Terrifié

Chapter Twenty-Six: "It's about Don..."

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She climbed onto the bed, and he moved over slightly as she lay down next to him and pulled the duvet over her. She looked at him, her pale skin glowing slightly in the dim light and her eyes bright, causing him to remember all those months ago when he had first discovered how beautiful she was, when she had been his moonlight goddess. She smiled tentatively, and under the covers her small cold hand found his. The tension in his body released and knowing her decision, he leaned over and kissed her.

TBC
She had already told Harry and Ron by the time Draco awoke at nine am, early for him on a Saturday. They went to Dumbledore together and then quickly prepared for the journey. Lunch in the Great Hall was silent as they both ate deep in thought, each trying to prepare themselves for what was to come. The stares, smiles and whispers of the other students when they both sat at the Gryffindor table escaped even Hermione's notice completely until a Ravenclaw came to congratulate her on getting back together with Draco.

"The whole school's relieved… you two seemed half-dead when you were apart." The girl had said, smiling and going back to her own table. Hermione silently agreed with her, looking at Draco pushing something around on his plate aimlessly as he sat amongst the Gryffindors. He was worried right now, troubled to the point of distraction- because of her. He felt her pain. Their relationship had begun with the two of them at war, stupid children trying to hurt and control each other, but somehow they had grown and changed and now, now they were two young adults facing the world together. He was watching her, as if aware that she had been thinking about him, and Hermione beckoned to him. He stood up grimly, coming to her side and holding her elbow as they left the Great Hall with only a wave to Harry and Ron, who looked ready to leap up and run after them. Hermione managed a small smile to pacify them, but her brothers looked far from happy.

It was time.

He shielded her from the cold as they stood at the end of the walk, watching the sunset together. Occasionally they kissed, his hand stroking her face as she closed her eyes to the blood-red sky.

"Thank-you." Hermione whispered. "For bringing me here."

"Thanks for coming." Draco replied, his voice louder than he had meant it to be, bringing them both back to reality. With one last kiss, they turned to face the little house together. They held hands loosely as they strolled up the walk and stopped in front of the door. Hermione looked at it for a moment, and then looked at Draco. He half-smiled, half-grimaced comically.

"God, this is weird. I'm going to meet your parents for the first time, now? While you tell them about Don… and maybe that we're getting married and having a baby? That's got to be a bit of a shock for them. Maybe I shouldn't be here…" He suggested, beginning to turn with a grin. Hermione grabbed him by the collar, turning him around with a stern look.

"Not so fast, mister." She said, giving him a little shake. Draco poked her in the ribs and she let go of him for a moment, laughing in surprise and then chasing him as he did a funny lunging run in a circle around the front lawn. When she began to catch up he stopped suddenly, causing her to stumble into him, still laughing. He grabbed her about the waist and carried her back to the door, where they engaged in a slight struggle. By now they were both laughing and breathing hard as they pulled hair and tickled each other.

"Hermione?" The two stopped playing and looked at Miranda Granger, who was staring at the two of them in amazement from the door. She had opened it when she heard some noise outside and was taken aback to see her usually reserved daughter being so playful and familiar with a young man. She was surprised that Hermione looked so happy.

"Mum!" Hermione cried, hugging her mother and stealing a glance at Draco, who was frantically trying to fix his hair and clothing. "This is Draco. Draco Malfoy." She said, stepping aside as a look of recognition and then confusion passed over Miranda's face upon hearing the name. Draco shook hands with her mother.

"Honoured to meet you, Mrs. Granger." He said cordially, inclining his head. Miranda shot her daughter a quick look of bewilderment before smiling graciously.

"Delighted, Mr. Malfoy… but please… come in…" They filed inside and were led into the living room, where Gerry was lying on the couch with a cloth over his eyes, listening to a Rachmaninov prelude at top volume. Draco nodded slightly in approval- he loved Rachmaninov. Miranda darted across the room and turned the music down to a background level. "Gerry, Hermione's home and she has brought a… guest." She said as he took the cloth off of his face and sat up.

"Hermione, love! What a wonderful surprise!" He said, flushing with pleasure as he saw his beloved daughter. He rose and hugged her tightly, and then turned to Draco. Draco saw his eyes narrow slightly as they swept over him critically, but then he smiled widely and shook Draco's hand, saying "Any friend of Hermione's is welcome here. Gerald Granger."

"Draco Malfoy." Draco said, once again noticing a look of mild horror in Gerry's eye, followed by confusion. He looked at Hermione and she smiled a little desperately.

"Well we were just about to have a bite to eat, do you want to sit?" Miranda said lightly, enthusiastically bringing extra chairs to the dining room table.

"Sure, sounds great." Hermione was actually quite hungry, and she missed her mother's cooking, so she ignored Draco's slight tug of her hand and pulled him resolutely to the table, noticing her father's pointed stare at their entwined fingers. She sat Draco down and then hurried after her mother to help her carry in some dishes. Her father was attempting to carry on a conversation.

"So, what did you think of the Manchester United game last night? Do you watch football?" Gerry asked, nodding encouragingly. Draco was frantically trying to remember where he had heard the word 'football' before.

"I love the football." He said stiffly, looking to Hermione in desperation as she sat down next to him, barely repressing her laughter.

"Oh… oh…. That's good, then. Do you play?" Gerry asked, looking at his daughter in confusion.

"Dad, Draco's a Wizard. He's probably never seen "the football" before." Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Draco, who flushed and looked at his plate.

"That's the thing Seamus Finnigan is always talking about!" He said in sudden realization, drawing the attention of the room to him. He quickly looked down again, muttering something to himself. He tried to remember something about Muggle life as the Grangers carried on a conversation.

"So Draco, do you also go to Hogwarts?" Miranda asked politely.

"Um, yes. I hear that you are a dentist." Draco said, smiling as he finally said something he thought useful.

"Yes, we both are. That's why Hermione has such lovely teeth." Gerry joked. The Grangers laughed but Draco looked at them blankly.

"No it's not. It's because I hexed her in third year and accidentally shrunk her two front teeth." He said, furrowing his brow. Hermione pinched him as Gerry looked baffled and Miranda stifled a giggle. Hermione pinched him again, much harder, and he let out a small noise which he disguised as a laugh. "HA! Ha ha ha…" He glared at her as he laughed weakly. "So… I guess you have a felly-tone then. And a television and a toaster and a microwave and… other Muggle things." Gerry laughed and nodded. "That's very nice." He said, once again looking down at his plate. Miranda took this as her chance to begin serving.

"It's nothing much, I worked late today. We've got some salad to start and chicken curry with rice." She said, handing the salad to Draco.

"Wow Mum, chicken curry is one of my favourites. You must be psychic." Hermione said, casually taking the salad from the struggling Draco and serving him. "In the Wizarding world the food often just appears on your plate." She explained.

"So Hermione, what brings you home?" Gerry asked.

"Well, I needed to talk with you guys… about a bunch of stuff. But one thing is that I haven't been telling you a lot lately. My life has been very complicated and some things have developed really quickly and we've kind of… lost touch." Hermione looked at her parents, who were already looking astutely between her and the quiet Draco.

"So what's the big news?" Miranda asked.

"Well. It's very big news." Hermione looked at Draco as she squeezed his hand under the table. "Draco and I… are engaged." There was a long pause, followed by a clatter as Gerry dropped his forkful of salad back onto his plate, stood up, and sat down again, all with his mouth slightly open.

"Oh my Lord! Oh… Hermione… well… congratulations, I suppose…" Miranda stuttered.

"We've been dating for 3 months or so, but we've known each other for quite a while. And yes, we used to be… adversaries,I suppose, but… things change. We've been through some really difficult times together and our relationship is very strong and honest and, well, we're going to get married this summer." Hermione explained, hoping to head off any awkward questions.

"So what's the hurry?" Gerry asked, still looking utterly shell-shocked. Hermione reddened.

"Maybe we should wait to talk about this any more until after dinner." She said. Miranda's eyes widened as she stared at her daughter's pink cheeks.

"Hermione Granger. Hermione Marie Granger. Look at me this instant." She said. Hermione looked up and met her mother's eyes. Miranda pushed away from the table and stood up. "Dear Lord Gerald, the child is pregnant!" She said, her voice quavering.

"Hermione!" Gerry said, looking at her for confirmation. Hermione nodded silently. Everyone looked at Miranda, who was staring at her daughter with a strange expression. It almost looked as is she was about to…

She burst out laughing. "I KNEW it! Hermione! You're going to have a baby! I'm going to be a grandmother!" Everyone laughed, the relief making them giddy. Soon the conversation was flowing as they discussed the baby and Hermione and Draco's relationship. Draco couldn't believe how well they'd taken it. Mrs. Granger was practically glowing with joy, and while Mr. Granger still seemed cautious, he also seemed happy. By contrast, his family would probably try and have Hermione murdered when they found out- but why bring that up now? Dinner passed quickly now as (select) stories of their relationship were told and baby stories about Hermione were recounted.

After dinner they all moved into the living room. Draco and Hermione sat in the love seat while the Grangers sat on the couch.

"So you guys really aren't going to disown me or lock me in my room or anything?" Hermione asked, partially joking but partially serious.

"Well, no. You've really grown up in the past few years while you were away, and we're very proud of you. We trust your judgement." Miranda said, smiling.

"What she means to say is, she was only 19 when she had you so who is she to judge." Gerry joked, causing them all to laugh and Mrs. Granger to playfully swat him.

"And besides that, I think it's physically impossible for a woman to be unhappy about having a grandchild, no matter what the circumstances." She added, grinning.

"The rattles and baby bottles are already dancing in her eyes, Hermione. No turning back now." Gerry teased. Draco couldn't believe how… nice Hermione's parents were. So normal and friendly and happy and accepting. Imagine if Lucius and Narcissa had been like them… Hermione was looking at him now seriously, and he realized she had finally worked up her courage. He grabbed her hand and kissed it discreetly, holding onto it tightly as she turned back to her parents.

"But… there's bad news too." Hermione said, watching as her parents sobered immediately, straightening themselves and watching her closely. "Listen, what I say now is going to be hard to accept, and trust me, it's very hard to tell you this, but Draco and I decided that it was important that you know." She looked at her fiancé for support, and he smiled encouragingly, tugging a lock of her curly hair. Miranda and Gerry looked at each other, simultaneously deciding (as older married couples do) that they liked the young man. Hermione took a deep, calming breath and turned away from the comfort of Draco's familiar grey eyes. "It's about Don…"

Hermione sat on the couch now, a parent on either side of her. Draco remained in the loveseat, looking on with a strange feeling of sadness mixed with envy as the Grangers wept. His parents would never care about him the way that Hermione's cared about her. It made him feel slightly lonely. But then Hermione looked up and smiled at him and he realized he had a new family now, and that he would care about their baby the way his parents had never cared about him.

The Grangers were, naturally, heartbroken by the horrendous story their daughter had just told them. Miranda's guilt, horror and shame at what had gone on beneath her nose were only topped by Gerry's blinding rage towards Don. He wasn't a yelling sort, but Draco could tell by looking at him that his anger was absolute. He had gone completely pale, and was alternately soothing his wife and child, and turning to stare with a terrifying blankness at a picture of Don that sat on the end table. What Hermione hadn't been able to tell her parents, Draco had quietly supplied, speaking with as much sensitivity as possible considering the rage it invoked in him, about her emotional and mental state at the beginning of the year, the incidents of the previous Christmas and her dire injuries. To say the Grangers were shocked was an understatement.

"I just don't understand! After everything we did for him! He's our blood! How could he do these things?" Miranda whispered, tears still streaming down her face.

"Mrs. Granger…" Draco began.

"Miranda." She said, though she didn't look at him.

"Miranda, your brother is not well. He's an alcoholic, but he obviously has some kind of mental problems. He could even be a sociopath. Most likely he was also victimized as a child- but whatever the reason, his mind is warped. He needs help. We can't let him be a threat to Hermione and the baby or anyone else." Draco said. It was funny how he could say those detached and professional phrases as he pictured himself ripping out Don's intestines in his mind… it must be the Narcissa in him.

"I know, I know… but it's still too early for me to-" Miranda was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming. They all went completely silent.

"Miranda? Gerry? You home? I dropped by to ask if I could-" Don stopped talking as he entered the living room and saw them all, sitting frozen. He took another step towards them and Draco stood up, feeling an overwhelming urge to grab Hermione and disapparate. Don stopped and looked around again, a calculating look crossing his features as he took in the tearful face of his sister, the wide eyes of his niece and the deadly stillness of the other two men. He turned to Hermione, now about 6 feet away from her, and a look of loathing came across his features as she shook her head minutely, her terrified and guilty eyes telling him everything he needed to know.

"Don." Gerry's voice was firm as he stood up, but Don's gaze did not waver from Hermione.

"You stupid little bitch. You told them didn't you? You fucking betrayed me after…"

"That's enough!" Miranda cried, getting up and moving toward her brother. "Get out!" She said breathlessly, turning her back on him and once again going back towards Hermione. Don still hadn't broken eye contact with Hermione as he began to back out of the room.

"Whore." He said shortly before he turned around and began to leave. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, Hermione had flown past them and was clinging desperately to her Uncle's back, sobbing.

"I'm sorry!" She cried, as Don stopped walking. Draco was already moving towards them but it was too late. He watched in horror as Don used all his might to fling Hermione away from him, watched as she hit the sound system with a cry, knocking it to the floor, and watched as she fell to the ground herself with a thud, her head smacking into the corner of the speaker on the way down.

It was as if the world moved in slow motion while the whole room turned to look at her and the blood pooling beneath her head as her eyes softly closed. As Miranda and Gerry ran to their daughter, Draco made a tough decision in a split second. He turned away from his fiancée and he tackled the black-haired man to the floor with one thought...

Hermione wouldn't be able to stop him from killing Don this time.

TBC