Chapter 6

Attack

"This is wonderful, just bloody wonderful, isn't it?" asked Hermione sarcastically, shoveling another bite of hamburger into her mouth.

"Calm down, Hermione," soothed Ginny with a worried look on her face; Hermione wasn't taking the news about the baby very well at all. Certainly not as well as had been expected.

"Calm down? Calm down? That's all you can say? Ron is absolutely going to kill me when he finds out about this. I told him that the charm I did was 100 effective. I never thought that we would be the 3 that's not!" she whined, plopping her fork down on the table and dropping her head into her hands.

"He won't kill you Hermione . . . he loves you! He'll understand. Besides, what makes you think he won't want this baby? You guys are old enough to get married and have a baby. I don't know what you're complaining about, at least you have a father for your kid," said Ginny, beginning to feel a bit of guilt for keeping her baby, and raising it fatherless.

"I'm sorry, Gin . . . I suppose I do have it pretty good. I'm just scared of how Ron's going to react, that's all," sighed Hermione. "I just never thought we'd do this so soon. Okay, enough of this depressing nonsense. Let's get down to business. You and Harry, hmmm?" asked Hermione in a very girlish tone of voice. It sounded strange coming from Hermione's mouth.

"Yeah . . . I guess. I just don't know what he wants from me. I mean, hello, pregnant seventeen year old here, with no father for her child! Don't you think it screams, very loudly, that I'm just using him?"

"Come on, now, you can't really think that it would even cross anyone's mind! You've known him for years, you know he'll be there for you," Hermione said, glancing out the window. "Come on, Ginny, I think we'd better be going. It's getting dark out."

The girls stood, preparing to leave, when none other than the silver-haired ferret from their days at Hogwarts entered with the usual slutty girl they were accustomed to seeing him with.

"Malfoy?" muttered Ginny confusedly. "What would he be doing in a Muggle diner like this?"

"Who cares? Let's just go . . . " but Hermione trailed off when she saw Malfoy lean over and whisper something in the girl's ear, something that apparently caused her to turn and look at the two of them.

"Oh, now it's on, Malfoy," said Hermione, stalking over to his table, leaving Ginny behind, a slight smile crossing her face.

"Sorry, 'Mione . . . forgot to mention the mood swings," said Ginny, a smirk beginning to form on her face as she watched a very befuddled Draco be told off by a very angry, hormonal Hermione.

Ginny walked over to the door, holding it open for Hermione as she exited, her face flushed, but a glorious expression on her face.

"Do you know how good that felt? I've been waiting to do that my whole life, and bloody hell, it was well worth the wait!"

"Hermione!" Ginny admonished in a mock reprimanding tone. "Watch your mouth! But it was pretty fun to watch."

Later that evening, Hermione sat at the old wooden table in the kitchen with a cup of tea, contemplating whether or not she should tell Mrs. Weasley before she told Ron. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry and Ginny sneak out the door, one of Harry's hands placed reassuringly on the small of Ginny's back. They're so perfect for each other . . . thought Hermione, as she sighed at the sight of young love.

Before she could get any sappier, she heard a rumble of thunder in the distance, and knew why Harry had brought Ginny outside. Ginny absolutely loved thunderstorms, and Harry must've heard the thunder before she had. Where is Mrs. Weasley when you need her? She would've given them a good talking to about sneaking off in storms. Where was anyone for that matter? Oh yes, that's right. Wedding planning at George and Katie's.

"I'll have to have a talk with that boy. Honestly, just because she likes a bit of thunder doesn't give him the excuse to bring her outside in a storm! She's pregnant now, he ought to be a bit more careful," she muttered, getting up from the table and walking over to the sink.

"Wouldn't happen to be talking about me, are we?"

Hermione dropped the tea cup she was holding, and it shattered on the hard wooden surface of the floor. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, trying desperately to keep her fear from showing. What was he doing at the Burrow of all places, anyway? The seeming randomness of the whole thing was just another thing that contributed to the pounding of Hermione's heart beneath her rib cage.

"What do I always want, Granger? Revenge," he answered coldly, coming casually closer to her every second.

"Ron'll kill you, and you know it. Don't you dare come a step closer!" she screeched, reaching for her wand in her back pocket.

"Looking for this?" he laughed cruelly, pulling her wand from inside his robes. He now had her backed up against the stove, wandless, and she couldn't help but lose control of the trembling that was overcoming her. "Doesn't look like your precious Weasel is here to protect you now, does it?"

"Malfoy, don't hurt me. You can't, I'm — I'm pregnant," she pleaded, hating her halting, stuttering tone of voice. He finally reached her, trailing his cold fingers across her stomach. She was revolted at his touch, and she tried to get past him, but he blocked her.

"Awww, a little Weaselby. How cute. I don't think so, baby," he whispered as Hermione tried once again to push past him. He pointed her own wand at her stomach. "Let's see how Little Miss Perfect reacts to the loss of her child," he spat out the word as if it were filth tainting his mouth.

Thinking quickly, Hermione glanced behind her and saw a frying pan sitting on the stove.

"Hmmm . . . let me think on that a moment," stalled Hermione, cleverly reaching behind her for the pan. She finally felt her hand come in contact with the cold metal, and she grasped it. "No," she answered, and brought the hand holding the pan from behind her back, smashing him hard over top his head.

"Avada Kedav — " A pool of sinister looking green light had gathered at the end of Malfoy's wand, ready to complete its mission. It actually came into slight contact with Hermione's stomach, given their close proximity. She shuddered at the limp feeling suddenly roiling through her body.

But she had hit him seconds before he could finish the curse. He looked at her in shock before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground. Hesitantly, she grabbed her wand from where it was held limply in his hand and cast a body-bind on him, before stepping out into the now pouring rain, calling shrilly for Harry and Ginny. A few seconds later, she saw them in the distance, running towards the house hand in hand.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" panted Harry as they reached her.

"I — It's Malfoy, h — he attacked me . . . " she stuttered, the cold and shock finally catching up to her.

"What do you mean 'attacked' you? Hermione, the baby . . . is the baby okay?" asked Ginny, worry evident in her face and tone.

"Baby? Baby? Hermione, you're pregnant!" asked Harry joyfully.

"Harry? Not the time," said Ginny quietly, as she gently took Hermione by the shoulders and led her past Malfoy's bound body and into the living room, setting her down on the couch.

She walked back into the kitchen to see Harry kneeling beside Malfoy, apparently having some sort of conversation with him.

"Harry . . . d'you think you could do something with him, maybe take him somewhere or something?" asked Ginny. "Just get him out of here."

"Yeah, sure. So, Hermione's pregnant, huh?"

"Uh-huh. We found out just a little while ago, when she came with me to St. Mungo's. By the way, you'll never guess who our doctor was," said Ginny mischievously.

"Who? Never mind, you can tell me later. I'm gonna Apparate Malfoy somewhere . . . somewhere quite cold and rainy, actually," said Harry gleefully.

"Have fun," said Ginny, giving him a quick peck on the lips before heading back to the living room to talk to Hermione.

"Hey, you okay?" Ginny asked as she walked back into the living room, sitting down on the sofa opposite Hermione.

"I don't know," Hermione answered, placing one hand gently on her stomach. She closed her eyes, remembering everything that had happened. "He was about to do the Killing Curse, directly at my stomach . . . He had just about done it, too, only needed to pronounce the 'a.' It touched my stomach. I don't know what kind of effect that would have — if any. I think . . . umm . . . I think I'd better get to St. Mungo's right away, in any case." Hermione's face paled as she felt a cramp shoot through her abdomen.

"All right, Hermione, everything's going to be just fine. Come on, let's go and find Ron," Ginny spoke the words surprisingly calm and soothingly. Hermione stood up and Ginny tensed as she saw the small spot of blood that had been left behind on the couch. "It's going to be just fine."