Chapter 51 – Between years

Albus knew it might be a bad idea, after the way Delphi behaved the last time they had seen each other, but he knew that girls could overreact when they got their monthlies. Based on the way his mother behaved sometimes when it was that time of the month, he was sure Delphi didn't really want to kill him or Scorpius, she was simply devastated that he had failed. After all, they had spent hours planning out how to make his Dad see that he was also a hero.

Now, more than ever, Albus wanted to prove himself. He wanted his parents to see that he was just as worthy of being their son as Perfect-James was.

To show Delphi his best side and to tell her that he was still believing in her idea, he had a parchment in front of him and was trying to write a letter. She had once told him her birthday was the 27th of December and he wanted to congratulate her, but couldn't find the words.

Looking at his father's present, his resolve was restored and his feather hit the parchment for the greeting.

He couldn't just write openly about what they had agreed upon, so he would need to use some safe description to make others see it as a simple letter from one friend to another, should they read it. To an outsider, it had to look as innocent as possible because after the stunt in October, who knew if his parents wouldn't read his letter when he asked them to send it with the family owl. He had made sure to stay out of his family's way for the last two days, beside for food.

Lily spent most of her time with his mother anyway, talking about Merlin-knew-what. All the girls stuff was plain boring.

James was off to visit with his friends most of the day, coming up with new jokes for next year. Albus was more than happy to be out of his way. He had been their guinea pig for too many times.

As for his father, he was called to work, what else. The bad guys didn't stop doing bad stuff over the holidays so there was one emergency call after another, even with his dad on holiday leave. It was like the world couldn't work without the great Harry Potter. Albus sneered at that thought.

XxX

"I'm sorry Milady." The raspy voice came from the broad man who had just bumped into her and made Professor Sprouse frown. His dark hair was tousled, as if he had forgotten to brush it after waking up, and his clothes were far too thin for the cold Scottish weather at Hogsmeade. He didn't have to look up to her as most others had to but there were no emotion on his face at all.

"Nothing happened." She reassured him and bent down to pick up the bag she had dropped but he was faster. Instead of giving it back to her he scrutinized her for a moment.

"May I offer a Butterbeer by way of apology?" His question was asked politely and he offered her bag back to her afterwards but something about him felt off.

Now it was Professor Sprouse that looked him over. He was likely a few years younger than her, but she had never seen him before. Hogsmeade was a small town and while this was only her second year at Hogwarts, she had been down in the village quite a few times to get various supplies and maybe a few sweets.

His expressionless face made her wary and her mother had taught her to take every precautions when meeting a stranger, especially when she felt something was wrong. Debating what to do, she decided to smile at him and then shook her head.

"I fear I need to turn your invitation down. I'm needed back at the school at the earliest opportunity."

"Of course Professor. Maybe another time."

He turned around and left without as much as a goodbye and Luna wondered about the strange man, but not for long. He hadn't even asked her name, nor did she knew his, so the chances were slim for them to come into contact any time soon. That she was a Professor was most likely an assumption he had made based on her comment about school, there was nothing to worry about yet.

She didn't notice him turning around when he reached the end of the street and follow her with his dark eyes until she left the street at the other end. The whole time his face didn't change much, but he could be described as pensive while watching her. The meeting had been calculated.

XxX

She was running. Faster and faster. They had her. Her little girl, her sun. Everything worthy of living for was in their hands. All she knew was that she had to run. Faster. Even faster than she was sure she could. There had to be a way.

But it was as if the key was missing. She was sure she had it, but it was missing. Like sand running through her hands. She was lost, had to stop. Where was her girl? She had been so sure she was on the right path. So sure of it. She had lost everything. They had taken it from her piece by piece. Her sanity was wearing thin and they knew it. They laughed at her while watching her from the shadows, where she was unable to see them. Draco's shouts of agony mixed with the unformed laughter. There were movements around her, but every time she turned, she only saw an endless vast plane of nothingness. Her heart clenched in her chest and made her feel like she could burst apart soon. Her pulse was fast and erratic. She could hear the whoosh of it in her ears, which made detecting where the cries were coming from even harder.

"Hermione." A voice whispered from her left, but nobody was there. More and more voices joined in, until it was a circular canon. Her head was spinning from it until she covered her ears with both hands and cried out loud to make it stop. Her own voice was joined by her daughter's pitiful cry, and Draco's hoarse one.

Hermione woke up drenched in sweat. Another nightmare. She knew she couldn't wait any more, she needed to know today if she was pregnant or not.

My wonderful beta Eva labled this chapter: My sadistic cliffhanger chapter. Do you agree with her? I hope so ;)