiftly out of the store, the gears in his head turning swiftly, processing the information Potter had accidentally told him.

A/N: Just so you know, this isn't going to be one of those 'Draco raped Hermione cause he's secretly in love with her' fics. Draco raped her in this story cause he's an ass, and he doesn't like that she got better grades than him, so he had to get one-up on her one last time before school ended. I'm not sure if I want this to be H/Hr or no ship at all, cause I'm personally against the H/Hr ship, but I know it could be written well in this story. If I don't do H/Hr, then there will probably be a sub-ship of H/G. So yeah. Put in your votes, or don't, cause I'm sure no one's actually reading this. It's just for a challenge at Fawkes Ashes. Check my profile for a link.

Update (11/6/2011): Looks like most of you don't want H/Hr. Which is good. And I think this will eventually turn into Hr/D, but we'll just have to see where the story takes me. And yes, this has taken me a loooong time to get back to, sorry about that. I'll try to get at least three more chapters written before I post the second chapter, in case it dies on me again.