Title: Hermione's Helping Hand

Hermione's Second Defense And Pet Peeve

Two days passed since Lee had visited and Hogwarts got a letter from Tonks, which included a postcard. They were in the Bahamas, a gift from Hermione for their wedding. Hermione hoped that they were having a great time, which Tonks informed them they were. Hermione then left, telling Minerva, to tell Severus, that she had an appointment with a lawyer. Everyone in the wizarding world knew what a lawyer was, so she didn't have to explain.

When she arrived, dressed in muggle clothes, she sat down, and her parent's attorney unsealed the will.

" To my dearest Hermione we leave our summer home and our entire fortune," he read.

Then he put it back inside its envelope.

Hermione cried a lot when she read those words, knowing that her parents wouldn't of wanted her life to turn out like it had. But what was done was done, and there was nothing that she could do about it. Mr. Bowl gave her the paperwork that she needed and she left, determined to start a new life, which now included Severus.

Hermione spent almost the entire day shopping. She had always done this when she wasn't in a good mood, and grief counted as such. She stopped by a jeweler and picked up a wedding set. Now that she was married she might as well do it properly. Once she had left, she withdrew the rest of her parent's money and opened up an account in Gringotts.

" It won't be joined with my husband's account," she informed the goblin.

" And why not?" he asked.

" Because he hasn't mentioned it," Hermione replied at once. " And I won't do anything unless I discuss it with him."

The goblin nodded in agreement, then she signed something, and was given her key. She trusted goblins, even if they weren't friendly.

Hermione left the office and was just entering the main lobby when she ran right smack into Draco Malfoy. His wife, Pansy was with him, looking very smug and very pregnant. Hermione could feel the ugly green monster of jealousy rearing its head. However it was fenced in when she saw Pansy's wedding ring, apparently he didn't give her a big one, and Hermione had the biggest and fanciest one around.

" What are you doing here, Granger?" Pansy asked her.

Hermione sneered at her, then showed her hand. Pansy at once screamed in outrage and turned to look at her husband.

" Well apparently Hermione's husband loves her more then you love me," Pansy screeched, sounding a lot like a harpy.

Hermione grinned; oh this was so much better then slapping Draco in the face. She could see Draco getting red, which meant that he was getting mad, and what didn't make matters better for him, was the fact that women were flocking to see Hermione's ring.

" Oh that is so stunning!" said one witch.

" Oh wow!" said another.

Hermione was enjoying this perk of being married. She enjoyed fully finally getting one over Pansy Parkinson. Now she knew what she wanted out of life, upping the entire pureblood way of life. If she was lucky, and she never believed in luck before, she would devise the ultimate way of getting back at Draco Malfoy. The jealousy monster knocked on her head and Hermione decided that what she wanted the most, what would make Pansy even madder, and what might finally give Hermione her sweet revenge, was a child that was more talented and a lot smarter then any child that Pansy could ever think of having.

She wanted to give birth to a genius.

" You want a what?" Minerva exclaimed when Hermione had returned from Diagon Alley and making Pansy mad.

" I want a child," Hermione said, repeating the first thing that she had uttered when she barged her way into her Transfiguration teachers office.

Minerva had been shocked when Hermione had told her that's what she wanted.

" Now, is there a sudden event that caused your alarm on your clock to suddenly sound?"

Hermione's face went red, the green monster rising up, this time to strike.

" Nothing!" she said, getting redder.

Minerva looked at, as though she didn't believe her. Finally Hermione sighed and the redness disappeared.

" Okay, I saw the Malfoy's today in Gringotts, and Pansy is pregnant!" Hermione said to her. " And I kind of-"

" Got jealous," Minerva finished off.

Hermione nodded.

" Am I just being stupid?" Hermione asked her. " Letting a huge stomach get in the way of my common sense."

Minerva laughed.

" Na!" Minerva said. " You haven't lost your common sense! Every married woman that I know wants to have a child! It's all part of the marriage thing. However, I think you might want to tell Severus about your little desire, after all he plays a part in it."

Hermione nodded.

" And why the way Hermione, any child that you have will be great!"

" Thanks!" Hermione said, and then left.

However, when Hermione told her new husband about what she wanted, he at once told her that he had no desire to have children. Hermione got very upset about this, which Severus understood.

" There is no way that I'm helping to bring a child into this world that will suffer like I did," he said. " I had a rotten childhood and I don't want to inflict it upon another person."

Hermione bit her lip, then a knock on the door made them turn. Hermione didn't have to tell by how the person knocked, to tell that it was Draco. Hermione walked over and wrenched open the door with such force that it almost was knocked clean off. Draco walked in, looking smug.

" Oh look, it's the Adams family!" he commented, laughing.

" What do you want?" Severus snapped.

He grinned so broadly that Hermione was reminded of her second year when he showed off his new broom to the Gryffindors.

" Well, Mudblood," Draco said. " I've-"

" How dare you call my husband that!" Hermione said, hissing with rage. " It might have worked on me, but don't you dare call my husband that!"

" His father was a Muggle, so it fits," he countered. " And don't you think about striking me, I'm a Ministry official and I will get you sent to Azkaban for six months for assault."

Hermione was near the boiling point and Severus feared that she would use one of the Unforgiveables on him.

" Get your business over with," Severus said.

" Well its not business really," Draco said. " It's more of a question. Do you have any money that the Ministry doesn't know about?"

" No!" Severus said.

Draco smiled.

" Apparently your wife was able to afford a very expensive wedding ring," Draco reported.

" That was my money!" Hermione stated. " And I know the law! As long as it's not connected to my husband's account, then you can't have it. And don't you dare go to Umbridge and have that law changed. I got it from my parents deaths, which I know you were apart of."

Draco went red.

" I'll be informing Umbridge of this," he told her. " And I would advise that you don't get to chummy with it."

" Oh I won't!" Hermione stated.

" Oh by the way, getting jealous of something that you'll never have isn't a good way of getting yourself in the Ministry," Draco threatened. " Of course, he wouldn't give you his sperm if he was the last wizard on earth."

And he left, just as Hermione threw a glass vase at the door.

" Here you go, dear," Minerva said, handing Hermione a cup of strong, sweet, tea. Hermione took it and noticed that it was laced with firewhiskey. Her hands were shaking so bad that she almost drop the cup.

" I can't believe that he would come just to spite you," Mr. Weasley said. " You must have done something to get him to come over."

Hermione sniffled, but drank some down.

" Hermione wants to have a child!" Minerva told him. " The ugly green monster raised its hooded neck, as the Slytherin's would call it. I think the comment that Draco made, was the last straw for Hermione."

" You know I'm here," Hermione snapped. " You can stop talking like I'm not."

" Sorry, dear," said Minerva, patting her on the shoulder.

" Is there something wrong with me?" Hermione said, pounding the table with her fist. " Did I suddenly grow extra horns or something? AM I STINKING UGLY?"

" Hermione, calm down," Mrs. Weasley said, looking worried for her. " Your not ugly."

Hermione snorted at this, then drank some more tea.

" Draco is also trying to get Hermione's inheritance taken away from her," Severus said. " Apparently he saw the ring that Hermione got for herself."

Mrs. Weasley looked worried.

" Can he do that?" she asked.

Bill's new wife, Flur, shook her head. Suddenly Hermione started to laugh her head off. They all stared at her, and then Hermione spoke, her words with laughter all around.

" My aunt died several years ago and all her money was placed in a trust fund for me," Hermione explained. " Seventy million pounds!"

" What!"

Hermione nodded, smiling.

" Even if he takes the money that I got from my parents, he can't take money way that isn't connected to the wizarding world."

Flur smiled.

" So you still have money?"

Hermione nodded again.

" Minerva, give me your firewhiskey, I want to celebrate getting one over Draco Malfoy."

And before she could say anything, Hermione took it, and disappeared from sight.

The next morning Hermione staggered in, looking like something that Buckbeak would drag in. She made herself a cup of coffee, and muttered that she didn't want anyone talking to her. Severus placed a Hangover Potion in-front of her, with a note telling her that it was from Madam Pomfrey. Hermione drank it in one gulp, and then was able to talk.

" How did it feel to be drunk?" Severus asked.

" Wonderful!" Hermione said. " Especially since you have a good reason to get drunk. Any word about the fate of the money that I do have at Gringotts."

Severus nodded.

" The Ministry says that as long as you don't put it into my account, you can have all the money in the world, for all they care," Severus said. " And please, Hermione, don't use this as a reason to get drunk again."

Hermione smiled.

" I won't! Now I'm going to shower, get dressed, and then go out shopping," Hermione said to him. " I need a new nightgown."

" And why?"

" Because my old one is a little short for me," Hermione explained. " Anyway, I thought men didn't care about what clothes their wives or people they knew wore."

" I don't!" Severus said, not looking at her. " I'm just glad that I'm not included in this little adventure."

Hermione smiled at him, and then finishing her coffee, she disappeared into her room.

When Hermione had left to go into Hogsmead, Minerva met up with Severus in his chambers. The house elves had delivered some food and drink for them to enjoy. However, only Minerva ate, since Severus had something for breakfast.

" So has Hermione mentioned anymore about wanting to have a child?"

Severus shook his head.

" And how do you feel about that?"

Severus looked at her darkly, and Minerva figured that it was still a sore subject for him.

" Come on, don't tell me you don't want to see your child get sorted," Minerva egged him. " I mean, Hermione is a beautiful woman."

" I know that!" he snapped. " I just don't want her tied down to me for a hundred and fifty years, that's all.

Minerva looked at him as though she didn't believe. She put her scone down and dusted herself off.

" I think I know why you don't want to have a child, and don't tell me the father instinct hasn't kicked in yet because I don't believe it for one moment. I think that you're afraid that your going to get attached to something and then it's taken away from you."

Severus said nothing, which gave Minerva license to continue.

" Hermione wants to have a child, your married to her, and I think that it would be wonderful for her to have one."

Severus snorted at this. The last thing that he needed, and he'd been thinking about it, was any child of his being pointed to as a Death Eater's child. He didn't think that his child could take it.

" Minerva, I know that women want to have a child and everything, but I don't think I'm fit for fatherhood."

Minerva looked at him, and then there was a knock on the door.

" Oh gods, Malfoy is here," Severus muttered.

He got up and sure enough it was Draco. This time he brought in his elephant of a wife, who looked smug. It made Severus want to throw a vase at them.

" Minerva, I just wanted you to meet the future Malfoy," Draco said, pointing to Pansy's stomach. " I mean in eleven years you'll be seeing him or her. Of course, I'm defiantly sure that we won't be seeing any of Severus' brut there. I mean, who would want to have his child?"

Both Draco and Pansy laughed at him, which caused him to itch for a wand that wasn't there. Then they turned and left. Severus threw a vase at the door.

" Here you go, Severus," said Mr. Weasley, handing Severus his tea and firewhiskey mix. Severus drank it in one go.

" Oh I hate that man!" Severus said, putting the cup down. " He comes over not to see if I'm obeying the law, but to harass me."

Hermione, who had returned from shopping, looked at her husband with worry, so did Harry and Ron.

" That man is so low!" Ron commented. " He thinks he's the gods gift on legs!"

There was a collective sound of distaste.

" What should we do?" Mrs. Weasley asked. " I mean, he's going to continue to come over and harass him until he breaks the law."

" Or breaks something!"

" I think I should go and have a talk with the wizarding court," Mr. Weasley told them. " Find out if Draco can come on the grounds to do more then just checking on Severus. He must be doing something wrong."

" And what if he isn't?" Minerva asked.

" Well then, I'll just have to do something."

That night, after Hermione and Severus had had their dinner, Hermione decided to breach the subject about having a family. She knew he was taunting her husband because Hermione was fat and round yet. He was also taking cheap shots at his ability to get a woman pregnant, which Hermione thought was low.

" Severus, I know that you don't want to hear about having a family, but Draco is going to continue to harass you and theirs nothing that you can do about it."

Severus sighed, which shocked Hermione. She thought he would explode.

" And you think by having a child it will stop."

Hermione smiled at him.

" Well if anything, it will be ultimate payback," Hermione stated. " Imagine a child of theirs being upped by my son or daughter. And there's a good chance that their child might not have magic, with all this inbreeding that's going on. Oh that would be so good!"

Severus laughed which made Hermione laugh to. The image of Draco exploding because their child is a Squib while Hermione's child gets to go to Hogwarts was to sweet of an image to pass up.

" Well!"

" I think you might be onto something," Severus said, still smiling at the image that he had in his mind. " But I get to name the child if it's a boy."

" And I get to name the child if it's a girl," Hermione said.

" Deal!"

And they shook on it.