Author's note: once again, i am in need of a BETA for this Fic, please... anyone interested? i'm beginning to feel pathetic here.

Chapter 10 - The Reactions

A short while after Draco Malfoy had left; Severus Snape walked though the door, his robes billowing behind him.

As usual he didn't bother with the pretense of niceties and plunged right into the point.

"Surely you don't believe them, Headmaster?" he said in his quiet voice.

Dumbledore smiled.

"Whatever do you mean, Severus?" he asked.

"You don't think that they truly have," he paused and sneered. "Feelings for each other do you?"

Dumbledore smiled lightly.

"I think that they don't, Severus." he said. "I think for the first time in her life, Miss Granger did something with out thoroughly thinking it though first, and I think for the first time in his life Draco Malfoy has been at an utter loss at what to do. And I think that even though it was not their intention, they have just brought on a chain of events that will drastically change their lives and indeed, the entire future of the Wizarding community."

Snape arched an eyebrow.

"All of this?"

The ancient wizard nodded.

"Indeed." he said he peaked his fingers together. "Exactly what you wanted. You wanted Master Malfoy to get a chance to reach his full potential, Miss Granger may very well-to use a clichéd phrase-draw him out of the dark?"

Severus very nearly smiled.

"What do you have in mind?"

There were rumors going around that as a student, Albus Dumbledore was sorted into Gryffindor. At times like these, Severus Snape was sure that they were dead wrong.

At the other side of the school…

Hermione screamed.

She was pacing in the room of requirement. She and Draco had both fled there after their audience with the headmaster, rather it was more like she had grabbed his cloak and dragged him into it after their audience with the Hogwarts Headmaster. It now looked rather like a common room that had not decided whether it was Gryffindor or Slytherin.

"Are you quite done?" demanded Draco.

Her head snapped to him, she glared at him with a venom he had not thought possible from one of the headmaster's goody-goody Gryffindors.

"Am I quite done?" she screamed. "Am I done? Merlin almighty! Are you completely out of what little mind you have, you hapless ferret? You conniving, idiotic, inbred git! No I am not done and it will be a while until I AM done and until then I WILL NOT. BE. DONE!"

It was a good thing she turned away because, Draco had to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

She was livid, she was more than livid, she was furious. Dumbledore was making them get married? She was going to be stuck marrying Draco Malfoy? She was going to have to go through labor? Have a child? Would they expect the two of them to share room? To share a bed?

"They want us to get married, Malfoy!" she yelled. "They want us to exchange vows and rings and-and-and BE married!"

Draco nodded.

"So we recite a few meaningless words and wear little sparkly bands on our fingers, so what?"

Hermione whirled on him.

"So what?" she demanded. "So what? This is MARRIEGE, Draco Malfoy, you git. We will be married. I will be called MISSES Malfoy! MISSES MALFOY!"

He shrugged his shoulders elegantly. He was beginning to tire with this petulant out burst.

"Yes, and the child that you are carrying, my fabulous fiancée," he said in a tight voice, as if he was dealing with an infant. "Will be born within wedlock and therefore accepted wholly into wizarding society, and WE can get a divorce as soon as we have left this place for good in seventh year." she stared at him. It was frighteningly clear that she had not thought of that. "Good Merlin, Granger, for the being the smartest bloody witch in our year you sure are thick."

Hermione scowled at him.

"I had thought you purebloods didn't believe in divorce."

Another graceful shrug.

Just how as he doing that, anyway? How can he turn something like a shrug into something elegant? Thought Hermione. That's not fair! We GIRLS are supposed to be graceful! Inbred ferret! Focus, Granger, the inbred ferret is talking

"I'll make an exception." he said. "Now, if you will excuse me,"

He turned on his heel and was about to stride out of the Room of Requirement, he was halfway to the door when Hermione screamed at him.

"Where do you think you are going?" she demanded.

Draco rolled his eyes melodramatically and turned around. Honestly, he could not understand what in Merlin's name Granger was on about. This was the precise reason he shied away from any deep emotional attachment with the female gender. They could not just leave things be, they needed to talk about them. It was one of those girly thing about them, sort of like they needed to go to the washroom in groups, needed to be pampered, prissy and jealous if one as much as looks at another girl.

"Back to my common." he said, once again utilizing that patronizing tone of voice. "Love"

Hermione bristled at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that." she hissed. "We have a lot to discuss-"

Draco arched an eyebrow.

"A lot to discuss, pet?" he demanded purposely using yet another endearment. This one was perhaps worse because he could have sworn he could hear her growling. Perhaps he would call her 'pet' more often. it turned her a rather impressive shade of magenta. "If we want to keep appearances to the teachers, if we want to save this child that you carry in your womb, we must get married, which means we exchange vows and you will be Hermione Malfoy."

She looked rather put out. All the anger drained out of her, and she looked tired and deflated. She collapsed into one of the red armchairs.

"I won't be able to tell anyone, will I?" she asked, already knowing the answer. She didn't know about Malfoy but she needed to talk about it. She needed to get it out of her head, if she stayed silent it would stew there and she would blurt it out to the very first person she saw and that was dangerous. she had no one else to talk to about this with but him. "This stays completely secret. I always rather thought my wedding would be the most celebrated, happiest day of my life." she smiled absently. "And I would be marrying the man of my dreams because I loved him, not because he knocked me up and was marrying me because it was the honorable thing to do." she scoffed quietly at her own words. "Who'd have thought a Malfoy... honorable?"

He heard the cutting remark made about him and he very nearly retorted her insult with one of his own, but Draco was not stupid. He knew that anything he may say at this moment may just result in massive injuries on his person, so refrained from saying anything even vaguely related to her filthy heritage. He decided to let the insult slide; she was after all a pregnant woman which meant that she would be imbalanced until she child was born.

And he was the only one she could turn to to talk about everything.

Nine months was not that long a way off wasn't it?

Merlin, the Gryffindor actually looked like she might cry. He was unused to comforting people, but since he was part of the reason for her sorrow he had to do something.

"You will eventually, Granger." he said sighing, resorting to something cookie cutter and clichéd as he usually did when he didn't know what to say. (Which mind you, did not happen very often.) "And I will personally thank that poor masochist that you are marrying for taking you away from me, and the two of you will live happily ever after. The end. Barf."

Hermione managed a small smile at his humor but said nothing. The silence between them was normal at first but it quickly became rather awkward, Draco took that as his cue to leave.

She didn't stop him this time.