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Chapter Twenty-Three

Ron's mouth hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. He seemed too shock to move, and Draco and Hermione didn't even notice his presence until he actually barged into the room. And they were of course paralyzed with horror...I mean being caught in the act by your best friend...not a good situation you'd want to find yourself in.

Ron slowly recovered his senses. He couldn't believe what he saw in front of him. It was as if he had stepped in to some kind of nightmarish dream. Here he was going to apologize to the love of his life; and he finds her in the middle of sex with his worst enemy. It just couldn't be real. Then Hermione's moan brought him back to the real world. Draco came out of her and wrapped her up with a sheet as well as himself. "What do you think you're doing here Weasely?!" Malfoy snarled at him. "Don't you have any sense of privacy? Oh wait never mind how would you? You and your family all sleep in the same room." Hermione scolded him with a look but it didn't stop him. "Get out and go back to your little Gryffindor frie-" Ron suddenly charged at him and pushed him off the bed, off of Hermione. His face was as red as an overripe strawberry and he was fuming. "What are you doing to her?!" He yelled and pointed his wand at Mafloy; "Petrificus Totalus!" Draco's body froze up with the full body bind and he lay there mute on the side of the bed.

"Hermione! 'Mione! Are you ok? I mean..." Ron was hopelessy checking to see if she was in any sign of pain or if she was hurt. Hermione's patience snapped. It was none of his business what she did in her room or with whom. Who was Ron to come charging into her dormitory, and most particularly her room? Did he thin he was raping her or something? "Ron! Just leave us alone! I'm fine and I was spending some time with my boyfriend." "Yes boyfriend!" She yelled as she saw a look of pure horror and disgust settle over Ron's face again covering the hurt. "So will you just please leave and shut the door on your way out." She finished while breathing heavily and gazing angrily at Ron who looked as if he couldn't believe his ears. And without a word he left. Hermione held her head in her hands...He just made their life even more complicated...Their relationship was no secret any longer. She got off the bed and suddenly realized Draco was in a body bind and she did a simple counter curse.

He got up brushing himself off angrily. He just looked so funny trying to entangle himself from a bunch of crimson and gold sheets and getting up from the side of the bed... Hermione just couldn't hold herself back; she started laughing. "What are you laughing at?" He said irritably. Hermione just shook her head and let her sheet fall to the floor.

Ron went blindly through the halls with absolutely no clue as to where he was going. He was going wherever his feet carried him. His anger had ebbed away to hurt, and he felt like someone was trying to wrench his heart out of his chest. The scene that he had stumbled upon kept on haunting him; and the hurtful words Hermione had spoken to him reverberated in his head again and again. He walked out of the castle and towards the lake. Once he got there he kept walking straight ahead not noticing how wet his clothes were getting. He was oblivious to it all and soon the stars and the moon melted away into blackness.

Hermione awoke in the morning as the sun tickled her face. Her calendar shouted "113 days left till exams!" and Hermione wearily got off the bed. She suddenly felt a wave of nausea overcome her senses and she blindly grabbed the nightstand for support. She felt as though she was going to throw up. She stumbled towards the bathroom and pulled out a bucket she found in the cabinets underneath the sink. She gagged and threw up in the bucket and sat down on the tiled steps of the Jacuzzi to stabilize herself. In a few minutes she cleared up the mess and showered. She pulled on a robe over some clothes she found in her oak chest and went down to the door of the dormitory. She stopped with her hand on the handle. She didn't want to go there and sit under Ron's accusing gaze...It would just be too much. Besides she wasn't feeling herself so she had a house elf deliver up some food. Draco was already down for breakfast she supposed.

When the food arrived she picked at it and couldn't eat much. She left her plate on the coffee table with only a few small bites taken. She opened the door and rushed off to the library.

She walked to the restricted section; which she was thankfully allowed in now that she was head girl. Her fingers touched the spines of several dusty volumes until she found the one she was looking for. She opened it and coughed as a cloud of dust met her face. She retreated to the back of the library with the book hidden beneath the folds of her robes. Checking no one was around she cautiously opened the book to the page she wanted.

"For a witch to find out if she was pregnant there are only two steps to be taken. First brew the Svangerskapdetektor potion. ("That's Norwegian!" Hermione exclaimed in her head.) It must be brewed for three and three-fourth hours. Once the potion is complete it will turn a deep magenta. Take three sips when it is steaming, do not let the heat bother you. If the potion turns your stomach blue, you are free of child. If however it turns red, you are to become a mother. The ingredients are listed below."

Hermione ripped out the page and it stuffed it into the pocket of her robes. From the moment she had felt the wave of nausea she had the suspicion that she was pregnant...She and Draco were always active at night...She just hoped she wasn't pregnant. What would Draco say? She didn't think he would want a child. She rushed up to her room and set about making the potion. She was short a few ingredients but she would have to get them during Snape's class she decided. She felt a shiver up her spine as she remembered Snape's office with its jarred specimens floating forever in the green preservatives...

Since breakfast was soon to be over in the great hall Hermione put a spell around her work to keep it from harms way. She rushed down to Herbology class and waited for the rest of the class to appear. Harry came in with Neville but there was no sign of Ron. He probably didn't want to be around me...she thought as Professor Sprout put clay pots in front of them. She set about to work planted fanged geraniums. No one came out with less than a few scratches from the green house.

It was time for potions and Hermione felt a cloud of dread settle over her. She would have to sneak past Snape somehow and steal the ingredients...how she didn't know. She would have to create some sort of diversion...Hermione took a seat at the back of the class. When it began she asked if she could excuse herself and use the bathroom. She crept out into the hallway and walked a few yards to the door where Snape's office was. She did a complex unlocking charm as Snape wasn't simply a person who would leave anyone to open it with the Alohomora. She opened the door and closed it silently behind her. There was a door which led to the class and Hermione could hear him scolding Neville for something. She quickly approached his private stores and started pulling out the ingredients she needed. She kept on dropping packets of ingredients in her haste and fear. "Well, Well... Ms. Granger." Said a deep voice behind her and all her ingredients fell to the floor as she gasped and turned around to face Professor Snape.