Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. All credit must be given to J.K.

The Cradle Will Fall

Chapter 3

Hermione awoke to the loud screams of Daniel. She bolted up in bed and searched the room frantically. Her heart pumped fast like her alarm clock had just woken her up, like it did in the past. 'Where's that screaming coming from?' For a second Hermione had forgotten she was a mother, had forgotten she wasn't still a little girl. The second came and went, though.

Hermione jumped off the oversized bed and ran over to Daniel's crib. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she realized he wasn't there.

"Oh Merlin." She remembered leaving him in the nursery last night. He had been sound asleep when she had gotten back and she really wouldn't have enjoyed waking him. He was cranky when he was tired.

Hermione quickly ran into the nursery, finding Nanny, which is what Daniel called her, trying to calm the screaming child. He was standing up in his crib, his mouth wide open. His eyes were shut tight but tears still seemed to find their way out. He gripped the side of the crib as he cried, his face bright red.

Hermione pulled Daniel out of the crib and rocked him. Slowly, Daniel began to calm down, his sobs occurring in short intervals.

"Shh. Your mummy's right here." Daniel took a hold of her long hair. Hermione assumed it was comforting for him; he always did it when she held him. That was a big reason she hadn't cut it in so long.

"Danny? Are you hungry?" She asked him when he was finally silent. Hermione walked into her common room and set Daniel on the couch in front of the fire.

"You want something to eat?"

"Yesh." Daniel said. A jumble of words she could not understand then followed this. Hermione smiled and nodded at whatever he had just said.

"Okay. I'll go get you something." Hermione stood up, slipped on a school robe and headed towards the portrait.

"Mama!" Daniel began to scream again. He jumped off the couch and ran to Hermione, clinging tightly to her right leg. On both cheeks there were little burning red spots, reminding her of someone.

"Danny! You can't come." She gave him a stern look, only causing the spots on his cheeks to grow larger and his screaming to intensify. You would have thought he was hurt by the way he was crying.

Hermione groaned. "Fine. Go find your shoes and blanky." Hermione tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the little brown head disappear into the nursery. Seconds later, he reappeared with the nanny holding his things.

"Oh Daniel, you brat." She walked over to the nanny and took the things off her hands. Hermione looked worried for a second.

"You can leave until I need you. You don't always have to be waiting for us." Hermione smiled wholeheartedly. The elf quickly gave a bow and began to leave with excitement. She clearly had no enjoyment in her job.

Hermione slipped Daniel's shoes on and lifted him, resting his head on her shoulder. She draped his blue blanket over him and pushed the portrait open. It was only seven and her first class didn't start until ten. She had plenty of time.

Inside the kitchens, Daniel's face was no longer tear streaked. In fact, there was a continuous stream of laughter as he chased the elves around.

"Danny, no baby." Hermione pretended to feel concern for his actions. It made her laugh, really. He listened, though, and came to sit with her. She pulled him up on her lap.

"Excuse me," she pulled aside an aging house elf, "can you get me two bowls and a glass of milk?" The elf nodded and hurried off quickly.

Hermione looked down at Daniel. His face was covered in oatmeal and he was now snoring loudly on her lap.

"You definitely do not get that from me. I do not snore." She looked down at the watch around her wrist. "Well, time to go, I guess." She hoisted Daniel over her shoulder and draped him with the blanket once more. She felt almost ashamed, hiding him like that. She wasn't sure how people would react, though.

As she neared her portrait, she spotted Harry walking at the end of the empty hall. Hoping he hadn't seen her, she ran quickly to the young girl and gave the password.

"That was close." Hermione leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, keeping her left hand on Daniel's head. She could hardly breathe. When she opened her eyes, she whipped her head back fast, hitting it against the stone wall. Feeling dizzy, she slowly slid to the floor and gave Daniel a squeeze.

"Granger?" Draco walked over to where she was now sitting. He pulled her head away from the wall and quickly examined it. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Maybe a bump? This did not help, though, because she soon began to slip into unconsciousness.

"Oh shit! Is she dead?" Draco panicked and started yelling. "Help! Someone help her!" His yells were useless, but did cause something to move.

"What the hell?" Draco pushed himself away from her and jumped backwards a foot.

"What is that?" He whispered to himself. The blanket twitched once again. Cautiously, he crept over to the blanket and slowly pulled it off. When he had completely removed the blanket, he threw it down as if it were acid.

"A kid? Merlin, I've become such a girl since my father's been gone. Wait...what's a kid doing here?" He didn't have to wait for an explanation too long. He noticed Hermione moving her head, and, soon enough, she opened her eyes.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?" She was almost angry, but he could sense a bit of embarrassment.

Malfoy felt very stupid now. In fact, he didn't remember why he had come. 'How humiliating,' he thought.

"Uh..I.. do you need help?" He extended his hand hesitantly. She cautiously accepted and slowly pulled herself up. Draco watched her disappear into a room and come back without the kid.

"So," Draco smirked, "who are you babysitting for?" He wished he hadn't said this. How was he to know it would cause her to react like that? 'Then again, why do I care all of sudden? It's just Granger.'

Hermione sank to the floor in tears, her sobs causing Malfoy to frown. 'Still…I hate it when girls cry. Reminds me of mum.'

"He—He's mine. My son Daniel." Her tears streamed down her face. She sobbed out what she had just said, but Draco heard it clearly.

"Your kid! Merlin! But—but—is that where you were last year?" Draco was dazed. The thought of her having a child was unusual. He didn't know why he even cared, but he did. 'This can't be the same Granger. The little miss perfect that annoyed me would have never become pregnant.'

"Hey," He tried softening his expression to remove the awkward air in the room.

"Lot's of girls have children. It's natural, it's what they do." It probably wasn't the most intelligent thing he had said, but it seemed to cheer Hermione up a little.

Giving him an amused smile, Hermione unknowingly brought her hand up to his face, caressing his cheek. She was almost spellbound by his eyes. She couldn't look away.

"Who are you, Draco Malfoy?" The question seemed to startle him, more so than the soft hand on his face.

"I—" He didn't really know what she meant. But it didn't matter, for he suddenly remembered how much he had wanted Hermione Granger the night before at dinner. Seeing her again with Potter made him want her even more, knowing that there was someone else who had interest for her.

Malfoy closed his eyes and set his forehead on hers. He began caressing her neck, following his fingers with his soft kisses. His fingers made their way back up to her mouth, where they lingered momentarily before his lips followed. Their lips barely touched, but it sent freezing chills down her spine. His touches were precise, perfect. With every touch she would grip his shoulder tighter and tighter.

"Draco." She pleaded. He wasn't sure what she was pleading for, but he took a wild guess. He laid her slowly on the couch, pulling her school robe off. He gently kissed her eyes. 'Oh, what I'd give to just rip her shirt off right now.' For a reason he couldn't explain, though, he didn't. He felt more restrained than that.

Kissing the bottom of her neck, he slowly began unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom up. Hermione moaned and thought about how Harry was the only one who had seen her before. 'Harry. What am I doing! This is Malfoy!'

"Stop." Draco looked up puzzled, stopping halfway up her shirt.

"Are you sure?" Draco's eyes were almost her downfall. She quickly threw her arm over her eyes. This looked like a gesture of annoyance to Draco, but she was actually preventing herself from looking into his eyes.

Draco swallowed a large lump in his throat. He had never been able to just walk away from a half-exposed woman before. Painfully, he nodded and stood up. 'What is her problem? Wait. Maybe I have a problem. Maybe I've lost it.'

"Well, I'll be off to class." Draco backed up, turned around, and appeared to sulk out of the room. Removing her arm, Hermione was able to catch the sight of his cloak whipping its way through the portrait.

She couldn't describe the feeling she had just experienced minutes before. It was different. Not like with Harry. There was more there, but she wasn't sure what it was. But it had been Malfoy, which was truly odd. Why would Malfoy ever touch her?

What felt like hours later, Hermione heard a light knock at her portrait. 'Could he be back?' For some odd reason, Hermione almost felt excited. Excited for the man who had called her mudblood so often, who had been so rude to her, who had been hell for her friends.

Hermione stood up, frustrated at being so stupid. She pushed the portrait open and poked her head out.

"What do you want? Harry." Hermione's voice got caught in her throat and her expression was that of shock. Before she could control what was happening, he had pushed the door open and had stepped in.

"Nice to see you too!" Harry glanced down at her and grinned.

"Expecting me?" He put his hand on her exposed belly. Hermione looked down and turned scarlet. 'Thank Merlin I never had stretch marks.'

"Actually, I was getting ready for class." Hermione smirked when Harry looked at her. She knew he knew she was lying. He fingered a button, finally deciding to unbutton the last three. He slipped the white shirt off her shoulders in a hurry.

"Let's skip class. We could sit here and fool around." Harry's lop sided smile made him so attractive. Hermione could feel the heat radiating off him. She had nearly said yes, wanting to spend more time with him, but the nursery door came into view, snapping her back into reality. Malfoy had just found out about Daniel. She wasn't sure if she could trust him not to say anything, but she definitely felt Harry didn't need to know. Not now, anyway.

"What's wrong?" He noticed that she looked uninterested. This was very disappointing to him.

"Well, it's not that I don't want to spend time with you—"

"Well, what's wrong then?" He was more upset than she expected him to be.

"It's our first day back, Harry. I really don't want to miss class." Hermione put her shirt on and pulled on her school robe.

"Let's go, Harry." She took his hand and pulled him out the door with her. 'I'm starting to think coming back to Hogwarts was a bad idea.'