AN: Please, please review :( I know you all love the story, but I'm running really low on motivation. My Granddad is in hospital, and we don't think he is going to make it, and I have to start revision for my exams soon, so I may not be updating as regular as I have been lately.
The Mudblood's Daughter and the Vanishing Cabinet
Hermione spent the next few days irritated, uncomfortable, and breathless. Her shirt was too tight over her bump, she had pain whenever she moved to quickly, something she had found out to be 'round ligament pain' and she felt like she was in a sauna all the time. She was supposed to feel good, her nausea had gone, and she had all this energy that she had no idea what to do with, but she was just uncomfortable. However, the Apparation lessons in Hogsmeade, the following Weekend did put her in a good mood, or as good as possible with her foul temper.
After giving Harry a sharp word, her, Ron and the other sixth years who had birthdays within the fortnight before their Apparition Test left the castle for Hogsmeade. Hermione had to admit, it was a lovely day. Clear morning skies, a warm breeze floating over as the first breaths of spring blessed the Castle ad it's surroundings with their presence. The sun shone gallantly, looking proud as it beamed down on them. Hermione smiled slightly. It was nice not to have to wear gloves and a hat and a scarf now. However she was still wearing large jumpers, to hide the lovely, round bump she had now. Thirteen weeks pregnant, nearing her fourteenth, and she was round.
None of her old clothes fit her, and she had had to borrow Ron's jumper to hide her bump. She had put on eight pounds over the last thirteen weeks. Because she was so short, as well, it was even more obvious, and harder to hide it because of that. If she thought about it in months, she was three and a half months gone. And it showed. he had gotten permission from Professor King to go to Gladrags and get some better fitting clothes that would hide her bump.
"Is that Tonks?" Ron asked, hitting her on the arm, and Hermione went 'hmm?' looking in the direction he was pointing. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, making out the pale, thin form of Tonks, her hair a mousy-brown colour. "Is she pregnant?" Ron asked, a frown on his lips, and Hermione's eyebrows shot up, as she stared down Tonks retreating form, and noticed that she was in fact pregnant, around twenty-five weeks by the look of her. "Who's do you think it is?"
"Honestly, Ronald, it is none of our business! Tonks is a grown woman, and if she is pregnant, she is pregnant, we have no right to butt our noses into it," Hermione admonished him, and Ron put his hands up, before coughing something about 'hormonal' and 'pregnant'. Hermione's lips pursed and her eyes looked fiery. "What was that, Ronald?" she said through grit teeth, and Ron said 'Nothing' quickly, slightly scared of her at that moment in time. Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, before dropping them to her side and putting her hands on her hips, as they waited for Twycross to give them instructions on what they would be doing for the morning.
They were given instructions to form lines, and each had to Apparate ten feet, and then repeat it, until they were on the other side of the small village. Then, they had to repeat it back to the starting point. Hermione managed it three times, and Ron finally moved, overshooting the mark but managing to apparate. He cheered and whooped, running over to Hermione and hugging her tightly, before cheering again. Hermione laughed, shrieking at him to 'Put her down!'.
That was the initial excitement of the day, however, for after the two had been given early exit from the lesson to go to Gladrags, Ron moped for the next half an hour as Hermione got her measurements taken, and instructed the shop owner that she wanted clothes to HIDE her bump, not show it off.
Narca-Jane Lupin was pacing the Burrow kitchen, her three year old daughter in her fathers arms, blinking every now and then as she watched her pace. Her patience had run out, completely. She wanted her mother back, and she wanted her now. Scorpius shook his head, from where he sat at the dining room table with Rose. "This is what you call a mental breakdown," Scorpius muttered to the nine year old girl, who giggled and looked at him with large blue eyes.
"Scorpius, I am not having a mental breakdown! Do you not want to know where Mom is at all?" Narca-Jane asked, almost hysterically, and Scorpius rolled his eyes. He was grown up now. He was going to Hogwarts next year, and he was going to be the best Gryffindor ever. And then Rose was going to come, and they would be boyfriend and girlfriend, like Cleo and Sirius. He knew his mother was going to come back, so he didn't get why Narca-Jane was freaking out. Narca-Jane looked at him, before shrieking and grasping her hair, pulling at it. The straight locks of silvery blond hair shimmered in the candlelight.
"Paws, you need to calm down. All the stress isn't good for the baby," Teddy warned her, and the five months pregnant woman turned on him, her eye twitching, and her lips bared in a snarl. Nympha's eyes widened, and her hair turned jet black, as she buried her face into her Daddy's Weird Sisters t-shirt. Teddy rose and eyebrow at Narca-Jane, not at all scared of her. "Paws, Aunt Hermione is perfectly capable of looking after herself, and you can bet that she is. Wherever she is, she'll be safe, trust me."
"But how do you know?" Narca-Jane sighed, deflating as all emotion drained from her, leaving her exhausted as she flopped into a spare chair at the table. Teddy trod over to her, and put his hand on her shoulder, giving her the same charming grin that used to make every girl in their year love him.
"Because. That woman is one of the smartest women I know, and she can handle anything. I promise that you will see her again. She is going to come back," he told her. Narca-Jane looked unsure for a moment, but gave in to his charms, and nodded. Teddy grinned, and kissed her on the forehead, before handing Nympha to her. "See you dorks later, I have to go to work."
Hermione was ready to just sleep, as she trudged through an empty corridor, dragging her feet. The rest of the day, after lunch, had worn her out, and she just wanted to go to bed now. But she knew, that if she went back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny would be there, wanting to talk about her latest fight with Dean, or about the baby, and Ron would want her to help with his homework andHarry would get on a bout Malfoy again and she was just FED UP of talking about Malfoy, and the baby and she just needed to get lost for a little bit.
She suddenly stopped walking, dead in the centre of the corridor, and exhaled heavily. She'd been running on endorphins, and her hormones lately. So much, that she didn't even realize just how run-down she had gotten. Her grandparents, the only ones she had left, were dead. She was pregnant, and couldn't even tell her parents. Her best friend was determined to destroy the father of her baby, and she was sure, against her own wishes, that Harry was right. Her gut told her that Draco was up to something, and she was only protecting him because she was guilty. Guilty for erasing his memory. Guilty for hiding the fact that she was was overwhelmed, and worst of all, she was scared. Actually, she was terrified.
It suddenly felt as if her throat was constricted. She couldn't breath, she felt trapped. She needed to move, get air, got out of that blasted corridor! She dropped her satchel and ran, a hand on her stomach. She needed to move. She needed out. Her eyes flit over the walls, which felt as if they were getting closer, narrower. She ran to a door, and tried to open it, only for it to not budge. Her breaths coming in pants she ran to the next door and the next.
"Please, please, please! Just open! Let me out!" she screamed, falling to the ground and shaking, heavy sobs tearing themselves from her throat. She couldn't do anything, she couldn't breath. She ran her hands over her face, and through her hair, and looked around her wildly, like a caged animal. She was choked, and she tore at her tie, pulling it from her throat, and throwing it to the floor. She shrugged off her robes, and her shoes, until she was just in her skirt and socks and massive jumper. She raced down the corridor, until she came to a flight of stairs, and the leaped up them as fast as her belly would allow, until she reached the top of the stairs, and came to a tower.
She froze. She hadn't even realised whet floor she had been on, still didn't. The tower was basically five columns in a circle, with a roof over it, and a rail connecting each column. Air breezed between them, almost melodic, and Hermione closed her eyes, her entire form shuddering. It called to her, like a moth to the flame, and Hermione found herself getting closer to the edge. She stared out into the dark night sky, and wished, for a moment, she was an owl. So that she could fly away into the clouds, and never come back. So she could soar among the stars, and be free.
Because the world was tying her down, holding her down. And she just couldn't breathe. Before she realised it, she had climbed over the railing, and was sitting on it, her grip tight on the metal, staring up at the sky. Her feet hung above the small ledge on the other side. Idly, she wondered when the dark had begun to look so inviting, so peaceful. Her thoughts finally stopped flying around her head, as she focused on the dark depths of the space around the tower, the almost never-ending fall to the ground below. How long would it take for her to hit the bottom? Was there even a bottom there?
She slipped off the rail onto the ledge, and leaned forward, keeping her grip on the rail. She closed her eyes, and smiled, taking in a deep breath, as air finally reached her lungs. Would her parents miss her, if she let go? Would they care at all, that they had lost their only child? Would Charissa? Would Ginny be upset that she was gone, or the baby? Would Harry be relieved that she was no longer there, nagging him to do things he didn't want to? Would Ron finally realize how he felt, only for it to be too late?
"What the bloody hell are you doing, Granger!" a sharp, furious voice suddenly cut through her thoughts, and Hermione's eyes shot open, her grip failing as she spun in shock. A hand grabbed the collar of her jumper, stopping her falling, and arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her over the railing with a grunt so the both fell backwards. "Have you gone absolutely mad, you stupid jumped up know-it-all Gryffindor!" Draco Malfoy demanded, and Hermione stared down at him, before quickly clambering off him, a look of terror on her face. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I... What... I..." her eyes went to the railing, widening as horror filled herself. She had... she thought about... A feeling familiar to when she was petrified filled her and she clasped her arms around her stomach. "Oh Merlin..." she cried, and Draco looked at her like she absolutely mental. "I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry," she murmered, rocking. Fear of herself suddenly sparked within her and she went silent, in shock of her own actions. She had risked it all... she had nearly let go of that rail... She had nearly died...
"Granger?" Draco's voice, snidely and smooth, caused her head to shoot up, in surprise. "What the bloody hell was that? Are you fucking insane?" he snarled. Hermione blinked at him, gaping slightly from where she sat on the floor, before she stood and ran from him, down the stairs from the tower. Draco just watched her go confused.
Stupid Mudblood's. They were insane. The lot of them.