Chapter 13: You're Sympathy Can't Take That Away

AN: The JK pwnz. That hurt me to type that.

Hermione held Angie for a bit before going upset stairs. Draco and her talked very little before she decided she needed to go to bed and rest after a bad day. Well, not so much a bad day, more like a stressful day. One that required apologizes and children, and reliving a past she didn't necessarily want to relive. But maybe remembering was for the best. When she opened her bedroom door she founded Derrick sprawled on her bed. It was quite adorable if you asked her.

She took her pajama's from her drawer and went into the bathroom to change her clothes. As she was changing she went through the last couple days events. She laughed at the fact that sometimes she could be so dramatic about things that really just did not matter at all. She thought about the kids mostly; sure they were stressful, but she enjoyed it. They were a pleasure. She had always wanted a brother or sister, but her parents thought one child was enough. Hermione sighed, she always wanted to be a mother, but she knew there was no chance of that ever. It made her sad inside, but there was always adoption later. She thought about holding Angie in her arms and how comforting it felt. She was taking care of a life and protecting it. What she wouldn't give to feel that later in life for a longer period.

After she was done washing her face and brushing her teeth she went back into her room. She took the plate off the bed. Carefully she removed Derrick's shoes, careful not to awake the angelic form laying before her. His hair was in his face and his breathing was soft. He looked so sweet, Hermione once again questioned why anyone would call him a devil child. She covered him softly with the quilt knowing only too well how cold the castle got at night.

When she got to the door she glanced back at the boy and smiled. It was something she would never have. She lit a fire in her fireplace and went back to the common room. She found Draco holding the baby with a cigarette in his hand. She dropped the plate on the table and smacked him in the back of the head, "What was that for?"

"Are you kidding me?" She leaned down and took Angie from his arms. "You don't smoke near a baby. Ever!" She rocked the baby gently. She shushed it and cooed softly. Whispering, "It's okay sweetheart, he means well. He just doesn't know." The baby girl giggled and reached for a lock of Hermione's hair. Angie tugged lightly and let out a quiet squeal. "No, please. Can I have that back?'

"You know she can't understand you." She was watching the interaction between the two and found it to be almost serene. Hermione was so gentle and careful with his baby sister. He knew Angie was safe with Hermione and that made him feel at peace.

"She will eventually. How will she ever learn if all you do is coo at her? She'll know gibberish and it will take her longer to learn how to talk."

"Granger, I know you were a special child. But not even you were talking at the age of one month."

"I didn't say she would. I just think goo-goo, gaa-gaa is the wrong way to speak to babies. They are people after all, no matter how small." Suddenly, Angie gave a rather sharp tug to her hair. "Ow." Gently she pried her hair from the baby's seeming death grip. "Umm…Derrick fell asleep upstairs and I didn't want to wake him. So I'm just going to sleep on the couch."

Draco looked almost offended. "You can wake him up. I'll move him to my room." He started to get up.

"Just leave him there. He's not hurting anyone. It'll be easier on everybody." Angie started crying. Hermione thought it was because she took the strand of hair away. But even when she tried to give it back the baby girl wouldn't stop crying. Then she smelt it. "Ew."

"What?"

"She went potty."

Draco's faced dropped. "What?"

Hermione laughed. "She went to the bathroom."

"In her pants?"

Hermione stared at him with a confused look, "No, she went to the ladies room." He wrinkled his noise. "You've never changed a diaper before have you?"

"We've always have had nannies to do that."

"You are about to develop a new skill. One that will actually be a of good use in the sometime near future."

This time Draco was actually offended. He didn't change diapers. Hermione was laughing at the look of disgust that was plastered on his face. She walked over to the diaper bag that the nanny had left for them. She pulled out the mat, another diaper, and wipes. Because she still had the baby in her hands she couldn't really set anything up. "Help?"

He walked around the table and she handed him the baby. He got a whiff of the toxic scent. He developed tears in his eyes. "That reeks of nothing I've ever smelt before."

Hermione shook her head as she set up the mat. Taking Angie from him she said, "Suck it up and be a man. Now watch, cause I'm only doing this once."

"Did you just insult my man hood?" He said more rhetorically than anything. She shushed him.

She changed the baby's diaper showing Draco the tiny particulars, such as making sure the diaper was in the right direction. "This is all great and everything. Can we get rid of the smelly thing? Now?"

"You can't get rid of the baby!"

"Granger, I meant the diaper."

She shook her head and laughed, "I know. I was making a joke Malfoy. You know funny ha-ha." She handed him the diaper and told him to get rid of it. She finished changing the baby and placed her in the crib. She put a bubble around the crib and lit a cigarette. Where Draco had gone she didn't know. But he was taking a long time getting rid of a diaper and she didn't understand why. She sat back on the couch and took a deep breath.

"So are all women that knowledgeable when it comes to babies or is just another 'know-it-all' trait you have?"

She shrugged, "Instinct? I don't know."

"Well, Granger, you'll be a good mom if nothing else. You'll probably drive your husband to the brink of insanity, but the kid will be well taken care of."

Hermione gave him a short, sad laugh. "Thanks Malfoy." The fact was he was wrong and for once she knew it for a fact and she didn't have to guess.

"What's wrong?" He looked at her, he was actually afraid of pissing her again.

"Mmm…nothing. Tired I guess."

"Are you sure that's it?" She laughed again.

"No, actually. I know that it's not it. But it really doesn't matter all that much." She took a long drag and then released it with a sigh.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay then. Can I bum a cigarette?"

She held up the pack to him. He took one, she handed him the lighter. "You know, if the baby stays you should probably quit smoking."

"If Angie stays will you quit smoking?"

"If you asked me to, I'd try."

"That's nice of you."

"I was pregnant." It was a word fart. It just came out. She didn't want to tell him, but she needed to tell someone. She had been thinking about it since Angie and Derrick arrived this morning. She thought about that she would have been able to take care of her baby like she took care of Angie, and then she could have been coloring with her child like she had with Derrick. She thought what Malfoy voiced, she would have been a good mom. She slapped her hand over her mouth and glanced at him. "I didn't mean to say it."

"But you did."

"Can I ask you to forget it?"

"You can ask, but I highly doubt I'll forget. That's something hard to ignore. It's very hard to ignore. Who's was it? What happened to it?"

She put out her cigarette and rubbed her eyes in frustration. She groaned. "Malfoy, all day all I could think about was when I was pregnant because of Angie. It's not a bad thing, but I'm sorry blurted it out. No one knows about it. And when I say no one, I mean only you. Not Harry, Ron; my mom didn't even know before she, before she passed away. So really, you need to not tell a soul."

"Was it his?"

"Does it matter?"

"Did you abort it?"

"Heavens, no!"

"Then what happened to the baby Hermione? They just don't disappear. Babies just don't go away. So something obviously happened. You just told me you were pregnant. Were as in past tense. Meaning two things: you either got rid of it or you had it? And Granger, I never saw you pregnant. So what happened to the baby Granger?" By the end of it his voice had gotten so loud it sounded like he was yelling.

She lit another cigarette and let out a huff. She looked at him with a bit of confusion and anxiety. "Why do you care so much? It wasn't yours, and it's not as if we have any type of relationship where you would be involved enough to care. So tell me Malfoy, why is it so goddamn important for you to know what happened to my baby?"

Malfoy stopped and he looked at her. And went back to thinking about it. He didn't know why he cared, he knew he shouldn't care, but he did. In fact, he had begun to realize he always did care in a way. He cared about Lucius's actions, he cared about his own actions, and he began to realize he cared about Hermione. Not in the 'Oh I love you so much jump into bed with me and then marry me' type of way. But ever since he saw her in such a weak position a little over a month ago, he cared. Maybe, he started caring a long time ago. He cared that she always made higher grades than him, but wasn't the kind of concern he was showing for her now. He cared because after he saw Ron Weasley beating an innocent girl that she needed someone to watch over her. She obviously needed someone to care about her. She lost her parents, and she lost her best friends.

Hermione was just as alone as he was and he began to realize this. Part of him began to feel that they could, maybe, be alone together. Then again maybe she didn't want to be alone with him. Maybe she just wanted to be alone, by herself.

Hermione got tired of waiting for an answer and started to walk away from him. "Wait." She paused but when he didn't say anything further she continued walking away. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away. "What happened the last time you walked away from me?" He said in a threatening tone.

"You got hit in the face with a book." Draco paused. She was right and he hadn't really thought about it. 'Damn her.'

"I forgot about that." He said. She ripped her arm away from him.

"You would."

"Damn it, Granger. You brought it up. I was just fucking curious. Another scarlet letter to add to your chest. You know what? You're right I don't care. In fact, I don't know why I asked so, just forget it."

"You're fucking bipolar! Make up your mind. Make a choice, do you or do you not care? Because you know what I don't want your sympathy attention. I lost my parents, I lost my friends, I have a 'boyfriend'," she used finger quotes when she said the word boyfriend, "who likes to use me for a fucking punching bag, and I lost my first child. If you think I have the time to deal with your bull shit you're wrong. I have back stabbed scars all over, emotionally and physically and your sympathy can't take that away. So do me a favor and stop causing me an ulcer I don't need." She screamed at him.

He grabbed her wrist again and slammed his mouth onto hers. Hermione didn't object. They were both frustrated and if they could both get away taking it out on each other then, so be it. He pulled back.

"I lost my family, and all the respect that came along with my family, and I received children two children after it's all said and done. If you think I have time to give you sympathy, you are sadly mistaken."

AN: Those who have not procrastinated at least once in updating the first chapter can cast the first stone. All apologizes I swear. Plus I might have a really awesome idea for a one shot HG/DM. Yeah, I'm working on that. My classes have been killer and I'm waiting for my college acceptance letter. And I just got this crazy fitness teacher who think all chicks need rock hard abs. I hate him. I've been mad tired lately. Thus, the long delay.

3 Jenn